Women on Sketchfab: Alexis Washington

Hello Everyone! My name is Alexis Washington, and I am a 3D generalist who enjoys creating stylized works of art. I am very thankful to be here with you all!

My background

Ever since I was young, I have always enjoyed being surrounded by the arts, namely by singing in the children’s choir or playing the piano. However, when I was in high school I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue a degree in, so I decided to pursue something in fine arts. I was terrible when it came to painting or drawing and was even made fun of, but that did not stop me. I went to SCAD right after I graduated and was pursuing a degree in animation. Whilst there, my talent bloomed. During the beginning of my Junior year, I started taking an interest in game art and eventually decided that I should switch over to Game Design and become a 3D Artist.  Shortly afterwards, I began learning how to make hand-painted art.  The best part about all of it was that I taught myself how to hand-paint my models.

Finding my style

Over the past years of learning how to hand-paint, my art style has changed to something between stylized and realistic. A good character art style reference for my work would be Smite characters: the bodies proportionally correct with some exaggerated bits, but I would try to put them in PBR. That is one of my goals for an ideal art style. As for environment styles, I’m still on the fence—but if I were to give you an example, they would probably look more realistic than stylized. I am not there yet but I’m glad I set a goal for what I truly like.

My art is centered around stylized works, such as the aforementioned Smite or World of Warcraft. I use Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop, 3D-Coat, and Substance.

I start with my base model in Maya and (depending on if I need to make organic shapes) ZBrush, and then, once I’m done with the mesh, I UV the model and do all the texturing in 3D-Coat with the assistance of Photoshop to make minor changes. Once that is completed, I upload it to Sketchfab and play with the settings until I find what looks best. 

One of my favorite models that I have made is my Warframe fan-art of Leonessa Valkyr. I started playing the game last year and fell in love with her. She was a bit of a challenge since I was trying to approach her with PBR elements. I did some research on the internet to figure out how to go about roughness and metallic. It also challenged me to add highlights and shadows. In the end, I believe she came out very well for a learning experience. I am very happy to have rendered her in Sketchfab since the viewer can bring out her features fully!

My first model I ever put on Sketchfab will always be memorable. At that time I knew how to model and somewhat UV, but by completing that model I fully grasped the whole cycle of hand-painted 3D art. When I look back at it now, I can see a lot of errors. Nonetheless, I’m really happy that I was able to complete it. At that time I was having problems figuring out texturing. I also didn’t make it for a class, but only for learning purposes. I wonder where I would be now if I didn’t complete that milestone.

Best Sketchfab features

My favorite feature of Sketchfab is the rendering engine. It’s very simple to use if you are a beginner and can teach you about the ways to push your lighting within a scene.  Another aspect I enjoy is the community, which allows artists to take part in challenges. Not only do challenges show off other artists’ work, but they truly push them to better their art or become more productive!

I’m very thankful to Abby, Mieke, and Jasmin for asking me to be a part of this. I was surprised when I heard that they would like to interview me, and I’m happy that Women on Sketchfab is a focused title.  As a human being, I think it is important to showcase others’ work regardless of what they look like, their lifestyle, or where they came from.

Everyone has a story, and thank you for reading mine. If you are interested in following me you can find me on Twitter and ArtStation.