Meet Kevin Cummings

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Cummings.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
One of my earliest memories is picking up a Nintendo 64 controller. My family was living in Mexico at the time, so I’d never really even seen a game console up until that point. I remember being so blown away by it that I made the decision right then and there that I was going to make video games. I’d always been pretty artsy. I would draw stick figures and write stories about random stuff, but there was something about video games that always drew me in. I marveled at their construction and knew that someday I wanted to be a part of that.

As I got older I leaned into the art side of my life. I took all the art classes I could in school, I kept my notebooks with me all the time to make sure I had them if I came up with any cool ideas, and as I waited for the bus each day I would sit by the tree doodling or writing. When I got to high school I devoted a great deal of time to finding out my path. I ended up going to Yavapai College for two years to get all my general education courses out of the way before moving down to Phoenix and enrolling at The Art Institute of Phoenix.

Although I had spent a few years preparing myself and researching what I would need to do to succeed in my field, I really didn’t know that much about how the work was done. So, I put my nose to the grindstone, and as soon as school made the resources available to me I spent every waking moment figuring out how to master them. Autodesk Maya was my first big challenge, then Unreal Engine, etc. One at a time (or quite often at the same time) I learned the tools of the trade and taught myself how to be adaptable like a good game artist should.

I graduated with high honors and nabbed best portfolio for my graduating class. As a result of my hard work and the good people I met along the way I was lined up with a job as a contract 3D artist. Right now, I’m working from home, doing the art for VR airport training simulations.

Please tell us about your art.
Primarily I do 3D modelling and texturing, specializing in prop design and environment art. This means I make 3D objects in software like Autodesk Maya by starting with a basic shape, something like a cube or a cylinder, and turning it into something much more complex. To me it is a lot like sculpting. You take your basic shape, add or remove whatever you need to in order to get it to the shape you want, and then you spend a great deal of time refining that shape until it’s exactly what you want it to be. Then you texture it, which is a lot like painting that sculpture you just finished.

Because I’m a contract artist working on a small team, I wear a few different hats. Typically, I then take the models I make and place them into a game engine like Unreal Engine, where I assemble them together into a level design. I also dabble with lighting and animation when my team needs it.

Why I do it has a pretty simple answer: I just really love making things. Pouring over an object and understanding all its little intricacies really makes you see the world in a different way. Every time I see an oddly shaped object or a piece of complex machinery I always ask myself “how would I model that?” Which can sometimes lead to me spending far too much time at a supermarket staring at some piece of miscellaneous kitchenware, but hey I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
To me the role of an artist has always remained the same: to inspire and provoke thought. Many different artists do that in many different ways. And although the times may change, my art and the art of the masses will change along with it.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I post all my finished work (that isn’t under NDA) to my website at Kcummings.net

Contact Info:

• Website: Kcummings.net
• Phone: 9284602423
• Email: K_Cummings@outlook.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.cummings.796

Image Credit:
Kevin Cummings

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