Alex Alvarez

Avatar

alexalvarez — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:12:48 +0000

Wow… what a frickin amazing movie this turned out to be!!! Thank you Neville Page (lead creature designer who hired me) for giving me the opportunity to be involved in something so special. I took a seven month ’sabbatical’ from Gnomon to work full-time in the art dept from ‘06-’07, knowing that the experience of working on an epic sci-fi Cameron was something I just couldn’t miss. There were about 25 artists at Lightstorm where I worked (more at other locations), and being in the same place as Neville (with whom I shared an office), Ben Procter, James Clyne, Yuri Bartoli, Tully Summers, Tyruben Ellingson, Daphne Yap, Jordu Schell, etc… was truly a privilege. When I joined the creature crew, everything was being done 2D or in clay, so my role was to bring in 3D so that I could further develop some of the creatures in ways that 3D is best suited. During my time there I also introduced the creature designers to Zbrush and, of course, they have all since then come to heavily rely on this amazing tool. I worked a lot on the Banshee, as well as the Leonopteryx, Fan Lizard, Woodsprites, Direhorse, and some other secondary creatures….resolving 3D models, doing texture/shader look development, integration tests with paintings by Dylan Cole, rigging and pose tests, animation, etc. Its crazy that this is almost two years ago… What Weta pulled off is just mind boggling. Really the most overwhelmingly intense non-stop visual feast I’ve ever seen. It has been quite a while since I wanted to see a movie again, immediately. I’ve only seen it twice, but I know another viewing is right around the corner. Hats off to the hundreds of artists who contributed to it and to James Cameron for being a genius (who btw wasn’t a tyrant as people say, but was always quite friendly during his weekly visits with the creature crew). And thanks again Neville! $2B and counting. Crazy.

Returning to Singapore in December!

alexalvarez — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:41:23 +0000

Well, looks like I’m off to the other side of the world again next month! I’ve been invited to speak at the Entertainment Design Masters Showcase, Dec 12 + 13, along with Neville Page, Scot Drake and Feng Zhu. If you live in that part of the globe, it sounds like something worth checking out!

More info here.

Interview with me in 3dcreative magazine!

alexalvarez — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:34:55 +0000

The good folks at 3Dtotal were kind enough to ask me to do an interview for their downloadable PDF magazine… which was just released. The article has a bunch of my work and images of the Gnomon campus and they were kind enough to give me a bunch of space… 17 pages! Thanks to Tom, Lynette and Rich for your interest!

Their mag really has a lot of great content… I highly recommend getting a subscription.

Check it out! click here

Gnomon Master Classes Online

alexalvarez — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:47:15 +0000

Hi all… So I just organized this year’s Master Classes for Gnomon and it should be awesome! Craig Mullins, Iain McCaig, Sze Jones, Neville Page, Feng Zhu and many more amazing artists will be sharing their techniques, workflow, thoughts on design, etc. Definitely check it out! click here for more info.

me on the Carson Daly show?

alexalvarez — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:59:50 +0000

Pretty unexpected, but I got a call a couple weeks ago from the Carson Daly show wanting to spotlight me and Gnomon! They came to Gnomon last week to interview me and film the school. It aired a couple nights ago and it turned out pretty cool! Just ignore Carson’s embellishments in the beginning. I am not one of the best creature designers in the world. heh.

To check it out, click here.

Fast Company Magazine - Profile on Gnomon/me!

alexalvarez — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:34:28 +0000

Check it out… Fast Company magazine has done a feature story on Gnomon/me for their July issue, just hitting the shelves this week! Very cool… Thanks so much to Diane for her interest and support with this story! Once I have permission I’ll post a link to the story, but for now, if you’re interested, you’ll need to get the magazine. Perhaps they will put it on their website soon…

CG Overdrive - fun in Singapore

alexalvarez — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:18:08 +0000

Well, CG Overdrive came and went. Thanks so much to Sen, Justin and Elle for inviting me to Singapore. I had a great time there and look forward to going back next year! (hope I get invited back, heh). It was very nice to see familiar faces and meet some very talented artists. Thanks Martin for the pics! Below: dinner with Martin Krol, Feng Zhu, Tony Kieme and Peter Nalli.

New Image: Draeke

alexalvarez — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:23:04 +0000

Draeke: Spectral Harbinger of the Orbital Guild

Just finished a new image thanks to catching a cold and being away from work for a couple weeks. heh. I’ve added it to the 3D Artwork page with a link to a high-res version… as that’s how it is intended to be seen. Now it is time to do a big print! I just wish I could display it on a framed 40″ vertical HD screen as that would just be so much better than paper…

-Alex

CG Overdrive - Keynote Speaker

alexalvarez — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:51:16 +0000

I’m honored to have been asked to be the Keynote Speaker for the upcoming CG Overdrive conference this June in Singapore! I plan on speaking about, of course, the importance of education in our industry… not just for students, but for professionals as well.

Entertainment Design @ Gnomon

alexalvarez — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:43:48 +0000

So we are very excited to have recently announced our new Entertainment Design program at Gnomon! Launching this summer, the one year full-time program will be a great opportunity for those seeking a career as either a 2D or 3D artist in the industry. I wish I had the time to attend… heh. But I will definitely be sneaking in to some of the new courses.

We just had our first Advisory Board meeting which was truly inspirational and exciting. The members are all such wonderfully talented people who are, like me, passionate about education and helping aspiring artists fill their potential. Here is a pic from the evening:

pictured from left to right: Aaron Sims, Jerry O’Flaherty, Fausto de Martini, Ben Procter, Neville Page, Iain McCaig, David Levy, Dylan Cole, me, Darrin Krumweide. Missing… Jonathan Berube cuz he was taking the picture.