Artist of the Month: January 2024

January Artist of the Month: Perry Cooper

Dive into the creative world of Perry Cooper, a British 3D Artist now based in the US. Raised in the artistic tapestry of London, Perry’s passion for art, design, and technology has shaped his unique vision.

Chatting with Perry Cooper

Greyscalegorilla: How did you get started in 3D design?

Perry Cooper: I grew up in London and did an Art Foundation at Ravensbourne University, where you got to do a little bit of everything within the arts. I was drawn to Product Design at first and played around with some 3D software to build real world objects. By the end of the 1-year course I was drawn to more narrative outlets like film and post-production. This led to me starting a film degree, which promptly switched to something called ‘Time Based New Media’ (This was the early 2000’s, so I don’t think they really knew what to call the new digital art wave). I found that I enjoyed doing more post-production and producing interactive CD-ROMs (showing my age!) using Macromedia Director (long gone!) The bit I enjoyed the most was creating interactive 3D scenes you could navigate around, using pre-rendered ‘Myst’ style clips – integrating 3D animation with filmed elements.

My software of choice was Cinema4D due to it coming free on the front cover of a magazine! Wow, remember those? I think it was version 6 or something like that, I loved it – especially the layout of the UI, as it was a lot more visual with lots of icons rather than something menu heavy like 3D Studio Max.

Morning Ritual: Part of a 2021 NFT collection released on Makersplace.com called ‘Hi Tea!’, created in collaboration with Reed Zimmerman (@latenightrenders). Greyscalegorilla Tools used: Materials, Signal, HDRIs and HDRI Link.

GSG: What would you like our audience to know about you?

PC: After University I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to make a living with the skills I had. I went to a bunch of interviews and started work in digital advertising as a junior designer building Flash ads and animated gifs. As I moved up within agencies, I convinced them to buy some C4D licenses and introduce 3D into the workflow (watching Greyscale Gorilla tutorials in my lunch breaks). Working closely with my Creative Directors to realise their ideas, I was able to find more creative solutions using 3D. I later co-founded a production company called The Confessional in 2009. We’ve been creating online and outdoor digital content with Agencies for global brands ever since.

It wasn’t until 2016 that I started posting to social media. This was mainly because I didn’t get to use 3D every day, so I wanted to play around and try things out. I gained more of a following on Instagram, which led to me being contacted directly by clients, and in 2020 NFT Marketplaces approached me with the idea of selling my work directly to collectors. This was a totally foreign concept to me but changed my life, making new friends and creating opportunities I never thought possible.

To anyone starting out, hopefully this shows that you don’t have to know exactly what you want to do or where you want to be when you start out- it’s a journey and you’re always learning!

Bulleit – Mix the Frontier: A client commission from 2023. Greyscalegorilla Tools used: Materials, Signal, Textures, HDRIs and HDRI Link.

GSG: How has Greyscalegorilla Plus helped you?

PC: Time! And focusing on the idea! I think when you have a good toolbox at hand, that allows you to concentrate on the story you’re trying to tell. Having everything at hand, downloaded to a drive and so easily accessible makes the process so much more enjoyable. Swapping out materials or quickly skipping between HDRIs with ease saves so much time!

I’ve started playing around with Unreal Engine and knowing that all the Greyscalegorilla materials are available to me is mind blowing. That’s really going to help me focus on getting used to Unreal, without needing to worry about having top quality materials available.

36 Days of Type 2023: A compilation of the animations Perry created from scratch daily for 36 days. Greyscalegorilla Tools used: Materials, Signal, Social Frame, Textures, HDRIs and HDRI Link.

GSG: What is your favorite Greyscalegorilla Plus tool?

PC: HDRI Link has become so engrained in my workflow, I’d forgotten it was a plugin! I literally use it in every scene when I’m setting up my HDRI and lighting. I think my favorite tool must be Signal. I love creating perfect loops and Signal makes it so much easier. It’s quite addicting to add more and more tags to create complex animations that would have been a real headache to loop by hand!

Visit our Online Library to explore over 4000 premium 3D assets and see why 3D Artists, like Perry Cooper, trust Plus to help them do their best work. And check out more of Perry Cooper’s work at perry-cooper.com.