3D Toolkit: 3D Digital Artist Research

3D Artist Roles:

3D Character Artist

3D Character Artists create lifelike or stylized characters for games, films, and animation by transforming 2D concepts into detailed 3D models.

Tasks:

• Model, texture, and shade characters using tools like ZBrush and Maya

• Ensure characters are ready for animation

• Collaborate with animators and art directors

Skills & Tools:
Strong anatomy knowledge, experience with Substance Painter, Unreal Engine, Blender.

Links

• CG Spectrum: Character Artist Guide

• Betterteam: 3D Artist Job Description

3D Environment Artist

Environment Artists build realistic or fantastical settings for digital media, enhancing storytelling and gameplay.

Tasks:

• Model terrains, buildings, and props

• Apply textures and optimize for performance

• Work with level designers to support gameplay

Skills & Tools:
Blender, 3ds Max, lighting and composition, game engine optimization.

Links:

• ScreenSkills: 3D Modelling Artist

• Celarity: 3D Artist Role
  
  

Example of 3D Artists:

Brief Summary of Artists
Beeple (Mike Winkelmann)

Beeple is a pioneering digital artist respected for his daily digital creations, known as the Everydays series. In 2021, his compilation Everydays: The First 5000 Days was sold as a NFT for $69 million, marking a historic moment in digital art sales. His art often features dystopian themes, blending political commentary with futuristic visuals.

• Website: beeple-crap.com

• Instagram: @beeple_crap
  

If we are to acknowledge the art piece above, we are able to infer the type of artist Beeple is. This piece, that was sold for $69 Million as an NFT, expresses the bold, futuristic and almost pop-culture infused art style he presents. This piece along with others are naturally seen as surreal as it hints to real life however the colours are much more vibrant, the piece is abstract and the impact you get from examining his work is nothing short from a smack to the face. He is an artist that utilises photo realism whilst incorporating dynamic perspectives and textures in his work.

Refik Anadol

Refik Anadol is a Turkish-American media artist known for using AI and machine learning into his installations. His Machine Hallucinations series utilizes vast datasets to create dynamic visual experiences, exploring the intersection of technology, memory, and perception. Anadol's work has been exhibited globally, including at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Grammy Awards.

• Website: refikanadol.com

• Instagram: @refikanadol

In comparison to Beeple, Refik Anadol is best known for his much more abstract and fluid artwork. Whilst Beeple's work carries a message and has a theme of obsurdity. Anadol's work revolves around machine intelligence and flow. As shown in the piece above it is not as bold. Instead it holds that ethereal sense to it as an abstract and colorful artist.

What links the two artists together is not only their occupations but the use of futurism as a theme that is made to evoke a feeling into its viewers.

Reflection: How has this helped inform me as an artist?

As an artist, the information gathered here is valuable as I am able to not only see exemplary 3D artists that have made a standing for themselves in the industry. It allows me to see that 2D art is not all there is to it.
3D Art is technical, difficult even yet the rewards are clear after seeing Beeple's NFT results in pricing.
To be a known artist, one that is called upon, I believe that taking on skills that aren't just 2D but also 3D art would better help develop me as a person and allow myself to find more job opportunities in the industry.

Harvard Referencing:

Anon, 2018. About Refik Anadol [online]. Refik Anadol. Available at: https://refikanadol.com/refik-anadol/ [Accessed 17 May 2025].

BBC News, 2021. Beeple’s NFT digital art nets £50m at Christie’s auction [online]. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-56362174 [Accessed 17 May 2025].