We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizaveta Gaevaya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Elizaveta, appreciate you joining us today. 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.
Following my high school graduation, I was accepted into the BFA program at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. While going through the 3D Animation and VFX track, my goal was to learn as much as possible about computer art so that I could make an informed decision on what path I wanted to pursue. After completing my second year, I decided that there was nothing I wanted to do more than create environments.
In hindsight, I would have opted to use more references for my art. Nowadays, whether I am modeling or texturing something, I have a substantial amount of imagery to help me better visualize the asset I am creating. It would have also been very helpful to have pursued simpler projects than I did, as my overly ambitious goals caused me to burn out at times.
Having a strong basic knowledge of the programs I was working with would have also helped immensely. After attempting one of my very first environments, I learned that I simply lacked the skills to build a blockout for my work. Because of this, much of my work took longer than it needed, as I often found myself having to do constant rework in order to meet my quality standards.
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.
After graduating from Gnomon School of VFX, Games, and Animation, I began my journey as a professional Environment Artist. While I was in school, I enrolled in classes that gave me immense knowledge of 3D pipeline techniques, game development, and the programs used for these workflows. So far, my professional experience includes stints at two companies where I worked primarily with Unreal Engine 5, Autodesk Maya, and Adobe Substance Painter.
I currently work for a game studio called Gunfire Games. I leverage commercial and proprietary software to create high-quality 3D assets to fulfill the necessities of the projectʼs functional, artistic, and technical specifications. Being a part of such an amazing studio makes me realize that all the hardships I endured at school paid off, and that studying hard and learning the craft boosted my artistic abilities considerably. This is what I am most proud of; graduating from my dream school and landing multiple jobs after graduating.
I take great pride in the works that I have created, as they are a reflection of my true character and style. Staying true to your craft and putting in the necessary hours to bolster your knowledge help you to grow as an artist. I encourage all artists to expand their skills as much as possible and to never be afraid of tackling something that they’ve never done before.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect is seeing the finished result of all my efforts. When starting a new project, I always have a bit of self-doubt and worry that the vision in my head won’t translate into 3D. Since I rarely work from existing concepts, I create environments using my imagination, which requires a lot of research and development throughout the entire process. Little by little, the idea starts to materialize into something more robust. When I begin seeing that progress, it gives me a large burst of motivation and momentum, which eventually carries me through to the end of each project.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the biggest lessons I had to unlearn was doubting my artistic abilities and feeling like I was never good enough. It took years to find confidence in the projects I created for my portfolio, and even then, I sometimes had my doubts. Every day is a learning experience, and as an artist in such a competitive field, it is hard not to compare yourself to others. Nowadays, I look at other artists’ works as inspiration for my future projects. As soon as I finish a project, I try to look at things I have never done before in order to make my portfolio look as diverse as possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizavetagaevaya.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cgmishkalizka/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizaveta-gaevaya-97284a13b/
- Other: https://www.artstation.com/elizavetagaevaya