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3DTotal: Can you tell our readers a little about yourself and what you are currently doing?
Eduardo: I am Eduardo Peña. I was educated as a graphic designer at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, Colombia. Even before entering into my professional education, I always felt a passion for the creation of worlds where fantasy and fiction meet. I had vague memories of masterpieces made by Ridley Scott, notably Blade Runner, and other such films, and these were my key inspirations until I found a great discipline in the form of conceptual art for the entertainment industry. I have been developing this artistic interest under my own initiative, because in Colombia this discipline is almost nonexistent. |
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The closest area was graphic design, which obviously provided me with great resources and tools that ultimately helped me to grow and mature as a designer, enabling me to evolve and better understand the aesthetics and functions of this discipline. For me, design and art are essential tools as a means of expression and communication. They open up more possibilities for interaction and, because of this expressive power, we are able to create a structured communicative tool which is well suited for the optimum understanding of a given message. I currently work as an art director in an animation studio in Colombia: Contento Animation Studios. Most of my time is spent visualising environments, creating the general visual language of any project, alongside other visual proposals. I also work as a professor, leading design workshops at Andes University. |
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3DTotal: Working at an animation studio in Colombia – quite an exclusive job then! Is there much competition to get in there and how do you find time to teach at the university?
Eduardo: In Colombia, the discipline of conceptual art is still very under-developed. Nevertheless, little by little, this branch has become more evident in the art and design environments and is gradually gaining more recognition. Regarding the level of competition at the studio, well, let’s just say that all my concepts have to be solid and well structured. The level of my personal demand needs to be high in order to be able to interact in a better way with other professionals that work in the same field. Besides this, it is very gratifying for me to be immersed in the teaching field. I don’t see it as an additional workload, but as an enriching challenge which is helping to shape my perspective and professional intentions within the field of art and design.
3DTotal: Your work appears to be a collage of different components. Can you describe your approach to concept painting and how you typically construct one of your images?
Eduardo: There are other compositional and technical elements that also describe my work in terms of the lighting, visual force and other technical factors – these are all a part of my visual language, or my “rough-edge temperament”! Some of the factors that I take into account in my profession are to enrich my discipline, both professionally and personally, and to always develop my knowledge and transfer my experiences to future generations that will be looking for a meaning in the design. |
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3DTotal: In terms of the visual language you have developed, what aspects of your education in graphic design have helped forge your style and help your current job?
Eduardo: All aspects; bearing in mind that within the academy of graphic design, the structuring permits an overlap of disciplines within the field of visual language. I have learned to develop this method as instinctively as possible. Methods, like tools, are instruments that help facilitate the execution and development of any project and also enable one to observe, interpret and synthesise not only mechanically, but with an aesthetic criteria and personal appraisal. For me, this is something that a conceptual artist that works in this specific field should understand and exploit. I try to follow through with this belief everyday, with a certain level of practicality; not as a continuous set of rules so to speak, but rather a biological need that helps me to live and better understand the environment that surrounds me. |
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