The Beginning

I grew up taking art class after art class, but my interest in 3D all started with Toy Story. I wanted to somehow be a part of 3D, computer-generated films. A couple years later I became a quick fan of Kenneth Lehtinen's work. You can see his early One Man Show here. I even put together a website for him that is no longer published.

In 2001, I convinced Kenneth to give me a crash course in 3D. I paid him for a 3-day, one-on-one training at his house in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). At the time, I only lived 5 hours away in New York State. Using CINEMA 4D, he taught me the basics of 3D, which resulted in this anvil:

From Jedi's 3D Art

Kenneth said I learned really fast, so I asked him to teach me more about texturing and grunge! In my opinion, it's the grunge in 3D art that makes things truly look photo-real. Think about it. Anyway, here's what we came up with:

From Jedi's 3D Art

I didn't know at the time, but it wouldn't be until 6 years later (2007) that I would actually attend animation school.