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Graham Toms
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Why do you feel so strongly about a background in traditional art?
I think it's a fundamental way of having a keen discernment for evaluating aesthetics.
Is a background in one medium more valuable than another for a 3D artist?
Not really, they all have something unique and valuable about them.
However some mediums, such as charcoal and clay, are more malleable
than other mediums, say such as sculpting with marble or painting with
watercolor. It’s easier to learn and change something with charcoal and
clay.
Do you prefer working in 2D, 3D (clay) or 3D (CGI)?
I like trying all the mediums out. I don't really have a preference for
any medium. It’s just a vehicle for portraying a gag/story.
Like
William "Proton" Vaughan, your work has a very distinctive style. Do
you find yourself pigeon-holed as "only being able to do that style?"
Not when they are in close proximity to me and realize I have ninja
training, then they favor the dialogue coming out as... "Wow, you're
very versatile with your awesome amazing artwork". OK... I'll stop
being a smart ass for 5 seconds. No, I don't get stereotyped as only
being able to do one style. However, I have had people say it has more
of a fine art approach though. That sounds alright to me... I guess
it's a compliment. |
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What educational experience do you have?
The Northern Ireland Film Council employed me on an intensive twelve-month (October 1994 - October 1995) project called Animagic. This was a cross-border and cross-community initiative exploring the theme of cultural identity in modern day Ireland. Animagic involved four schools from Northern Ireland and four schools from the
Republic of Ireland. My role, as Assistant Director, involved tutoring
the four Northern Irish schools (16 pupils) to complete at least 15
seconds of cel animation per student. I was also responsible for
assisting the Director in the inbetweening of cel paintings,
backgrounds and lining.
I also did special
needs teaching in Belfast, Loughshore (March 2002 - March 2005). This
involved art therapy for emotionally disturbed teenagers and children
ages 10 – 16 who suffered from Autism and violent behavioral problems.
I coached students to pass standard educational certificates. I gave
instruction in a range of materials and tools from clay animation to
working with high end 2D and 3D applications.
In
addition, I taught at Coleraine Unniversity from March 2005 - Dec 2005,
instructing students in a Multimedia BA degree course. This involved
teaching students the fundamentals of how to use 2D and 3D design and
animation programs. Traditional aspects of storyboarding and animatics
were also taught, giving the students as wide a range possible of
options to explore for their final year’s study. |
Do you feel that LightWave offers any advantages in a training environment?
Yes, having trained with other apps, LightWave is a shorter learning
curve. Plus, it's not like it's so expansive and complicated you have
to specialize, or like it just does modeling and then it's, "oops... I
have to take it into another app to animate." It does everything
through to the post production. Bottom line is, from a training point
of view, you don't have to give them a course in Egyptian
hieroglyphics, oops I mean icons in place of semantics, to understand
the tools. |
How are you approaching developing the training curriculum for NewTek?
Well, the curriculum is very education-specific, as opposed to generic
training material. Every company does standard training material
claiming it has the instant coffee of training approach. "Instant
coffee" meaning, "yep do our course and hey presto, you'll be a pro,"
it’s kinda like a bad car salesman approach. My approach is not the
standard approach used by most companies. NewTek's allowing me to use a
holistic approach to curriculum for high school students. They have a
chance to establish the fundamental principles of art as they use the
easiest 3D high-end app that models, animates and renders all in the
same app.
I
will be taking them through various stages of production that will
cover an academic year. For instance, an understanding that character
design starts off with pen and paper. What does that mean for a student
that doesn't feel they can draw? Well, that's cool, they can scribble.
Scribbling is encouraged in this curriculum. I stress that we are
learning how to problem solve. A game developer, an art director for an
animated film, they are both problem solvers, regardless of their
choice of medium. This curriculum addresses some of the questions that
many students ask when curious as to what the production process is for
games, film or TV when using a 3D app. |
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Graham Toms |
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