Arts·digi-Art

This digital artform can bring dreams to life in no time flat

Don’t dream it — 3D it. In this episode, digi-Art explores the creative potential of 3D rendering with the help of artists William Ukoh and Hiba Ali.

In this episode, digi-Art explores the creative potential of 3D rendering

CBC Arts' new series digi-Art looks to the horizon to see what's possible with tech and art — charting a course led by creatives and innovators toward new worlds and ways of creating.

Painting, writing, sculpture, you name it: every creative practice is essentially driven by the same motivation. We make art to share our thoughts and ideas with the world. It's an act of making something out of nothing — and for some digital artists, that sentiment can feel especially true, as they build entire worlds with mere keystrokes.

The latest episode of digi-Art is all about artists who are experts at 3D rendering, and host Taelor Lewis-Joseph will introduce you to two of them: William Ukoh and Hiba Ali. For both artists, digital tools have empowered them to capture whatever they can dream. But first, a question from your host …

'Can you break down what 3D rendering is?'

In very simplified terms, 3D rendering is a process, and it produces computer graphics: digital images that suggest a 3D object. These forms can be lit and staged, similar to how you'd arrange IRL items for a film or photograph. 

On the episode, William Ukoh explains 3D rendering a little further: "It's being able to create three-dimensional objects, environments, things, spaces in the software of your choice," he says. "You can pretty much create anything."

Based in Toronto, Ukoh works as a photographer and director, and he's done commercial work for clients including Holt Renfrew, Hudson's Bay and Canada Goose. Digital graphics allow him to create virtual sets for his films and photos, and in the episode, he and Lewis-Joseph chat about a personal project that features some striking James Turrell-ish spaces, a short film called First Supper

Check it out.

"[3D rendering] gives you flexibility as an independent artist, photographer or filmmaker to be able to create your own sets in the virtual world," says Ukoh, who uses a program called Blender to realize his ideas.

"Anything that's in your head, you can create. That's the whole reason I got into this in the first place."

The power of 3D

Photo of a sunlit classroom. Students sit at shared desks with open laptops. A person in dark pants and a dark button-up top stands leaning over one desk, perhaps assisting a student.
A 3D rendering workshop led by artist Hiba Ali. (CBC Arts)

Through 3D rendering, Ukoh is able to capture the beauty of his ideas with photorealistic clarity, but the artform can be powerful in other ways. Later in the program, digi-Art hears from Hiba Ali via video chat. Ali is a PhD candidate in cultural studies at Queen's University, and the artist and educator has led 3D rendering workshops in cities throughout North America.

Like Ukoh, Ali uses Blender, and in their workshops, students learn the basics of 3D rendering. But Ali's approach is about more than teaching a new practical skillset.

As the artist explains in the episode, they're interested in making technology and art more accessible. To do that, Ali invites students to use 3D rendering as a way of imagining "a more healed world, a more healed self."

Says Ali: "That's where the power of 3D is really all encompassing, because if we can dream it, it can happen.

Full-body portrait of Taelor Lewis-Joseph, a young Black woman with a curly bob and glasses wearing a painted labcoat and orange platform sneakers. She stands against a firey red backdrop and holds a potted plant. The set is full of plants and she stands on a grassy floor. Many elements in the scene are 3D computer graphics, rendered in a photorealistic style.
Portrait of digi-Art host Taelor Lewis-Joseph by William Ukoh. (William Ukoh)

Watch the full episode above.

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