Peter Alexander (Mythcons) is a content creator who specializes in stylized character creation. He was born in the USA but was raised in Canada where he currently lives. He was trained as a graphic designer but gravitated towards 3D design when he realized its potential as a creative outlet. He honed his skills as a freelancer until he eventually decided to create content for the Reallusion Marketplace. He has a wonderful sense of style and his work is very detailed.
Peter kindly answered questions and shared several renders of his work for our video gallery of his work at Reallusion. Be sure to visit his website by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.
Interview with Mythcons
Hi Peter, I like your work and am curious about your workflow in particular. What starts a project and does the final project reflect how you imagined the project to start with?
My workflow depends on the project, but for the most part, I start by pulling inspiration from Pinterest or Google Images. There are many artists more experienced than myself, and I have the luxury of leaning on their skill and experience to complement and build designs of my own. I also try to think ahead to anticipate my own limitations, the software capabilities, how much time will be invested if I go in a certain direction, and how to maximize a design based on these factors. While I am technically an artist and designer, a better name for my skill set would be a 3D Generalist. I try to leverage many ways of doing things to bring a project to fruition.
My projects often end up as something different from their starting point. However, that depends on the requirements of the project. If I’m required to follow a certain design, I don’t stray far from it. If I’m left to my own devices, I explore many possible variants and directions. For example, I may start with a zombie and end up with a necromancer. Or I may start with an ogre and develop a variant for a troll, a cyclops, or a minotaur. Things of that nature. Reallusion’s Character Creator can be an intoxicating experience for designers, as you can explore many possibilities very quickly. Characters tend to look nearly finished early in the design process, so your mind can be inundated with possibilities.
This is great, thank you so much! A few more questions if you please. What did you want to be when you were a child? I wanted to be an astronaut. How about you?
I always wanted to be an artist, specifically a comic book illustrator. The idea of being able to create what my mind could envision was always very alluring to me. Of course, being unable to create what my mind envisioned is frustrating, as many aspiring artists know. I stopped drawing in my teens but picked it up again when I began training as a graphic designer. While I never took to graphic design, I discovered 3D during this period in my life, and the rest is history.
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What are your influences as an artist?
My influences are many. Aside from my own Canadian culture and influences of American culture (comics, movies, TV, literature), I’ve developed an interest in many cultures by exploring religion and cultural folklore, both past and present. I have a soft spot for Japanese folklore, Greek and Norse mythology, and occasionally consume various manga and anime (especially the long-running One Piece series). Also, I really like simple, stylized artwork.
Do you have any advice for aspiring Content Developers?
It’s difficult to give specific advice, as there are so many directions this field can lead you down, and many people have difficulties in one area, but strengths in another. For example, I struggle with organization, attention, and written comprehension at times -- due to some mild cognitive issues – but I’m able to offset much of this with my passion for the work. It may take months or years to learn what you need to, but stick with it, believe in yourself, follow through with your ideas -- and just start somewhere. Small successes often lead to bigger successes.
If you already have the required knowledge and are looking to get started as a content creator, just pick an interest you have and get creating. Once you learn the technical requirements, you’re in a very good position to succeed at this.
Do you have any advice for aspiring Content Developers?
It’s difficult to give specific advice, as there are so many directions this field can lead you down, and many people have difficulties in one area, but strengths in another. For example, I struggle with organization, attention, and written comprehension at times -- due to some mild cognitive issues – but I’m able to offset much of this with my passion for the work. It may take months or years to learn what you need to, but stick with it, believe in yourself, follow through with your ideas -- and just start somewhere. Small successes often lead to bigger successes.
If you already have the required knowledge and are looking to get started as a content creator, just pick an interest you have and get creating. Once you learn the technical requirements, you’re in a very good position to succeed at this.
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