Tim Borgmann revisits his ‘fragment.0121.02a’ and reveals how he generated the signature artwork of the NVArt competition.
After a long search for a signature image, industry leaders and NVIDIA scientists selected Tim Borgmann’s amazing abstract creation, ‘fragment.0121.02a,’ to head up promotions for the NVArt Competition. Tim’s work, generated primarily in Softimage|XSI, has featured prominently in the Ballistic Publishing EXPOSÉ Art Annuals, and exhibited proudly at the SIGGRAPH 2006 Art Gallery and many other spaces. Read on to discover how he generates the unreal. --
My main target when working on free art projects is to deviate from the usual way of creating shapes/images with 3D programs, into a more intuitive, organic way like abstract painting. I gather my main inspiration from what I see during the work on an image. Quite simply, I try a more emotional and less planned approach.
3D can be often very technical and when you work on commercial projects you often have to be very organized to fit the deadline. In my free art projects I want to use Softimage|XSI software more like a pool of interesting and sometimes surprising tools. I experiment with new tool combinations and workflows and look with fresh and open eyes on the power of the creative voyage.
The images of the ‘fragment’ series are an attempt to create more or less complex, dynamic forms and catch their tension and beauty at a special moment. The idea with ‘fragment.0121.02a’ was to create some kind of basic simulation situation and simply let it run and play around with the 'natural' chaos. At the point that I see an interesting shape emerge, I freeze the process. I take it out of it's dynamic context to put it into a still picture like some kind of frozen moment.
After that, I fine-tune the basic shape, creating additional elements to define the look to accentuate the dynamic of the shape.
When working on art projects, I see image creation as a dialog between the nascent image and myself. Sometimes the image influences my work by itself, leads me towards its own direction. Sometimes it's just me, pushing the image into the form I want. The final image can be seen as a snapshot of the dialog between myself and the image.
As mentioned before when working on free art projects, I avoid doing any sketches. I want to work with the 3D software like a pencil or brush in classic meditative abstract painting. Starting by doing. I simply play around with a very rough idea or feeling. When a shape or a part of an object grabs my attention I start to work it out. Watching the growing image can be sometimes a surprising journey.
