February 2006 AOM - stonemason

Each month the Renderosity community votes on The Renderosity Artist Of The Month [AOM] February's AOM artist is from the 3D Studio Max gallery. We congratulate stonemason [Stefan Morrell] for his outstanding collection of 3D Studio Max images.

Who is stonemason and how did you come by your username?
I worked as a stonemason for several years before getting an interest in CG art. I was doing a lot of historical restoration of old stone buildings as well as newer commercial buildings.

One of my earliest commercial products at Renderosity was a stone wall texture set. It was not only photographed by me, but the walls themselves were mostly built by me.

How's that for ensuring your copyrights are in order :) (lol)

Anyway..I found Renderosity while browsing the net looking for art sites. I wasn't expecting this to become my second home so choosing a username didn't exactly get a lot of thought. In retrospect I should have used my real name..Stefan Morrell. Though from a commercial standpoint the name 'stonemason' has a value of it's own so it's worth keeping. I'm born & bred in New Zealand.

How long have you have you been creating computer graphics?
About 3 years

Do you have traditional art experience?
No, I'm mostly self taught. I tend to crash through programs ..pushing buttons & wreaking havoc. Eventually you get a grasp of the tools & they become a part of the creative arsenal. I've always made art in one form or another though..pencils, pens, clay, stone, paint, photos, mashed potatoes..etc, etc..whatever works.

What are you currently working on?
Recently my attention is on private comissioned work and learning more about Matte painting/camera mapping.

What software/equipment do you use and why?
3dsmax for it's ability to do pretty much anything you can think of. I've also yet to see a polygon toolset that can match it. I use Z-brush for sculpting high-res geometry & generating displace maps, Photoshop for textures & any 2d work,& a good digital camera for texture & resource collecting.

What do you think your best piece of work is and why?
I hope it will be my next one! But, I don't know. Once an image is done I rarely go back & ponder it. Everything kind of blends into the next one.

Why do you like to work with 3D/2D software?
The freedom it allows. cntrl-z is something I could never do with oil painting or stone carving..ultimately just the massive assortment of tools that are available.

Who/what inspires you?
Anything..everything. One of my sci-fi scenes was inspired by the underside of an 18 wheeler while sitting at traffic lights. Others are created with the idea of simply making something that looks cool. Actually that's probably my philosophy in art..'make it look cool'. There are no deep messages in my images. It's just eye candy :)

How has this online community (Renderosity) enhanced your work, relationships, and learning?
I've met some great friends here at Renderosity, friendships that have even grown into business partnerships. I've also found the forums are a great place for learning.

Parting Comments/Advice to other Artists?
Have fun!

We invite you to view:

stonemason's Renderosity art gallery.

To learn more about Renderosity's Artist Of The Month [AOM] award, and to view our past AOM's, please visit the AOM 2006 page, which can also be found on the sidebar under Highlights.

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February 2006 AOM - stonemason

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