We were lucky to catch up with Derek Yu recently and have shared our conversation below.
Derek, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I learned to use different art mediums and software through self-teaching using online resources. In this modern age with the internet and advanced technology, we can learn anything we want with the click of a button. Learning any skill on your own has never been easier than it is today. I have always been an advocate for self-learning because not only can it be incredibly motivating, you can learn at your own pace in a way that is comfortable and efficient for you. However, I also believe that being “completely self-taught” isn’t ideal because seeking guidance can help avoid many pitfalls. Reflecting on my journey, my stubbornness to ask for help cost me many extra hours, yet it made me more familiar with my skill set, presenting a double-edged sword. Nonetheless, having a mentor to guide you is important, if possible. For instance, I’ve recently sought mentorship to enhance my 3D modeling and game asset creation skills, learning from visionary hard surface artists like Jerry Perkins and Cohen Brawley with great results.
I think the most essential skill is learning how to learn first. I think many of us, including me in the past, often focus too much on working hard or cramming in as much information as possible without considering how we approach learning. In my opinion, everyone should experiment and find a learning style that they are comfortable with. For me, I learn through personal projects as I found myself having more motivation doing the things that mean more to me personally. After the initial beginner learning curve, I only search up specific tutorials when encountering a particular problem. Since the solutions are immediately applicable, it helps me remember these tutorials better and prevents me from going down a loop of mindlessly watching useless tutorials that gets me stuck in “student mode”. This mirrors the issue with academic teaching, where many students struggle with engagement and performance due to a lack of understanding of the relevance of what they’re learning. I’ve experienced this myself, finding that learning with urgency and purpose is more effective. While there are no easy solutions to improve the education system as a whole, we can use a sense of purpose to guide our own learning journey. I advise against endlessly watching tutorials and trying to master every single tool until you eventually get burned out or lose interest; instead, think about what you want to create and learn the necessary tools from there.
Personally, the biggest obstacle that stood in the way of learning more is the lack of motivation and pressure that we sometimes face as creatives. The path to learning is virtually limitless, but it is common for us to sabotage our own progress. Comparing oneself to professional work can be daunting and lead to feelings of inadequacy. However, I do think healthy comparison is beneficial, but only once you’re comfortable with your current skill level and ready to learn by analyzing the work of others. Of course, these experiences are subjective and like I mentioned before, everyone has their own method of learning and it is crucial to find the one that works for you.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
When I was little, I tried my hand at many things: chess, piano, dancing, swimming, you name it. However, none of these pursuits captured my interest, and I wasn’t particularly good at any of them. Between the demanding schoolwork and extracurriculars of a competitive elementary school, my only downtime was the hour of playtime with friends each day after school. We would come up with games of our own, making costumes out of papers and drawing art for our make-believe adventures. The spark in my friends’ eyes whenever I shared my new game ideas was a turning point for me, as it helped me realize my passion for game design.
This dream of creating my own games and sharing the joy they bring has only grown stronger as I’ve matured and begun my university journey. Currently, I am studying game design and development, focusing primarily on concept art and design, with a secondary emphasis on computer programming. I first stepped foot into the digital art world through learning 3D modeling for video games. Coming from a background in traditional art, I was able to pick up the free 3D software Blender relatively quickly. After completing my first YouTube tutorial, I was hooked, dedicating many hours each day to mastering various aspects of 3D modeling. With years of research and practice, dissecting the highest quality game-ready tutorials, I have developed my personalized game-ready asset creation workflow that integrates different tools to achieve optimal quality and efficiency. I tend to explore more experimental techniques and emerging software to keep up with the new technology and discover innovative ways to enhance the creative process.
Despite my deep dive into 3D art, I haven’t lost touch with my roots in 2D drawing. I firmly believe that techniques learned across different art domains can be combined to create unique artworks. My goal is to merge 2D and 3D workflows and push the boundaries of my concept art abilities.
Now, I balance my time between freelance work as a hard surface concept and weapon artist and my studies at New York University. I’ve contributed to various indie games and short films, actively seeking to further broaden my knowledge in the world of concept art. I’ve also had the privilege of learning the AAA hard surface workflow from industry veterans, whose guidance and critique has been instrumental in the quality of my assets. However, I believe my greatest strength lies in my ability to learn and communicate effectively with team members and clients. For example, During a freelance project, the client tasked me to create game-ready 3D models based on the concept art provided. This project presented a unique challenge: the concept art was limited to side views with some details difficult to make out. However, through communicating with the client and asking for feedback at every stage, I was able to integrate my own interpretation of the concepts and make sure that they aligned with the client’s vision. Collaborating with the client in the asset-making process not only helped in overcoming the limitations of the concept art but also taught me the importance of clear and frequent communication. Through feedback implementations and time management, I was able to deliver models that satisfied the client on time, all while attending university classes.
My experience extends to working with upcoming small indie studios. This differed from freelancing as I was more involved in the entire development process due to the teams’ smaller size. Juggling between game design, concept art, and 3D modeling, the tasks quickly became overwhelming. In order to balance my work, I needed to enhance my time management and project organization skills. However, I took the opportunity to study how more experienced members were able to organize and track their tasks. Engaging with the studio’s team members and observing their workflow, I learned valuable project management techniques, which I then adapted and implemented into my workflow with my other projects. These experiences have contributed greatly to making me a better team member and reminding me why I fell in love with game development in the first place: a shared experience with others working towards the same thing.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
In my opinion, not all creatives need to have a grand mission or noble goal that strives to change society. Although having those goals is admirable, one only needs a simple reason to start creating, as is the case for me. Growing up building Legos and being influenced by science fiction books and films, I became fascinated by futuristic technology and fantastical stories. I wanted to show my imagination to the world, and I thought the best way of expressing my ideas was through visual art. What drives me in my creative journey is relatively simple: I want to design fictional worlds that people can immerse themselves in and make them feel the sense of amazement that I felt watching those films and animations; I want to show my imagination to the world. I hope there is a sense of genuineness in the simplicity of my artworks that can be relatable to many other creatives who might feel that their work is not “deep” or meaningful enough. It is not just the depth of an artwork that makes it great, but the combination of many other elements such as raw passion, spectacle, and uniqueness. I do not mind if my work is more geared towards simple entertainment and providing epic visuals to the audience. I do not pretend it is anything more than that, and I am happy if my imagination can inspire a few people along the way.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the vision that was once just in my mind came to life. There is something magical about turning your imaginations into something real in the form of an artwork, animation, or other forms of visual media. Imagination is one of the few valuable things that we carry from childhood into adulthood. It embodies a certain innocence, along with a sense of childish joy and excitement. Without it, the world would be much duller, and I do not want to lose that. It is also very fulfilling when someone looks at work and feels inspired by it. I have received letters from anonymous individuals stating how much they enjoyed my artwork when I was in middle and high school, and I still keep them in my journal. These are some of the most genuine compliments I have gotten, and they kept me going as an artist during my darkest times. Over the years, I have learned that art is not just a solo endeavor, but a collaborative project. We constantly inspire and are inspired by others, and it is the shared experience of peeking into other people’s unique minds that makes being an artist rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.artstation.com/f1shy
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/f1shy4/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derekf1shyyu/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fishguy42
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkwP9DVlCsMy_WC2p5XRYHg