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Nabil Chequeiq: character artist interview

Nabil Chequieq recently made the move from Morocco to Indianapolis, USA to continue his character design development. Check out his work and learn more...

Nabil's Instagram

Adam

Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?

Nabil

Hello, my name is Nabil Chequeiq and I'm originally from Morocco. I love 3D character art, but for someone like me coming from Africa, it was hard to specialize in character art, especially as there's no one to learn directly from. So I spent the last couple of years developing myself, and I had the chance recently to move to the USA to learn more.

Adam

What was the workflow behind your latest gallery image? Where did the idea come from?

Nabil

I'm really simple in my workflow: I begin with a sphere to block out the body, and boxes for the hands. I try to work as simply as I can at the beginning, and keep iterating and adding details and elements as I go further into the process. For the idea, it was an original concept; I wanted to create a fashion sportif girl who at the same time didn't care about other people. I had a lot of inspiration from fashion models in magazines.

General

Crocopunk

Warrior Kid

Adam

What challenges did the image present? Did you learn something new?

Nabil

The challenge was to make her look crazy but not that extreme, and the most challenging part was the pose and the hair because I'm new to XGen, so to translate the same hair I did in ZBrush to XGen, I had to test a lot of versions. With all the testing in Arnold and XGen, I began to become familiar with XGen, and in term of renders, Arnold surprises me every time and always gives me what I want from it.

Adam

Do you use any other software, either for work or personal projects?

Nabil

I usually use ZBrush for all my high-res mesh and sketching, 3D-Coat for topology, and Maya for rendering. Sometimes I use 3ds Max for modeling or blocking out elements because I'm faster in 3ds Max in terms of modeling over Maya. And of course Substance Painter or Mari for texturing, and Marvelous Designer if I need to add cloth. It's good to know other software as it helps to be faster in my workflow.

Candy

Candy

Adam

How do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?

Nabil

I always save images I love or write new ideas in a document or notebook. This way, I always remember that I have to do something: if I need inspiration I go the 3dtotal gallery or ArtStation to see other artists work it gives me the spark to work on my own; this is how I keep challenging myself.

Adam

Are you a member of any social media groups? Any favorite hashtags you check on a daily basis?

Nabil

I have like four websites when I open Chrome that open with it: 3dtotal, ArtStation, ZBrushCentral, and Character Design References. With these four websites I keep myself motivated and up-to-date with every new artwork and new artist, and I also check Pinterest whenever I need reference.

Fly

Chicken Kid

The Gift Shoes

Adam

How important is the recognition of your peers?

Nabil

The recognition of peers always gives me motivation. It has a powerful impact on my work, especially when they love what I do. It makes me feel happy. While you don't want to disappoint people, sometimes you feel guilty if you don't finish a piece of work you started because of them, as they always expect the best from you.

Adam

What are your artistic ambitions?

Nabil

I really want to be one of the best character artists and help others in 3D as much as I can, because every artist needs to make his name in history, like the old painters and sculptors. They don't exist any more, but their work always make us remember them. And, of course, to work in one of my favorite studios in the future, like Pixar, Dreamworks, or Blur Studio.

Adam

Who are your favorite artists, traditional or digital, and can you explain why?

Nabil

I really love a lot of artists, traditional and digital; it doesn't make a difference to me as long as I love what they do, because inspiration comes from everyone. For example my favorite artists in 2D: Hong SoonSang, Serge Birault, Lois van Baarle, Richard Lyons, David Ardinaryas Lojaya, Sergi Brosa, Ramón Nuñez, Nesskain hks, Igor Sid, Wangjie Li, and Nicola Saviori.

For 3D: Dylan Ekren, Frank Tzeng, Adam Skutt, Alessandro Baldasseroni, Ryan Kingslien, Mathieu Aerni, and Rafael Grassetti.

Their work is really mind-blowing, and is, for me, the best and highest bar in the industry. If I can do what they can do in terms of 3D, I will be more than happy.

Kenza

Kenza

Adam

What can we expect to see from you next?

Nabil

Now I'm working on a Viking-inspired concept by artist Hong SoonSang, and I want to make it look similar to the How to Train Your Dragon style, because I love that movie.

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