Interview with Marco Menco
Interview with professional character cg artist – Marco Menco, the creator of “Smoking Creature” and “Dante’s” artworks!
When did you start learning computer graphics? In the beginning was it just your hobby or immediately became your professional job? Did you study cg somewhere? When I was studying at the Academy, I chose a course called Theory and Technique of Visual Communication where I learned a little bit of everything: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Movie directing and history of art. Unfortunately there arent any good 3D course here in Italy so I had to learn practically everything by myself. This was the 2004. So I am self taught! But I decided from the beginning to study 3D not as a hobby, but because I wanted and I want to work in the movie industry. Now Im finishing my reel and in the mean time Im having fun and making some money with freelance work. |
How long have you been working in CGI? What do you do mostly in cg: modelling, texturing, rendering, etc.? Where are you currently working? I started with the will to learn animation, but when I put my hand on modeling its the best sensation I have ever felt! I love to invent and create creatures. I also like to render and I still want to learn animating but one step at a time. Recently, Ive been busy with my final thesis for my Bachelor of Arts, and it was hard but really fun, especially because I was doing something that Ive really liked. Now with my old work and the thesis done, Im gathering all the stuff to prepare my reel and present it to the industries, and as I said before, Im also doing some freelance. |
What rules in your opinion it is necessary to adhere while creating such big artworks? What makes things easier for me is having a clear idea of what I was doing. Also the will and the believing were important, and of course the fun too! This is a rule for everything That was the first time in doing that kind of artwok, with environment and characters I use to do characters. You can understand that I was doing that for my Bachelor, and it was important to make my will stronger, because the prospective that this work was closeing an era of my life and making space for a new one it was really motivating. |
What is the current project youre working on? Ive just finished the Wolf of the Inferno and now I have in mind to change a bit the main theme. Im not sure of what Im going to do, youll know soon :). |
Do you have some kind of hobby that isnt connected with cg? Mh not really :). I did martial arts, Jujitsu, and I love it! But I stopped when I started the Academy what a shame! I plan to go back sometime in the future . I also like the traditional sculpting, I do it sometimes when I have time. Id like to spend more time on sculpting with clay, I hope it will be possible in the future. |
What is your point of view on traditional art like painting, sculpting, etc.? What do you think about abstract art? Traditional art is always important especially figurative traditional art. I love sculpting as I said before. Figurative is especially important because of the masters of the hystory of art, and if you want to know the rules of the composition, proportions, that are used even now in the contemporary figurative art, movie industry, video games, you have to search in the traditional art. About abstract art I have to say that art is always becoming other art, and abstract is other art. It is not an evolution, it is another point of view. I have to say that I prefer figurative, because I am a man attached to the flesh and the feeling of human beeing. I see and I feel the shapes, beautiful or deformed shapes. For example the pain, the pleasure, the stress, ect. Its great when you can recognize the feeling from an expression! It is important for me that I can imagine or recognize what Im feeling or what Im seeing. Mine is just another point of view. |