#017 — Cornelius Dämmrich

Hello Cornelius! It’s great to have you here on our Artist Spotlight! Could you please introduce yourself to the Blauw Films readers?

My name is Cornelius Dämmrich, I am 36 years old and from Cologne, Germany. I am a 3D Artist.

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What made you choose to pursue the hyper-realism of objects and scenes in your 3D Renders? 

That wasn't really a choice and came more through habit and curiosity. I was always drawn towards the more realistic work of other artists and spent just more time with their work than stylized pieces, so it came natural that I started to pursue that path more than others. It also always felt like the biggest challenge there is, because it naturally can be a bit harder to make things very realistic.

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Oh, that is definitely true. 

As your renders are so incredibly detailed, how do you decide when enough detail is enough?

It's either burn out, boredom or just the feeling that it's enough now. Over the years I trained my eyes very well on 3D images and what common flaws are and it's pretty much just working from a long, mental to-do list until I just feel and know that it looks good enough. It's never perfect, but close enough has to do.

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Would you say your work often starts from a narrative you have in mind? 

When I look at your work I see an incredible sense of world-building that lives within and outside the frames! 

Never. It's always a mood, feeling or some technical things I want to try, the narrative is usually part of a problem solving workflow in terms of designing a piece. Often enough the context of the narrative elements changes over the years, making the pieces kind of dynamic in their meaning.

In the beginning it's just a vehicle to carry emotions rather than a story but over time these things shape themselves almost, evolving through pieces that might be connected or share a similar language. But it never follows a narrative, pre-written story or tale.

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That’s interesting! Then I’d say there is enough richness in your art that the narrative is filled in by the observer. 

What tends to be your workflow and technique behind achieving your work? 

Do you have a meticulously sourced library of detail-references for example? 

I start with collecting inspiration and start a thought process that can often take months or even years before I start actually working on anything. And after that, it's usually a rough block out that gets more and more detailed with every iteration. From there it goes straight into comping and post production also plays a huge role. I love analogue film and lens effects, so they are always super important to me.

I don't use a library for detailed references, but maybe i should do that, sounds like a good idea. When I need references I usually just use google image search.

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For those aiming to achieve photo-realism, what is one step you feel is often overlooked or not pushed enough by artists? 

I feel many artists that are at the beginning of their journey don't understand that it's not just one thing.... It's every element that is important. You have to nail the modelling, the light, the textures, the shading. I've seen people who do great models, but the textures don't work out, or the light is just not right and the truth is, that every aspect of the process needs to be nailed in order to get there. Sometimes the shading is super easy compared to the modelling but in practice, they are all very important and can't be overlooked.

Many artists also tend to rush things. You can be pretty sure that things that look like a lot of work, take in fact a lot of time.

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Every detail counts… One will just have to accept that reality :) 

An important feature in your work is an emphasis on dirt, reflections and lots of texture detail. The closer you look the more you start seeing all the things you’ve added. 

Why are you attracted to these kinds of surfaces?

I just find it much more interesting. There's no deep or super intriguing answer to that. Perfection is a lie, no surface is clean, no body, thing or concept is flawless, it's all messed up shapes in a world of chaos. Looking at broken things is just more interesting and there's a lot more going on compared to what advertising wants you to believe or see.

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Recently you’ve shared a wonderful cinematic for the game ZERO PARADES by ZA/UM. Incredible texturing and light-play in that animation!

Do you remember something special in your experience making this cinematic? 

It's very valuable to have people around you that really know what they are doing and it can make the grind way more pleasant that way. It was a very tough timeline but we had a very methodical approach to it, lots of communication and trust with the studio. If time is tight and tasks are hard, it's crucial that everyone gets their shit together and I think that was one of the rare cases where everything just worked out good because all the people were pretty much on the same page for this.

It's not like "Oh damn, can we do 7 other shots for tomorrow? We forgot to tell you"...these things happen and it's often a result of bad planning and communication. It was also very cool that we could just do our thing. We had the chance to play around because the visual language was very much aligned with what we like to do anyways.

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That sounds like a great experience! It’s so good when creative collaboration just clicks. 

While much of your work is hyperrealistic, there’s also a strong sense of abstraction. 

What role does abstraction play for you, and how do you balance it with realism?

It just has to move inside the realms of realism and then it just finds its place really. I can do whatever I want, the most abstract concept, if I follow certain rules, it will just fit right in.

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It’s your rules, your sandbox. So, is there a specific feeling you are trying to convey in your renders? 

All the time. It's very much guided by feelings, as there is no pre planned narrative, or at least very little of it. It's mainly based on feeling and atmosphere... the sensation I get in a specific room, a specific time. There's this one scene from Fight Club where tyler tells the passed out narrator about his vision of the world, there is a loud crowd in the background, like distant echoes from people talking to each other, it has a lot of reverb and the combination of all these elements hit so hard, that this alone can be inspiration for a whole series of images.

It can be anything really... a line in a song, a scene in a film, a situation from 20 years ago. Sometimes you are in a place or see or hear something that invokes a feeling that is very unique and I try to capture this in a way. It's my job to make something that makes you feel a certain thing, like a director, just not on that scale.

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In that same train of thought, many of your renders seem to have overlapping characters, hinting at a larger universe beyond the screen. Is developing an original IP something you’ve considered? 

I would very much love to do some kind of worldbuilding, but I lack the knowledge to make something that prevails the cringe filter. There's some story elements that evolved over time, but it's not a fleshed out world or universe that is defined in detail. Everytime I try this, I am unhappy with the result and change it over and over again.

I don't know if this is a mental illness, commitment issues or if I just suck as a writer. I think writing might be one of the hardest things you can do as a creative. The tool itself is very easy, it's just words and language and you put it to paper, but there's a billion ways to make it shit and just a very, tiny narrow path to make it good.

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It can be quite an overwhelming process but it’s also freeing in the sense that you can take your time. That narrow path tends to present itself :) 

When working on personal art, what is your process for finding the subject matter that is important enough so you can dedicate the time required to it? 

Funny enough, it's either a technical thing I want to try or some visual elements that are interesting to me. Like a "vibe" I am looking for. I try to spend a lot of "head-time" with a concept to make sure it doesn't bore me after a week, that way I can be sure that I want to spend weeks on it and that I won't abandon it after a few days.

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Would you consider yourself a patient person? 

Not at all, I just learned enough that I know that there are no shortcuts for certain things. I can be incredibly lazy, I just found my niche in 3D that continues to give enough that I don't get bored. I am amazed by the stuff I managed to pull off over the years and often think that it's pure luck.

That's not humble bragging, I sometimes look at certain elements and think "Damn boi, that was one happy fucking accident that it looks like that". I think you have to learn patience in a way. Accepting that things take time is a good skill to have.

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As artists we can live quite close to the danger of overworking ourselves… This ends up being more harmful than helpful. 

Cornelius, how do you prevent burnouts in the future? 

I don't. I just take breaks, but after a long project, I am naturally burned out and try to allow myself to play video games all day for a few days and rest.

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Then what tells you it’s time to step away from work? And what brings you back to it?

When I am bored by it. The stubbornness brings me back. I can be extremely competitive and ego driven at times, especially when it comes to 3d. I just want it to be good and I can get very obsessed with it. This obsession drives everything. When I am in the zone, I am like a machine that can destroy planets and when I get bored, I am like a Fiat Multipla with engine problems and a burned CD that is stuck in the car radio.

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Would you say that technology is part and parcel to your art? 

Yes, very much. I love technology and technical curiosity is a big motivator in most cases.

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That leads me to the question, what technological advancements are you most excited about?
Anything you’re interested in exploring for your art? 

Right now I am looking into Houdini and I want to learn rigging and all kinds of character workflows. Characters are the final frontier in my opinion. With enough time, I can do most environments I think, but characters are still a big question mark in many cases.

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I can only imagine the cool things you’ll be able to make with those additional skillsets! Like you said before, every detail counts…

What advice would you give to someone thinking of a career as an artist? There is always a new generation taking their first steps into this adventure.

Don't underestimate that having fun is a huge factor and if you do this without any fun, it's gonna be hard. Dumb, childish curiosity coupled with fun is a very powerful engine for anything. You will spend many hours with this and if you dread the time spent, it's not gonna work out. And I said that a lot over the years, but it's a marathon and not a sprint. I know very few artists who do that for only a year and are super good at it, it takes time.

Enjoy that time and you will be okay. Study your masters, watch the films, listen to the scores, read the books, be kind to your peers, help your colleagues and stay humble forever. There will always be some kid from Sweden or the UK that does that stuff with Blender for 9 months and can wipe the floor with you, no matter how much experience you have.

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Hahah yes, that is so true! Well, that’s it from me, Cornelius. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! It’s been great to talk to you.

As always, we like to end every Artist Spotlight with a personal recommendation from the artist. Any good films, books, habits, or anything else you’d like to recommend to the reader?

I think everyone should buy a camera or use their phone to take pictures. Practice making good compositions when you can't control anything, it's a superpower to sense composition and light. And try to emulate film, it's great fun and looks amazing. Grain is your friend, don't be afraid to kill the details. Don't use too much chromatic aberration.

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