How long have you been working with graphics now? How did you get started in it?
I've been drawing for as long as I can remember but I believe I started playing with 3D around 5-6 years ago. I've been a Blender user for years and Blender was my main program up until I bought ZBrush. Blender was pretty much what kicked it all off. One day I saw an article about "Elephant's Dream" in a Danish newspaper and decided to take Blender out for a spin. And it just stuck, although by now I only use it for some retopology work.
I'm not really sure why I decided to play with 3D in the first place, as I don't have a clear memory of it but I'm sure it must have had something to do with the first Shrek and Ice Age movies. I'm pretty sure it was around there that 3D caught my eye but being very young at that time, it didn't get serious until I discovered Blender. I had actually downloaded Maya PLE a couple of years before I knew of Blender and I have fond memories of making C3PO out of a bunch of boxes or Godzilla out of a couple of spheres. I even animated my sphere "Godzilla". I'm sure I would have done it otherwise back then, had I known about this little thing called "extrude". But I guess when you are 12-13 it might be a little too early to play with Maya, especially when your first language isn't English. So I'm just glad I found Blender later on.
A lot of new artists feel overwhelmed by how much there is to CG. What is your advice for someone just starting out?
Figure out what you really like and focus on that to begin with. There is no doubt that it can be totally overwhelming to get started with CG. But if you've got a point to start from, the rest will usually follow more naturally; at least this has been the case for me. I've always known that what I wanted to do was to make characters, creatures, monsters, critters, aliens, etc., and modeling characters has just always been something that I've loved to do.
I've always felt that doing something three dimensional was more natural than drawing. So find out what you want and start with that. The rest will follow and you'll be more eager to learn it if you have a goal with what you are doing.
There are so many technical obstacles when working with CG, so you really have to take one thing at a time and let it take the time it takes. I'm probably not the best person at this myself as I'm horribly impatient and hate following tutorials but sometimes it's just necessary. What I would suggest is to find a way to make it more enjoyable to learn. Again, have a goal with what you are learning. Personally, I always try to apply new knowledge to something I really want to do. That way you force yourself to get the boring part over with and get to the fun part.
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