The Pop Quiz, Monday is a fun little exam that we love to give to savvy professionals. The examination is not a surprise after all since the interviewee already knew about the questions in advance. However, we can always pretend and have fun with the scenario of a young professional sitting in class nervously biting on their pencil. They are ready to take a pop quiz on a chapter they were supposed to read the night before. Instead, they played Metroid all night on their SNES (Oops, this was me in high school).

The real purpose of the pop quiz is that this is a fun way to introduce tips from real-world experiences that you can not learn in a classroom. We want to thank our professionals for being a good sport and volunteering their time to answer a few questions to help our community grow from their knowledge.

I want to introduce you to our guest today who will be taking our Pop Quiz Monday.

Would you please tell everyone your name?

Hello folks, my name is Ian Vicknair.

What is your job role? 

I am a matte painter, concept artist, and virtual production artist over at Pixomondo in Toronto.

What do you love most about your job?

The commitment to perfection! I like being entrusted with a painting that needs to be done and executing it. For me, this is a ton of motivation to make it the best shot you can make. This applies to even the simplest shots like a patch or a small extension all the way to hero paintings. I've been fortunate to be given concepts and then create the final paintings from those concepts at Pixomondo.

Who in the past or present in the industry has inspired you in your career path?

There are a few key folks who inspire me. These are the people who went out on a limb. The ones that went; "I'm going to give him a shot." The ones that see the best potential in others to give them a chance and help along the way. That quality trait stands out for me as these particular folks are not famous or legendary in the industry, and quite frankly, nobody would know who the hell they are. Here are a few examples:

One person who inspired me is Kyle, who is an insanely great nuke compositor from my hometown of Minneapolis. He has the biggest heart and can foresee things before it happens. He's a big inspiration for me because we're pretty similar. We don't like to follow the rules of engagement (as id call it) where you learn tutorials and follow that one way of doing something. We break the rules and alter them to our will. I look up to this quality because nothing is ever the same. This applies to visual effects as a matte painter (and many other areas of VFX) because each time you're painting something new, so in no way can you reuse the same technique over and over. But know the basics well, and then make it malleable to your needs.

Gordon Ramsey; yes, he's not in the industry but yet still an inspiration. You don't meet many folks who push the boundaries of quality over quantity and strive not for perfection but for doing it right. As his famous motto goes, "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

What are some of the professional tools you use to perform your work?

Well, as a matte painter, your primary tool till death do you part is Photoshop. Many people say it's all these 3d programs, but that's due to companies but not the actual job; however, it can help with being an environment artist or overall artist. Alongside Photoshop, it would be Nuke and basics of Maya; but mainly, the focus should be on Nuke. Matte Painters who can utilize Nuke efficiently and push their work before going to compositors are vital for higher shot quality. Anything outside of these two main programs is extra brownie points.

What motivates you to get up every day and go to work?

Surprisingly not art or visual effects. Yes, I adore what I do and am thankful for a career that aligns with my passions. However, this is not everything in life. The motivation to get up and go to work for me is self-discovery and exploration of possibilities. To constantly learn something new and build that knowledge to be a better me every day to turn around and help others. Thankfully, this motivation for me bleeds into my work life as I like helping others to be better.

What are some lessons learned from a past project that you can share with us?

"Just do what's asked, not what you assume." This is an essential lesson for anyone. It's fantastic that artists and folks have a passion for making the shot or piece they are working on to be pixel perfect and artistically beautiful blah blah blah. However, in the workplace, when an assignment is given to you, it's your duty and goal to make it the best it can be and to submit it as you progress. But while you progress, there will be notes from higher-ups. It's your job to follow those notes and instructions of what they want to be changed or altered. Don't disregard their messages and do your own thing. You're there to do a job, so DO IT.

What advice would you give to someone new and starting in your industry?

Working in visual effects, there are a lot of lessons. Before getting my first job at Framestore in New York, I had chatted with an icon from Hollywood. After reviewing my portfolio and work, we sat and chatted about what my goals and aspirations were. Then he came with his warning of a lifetime; "do not get attached." He had worked on one shot for an entire year doing endless revisions and alterations due to the director for a screen time of 1 second. At the end of that year, right before the movie's release, that shot had been cut out of the film. A year wasted away for something never to see the light of day, and to top it off, this artist didn't receive credit at the end of the movie. This is daunting and probably one of the worst things for any visual effects artist. We love seeing our work on the big screen, but we do have to keep in mind that this work is not ours. It's the client. They are the ones paying for it. As another wise artist told me in blunt words, "If you want to feel good about what you're doing, go do your own personal work and keep it at home."

Another piece of advice I'd highly recommend is not to idolize artists. Were all human; we all do dumb things and make mistakes. That is called "Life." As my father would say, "Live and Learn." Do your own thing, have role models and inspirations but be selective, and hold your standards against yourself.

Thank you for taking our pop quiz today. You get an A+ for effort. You can learn more about our interviewee and their work by visiting them on the web:

https://www.artstation.com/ianvicknairs

http://www.ianv.co

Artwork by Ian Vicknair

All artwork is owned and copyrighted by the artist, Ian Vicknair.