Alfa Smyrna interview

I have a degree in architecture. When I discovered the 3d CG World, my interest was growing bigger each day as I learn more. Then, I decided to choose my path and work on 3d computer graphics full-time rather than practicing architecture. So although I am entitled as an architect, I consider myself a 3D CG Artist.

In your portfolio we can see mostly architectural visualizations. Is it connected with your architectural background? Have you ever tried any other kind of cg art?

I think being trained as an architect shapes up the way you look around and what you get interested in. In other words how you perceive environment around you. And I think people start doing things which they find most familiar or most interesting. Other than architecture, I worked freelance for a VFX company on an environment for a tv commercial for Audi. In fact, despite my background in architecture, I have always been interested in films and cinema and would love to work in this industry.

You live in Turkey, but often travel to work on different projects. What was the most interesting place where you worked and most challenging project that you made?

Sweden has been the most interesting place. It is a very nice country and everywhere you go, you see something amazing manmade or in nature. Light in Sweden is very different and very inspiring. It is beautiful. When the sun is in such angle and ground is covered with white snow reflecting, this makes an amazing light which makes everything look like a fairy tale. Nature is amazing with all the trees and lakes, it is very picturesque. I must also mention that it never snows in my hometown but in Sweden, there is always snow and I happen to experience -25 C which is totally a big experience for me :) And for me it was extremely interesting to work for Ikea and meet all the photographers, CG artists, retouch artists, interior designers and see their pipeline and become a part of the team.

Do you see any significant differences between Turkey and other countries, especially in the cg field?

Actually I don't see CG is dependent on countries or something country-specific. I mean we see one great artist from one country, and then from another. There is no predictable pattern. I think this is more about personal effort and self-improvement. But of course, in some countries there is the industry. Such local industry may have an positive impact in progress. For example the film industry in Hollywood. If you happen to live around, you are more likely to find job related to film-making. But if you live in a place where there is no cinema industry, your chance to work in films is not high. It is nice that nowadays everything is on Internet: how we hear, see, learn, study, socialize, and make jobs.

Recently you have been participating in State Of Art Academy, a cg event dedicated to architectural visualizations. Could you share with us your impressions of this event? How important in the cg career is to participate in such meetings?

Yes I was one of the speakers at State of Art Academy Day 3 together with Peter Guthrie, Ronen Bekerman, Tomek Miksa, Adam Hotovy in lovely Venice. It was awesome. I must thank to SOA for this amazing organization. It is great to meet all the people in person that you know from forums and twitter. Conversation never stops and when you walk around, you see the big smiles on everyone's face. Everybody is so happy to be there and to find each other. I learned a lot and I had a chance to meet my favorite artists, watch their interesting work and pipeline. And we had great fun all together.

You author the tutorials and share your knowledge on such events as State of Art Academy. Are you planning in the future to get involved into training? Is it important to share the knowledge with other cg artists?

Why not… It would be very nice to get involved in training because I really have fun when I am making tutorials. I like making tutorials very much. I am self-taught so tutorials on Internet always helped me a lot. So I try to share my knowledge and experiments. I get many e-mails about my tutorials and it is very nice to see that people enjoy them and it is very nice to be helpful.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

I often like to look at traditional paintings and photography for inspiration. And nature is a big source of inspiration for me. The way nature offers us the color combinations is amazing. I try to understand the balance of simplicity and complexity in nature and honesty of all elements. Everything is what is meant to be in its purest form. I like to see this in art, 3D art and architecture too. In architecture I like when the materials are always pure and honest and behave as what they are meant to be. I don't like concrete trying to look like stone, ceramics trying to look like wood.

Do you feel you achieved much as an artist? What are your future plans?

In fact I am very critical about my work and I never feel achieved as I am learning a lot with each project. The more I learn, I feel there is a lot more to learn and I enjoy this very much. Actually I don't have very specific defined future plans other than continue being in CG Art. I see life as a journey. Every new day brings us new encounters, every person we meet, every job we take, every book, every film, everything we see, hear brings different sparkles and take us into new paths. Life is full of new encounters and surprises waiting for us. So my plan is to let myself to this journey.

Why in your opinion there is so little women in the cg industry? What challenges brings this profession especially for women?

This is a mystery for me as well. I really don't know the answer why there are so few women. I don't see any challenge for women, maybe replacing faulty RAM :) I am not even friendly with hardware stuff.

What do you like to do when you are not working? Do you have any hobbies beside the 3d graphic?

I have many hobbies but unfortunately very little time. I love traveling, dancing and swimming. I love to watch films. I am also very much interested in traditional painting and mythology.

Do you have any advice for young 3d artists who are beginning now? Can you share with us your method for success?

I advise them to love their job. Because this job is a mixture of love and hard-work. If one can't find this love, patience and dedication in his heart, then probably s/he is standing at a wrong point. In our job, learning stage, experimentation never ends, so if you are a person who is searching for magic recipes, and shortcuts, then probably it would be better to search for a different path than 3D computer graphics.

What do you think about Evermotion? Can our products help cg artists in their daily work?

Evermotion is great. I love it very much! It is a great portal with very good forums that I create time to visit everyday; to follow other colleague's work, to see newcomers, to publish my scenes and get feedback from other artists. Evermotion offers a great contribution to the community with the free tutorials and making of's published. I also like the "Best Of Evermotion" feature, which brings standards to the industry and make good works distinctive and noticeable. I think Evermotion products are very useful for cg artists during a commercial pipeline as when you are running against time, Evermotion models are very decent and ready to merge into scenes and offer you very fast solutions in your workflow.