Digital art is an amazing and easier way to express the imagination. I do advise anybody who s in to traditional arts to try digital arts From his roots in traditional sculpting at the Academy of Venezia, to digital sculpting for Wingnut Films, freelance creature designer Fabrizio Bortolussi gives us a rundown of life in the 3D arts industry, and divulges some useful tips along the way.
Fabrizio Bortolussi Interview You have a rather impressive background in fine art and sculpture, studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. How do you feel this training has benefited you as a digital artist? I have studied traditional sculpting and painting when I was at the Academy of Venezia and I remember seeing the early sculpts of Martin Krol and Dave Cardwell (many years ago) on some online forums. They bewitched me and I thought how amazing it would be if I could create my traditional monster sculpts using digital software, and started using ZBrush. Personally, my experience at the academy was not particularly good since the teachers and students just did classical sculptures and they criticized my work as I made monsters. Also the teachers were rather conservative. I d say I learned more (as far as anatomy and designs are concerned) when I was a little boy and during high school, since I spent my days and nights sculpting and drawing. The academy was not a bad experience, but it didn t really excite me at all to be honest. Why and how did you first make the jump into digital art from traditional mediums? Years passed and I started to build a digital portfolio and a website. I kept doing traditional sculpts, but I wanted to break into the industry. I then started to post a lot of my work on websites like ZBrush Central. Thanks to my friend Timur Taron Baysal and Oliver Hotz, I got my first film job working as a freelancer on District 9, when the film was still in its early stages of development. I worked with Wingnut Films directly with Neill Blomkamp, using concept art provided by Weta. This was my first experience in the film industry and it s been amazing! Creature design seems like a great career. Do you have any advice for aspiring artists who would like to specialize in this area? Yes indeed. Creature design is wonderful. My advice for artists who want to start a career as creature designers is to watch billions of films (films with creatures of course!), practice daily (with ZBrush, Mudbox and Sculptris, etc.), constantly compare your work with the masters and look to books of illustration or the works of famous artist for inspiration (my personal favorite is Zdzislaw Beksinski). It s not an easy world to work in and there s a lot of competition, but if you practice daily you ll build a strong sense of design and have some chances to work on films or video games. My key tip is: practice, practice, practice. I gather you re a fan of horror! Do you have any specific favorite films or artists, and how have these had an impact on your designs? I am obsessed with horror, it taints my life and dreams in a creative way. Amusingly my favorite films have nothing to do with horror films by David Lynch, Kubrick and Fellini. Of course, I www.3dcreativemag.com page 9
Interview Fabrizio Bortolussi have a few horror favorites, which are The Evil Dead 1 & 2, Braindead and The Thing. As far as artists and directors who inspired me, I d like to mention Beksinski, H. R. Giger, Dave Grasso (from Spectral Motion), Patrick Tatopoulous, Guillermo Del Toro, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi and Robert Rodriguez. How do you develop designs? Do you use references, make sketches, or just go for it? It really depends on the situation. Sometimes I m in the shower and DING! something happens in my mind and I run to design what I just imagined. Sometimes I brainstorm watching films or looking at images on the net, while sometimes I just start something and improvise it. I rarely sketch ideas. I usually jump directly inside the design, be it clay or digital media. Some of your character designs are very detailed, with minutely sculpted skin surfaces. How long does it take you to create a model? It depends on the level of detail, but I never spend more than 2-3 days on a personal design. Of course, for client work things are different! Your creatures tend to be organic-inspired mutants. Do you create any synthetic, manmade creatures, or is it specifically these strange genetic mix-ups that inspire you? I have been obsessed with horror since when I was 8-9 years old so I tend to mix horror with sci-fi even though I m focusing on horror nowadays. I feel that this is what suits me best. It s a pity I can t show some of my most gruesome and gory designs because of parental advisory problems some designs could be really unsettling for some people so I keep them for myself. My biggest sources of inspirations www.3dcreativemag.com page 10
Fabrizio Bortolussi Interview www.3dcreativemag.com page 11
Interview Fabrizio Bortolussi are Beksinski, Giger and my amazing friend Suzzan Blac (a famous horror/gore oil painter from the UK). As far as man-made creatures are concerned, I do both them and even fantasy/mech type of characters but it s just for clients since I don t find it that interesting! You mentioned the Academy of Venezia was conservative and didn t excite you, then you found digital art. Do you see digital art as a new, exciting medium for artists bored of the traditional, or as something different? Digital art is an amazing and easier way to express the imagination. I do advise anybody who s in to traditional arts to try digital arts. Though, when I work with clay, latex, silicon or airbrushes, I still have tons of fun making maquettes and monster busts! It seems like you followed your interests and found 3D art. If you weren t a 3D artist, what do you think you would you be doing? That s a very good question. To be honest, my main job right now is filmmaking. I m making a film in black and white that has nothing to do with CGI or digital arts (it s actually a tribute to David Lynch). Though of course, I still continue my career as a concept designer/art director at the same time. www.3dcreativemag.com page 12
Fabrizio Bortolussi Interview In another life? Maybe I would be a muay thai teacher as I have practiced the discipline for over 12 years. Or a guitar teacher I have played guitar since I was 5 years old! I actually teach both of these things, but just for fun and in my free time (although I don t get much of it it s really rare!). What are your current career goals and what can we expect to see from you in the future? I m planning to release my short film in 2014 and to be a filmmaker. Though, I also like to design tons of horror/scary monsters for both films and next gen video games. I am actually already working on a PS4 horror game, but I can t tell anything more for now. Expect to see tons of scary and horror monsters in the near and distant future! Fabrizio Bortolussi Web: http://www.fabriziobortolussi.com Email: digitalfreaky@gmail.com Interviewed by: Emalee Beddoes www.3dcreativemag.com page 13