Without question — an artist’s most valuable asset is their time.
The world of 3D and digital art has exploded in recent years. With seemingly infinite tools, knowledge, and resources at their disposal, artists are able to easily integrate 3D into their creative workflows.
In this quickly evolving industry, project timelines are getting shorter, hardware is getting faster, and software is more accessible than ever before. Having instant access to an endless library of resources can be both powerful and paralyzing.
Wielding a shiny new tool doesn’t make a good artist great. Taking time to master the tool does. When an artist has more time, they have more focus and energy, which leads to more creative “flow” — the magical place where artists become immersed and present in their work.
A Natural Opportunity
Driven by synergistic principles, AvantForm and Greyscalegorilla are two companies helping artists get their time back to focus on what matters; their craft.
AvantForm is a digital art focused platform providing artists a simple, empowering way for artists to earn passive revenue through instant, online commercial licensing.
Greyscalegorilla supports artists with premium 3D tools to streamline their workflows, allowing them to explore, experiment and iterate faster.
Greyscalegorilla’s founder Nick Campbell has been an avid supporter of the 3D community since, well, forever. He’s gone from recording tutorials in his living room over a decade ago, to building an authentic brand known for its close-knit community and award-winning products.
Joey Camacho, AvantForm’s founding artist is well-acquainted with Nick’s early start. Instead of taking notes in Art History classes in University, he would watch Nick’s early lo-fi tutorials.
After years of navigating licensing requests, Joey created AvantForm, a place where hundreds of top-tier creators license their personal portfolios of digital illustrations and animations.
AvantForm and Greyscalegorilla’s missions finally aligned on a natural opportunity to collaborate. One that would arm a group of AvantForm artists with an annual subscription to Greyscalegorilla Plus, giving them early access to unreleased products — Wood Materials Vol. 1, Surface Imperfections: Dust, and Gobos.
The Time Pieces
These artists set out to visualize the open-ended theme of “Time”. As a universal concept it gave them the freedom to express it using their diverse styles and techniques.
The result is a series of beautiful, exploratory visuals — broad abstractions and conceptual interpretations — all available to license exclusively on AvantForm.
Omar Aqil
License at AvantForm | Behance Portfolio | Instagram
Omar Aqil is a 3D designer and art director from Pakistan famous for his colorful figurative collages and vibrant geometric sculptures.
With Greyscalegorilla’s materials and HDRIs, Omar was able to speed up his iterative process, delivering a series of his signature deconstructed sculptures portraying familiar time-based catch phrases.
Through constant personal experimentation, Omar recognizes the freedom and responsibility that comes with being an artist and the benefits of using tools to help him create. As a longtime user of Greyscalegorilla assets, Omar swears by their impact, “The products Greyscalegorilla offers are one of the best ways for an artist to increase their productivity.”
Wes Cockx
License at AvantForm | Behance Portfolio | Instagram
Wes Cockx, a Brooklyn-based designer, describes the collaborative project as a refreshing experience, different from the day-to-day client work.
“Being able to interpret a theme or brief as we see fit, without much interference or feedback is really nice.”
By bending, rippling, and pulling pastel fabrics and forms, Wes created a series of abstract, flowing animations that interpret how time can move.
As a professional designer creating work for global brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Nike and more, Wes enjoys creating many things from scratch, but acknowledges the edge Greyscalegorilla tools have given him over the years.
“Some of the Greyscalegorilla tools have been in my workflow for years. I’m a big fan of the HDRI packs they offer.”
Roman Bratschi
License at AvantForm | Behance Portfolio | Instagram
Roman Bratschi is a 3D illustrator and director from Switzerland inspired by natural shapes, organic forms and patterns, his work has a natural simplicity about it.
Roman took the concept of “Time” and crafted a series of vibrant seasonal images. He even takes us on a journey through his own “Fantasy” season, reminiscent of a stroll down Miami’s art deco district.
When asked about his concept Roman says, “Initially, I thought about a clock and hourglasses, but that was too easy. So it took me some time until I came up with the idea of seasons. I love nature and how it can change with time.”
While Roman’s carefully composed images seem to be precise and deliberate, his process is more care-free. “I never have a process — I have an idea and start playing around in Cinema 4D, that’s it. It’s a lot of placing objects, moving them around and experimenting to see what makes a good composition.”
“I never have a process — I have an idea and start playing around in Cinema 4D, that’s it.”
Raw & Rendered
License at AvantForm | Behance Portfolio | Instagram
Raw & Rendered is a Canadian director and digital artist who has an affinity for designing tech-centric visuals rich with texture, color, and light. He has been creating personal work consistently, making daily “Progress Before Perfection” since 2014.
Having only used a handful of Greyscalegorilla tools in previous years, Joey was surprised by the experience that the Plus Hub and Plus Library delivered.
“I was really impressed with how dialed in the end-to-end experience was. I was able to get up and running with the Hub and Plus Library easily and start using assets straight away. The integration and UI is solid.”
At the time of the collaboration, Joey was testing out new CAD modelling software and chose to create a series of sci-fi-esque objects based on wordplay — time blocks, time capsules, and timelines.
“I love the texturing and lighting process. I kind of fall down a black hole creating scenes from scratch and tweaking endlessly. Being able to quickly test and swap out textures, HDRIs, gobos, and materials allowed me to explore different ways to improve my compositions.”
By using the tools created by the Greyscalegorilla team, he discovered unexpected things along the way.
“I had no idea there was a Coat Bump map input in the Redshift material. I had never seen it before. I only saw it because it was exposed in the shader graph Greyscalegorilla had created. This encouraged me to take a closer look at other things I might be missing.”
Collaboration For The Win
AvantForm is excited about future creative collaborations and the mutual benefits they offer.
“It’s a win-win all around. Artists get access to tools to use professionally while growing their AvantForm collections, creating ongoing value. The partners we collaborate with experience the results of playful, unrestrained creativity, which can help bring awareness to their products in a natural way.”
AvantForm artists are also looking forward to other collaborations. Omar Aqil explains, “The main thing is the freedom these projects offer. Being entrusted to create magical compositions for concepts and collaborations like these is exciting.”
For Greyscalegorilla, the project has been inspiring and only starts to scratch the surface (imperfections) of future possibilities.
Nick Campbell says, “Working with these artists has been an amazing experience. I specifically loved seeing the Greyscalegorilla custom HDRIs and GOBOs collection being used in such unique ways.”
Chad Ashley, Greyscalegorilla’s Head of Product and Creative Director says, “The artists all tackled the brief perfectly. Each artist put their own unique spin on the theme and delivered stunning imagery. I hope we get the chance to collaborate again soon!”
If you’re looking to spend more time doing what you love, head over to Greyscalegorilla and give their Plus Membership a test drive. They even have a no-questions-asked money back guarantee if you’re not loving it.
If you’re looking to spend more time on your craft and have a portfolio of polished personal work that’s ready to license to a global audience without friction, you can apply to become a contributing artist on AvantForm today.
