SNL Creative recently collaborated with Digital Artist Diego dos Muiños to showcase “The Alien” a full-color 3D printed bust. This will be on display at SNL Creative’s Booth #2651 for RAPID2024 in Los Angeles, CA. Learn more and Dive deeper into this collaboration and hear from Diego himself in our exclusive interview.
SNL: Hello Diego, it is great to catch up with you- SNL is very excited to have collaborated and for you to tell your story around “The Alien” for RAPID 2024. Could you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your journey as an artist?
Diego: Hello, my name is Diego dos Muiños, and I’m an artist from Galicia, Spain. From the beginning of my professional career, I’ve dedicated a lot of time to developing my collections. This type of work is what motivates me daily, and I approach each piece as an opportunity to apply new techniques or learn something new. The alien collection is something I’ve been working on for years, and this particular piece holds special value for me because it was the first design I created for this collection. Years later, I recovered it and updated it, improving the detail and adding armor.
Amazing! you can tell where your passion is based on the breadth of your work. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your “Alien Piece”?
Diego: My designs emerge in two very different ways. In some cases, I start with an initial idea that I think is interesting, and then I develop it. In other cases, I jump straight into modeling and experiment until I find silhouettes and forms that suggest new ideas or ways to continue. In this case, this design emerged from the second approach. The silhouette is very simple, so I tried to pay special attention to the secondary details that arise when trying to give coherence to the silhouette. If it doesn’t have a nose… how does it breathe? If it has such a large head… how does it support it on its shoulders?
SNL: I agree with your artistic process. You want to put yourself into character when sculpting to give it that depth you see in your work. Are there any particular themes or messages that you aim to convey through “Alien Piece”?
Diego: My projects (currently) don’t have a significant conceptual background. There are probably certain patterns that repeat in terms of character or personality, and I have more complex projects in development in that sense. For now, my main interest is that they feel alive and coherent in all their elements.
SNL: What tools and software do you use in your creative process?
Diego: As a character artist, I work for video games and film, so the development of my characters generally follows those parameters. I aim to achieve good renders to present my designs. At the same time, not all the programs I use would be necessary for 3D printing. Zbrush, Maya, S.Painter, Marvelous Designer, Unreal Engine, Photoshop.
SNL: How do you approach digital coloring, especially for a complex piece like this?
Diego: This was an interesting process because it was quite complicated to project the color of the final piece back to the model for printing. I was personally interested in seeing the level of detail that these new printers have, especially in color, so I dedicated a lot of time to trying to conserve as much detail as possible from the alien’s textures.
Can you share some of the tools used for digital coloring?
Diego: In this sense mixing different techniques like Substance Painter, Zbrush, and Photoshop.
What were some of the technical or artistic hurdles you encountered during this project?
Diego: As I mentioned before, the color transfer was complicated. Another thing that’s very difficult to handle is preparing the geometry for 3D printing. This is quite technical, but basically, a model thought to be visualized in 3D isn’t prepared to be printed, so you have to clean it up and prepare it, and the more complex the model, the harder that preparation is.
SNL: Finally, how was the experience of collaborating on the “Alien Piece”?
Diego : Collaborating on the “Alien Piece” was a highly rewarding experience. Working with SNL Creative allowed me to see my digital creation come to life in a way that maintained the integrity and detail of my original design. The team’s expertise in high-end color 3D printing was instrumental in achieving a result that was true to my vision. It was exciting to push the boundaries of what is possible in this medium and to see the piece realized with such precision and vibrancy.
Thank you, Diego, for sharing your insights. We love that your are passionate about the process and raising the expectation around Color 3D Printing . Thank you, Diego, for sharing your insights. To witness his work first hand , Visit us at RAPID2024 @ SNL Creative’s booth #2651 from June 25th-27th at Los Angeles Convention Center. See You There!
