3D Total: Tell us a little about yourself.

Caroline Delen: I currently live in Oxford, England, however I haven't always lived here. I'm originally from Sydney, Australia, but moved to Europe about 10 years ago. I've always had a profound interest in art, both traditional and contemporary art, as well as film and animation. And since the days of Sonic, Super Mario and Zelda, I've had an interest in game development.

Even the most otherworldly characters have a believability about them, drawn from observation of our own world.

3DT: You previously worked as a web designer - how did you get started in 3d?

CD: It all started in College when I was on my GNVQ course. I had tried out a small 3D application called Extreme 3D by Macromedia. My first experiences with this program weren't the best, and I soon put it aside to pursue Storyboarding and Sequential Illustration for Film and Animation. When I started working as a web designer I had the opportunity to use 3D Studio Max, from then on I was hooked. I later enrolled onto a Computer Animation degree course and my interest and skills in 3D modelling developed.

3DT: Can you remember the first model you made in 3d? Can we see it? :)

CD: I do remember the first 3D model I ever made. It was a very primitive looking cartoon blue bird modelled in Extreme 3D, and animated floating around on the screen. Unfortunately, I didn't keep any renders of this character.

Lunba is a part feline humanoid

3DT: A lot of your work seems to be based in the fantasy genre - is this a conscious choice & are you a big fantasy fan?

CD: It is a conscious choice. Fantasy characters and creatures I find are the most fun to design and model. Of course, I'm a big fantasy fan, watching movies and reading comics & books of that genre. But I always try to bring something a bit different to my work, I never stick to an exact concept of how an orc or any other fantasy creature/character should look. I still like to create things that look different and interesting.

Ness is a beautiful elven archer

3DT: Who would you list as influences on your artwork?

CD: There are so many artists, colleagues and friends out there whose work inspires me. I'm afraid just too many to list here. There have been however a select few comic book artists that have inspired me over the years, most notably Bill Sienkiewicz (Stray Toasters), David Mack (Kabuki), Wing Shing Ma (Storm Riders), and Joe Madureira (Battle Chasers).

Would you want to meet him in a dark alley?

3DT: Your models show a good knowledge of anatomy - how important has your Art education been overall & how important do you think drawing skills are to 3d work?

CD: My art education has been very important, especially in the early days when I was doing a lot of life drawing and sculpting at College. These skills are a great foundation and very advantageous to have as a 3D modeller.

Sketching & life drawing is an important part of the process for Caroline

3DT: Could you briefly explain your working methods?

CD: Sure. I start out sketching some character sheets from which to model from. Using these in the viewports I rough out the character, starting with a primitive and building the model up in sections, once I'm happy with the form, I attach the limbs, which I model separately. Using drawn concepts of the character as blueprints are a great way of getting the proportions of the model right first time around, it also assists in planning and modelling edge loops.

Beebi the centaur, from sketch to finished model

3DT: What single piece of advice would you offer to up & coming 3d artists?

CD: Well, the best advice I ever got was to always carry a sketchbook with me, and to put aside at least an hour a day to draw, which is something I still do. I would have to give the same kind of advice to those out there pursuing a career in 3D. As I mentioned earlier its very beneficial for a 3D artist to have some traditional skills.

The shawl was made by taking a mesh snapshot of a shag hair model, resulting in an extrememly high polycount!

3DT: Modelling seems to be your forte - is there any aspect of 3d work you don't enjoy?

CD: Not really, I have to say that I think I'm better at certain aspects of 3D than others, like character modelling, but I'm always prepared to give anything a go, and dedicate 110% to the task.

A good knowledge of anatomy & a clean mesh make for some amazing models

3DT: You've recently produced some realtime models - how different is your approach to this type of work? Do you think that realtime modelling is an art unto itself or just a subset of the skills you use for high res work?

CD: Both. Real-time modelling most certainly is an art unto itself, but it also incorporates skills that I use for high-poly modelling. Modelling for real-time demands a lot of attention to areas and details that would sometimes not be needed for High-poly modelling. For example a low-poly artist has to watch the polycount on the model, as well as pay certain attention to the way the polygons are structured, so as not to waste polys in areas that it would not be needed.

A collection of Caroline's realtime models

3DT: If you could invent your dream job, where would you work & what would be your job title?

CD: That's a tough one. To be honest, at this stage I don't really know. I'm still very early on in my career, my dream job has always been to become a character modeller, and maybe later on delve into character animation.

Detailed accessories are another forte

3DT: What are your future aspirations?

CD: Become better at what I'm doing - I always strive for perfection in my work, and that's what I will continue to do whilst I grow as an artist. I would like to one day create my own animated short, I already have a few ideas I've been playing with, so that's something you might see from me in the future.

3DT: Thanks.

Realtime models require a slightly different approach