Tuesday 24 September 2013

Shintaro Ohata

While looking into ways to present 3D characters in interesting ways, I stumbled across the artist Shintaro Ohata. Ohata's work's primary feature is combining 2D art with 3D sculpture. Both the 2D and 3D elements of his artwork have their own features and purposes that work together as a whole piece.

Specifically, the 2D portion of his artwork often depicts and environment or scene, either within every day life or from a movie, focussing primarily on the scene's light source. The 2D component is what creates the atmosphere for the piece as a whole, depending on the colour of the light sources and the scene itself.

Afterglow (2011) by Shintaro Ohata
Image source: http://yukari-art.jp/images/2011/11/ohata_afterglow.jpg
Last accessed: 7th December 2013

What makes Ohata's artwork so interesting are the 3D sculptures that are married to each painted scene. The sculptures often show at least one or more stylised characters that are painted using the light sources from the 2D backdrop as a guide, painting the sculpture as though the lights in the painting were reflecting on the character. What this produces is a single piece that blends seamlessly when viewed from the perfect angle and provides a 3D work of art that contains predetermined lighting and shadows.

In the Sound (2012) by Shintaro Ohata
Image source: http://yukari-art.jp/images/2013/01/ohata_in-the-sound31.jpg
Last accessed: 7th December 2013

In the Sound (2012) by Shintaro Ohata
Image source: http://yukari-art.jp/images/2013/01/ohata_in-the-sound1.jpg
Last accessed: 7th December 2013
In the Sound (2012) by Shintaro Ohata
Image source: http://yukari-art.jp/images/2013/01/ohata_in-the-sound22.jpg
Last accessed: 7th December 2013

What interested me is that Ohata's technique combines the sort of things I've been looking into with creating sculptures out of 3D characters and combing it with replicating comic book lighting and aesthetics in 3D. Visually, his work his very striking and interesting, and could serve as the perfect inspiration for presenting my own 3D characters.