Interview with Art War 4 3D Winner: Yuichiro Fujita
What made you become an artist:
Dragon Ball (comics), Resident Evil (Gamecube), Sculpt Workshop by Hiroshi Katagiri
Favorite suite of software when working on 3D characters:
Blender, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Marmoset Toolbag, Marvelous Designer
Coffee or tea:
Black coffee to wake up. I’m always sleepy.
Good habits:
Started to going to the gym:)
Worst habit:
Stopped to going to the gym:(
Favorite games:
Overwatch, The Last of Us, Resident Evil(Gamecube) and Resident Evil 4
Music while doing art:
Spotify (Avicii, Weeknd), Youtube (Blender Guru, EGA-CHANNEL, 朝倉未来 Mikuru Asakura, 西野亮廣エンタメ研究所ラジオ), Podcast (大阪の一般人によるPodcast)
How to bounce back from a bad day:
Run
What’s your biggest inspiration:
Yoh Yoshinari, Akira Toriyama, Simon Lee, Tooth Wu, Sangsoo Jeong, Bayard Wu, Maria Panfilova
What is a good day:
Wake up early, work on artworks then play game with friends
Favorite quote:
Best way to learn is to teach someone else
Future goals:
Make NICE characters
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Yuichiro Fujita. I'm a character artist for a game company. In addition to character modeling, I've also worked on look development, animation and rigging, project managing and recruiting for a small CG movie company. Then, two years ago, I made the switch to the gaming industry.
I'm interested in new workflows and software, as well as creating character visuals.
What got you into character art, when did it all start?
I entered the CG industry, but there was a time when I didn't like CG itself.
But I participated in Katagiri Hiroshi's Sculpt Seminor and worked on my first analog work for three days. It was then that I realized that I loved creating characters.
From then on I decided to work on what I loved the most and immediately wrote "Character Artist" on my social media profile. I think that point is the start of my career as a character artist.
What influences were the most responsible for your current art style?
I loved Dragon Ball when I was a kid. I copied the picture over and over. Whenever I create a character now, I always try to create an attractive and impressive silhouette, and I learned that feeling from Dragon Ball.
What is your favorite piece of art you created? Why?
It’s “Hunter”. I created this piece based on a design by Satoshi Matsuura, an artist I love. I think I was able to successfully blend the distinctive silhouette of the character with the expressions I wanted to do.
How did you get to the level you are at today? Did you study in any particular way you would recommend?
When I decided to become a character artist, I started practicing 2D instead of 3D. I didn't use any 3D software for more than six months and drew 2D pictures, and although I didn't get to the professional level with 2D pictures, a lot of things I learned during that time have helped me with my 3D work.
There is also easier way to do it that I recommend. It's about looking at top-notch work on sites. If you think a piece is great, take the time to look at it. And it's a great study to think about why you feel great about it.
How did you begin the process of creating your piece? What was your inspiration?
I started by sketching when I made RAIJIN. The motif is the god of thunder, a Japanese god. The art style was also inspired by games like Blizzard and Darksiders Genesis.
What was your biggest hurdle during the process? What did you do to overcome it?
The thing is that there was only a month between the start of the production and the deadline. More than anything else, I had to be aware of my speed at all times. The topology was not included in the evaluation, so I used ZBrush's Decimation Master and UV Master to generate it automatically.
I also used Blender to increase the number of lighting iterations in a short period of time.
If you had to do it over would you do it differently? Why?
Yes, I would. I try to use a different style, different software, and different techniques each time I make a piece.
What did you learn from Art War 4?
One of the things I found at Art War 4 was how great it was to be stimulated by the other participants. I was motivated by the progress images that the participants uploaded each day. I feel more like a companion than a competitor.
I also liked that I was able to come up with my own workflow for the stylized character. However, the production period was short, so I would like to continue to study and improve the quality.
Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists out there who might be looking to get to your level one day? What's your recipe for success?
The important thing for me is to keep working on personal artworks. To maintain that motivation, I've invested time and money in attending workshops and buying tutorials.
Any final thoughts?
Now is the time for all the wonderful (and young!) artist's work can be seen on the internet. It may make you feel like you're not good at it, or it may make you feel less confident. I often feel the same way.In such cases, value the fact that you LOVE creating your work. If you like it and keep doing it, you'll get better at it someday. I'll try my best to be better too!
Follow Yuichiro on Twitter. Check out his winning piece here.