Hasta La Motion!

Sun 19th Apr 2015, by Mike Hepburn | Peoplestudios

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Luca Nemolato is a Concept and 3D Artist, who moved from Naples, Italy, to the bright lights of Los Angeles four years ago. In a relatively short time this talented artist has built an impressive portfolio with work from some of the best VFX movies, TV shows and games of recent times. CGSociety recently caught up with him.

Please describe what you do.

I am a Concept Artist and 3D Artist for the entertainment Industry. I specialize in designing Characters, Creatures, Costumes, Props, Vehicles and Keyscenes for Movies, TV Shows, Video Games and Commercials.

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What are some of the projects you have worked on / clients or studios you’ve worked with?

I worked for films such as The Conjuring, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1&2, Jupiter Ascending, Noah, Maleficent, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , X-Men: Days of Future Past , 300 Rise of an Empire and TV Shows such as Falling Skies, Once Upon a Time, Wayward Pines and more.

What’s the most indispensable tool in your software arsenal?

Definitely the most important tool for me is Zbrush. I use Zbrush every day for pretty much all the designs I do; it’s super versatile software, which allows the user to work freely in 3D, like you were working with real clay. And that’s the most important aspect for me. I come from a fine art background so I need that attachment to reality. Also what I love about Zbrush is that there are hundreds of ways to do one thing, and is up to the users to decide how to use it and come up with new solutions, is definitely an artistic tool more than a technical one.

You said you come from a fine art background. When, why and how did you get into the digital realm? And, how do you think a fine art background has helped you as a digital artist?

I studied fine art in Italy, specializing in painting, sculpting and architecture. It was around the age of 16 when my father introduced me to digital tablets, he has always been supportive of me and my will to become an artist, so he constantly pushed me to be better and try new techniques.

So, I got interested in this new tool and started to study speed paintings on YouTube, I got obsessed with the works of Nico di Mattia and how well he was painting in digital. So I took it as a new challenge and started to do my own speed paintings, it wasn’t easy , at the beginning I couldn’t even draw with the tablet, but today is my number one tool. One of the main reasons why I got so obsessed with the digital media is that it was way more accessible then the other media; I could paint and sculpt anytime I wanted not worrying about going out to buy colors or cleaning up all the tools.

Is there something you are currently working on, or are excited about starting, that you can tell us about?

I’m actually working on some really cool TV Projects, but one in particular is really, really exciting, but is also super-secret so I can’t really talk about it. But it will come out really soon and is going to be really cool!

Sounds awesome, please keep us in the loop!

Whose work (both past and present) do you really admire and why?

On top of my list there is of course the man I consider my mentor: Jerad S. Marantz (http://jeradsmarantz.cgsociety.org/). I met him when I attended his creature design course at Gnomon. Then I worked with him at Aaron Sims Company and I learned most of the things I know from working with him every day and asking him questions – he was always ready to answer all the questions I had and to give me great advice.

The list goes on of course, with great artists such as Carlos Huante, Constantine Sekeris, Neville Page, Aaron Sims and Gabriele Dell’Otto I really admire their work too. I’m definitely influenced by a lot of artists, I always look and draw from reference to learn more and more, I never stop buying their books and watching their tutorials. It is definitely something that will help you improve really fast.

What movie from the past do you wish you had worked on and why?

I would have definitely loved to work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy; it’s one of my favorite movies of all time. And of course there is also Avatar, which would have been a dream too with all that creatures to design.

When not creating world beating art, what do you like to do? What are you currently reading, listening to or looking at to fuel your work?

First of all my job is also my hobby and my passion so I consider myself really lucky, I’m always drawing, painting and sculpting in my free time, so most of the time if I’m not working , I’m doing the same job but for fun and passion!

But of course I have a lot of interests. I’ve done Kick Boxing for 7 years, and I recently started to Surf. And there is of course the most fun thing to do of all, which is going out with my friends and meeting beautiful women. I’ve been reading a lot, of course about my job but also about reason, religion and science. I’m currently re-reading “The end of Faith” by Sam Harris, a book that I suggest to everybody. I’m not a music kind of guy, most of the time I have to admit that it’s really boring to me, I rarely listen to music, but I watch a lot of movies and TV shows and documentaries to learn while I’m working.

Taking a break from art, doing something else is really important, that helps me getting new ideas and refresh my mind.

What would be your #1 advice to other artists?

My #1 advice is to never stop following your dreams. Everything is possible when you deeply want something; there are no excuses not to pursue your dreams. Keep pushing yourself to overcome your limits, be ready to receive a lot of negative feedback out there but don’t let them stop you if you believe in your dream!

If you don’t follow your dreams the regret will be with you for the rest of your life, and it will be really sad one.

Thanks so much for spending some time with us Luca. We look forward to seeing more of your work over the coming decades!

Links

CGPortfolio :nemolato.cgsociety.org

Website: www.lucanemolato.com

Facebook fan page:www.facebook.com/lucanemolato

Twitter: @LucaNemolato