Cernoch Final Adamec created this image more than two years ago within 3ds Max and Shag:Hair. As the artist points out, this was one of his first “proper” (realistic) human characters.
Fantasy Life Inspired by a 2D illustration by Stephen Hickman, Adamec created this landscape in 3ds Max.
Shade Adamec used 3ds Max to craft this image, to help him perfect lighting and shading techniques.
Most digital fine artists begin crafting their artwork within the traditional realm, and later apply those concepts to a virtual canvas. However, for Jiri Adamec of the Czech Republic, his first foray into the art world-which occurred five years ago-involved a computer and software, not paints and brushes. In another unusual twist, Adamec didn’t take this step with typical 3D digital content-creation software; instead, his first modeling/painting tool was Quake 3 Radiant, a mainstream editor for Quake 3 Arena technology games.
“[The tool] inspired me, but it was not any easy way to work,” says Adamec. “So, soon thereafter, I turned to [Autodesk’s] 3ds Max and began applying universal procedures of art creation.”
A quick study, Adamec honed his artistic skills for two years as a hobbyist before finding a job as a professional 3D graphic designer. Currently, he works as a freelancer, with a specialty in generating real-time characters, although he also crafts cartoons, cars, and architecture. So what makes Adamec’s digital art unique? “It’s mainly my characters,” he says. “I am still at the beginning of the learning experience, and I like to learn by studying Old Masters to understand the reflectivity of light in productions, the temper of an image, its style, color, and more. But I also believe I have my own style, and I plan to continue to evolve it.”
Currently, Adamec uses 3ds Max, Softimage XSI, and Pixologic’s ZBrush as his 3D software packages of choice, along with Adobe’s Photoshop and Right Hemisphere’s Deep Paint.
Some of Adamec’s art has appeared on Web galleries, and a number of his images have been featured in coffee-table art books. Some examples of Adamec’s work are highlighted on these two pages. - Karen Moltenbrey
Dowager Using 3ds Max, Softimage XSI, and Shag:Hair, the artist recently spent four days creating this human figure depicting a wealthy widow. He spent a good deal of time trying to capture the proper expression.
So many human CG figures are of women, so the artist decided to create a 3D image of a man. Thus, he generated this portrait of his best friend, using 3ds Max, Softimage XSI, and Ornatrix.
Skretdite Generated in 3ds Max, Softimage XSI, and Shag:Hair, this image originated as a test image of a child with the character Skret. The artist spent approximately four hours completing the piece.