By Tata Rossi 4 days ago, Professional photography
Either you are a skillful digital artist, who is experiencing a creative rut, or a beginner just going to embark on the path and seeking professional help, looking at the work of the best 3D artists may be of tremendous help.
We considered the influence of these experts on the 3D digital design and how unique their ideas are, and believe that they can teach you a lot.
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Self-taught and highly talented 3D artist Nicole Wu, based in Melbourne, is best recognized for her ability to overlay creative narratives into visually appealing designs. The signature to Wu's arts lies in the surrealist landscapes woven with outer space elements, themes that are very common across the artist's Instagram feed.
Her 3D compositions have an exclusive capability to take the viewer into a completely new world, immersed in a unique kind of escapism. She is able to grab the audience's attention with soft, bubbly masterpieces that reflect her deep metaphysical point of view.
Location: London, UK
This digital 3D artist is known for his immersive illustrations that are bouncing on the fine line between realism and artifice tilting to the former. By dint of CGI typography, he impresses viewers with dynamic forms, shapes, and vivid colors.
Peter Tarka has cooperated with many popular brands – Apple, Audi, BMW, and Bloomberg to name a few. He was asked to improve the aesthetic representation of the company and coped with the task perfectly. The most amazing thing about this artist is that he is just 27 years old and has managed to achieve worldwide fame.
Location: Switzerland
Roman Bratschi finds inspiration in natural shapes and patterns, and further turns them into mind-blowing creations. He is a talented 3D illustrator and animation director, who joined the rank of the most famous graphic designers not long after he demonstrated his first works. For today, he has over 15 years of experience in the field and tries to incorporate alternative illustration techniques in his workflow.
This artist is known for his special attention to complementary colors and original compositions that bear deeper meaning. He has assisted multiple reputable companies with aesthetic branding and frequently works for Apple, Ray-Bay, Samsung, and many more.
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Leticia comes from Brazil, but now she resides in Los Angeles. She is an aspired modeling and texturing artist, who is best known for her mesmerizing 3D cartoonish characters. She accepts all sorts of orders trying to improve her skills all the time.
Right now, she is engaged in the gaming industry, and has achieved particular success in it. Leticia created multiple characters for the highly popular Overwatch game by Blizzard Entertainment. At the beginning of her career, she worked as a 3D generalist and a teacher of architectural visualization in Brazilian commercial houses.
Location: Paris, France
Phil Nguyen lives in the capital of France and works there as a 3D character artist. He participated in numerous game-related projects and is best known for his contribution to the video game trailer production for Unit Image studios. Phil is included in this list of 3D artists, because there is hardly any other illustrator, who can depict human emotions in 3D designs so realistically.
His most famed projects are Tom Clancy’s GhostRecon Breakpoint, God of War, and Beyond Good and Evil.
Phil Nguyen is fond of his occupation so much that he keeps honing his skills even in his free time. Actually, he recreates characters that are related to his youth. He believes that every 3D model artist should constantly strive for career growth and professional development.
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Pedro Conti likes creating interesting characters and this is the main scope of his activity. He works with clients from all over the planet helping them with design, modeling, look development and grooming.
You can see the results of his work in the cartoon called Moana. He worked on the image of Teka and has managed to create a really cool character. Pedro Conti uses 3Ds Max and ZBrush for most sculpting tasks. Those users, who want to “go backstage” and see a character is created, should watch Pedro’s own short movie.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Santi Zoraidez has Argentinian roots, which has probably stirred his interest in rich and lively colors, interesting materials, and lights that he masterfully turns into captivating visuals. He is one of those famous 3D modelers, who see their mission in embellishing every scene with a particular mood and atmosphere.
A truly inspiring thing about this talented person is how beautifully he combines illustrations with cutting-edge digital effects. That’s probably the key reason for his success and growing popularity among such clients as HBO, Lexus, Ford, and Bulgari.
Location: Sydney, Australia
One of the most famous 3D artists of Australian origin. Luke Choice has won the hearts and minds of many companies with his advanced knowledge of 3D and typographic design. He masterfully creates dreamlike environments and color-filled compositions that vanish the boundaries of a real world and direct viewers to other dimensions.
He has been offering his services as an individual artist and also worked for the world’s top creative agencies in Britain, Australia, and the USA.
Deriving inspiration from comic books and cartoons, Luke produces really eye-catching designs that combine storytelling elements and innovative effects.
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dalmiro Buigues is a real jack of all trades trying to work in several adjacent design niches. He has shown his talent of taking eye-catching portraits, as well as nailed 3D media art for marketing purposes.
Not so long ago, he relocated to Buenos Aires and started to work for a famous local studio called Injaus Design. Thanks to his original vision and remarkable 3D design skills, he tightly cooperates with such agencies as The Grammys and Nickelodeon.
Location: Vancouver, Canada
What sets Ian Spriggs apart from dozens of other famous artists is his incredibly realistic 3D portraits. Actually, it would be more appropriate to call them digital doubles.
Not only demonstrates this artist his finished works but also shares experience and tips on how to achieve similar results. You can find his video guides on YouTube as well as written tutorials in 3D magazines. Ian says that Maya, Photoshop, Vray, and Mudbox are his go-to tools for all tasks, but he claims that the technical part is nothing without patience, hard work, and a good eye.
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Being engaged in 3D design for over 10 years, Peter Nowacki has many professional secrets to share with starters. He is mainly focused on texturing, lighting, shading, and rendering. He believes that there is nothing shameful about looking for inspiration on the web or in graphic design books and admits that he does it himself from time to time.
His career started in Warsaw, where he worked as a staff 3D artist in a CGI production studio called ArsThanea. He spent there 5 years and then decided to develop as an independent illustrator. His professionalism and solid reputation helped him attract such clients as Oppo, Facebook, HBO Asia, and Microsoft. The list of partners keeps extending.
Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Chris Labrooy tried to find his place among famous digital 3D artists by mastering several neighboring fields at once. He managed to bring his typography, architecture, product design, and visual art skills to the notch, so he is a really competitive player. Chris depicts regular objects in a mind-bending manner encouraging viewers to look more attentively at the surrounding world.
There is hardly another 3D artist capable of subverting and twisting normal objects into sculptural forms. He knows how to impress clients without crossing the line. Chris lives in Scotland, while his works amaze people on other continents.
You can see them in ads, mass media, on the net, 3D magazines, etc. Porsche, Apple, Citroen, and other illustrious manufacturers contact the artist for unique ideas.
Location: New York, USA
Looking through this 3D artist portfolio, you will be astonished by how versatile he is. Ben Fearnley devoted lots of time to mastering illustration, typography, digital art, graphic design, and animation, and actually realized his burning ambition. Nowadays, he is a world-recognizable CG artist, inspirer and visual storyteller.
His works prove his professionalism and a keen eye for details. Everything is nicely arranged in one composition that communicates a particular message. He thinks that every digital 3D artist should approach any task with a strong idea in mind that will further acquire an eye-pleasing visualization.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
This 3D model artist is fond of 3D/CGI and VR, which is clearly seen in his works. He cooperated with different companies across Europe and Asia for over 20 years, and then established his own agency called PZZZA.
Boldtron is sure that real success is possible if you are open to bold experiments, are ready to conduct researches, and don’t ignore new techniques. His style is perceived as organic and manual, while the output is always digital.
He can’t imagine his life without ongoing creative search and evolution of methods, so he doesn’t miss a single chance to review and reinvent his work. Thus, he keeps loyal to his primordial ideas but is flexible in every new collaboration.
Location: Michigan, USA
Finding the place on the arena of the best 3D artists is no easy task, but Mike Campau managed to do it with grace. He got the fame of a 3D artist whose images tell stories. It can be branding items, social projects, or any art form – there is a speaking message you can’t but notice.
He specializes in hybrid imagery which is actually a mixture of photography and CGI. Frankly speaking, it is impossible to name the best images in his portfolio, as all pieces deserve many complimentary words.
Mike spent 20 years improving his skills in graphic design, art direction, and CG, and worked with Pepsi and Sony brands among many others. He states that beginner 3D artists should step aside from traditional marketing and don’t try to mimic other creatives’ style. It is more important to define your own goal and persistently move in that direction.
Location: London, UK
Andrea Giordano is one of the most famous 3D game artists. She knows how competitive the sphere is, so she uses each opportunity to develop her texturing, sculpturing, and organic modeling skills. For today, she has 14 years of experience under her belt.
Andrea knows the peculiarities of different storytelling genres and can successfully cope with any task be it a cartoon or a fantasy movie. Having shown her talent to large masses, she was hired as a modeling and texturing specialist for the first season of Game of Thrones. CG dragons in the saga are her creation.
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Many know Jan Reeh as a head of a profitable creative agency Striker Digital in Prague. He is involved in advertising projects, movie and game design, and relies on 3Ds Max and Nuke for fulfilling most tasks. He can brag about a premium-quality portfolio full of numerous impressive samples.
If you are searching for professional help on how to become a good 3D artist, follow Jab on social media or subscribe to his YouTube channel and get a dose of creative inspiration on a regular basis.
Location: Dortmund, Germany
No other types of 3D artists can compete with Thomas Mangold when it comes to creating memorable, yet weird and even surreal scenes and characters. If you are after such offbeat projects, make sure to monitor his works. It is also a nice idea to check up his portfolio to grasp the meaning behind his quirky 3D characters.
Such a unique approach to 3D modeling can’t be neglected, so many world-leading companies got in touch with Thomas when they wanted to diversify regular content with something extraordinary. Among them are WWF, Syfy channel, and PlayStation.
Location: Montreal, Canada
This is a young artist, who got interested in 3D art when he needed to create attention-grabbing covers for his singles. He pays attention to different facets of our world, draws inspiration from regular scenes, and turns them into surreal scenarios that involve the 80s and 90s GCI touches.
He likes expressing a particular feeling with the help of 3D generated human models. The results are always fantastic. Merging bizarre backdrops and digital portraits, he catches viewers’ attention and keeps them intrigued for a long. His distinctive style has brought him world’s recognition.
Location: Moscow, Russia
Maxim manifests his genuine love for animals in his multiple works. He has been engaged in advertising, art directing, and graphic design for over 10 years and is willingly sharing his 3D artist portfolio tips with a younger generation. His portfolio features lots of amazing 3D works, so make sure you look it through.
What differentiates his works from hundreds of similar projects is how delicate and accurate the lines are. He also handles shadows very artfully so each element looks like a paper-like sculpture.
Location: Cologne, Germany
Cornelius Dämmrich is deservedly called the best 3D digital artist when it comes to building composition. He perfectly manipulates lightning to highlight particular items and evoke special feelings.
He uses real places as backgrounds for his works and experiments with IBL, physical sun environments, and square inverse area lights to give compositions a realistic look. He has recently finished the project entitled “6088AD” and written an in-depth tutorial that dwells on the creative process.
Location: Edinburgh, UK
Billelis comes from the UK, but he is well known far beyond his motherland. He chose dark visuals and decorative art as his specialization.
You will instantly recognize Billelis among other digital 3D artists thanks to his mesmerizing compositions with a dark background and different symbolic objects scattered in the front part. He is very accurate with every detail and skillfully unites contrasting colors in one harmonic whole. Many people describe his works as hyperreal.
Billelis finds inspiration in dark subjects and is fond of religion, baroque, gothic, and classical arts. He knows how to embellish dark objects and bring them together to make the audience marvel at the scene.
Location: Paris, France
Antoine Magnien is one of the best 3D digital artists of modernity and his portfolio is vivid proof of that. He mixes reality with abstract objects and appeals to viewers with engrossing results.
His most popular work is a series of 3D images for the Amnesty International marketing campaign. 3D stories drawn by the artist depict horrific scenes of lynching, murder and injustice, torture and violence against people with whom Amnesty International is fighting, trying to make our world brighter, kinder and fairer.
Location: Cologne, Germany
If you need a source of inspiration for your 3D visualization projects, Christian Behrendt has much to offer you. He shares his tutorials with all interested, so you can trace his progress and use the techniques described in your own work.
Christian believes that a good digital 3D artist should be brave enough to push the limits. Either he is engaged in exterior or interior projects, he always tries to make them as large and photorealistic as possible.
However, his interest isn’t limited to 3D architecture visualization only. There are also captivating 3D renders touching upon all kinds of topics in his freelance 3D artist portfolio. He often experiments with techniques but uses Cinema 4D as his main working tool.
Location: Bangalore, India
Prateek Vatash is one of those famous digital 3D artists, who know how to combine 2D and 3D visuals to get a beautiful outcome. He likes observing geometry in the world, deal with architectural, neon, and vintage objects, as well as play games and master typography. Such a spectrum of interests helps him produce vibrant color mixes.
He suggests beginner artists define what interests them more and go with the gut. If you do what you really like, you are sure to achieve success. It is very easy to get carried away with trendy graphic design ideas, but you need to develop your own style, give personal touches to our projects, and interest clients with unusual ideas.
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
Milica is undoubtedly one of the most famous 3D modelers and such reputation is well deserved. She works hard to create realistic characters, and she was also hired by leading brands to make believable 3D models of footwear and clothes. Her favorite tool was 3Ds Max, but then she switches to ZBrush, which gives better control over the organic sculpting process.
She always begins her work by drawing an inspiration board. Every order is unique and she does her best to satisfy clients. Milica often creates digital illustrations and then turns them into 3D designs. She encourages newbie artists to take different courses and watch video tutorials, read books and expand knowledge every single day.
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Istvan aka Chaotic Atmospheres has been engaged in 3D media art for 9 years already. He works as a freelancer and creates original designs with riveting forms and shapes. He grounds his works on the mathematic processes and catches people’s attention with natural elements and lifeforms.
The artist claims that Math is a really reliable way to understand nature, while professional tools help him present his ideas digitally. His projects contain both natural and digital forms that look harmoniously in one scene.
Location: Ludwigsburg, Germany
Raphael’s portfolio clearly signifies his interest in photorealism. He carefully plays with textures, shadows, and light patterns to create realistic renders.
Raphael Rau started as a game-oriented digital 3D artist, but later refocused on logo animation, CG shorts, and packshots. Nowadays, he is actively engaged in marketing campaigns and visualization projects.
Location: Warsaw, Poland
If you are big on 3D car art, make sure to check Piotr Kosinski’s portfolio and follow him on social media. He was the head 3D artist in several serious projects and successfully worked with W+K and TBWA.
To make viewers believe and even feel that they are sitting in the depicted car, Piotr skillfully draws textures, incorporates lighting and shadows.
Location: London, UK
Lewis Rowe lives in London but his creative adventures aren’t limited with territorial boundaries. He tightly cooperates with famous brands and has found his niche in the design industry. His main partners are McDonald’s, Transport of London, and T-Mobile.
In 2010, he was hired by beauty range Olay and created a series of 3D animal camouflage prints entitled “Hide Your Age”. These illustrations were really popular because of their realism. All patterns were well-thought-out and beautiful.
