Mastering Media
In traditional art, artists must go
through a period of practicing in the
medium, be it watercolors, pen and
ink, or pencil. Once these techniques
are learned, artists experience a second phase: gaining mastery over the
subject matter. They strive to achieve
realism. Finally,
a third stage
involves reaching
toward a personal
style that enables
self-expression.
A good example is Vincent van
Gogh. When he began as an artist
at age 27 in 1880, his first drawings
were crude and badly proportioned.
After two years of practice, his draw-
ings had vastly improved. Not only
were his portraits correctly proportioned, but his use of angles, lighting,
and shading improved as well. His
first paintings were fairly realistic
and somber in color. It took him the
remaining few years of his life to
fully develop the colorful expression-
istic style he
Three-dimensional is famous for.
modeling is a new medium This same
pattern is demon-
for student self-expression. strated by students
in three-dimen-
sional modeling. Students must first
master the software programs, learn-
ing the tools and functions, the menu
choices and settings, and use them
to create realistic objects. They must
learn how to import and map textures
onto the surface of objects, then compose the objects together to create an
entire scene as viewed from the virtual camera. Atmospherics and lighting are added and the entire scene is
“photographed” or rendered to create
the final image.
Developing Style
It takes practice to learn how to
model efficiently and accurately.
Once the software (medium) is
learned and realism achieved, the
three-dimensional artists can develop
their own style, just as a watercolor
painter masters and then surpasses
the limitations of the medium. In
this respect, three-dimensional art
