Renderosity is so pleased to announce that State808 has been chosen as Rising Star! for February, 2025.

 He grew up in the U.S. Midwest and studied art in college finding he was always interested in computers and graphics but stayed away from creating art that way, preferring, instead, to make oil and mixed media paintings, sculptures and installations. State808 found his inspiration in artists like Jasper Johns, Anselm Keifer, Rober Rauschenberg and Jospeh Bueys, who all use some aspect of mixed media and combine real objects with depictions.                                                       

He used to pursue showing and selling his work in galleries but soon discovered he hated the art business and how it handled artists’ work. Often pieces got sold to commercial groups, hospitals, and others that would display work and then ultimately throw it away when it became time to update their look. He hated that artwork was treated that way, so he chose to stop pursuing that world and just made pieces for private collections and productions.

 “What’s funny to me is that what I’m making now relates very much to my play as a boy. I used to spend a lot of time setting up scenes with action figures and then I’d take photographs of them. Now I’m just doing the same thing digitally,” he said.

 Questions and answers with State808.

 What happened for you to begin investigating 3D art?

 It turns out that the 3D world was a perfect fit for being able to make something I care about and know that I can get it distributed to those that really want to make use of it. Since paintings are one of a kind, they are gone forever if discarded. Digital work bridges that gap! That was what began my interest in trying digital creating.

What are the programs you first used while learning to create 3D graphics, and what are your favorite programs or tools now for work?

 I began with modding old games, and this led to me discovering Blender and paint.net. I used to make all my textures on paint.net and painted them “by hand.” Eventually I began to see artists who used Daz and it seemed like a good place to learn. I still use Blender and paint.net but I also use Substance Painter and some image editing software (Photoshop and Gimp) to do some color correcting.

What is your typical workflow for a design?

 I will gather reference photos that relate to what I’m building and then use these to help construct in Blender. From there, I unwrap everything and setup the UV maps in Blender and bring it all into Substance Painter to make the textures. Then I import things into Daz and set up the scene and get the textures in place.

How did you transition your interest in digital art to the production of commercial works?

 I had been making everything on my laptop and was feeling very limited by it. A friend suggested I could sell my models and I decided I would try it out as an experiment and hopefully could earn enough to build a PC powerful enough to make what I envision. Within the last month, I was able to do that…I hope there will be a noticeable jump in quality as a result!

What are your favorite projects to create and what has been the most successful for you?

 Since I’m just getting started, it has just been my Cyberpunk/Blade Runner-themed work. I really love making the lighting and getting the sets well lit enough that they don’t require a lot of time to light. I think I like creating very authentic feeling environments the most right now.

Are there other artists that influence your work or have mentored you?

In terms of digital work, I’m very interested in creating work that explores light and dark and in that sense Rembrandt does quite a bit! Ridley Scott’s work on BladeRunner and Alien. I also like to look at the work of friends I’ve made online like LevC, Animsakari, Vagrant3D and Tzompantli3D. I was very fortunate that they were willing to collaborate with me to make some renders of my sets.

What motivated you to become a vendor?

 Honestly, as I mentioned, it was an experiment. I had no real sense that anyone would want to buy what I was making. So I just gave it a try.

How did you make the decision to become a vendor at Renderosity?

 A friend had recommended the site, since I am relatively new to all this and didn’t really know where to sell.

How has Renderosity made a difference or helped in your growth as a vendor?

 First, whenever I submit a project, I know it will get tested and reviewed. Tima and Katherine have really been part of that learning curve for me. They will catch things I never thought of or even knew about. I’m grateful for all the patience and grace they’ve shown me. So now, I try to think of everything that could go wrong and address it before I submit it. I also have a group of people I send my sets to for “trying them out” to make sure I haven’t missed something.

What are some products you want to create in the near future and what goals do you have in mind as a vendor?

 I’m nearly finished with the last part of my 4 Quadrants! However, that isn’t the end. I will keep making vehicles and props and I intend to do some interiors and a rooftop scene before this series is complete.

Any last thoughts or comments for the community?

 Thank you for taking the time to read this and for checking out my work! I really love to interact with people about it, so if you have any thoughts, questions or suggestions please contact me.