This Guy Knows What’s Up: James Pablo Manlangit, Both Master and Diligent Disciple
No. We won’t even go there. We won’t say that even at his young age, he shows great promise and will probably be the next big thing. Such declarations are for slambooks. This is real life.
But can we help it if we do think that James Pablo Manlangit are those things? That he does show great promise. And that he probably does have a shot at being the next big thing?
Yes. There are times that one cannot help but be trite. But hey, if it’s the truth, why not go out and say it?
James did not come out a rockstar in the digital arts. No. He knew hard work. He is all too familiar with the struggles that artists such as himself had to go through to learn a thing or two about his craft, and boy did he come out swinging. If you are to meet James, you’d notice that the air around him is free of the burden of arrogance; you know, that arrogance that makes artists appear either eccentric or fastidious. James has been places, and instead of the experience going to his head, he chose the path less-travelled.
Xeno Creatives had been more than fortunate to be given the chance of an interview by Mr. Manlangit himself. In this feature, we’ll get know the various disciplines, specifically in working with Photoshop, V-Ray, Maya, and Zbrush, and influences that had led James to where he is now.
Xeno Creatives (XC): We understand that being an artist such as yourself, you start with the very basic of tools for honing your craft. As such, what processes did you have to learn, given the technical know-how needed for your recent endeavors in Photoshop, V-Ray, Maya, and Zbrush, to be well-versed in your discipline?
James Pablo Manlangit (JPM): Well for V-Ray and Photoshop which I use hand in hand for rendering and editing my artworks I learned how to be more observant of light; how light affects certain objects, how photographers do things and translate it when rendering my works using V-Ray.
The hardest part to learn for me was making my own materials so that my renders either looked like worn off metal, latex, skin, etc. I had to learn to be more observant of objects, is it matte? Is there paint on top of it? Is dust affecting how it looks? How much rust is there? I only started using V-Ray lately, circa 2015 and I have been fortunate enough to have learned so much from my Senior David Del-Rosario who is such a big inspiration for me when it comes to rendering. I also, learned a lot from Grant Warwick and Viscorbel.
For Maya and Zbrush well, I am quite the generalist when using Maya. I not only Model but also rig and animate a bit. I guess, it’s just been years of experience since I’ve been using Maya since I was in 4th year high school thanks to my brother. Watching tutorials and just applying the tutorials on my projects is what led me to where I am, in short, as they say also in drawing, “Practice, practice, practice!” In terms of Zbrush, I rarely use Zbrush for hard surfaces; I use it more for organic modeling.
I can honestly say studying at Gnomon and having the honor to have taken sculpting class under John Brown has helped me look at things anatomically. His famous words, “Plumb and Balance, and apexes” which I always keep in my mind.
XC: When did you realize that you wanted to pursue these media? Do you have a personal preference of which to use, or does it depend on what project you’re working on?
JPM: To be honest with Photoshop and Maya it started more of a requirement for me since my brother wanted me to be prepared upon entering college. I hated 3D back then. I couldn’t grasp the idea of a cube turning into a whole human body back then! Hehe then I started to love 3D, the rest of the programs I use like V-Ray, Zbrush, Marvelous Designer, Substance well it was the thought of leveling up my skills at the right time. My standard is always Maya, Zbrush and V-Ray. The only thing that depends is what to use at the start for modeling, will I start off at Maya or would it be better to start in Zbrush and fix things in Maya?
XC: Did delving into the art through these various tools start off as a want or a necessity?
JPM: As I’ve said with Photoshop and Maya they started as a necessity but the rest of the programs that I know how to use have all been wants.
XC: We have had the opportunity to see your portfolio online and we must say, to describe it as impressive is an understatement. Do you have favorite pieces? What are they and why?
JPM: Why thank you! I really appreciate those words, as I always feel I don’t meet the standards of quality for an artwork. If I had to pick 1 from a personal work it would be this barbarian that I’m still currently working on. I have to say I’ve leveled-up quite a lot in terms of rendering skin, UV mapping, organizing folders and files and texturing. In terms of professional work my new favorite would be Swift Mighty Meaty’s hotdog commercial the one with the rock Golem. I loved working on that golem even though I had little time to work on it.
XC: In your spare time, what pieces do you create?
JPM: Mixed actually. Whenever I do personal works I have an agenda with them. Like for example with my JL8 Batman, I just wanted to really finish a quick and simple work simply because for the past years before 2016 I was more of a forever work-in-progress guy. What followed next which was Vitiligo was to learn how to make and render hair and skin. For my new personal work that I am working on the Barbarian, I wanna mix rendering, skin, metal and fur which are very hard for me. In fact, my next piece after the Barbarian is already planned 🙂
XC: Have you tried your hands into other media? If so, what was it?
JPM: I love making props and “prosthetic” if you will every Halloween at our office. I loved sculpting in clay but haven’t had the time to make a piece lately. Honestly the only reason why I delved into 3D was because back in Kuwait where I grew up I didn’t have any access to magazines or tutorials to help me make props and prosthetic.
XC: If you weren’t doing what you’re doing right now, what do you think you’d be specializing in instead?
JPM: Probably prop making/prosthetic or sculpting toys, which I would love to get to try one day.
XC: What piece of advice or message can you give young aspirants wanting to enter the craft/industry?
JPM: You need to be mentally strong. Working at Post-Prod is really tough. The harsh reality is there are times you’ll feel that things aren’t fair or why’d you even get into this in the first place but trust me, don’t give up keep going on it’ll be worth it. I was fortunate enough to be with such a great team.
You have to juggle several projects all at the same time while meeting client expectations and quality. Honestly, I didn’t want to work at a Post-Prod back then they said it was hell and all and while that may be true it isn’t always.
There are also down times at work and because of juggling projects I can say that I learned to work fast, and learned my craft really well. Just think of it like the start of “Saving Private Ryan”, a very messy battlefield (at least that’s how it felt for me) but now I can deal with things compared to back then.
Oh and something that I recently learned, always make time for personal works. Be it 30 mins or an hour always do something you love. My projects aren’t usually monsters, humans, armors etc. They tend to usually be sachet packs, can of baby milk powder, lotion bottles ,simple objects that don’t require the technical know-how’s of what I do personally so if you wanna hone your skills or level up, always have time for personal works.
Indeed, James Pablo Manlangit has got it all figured out. But unlike the traveller who opted to rest upon reaching his destination, James keeps moving further — knowing, without a doubt, that he could reach greater things. Xeno Creatives knows that James is an artist to watch out for.
Get to meet James at an upcoming Zbrush seminar entitled, “Polysynthesis”. Coming this March 4th, the venue for this one-time event would be at the AVR 2 of the Mapua Institute of Manila from 9:00am to 10:30am. The seminar would be covering: sculpting organic and hard-surfaced objects. Admission is free!
