Who are you?
My name is Flavio Montiel and I’m a digital artist from São Paulo, Brazil. The main body of my work floats around illustration (mostly editorial and motion), concept art and art direction, design for interactive installations, video mapping, and that kind of thing.
I guess I’m lucky to work on different areas and things don’t get boring. I’m also a full-time dad, so yeah, things definitely don’t get boring.
What are you working on?
The last year was a really busy one for me regarding client work. Now I’m taking some time to explore and focus on personal work, to improve myself as a professional and an artist, while looking around for cool projects to get into and contribute.
I’m also flirting with mobile games right now. I was invited to a great team, full of really talented people who made some big hits in the past few years—so I’ve been experimenting with that as well.
Choose a favorite shot of yours. Why is it a favorite?
Astro Metal Front is definitely my favorite. It has a nice theme, some nice colors, it has atmosphere, and tells a nice story. But, above It all, It really strikes me personally as an artist. I always have a hard time dealing with my personal work, you know? The usual “I’m a fraud” feeling that people who are creative experience occasionally.
When I finished Astro Metal, I had a rare moment of inner peace. I looked at it and was sure I had found something—that I became better on what I do. I had evolved, my work evolved.
I know It’s not perfect work, so on the day after I finished it, I was back on the pursuit. I was looking ahead again searching and aiming for greatness. Astro Metal is my favorite because it reminds me, two years later, that I can be satisfied with my work but I cannot settle.
Tell us about your setup. What tools did you use to create the shot (e.g. hardware, software, pens, paper, blowtorch)?
My setup is actually quite simple—I have an iMac and a Macbook Pro for the road. A Wacom Intuos tablet, a sketchbook and a text document on Google Drive where I write down my ideas. I feel it’s a weak setup for people who delve into 3D like me, which ended up being a good thing, forcing me to learn and come up with creative solutions for complex tasks.
Regarding software, most of my work was made using only Cinema 4D (with Vray) and Photoshop. In the last few months I’ve been playing around with Marvelous Designer and Substance Designer. I also started using Octane Render, which really blew my mind.
Choose a favorite shot from another Player. Why do you dig it?
Among a lot of people who simply throw basic geometry, primitives, focus mostly on mountains and call It Low poly art, Timothy J. Reynolds is the real deal. Tim’s been doing It for years now, and his work is really consistent (which really hits me hard), full of detail and It’s clear that there’s a thought behind every polygon. His stuff is really different from my work, and yet I’m really inspired by the way his scenes are built, the attention to detail and the way he tells stories.
I picked this shot because it’s really rich in details and information, and yet, nothing is out of place, everything has its purpose.
Find Flavio on Dribbble, on Twitter, and at www.flaviomontiel.com.
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