Stefan Morrell

http://stefan-morrell.com/

Stefan Morrell is "for the most part self-taught" gleaning valuable information on digital techniques from books and the internet. However, looking at his images you wouldn't think that this pro fell into producing art 'accidentally'.
"I've always been interested in the arts in one form or another, but moving to the digital medium was perhaps more accidental than anything else - the culmination of trawling the internet for art sites when first getting a computer several years ago," Morrell explains, "It was seeing websites like CGTalk.com [CG Society's forum] or Renderosity that really got me interested. My ideas of digital art were of it being very sterile and lacking in any 'life'."
Those websites also helped to launch Worrell's digital career: "Most of my first jobs have come through having a portfolio online; consequently, the majority of the enquiries I get start off, 'We saw your work on CGTalk.com'." As such, Morrell is happy to extol the virtues of the internet portfolio: "Having an online exposure is a great way for various clients to get a good look at the style of my images. It also helps to work with overseas clients, being based in New Zealand."
Morrell's work obviously uses a lot of 3D techniques, but Photoshop certainly has its part to play too. "There is a large amount of 3D in my images, which is created using 3ds Max and rendered in multiple passes for postworking in Photoshop," he explains. "The 3D models need to be textured before rendering, so I also make use of Photoshop for textures, most of which are photo sourced and colour corrected, layered up and given some life with custom brushwork. The texturing process is probably where I do most of my Photoshop work."
So what's next for the talented "environment artist"? "I'm currently doing some illustrations for an upcoming Honda ad campaign, creating vast sci-fi cityscapes for high-quality magazine prints. For the kind of images I like to do, it's the dream job!"