Into drawing and art at an early age, having started elementary school a little late and looking for something to fill his time, Nanothect, also known as Rob, our June 2024 Artist of the Month, was born in Aldershot, a Garrison town in south east England to a paratrooper’s family.    

“We moved around a lot, as you do with the Army. Two places I remember were Plymouth where I loved looking at the ships, and Ruislip where I went to live with my grandparents because my parents had split up,” he said.

Rob wound up living with his father spending hours watching the activity on several military bases and learning to draw paratroopers, ships, various vehicles, and even imagining spaceships, which led to his passion for Sci-Fi.

“When I was 16, I joined the Army and went to Junior Leaders School, what you probably call military academy. When I completed about 16 months of training, which alas involved me losing about 40 percent of my hearing, I moved to 'The Life Guards Household Cavalry' regiment in Windsor,” he recalled.

A little later, Rob's exemplary service took him to Cyprus to serve for 6 months in the UN Peace Keeping Force where he received his first and only medal just before turning 18.  “When in Cyprus I used to draw comic pics for the Regiment magazine, so I guess that's where wanting to do art really began,” he said.

He became seriously interested in digital art when he bought an Amiga to play games, and bundled with it was 'Deluxe Paint.'

“Wow, it was so cool! I started buying Magazines like 3D World and one day they put this program on the cover disk called Bryce, and the rest is history," he said.

"I forgot to mention, in 2004 I found this wonderful site called Renderosity, where you could actually upload your art to!"

What are your favorite subjects? What do you really get immersed in?

Films, games and music are my passions and the source of my art. I must add that in 2010 I stopped posting art and went off for 14 years! to play games on my Xbox. I only came back in Feb this year...I had to re-learn everything.

Living in the U.K. what experiences influence your art? Is or are there other artists that influence you, or do you have a mentor that has helped at any point?

I can't really say living in the U.K. does anything for my art, but thinking about it, we do have a Castle here in Shrewsbury...Hah you've just given me a new idea!

I am inspired by Hajime Sorayama for his robots, Frank Frazetta for his fantasy style and Chris Foss for his spaceships, and don't forget H.R. Giger for his ground breaking alien style. I must mention I have 4 mentors here on Renderosity, ladylake, a former AOM who I go running to whenever I have a problem and she's also a Super Artist,  UteBigSmile who inspires me and is a shining example of how to not only do fantastic art, but how to interact with and treat people. bob4artist because he's forgotten more than I know about art, and a real art techie. And finally, JohnnyM for his articulate altruistic comments and support.

What ideas do you have for future projects?

I see myself as a complete noob and I'm my biggest critic. For the future I need to learn more styles, and maybe one day to actually produce something original; just don't hold your breath!

You mentioned hearing issues beginning at a young age. How is that affecting your ideas and creativity?

Because my hearing loss became progressively worse over the years from 40 percent to now about 70 percent, I almost became a misanthrope but decided to be a recluse instead. So that benefits my art in the amount of time I can spend doing something where I don't have to speak or listen. For me Renderosity is a safe place where I can focus on ideas and creativity. I must add, I haven't mentioned my hearing to garner sympathy, I just wanted you to know what makes me tick. Also, and this is my own humble opinion, I'd much rather be deaf than blind...I just can't imagine the world those poor souls live in.

What does sitting down to create art mean to you?

I really can't fathom why, but it makes my heart sing. I just have this burning desire to get what's in my head out to Renderosity so everyone else can see it.

What tips do you have for those who are just getting started in 3D.

I can't say I'm actually qualified to give advice, as I mentioned before, I'm a noob, who is still learning. To me it sounds pretentious, but if I was to say anything, it would be, don't give up, it probably will feel like total overload on your brain to start with, but eventually it will all click into place.

What do you most enjoy about positive feedback on your images?

The very fact that someone would actually like my image and take the time to say so makes it all worthwhile. Thanks Guys!