Welcome to Photoshop Tutorials! How did you get started in design and what kept you going?
I think what keeps me on in design is that is always changing, you can explore different areas and find one that suits you, the feeling that every work will be different makes it fun to do.
Where do you get your inspirations from? Are there any artists that you look up to?
I heard recently that you’re as good as your reference, so besides working on your skills its useful to gather as much reference as you can, the more you see, the more creative your work will be. I look up to my coworkers, I was lucky to work with artists like them; I learned a lot of different Art disciplines. Also there are many contemporary Brazilian artists that I think have a unique way of working and combining tools to achieve some awesome art pieces (Tiago Hoisel and Pedro Conti for example)
What is the best part of being an Industrial Designer and CG Artist? Asides from designing, what do you do on your spare time?
To study design I think it help me a lot to understand shapes in a 3D way, also I learn to use the tools (2d and 3d programs). Knowing how things work usually helps a lot at the time to represent them. Also learning about textures and materials and what are they uses makes the results more appealing. That’s why in a future I want to also design and produce some toys, knowing the processes of manufacturing also comes in handy, and that’s part of what I studied as a designer.
In the “Bimbo Crunch” advertisement, you mentioned on your Behance project page that the main challenge was to mimic the real texture of the product and to make it look extra crispy. How long did it take you to overcome this challenge? What was the key to making it look extra crispy?
That piece of work was a real challenge, especially because I didn’t have the real product in my hands so I had to base all my work on a few photos. I think the key is to look at the very fine details, starting from the general shapes to actually modeling different pieces of bread crumbs to accomplish the same look. The texture was important as well, food usually has an effect called SSS (sub surface scattering), that may become the difference between a “plastic” look and a real look (that you can see often in 3d work, especially in skin, foliage and food.
We understand that you sometimes combine 3D software with Photoshop. Have you tried the 3D features in Photoshop Extended? What are some limitations of Photoshop for 3D work compared to using other 3D software?
I always combine Photoshop with my renders, there so much you can’t get from a raw render (such a camera artifacts and effects, volume lights, real contrast). I have tried the 3d features in Photoshop but they are limited, I think one program just cant do all the work. Neither the modeling tools or the render engine of Photoshop can’t be compared to a 3d platform, render engines now a days have really complex algorithms to mimic real lighting and I think that is hard to incorporate to Photoshop, still I find useful some of the tools like the 3dpostcard, I use that tool a lot to distort a texture without losing resolution, that is what happen with the “distort” transformation tool.
What projects are you currently working on? What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I’m currently working on personal projects, trying to make “object characters” that is something that I don’t do quite often and I get to mix industrial design with cg art (See image below). And I’m also working on different projects combining all the tools that I’ve learned so far (Photography, 3d Programs and illustration). I think it’s a big challenge to combine them in a smart way. But the early stages of this process show very interesting results, so I think you’ll be able to see some of the new works in a short future.
Thank you for interviewing with us Francisco. What advice would you give to other artists who are just starting off?
I’d say that they should find something that really motivates them, to focus on what they want to accomplish and then learn the tools to do it. There are so many good artists today and its really easy to show your work, so I think you have to try to be unique and also learn as much as you can of the digital tools and traditional art as well if you want to get some attention.
Thanks for the interview!
More about Francisco Rossi
You can see more work from Francisco Rossi at his website and Behance profile.
