Joel Mongeon's digital renderings of human anatomy.

The inspiration for many of Joel Mongeon's digital renderings of human anatomy, such as the examples shown here, is rooted in the skills he has developed through his fine arts studies.

When digital artist Joel Mongeon wants to hone his skills, computers and software are the last things on his mind. Instead, he finds his inspiration in a place that's the farthest thing from the digital world.

When in full "training" mode, Mongeon spends up to 25 hours a week sketching and painting at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto — a unique studio that applies Old Masters-style training techniques dating back to the time of Michelangelo and Da Vinci.

Despite his success in his field, Mongeon believes that expanding his boundaries in this way is a matter of creative necessity in a world where digital arts technology continues to progress by leaps and bounds.

"Films like Lord of the Rings have raised the bar so much, being purely a technician is not enough," he explains. "The better a fine artist you can be, the better your [digital] work."

This is not news to Henry Schmidt, director of product art for Fisher-Price Inc. in East Aurora, N.Y. He has spent more than 10 years promoting fine art as a creative outlet for his computer-bound team of designers.

Unlike your typical workshop schedule, in any given year the Fisher-Price calendar could include life drawing, wildlife sketching, sculpting, bronze casting and bookbinding, led by art instructors from the Canada and the U.S.

The company also keeps an open studio where workers can indulge in figure drawing and other art forms during their leisure time.

"The company is a strong supporter of creativity and collaboration and art is a perfect vehicle for that," says Schmidt. "In a corporate world, the lone-wolf-genius idea simply doesn't hold true. Fine art allows people to engage in a creative activity that feeds back into their work and reinforces innovation."

The beauty of academic style art in particular, he says, is that it takes people away from the world of on-screen graphics and really focuses on the power of observation.

"It removes pre-conceived ideas and filters, and heightens visual perception."

Progressive artists embrace the past

Digital artist Joel Mongeon improves his computer rendering skills through classical art training at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto.

While Schmidt may have been ahead of the curve when he saw fine art training as an added creative tool for digital design teams, other entities — from schools to big-name studios — have since come to the same conclusion.

The Visual and Digital Arts Program at Humber College in Toronto is now one of the few in the country that devotes an entire year of its curriculum to fine art training, which includes life drawing, perspective, colour theory, anatomy and still life.

"There has been a significant disconnect between art principles and their application in digital art," says program co-ordinator, Gary Richardson. "We believe that fine art is really the missing link that allows [digital artists] to connect the dots."

Richardson has observed in his many years of teaching that, "People who come into the program with strong traditional art skills are always far beyond the others."

Kalene Dunsmoor, 25, is the perfect case in point. With only a year of digital training under her belt, it was the life drawing skills she learned as a student at the Academy of Realist Art that clinched an entry level job with Lucasfilm Animation Co. in Singapore ahead of thousands of other hopefuls.

Talent versus computer skills

While good old-fashioned hands-on artistic skills may not have been an issue in the early days of digital animation, all that has changed says Richardson.

"The technology can give sophisticated results that are lacking in aesthetic principles — and even audiences without artistic training can see the difference."

"The power of the platforms today gives us lots of space to maximize the capacity of visuals and demands the highest quality skills," confirms Cédric Orvoine, director of external communications and public relations for video game developer and publisher Ubisoft Montreal. "If the raw [artistic] talent is not good, neither is the 3D rendering."

He adds that while computer skills are definitely bankable, companies are now looking for much more from entrants to the field.

"The most important thing we look for today is raw talent, whether that's in art, engineering or storytelling," Orvoine says. "While we also expect a basic knowledge of [computer] tools, these can be learned."

"We will often consider people with less hands-on [technology] experience if they show exceptional raw talent and passion," agrees Stephane D'Astous, general manager for gaming company EIDOS Montreal. "The video game industry today has to go outside the usual pool of talent and take more risks when recruiting — and that's a good sign."

"Hollywood [and gaming] technology has finally caught on to what creative people have always done on paper," notes Academy of Realist Art co-owner Fernando Freitas, who professes to be a lifelong devotee of comic book art and movie animation in spite of his commitment to teaching Old Masters techniques.

Today's digital design and animation tools are extremely powerful, but people still need artistic talent and training to make the most of them, experts say.

"Films such as Sin City and 300 broke the mould and brought fine art to the forefront once again. We're finding more and more digital arts students are coming here to study."

If one thinks about it says Schmidt, the connection between technology and hands-on artistic skills is hardly new. One only has to remember that Michelangelo and Da Vinci were equally proficient in architectural and engineering skills as they were at drawing and painting.

As Schmidt points out, many of the greatest masterpieces have been an ideal marriage of science and art. For example, it has been discovered that Michelangelo created 3D clay and wax miniature renderings of elements of the Sistine Chapel fresco figures in order to study perspective more accurately before executing the painting.

"From a production standpoint, you could say it was the Lord of the Rings of its day."

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