3D in Russian. Interview with a Talented 3D Artist Denis Tolkishevsky
September 23rd, 2008
Denis Tolkishevsky is one of the skillful 3D artists from Russia who has already managed to prove himself as a successful and highly perspective digital art professional. If you visit his personal website, you will be greatly surprised by the number of awards he received for the amazing masterpieces. His work “DragONtFLY ” got 5 awards on Russian and English CG portals such as Render.ru, CGSociety.org (CGTalk.com), 3dtotal.com, Tigerstudio.ro, and ArtTalk.ru . It also has been published in the books ELEMENTAL 3 and Digital Art Masters 3.
“DragONtFLY” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
Now we give you a great opportunity to get to know more about Denis Tolkishevsky, his way of working, his achievements and awards. And we hope this interview will be useful and inspiring to everybody who is in any way related to computer graphics.
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For those who are not familiar with you yet, tell a couple of words about yourself.
Hello, my name is Denis Tolkishevsky. I was born, grew up, and have been living and working in Siberian town Novosibirsk, that stands on Ob’ river in Russia. I’m 29 year old at present. I’ve graduated Novosibirsk State Architect-Construction University, my specialty is constructing engineer, hydraulic engineer (sea-walls, dams etc.). After graduation for about 7 years I’ve been working in the field of technical audit of buildings and constructions, this work has in no way been related to CG. Within this period of time 3D was my hobby only. A few months ago I’ve decided and changed my job for one, related to 3D-graphics.
“I’m” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
How did you learn 3D graphics? Are you a self-taught person or did you attend some courses?
I’ve studied 3D graphics on my own, using books and lessons downloaded from Internet as a basis. I haven’t been through any courses, besides I don’t have any artistic education, the lack of which, in some cases, I fell myself. I remember I saw 3D Max for the first time in the university. A friend of mine showed it to me. It seemed to be really complicated thing at that time, so many buttons, menus, and commands and I haven’t risked to start studying it back then. About four years ago 3D max drew my attention again. Surfing through Internet I’d run across one of 3D galleries, and I was shocked with what I saw, so I decided to try creating something similar. I’ve bought a book with a trial version of 3D max and started studying. And I’m still making progress in my study.
“Apricus Acini” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
As you have said, you are a constructing and hydraulic engineer by training. How does this knowledge help you in 3D graphics?
As such my knowledge in hydraulic haven’t been of any use to me until now, but the basic knowledge received in the university is of great help to me both in my work, and what I’m doing for myself. This relates mostly to technical aspects of objects I create, as I already know approximately what will this or that part of the building look like, and if this or another mechanism will be operable or not.
“Plag?..” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
What subjects do you like to explore most in your work and where does the interest arise from?
Recently I’ve been fond of creating textures, and the texturizing itself. My attitude to modeling is more like to something of a routine kind. I don’t even know where it is rooted, might be that an artist inside of me is gone…
I especially enjoyed the 3D image ‘Storm Factory” that has been published in the book Elemental 3, and won Excellence Award on 3dtotal.com and Gold Award on CGTalk.ru. What was the most challenging part of creating it?
Like I already have said, texturizing is what I like best, and in this work I decided to complete my task and didn’t limit myself to
creation of simple materials – I tried to create materials with complicated structure, with multiple sublevels of different masks,
mixtures etc. In the end I’ve used more than hundred textures, some of them being of a size of 10000×8000 (soil textures).
“Storm Factory” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
Do you usually show your works before placing them on the Internet? Who is the main critic of your works?
Yes, of course. Before exposing my works to everybody’s observation, I necessarily show them to my brother, he is an architect, and to 3D artists among my friends, but my main critic is my wife (she’s also an architect), and I place the work in Internet only after it’s being completely recognized and approved by her.
How long does it take to create a 3D image on average? Do you usually imagine an object you would like to convey? Or do the ideas come to your mind in the process of creation?
It depends. From a couple of weeks to several months. Everything depends on the amount of free time (which I’m having less and less recently), on inspiration and on whether I’ll manage to beat leisure or not. When it comes to ideas, it is also different. Sometimes an idea comes to my mind, or I see something, so there comes a will to do something and I do. And sometimes I’m just starting to model something and ideas are coming by themselves.
“Strawberry” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
You won a great deal of awards. How did they change your life?
I’d rather see awards as a result, not a reason. The result of the fact, that I’m slowly improving in 3D graphics. Of course they do change my life, I’m getting noticed more often, my works, to be specific, of course, and I’m even getting more respect. Due to my awards I’ve been offered a job related to 3D.
What is your greatest achievement in CG you are proud of most?
I don’t possess any outstanding achievements yet, except for a number of awards on various Internet resources and a few publications in books and magazines. But I hope that everything is yet to come.
“River” by Denis Tolkishevsky.
On your personal website, I saw a lot of tutorials. Do you usually write them simultaneously while creating a 3D image or after the image has been created?
I usually write tutorials after completion of work, in accordance with somebody’s request to tell of the process of creation, tuning
materials, light etc. Sometimes it’s me who wants to explain some kind of technique I’ve used, and which might not be known to everyone else.
Let us imagine that you are not an artist. What profession can you find yourself in?
As my qualification is constructing engineer in hydraulics I think I would succeed working in this field. I also suppose hat I could be a designer or an architect, if I would have got corresponding training of course.
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Thank you, Denis, for an exciting interview. We wish you success and more free time for all your plans and aims realization! Take care!
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September 25th, 2008 at 11:49 am
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