Nolwenn R.L. - @nol_drw

2D artist - 3D generalist

Hi! My name is Nolwenn, I'm a french and spanish 2D artist and third year 3D - Animation student. Wellcome to my website!

Portfoilio - Character design

My character design portfolio!

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Blog

Thoughts about profesional experiences, the animation industrie and
things that cross my mind.

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Artwork

Other artworks and projects, 2D and 3D.

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About me

Get to know more about the person behind the art!

About me

Hi! My name is Nolwenn, I'm 20 years old.
I'm a french and spanish 2D artist and third year 3D - Animation student at Aix Ynov Campus.My speciality is character design but I'm very interested in 3D sculpting and working towards a specialisation in 3D animation too. In my free time I also work with other mediums and techniques like watercolor!Since I was a kid, I loved drawing and manual crafts, but I started to take art more seriously 10 years ago. Early on I knew that I wanted to work in the animation industry, so I did a bac STD2A (design and applied arts) to then follow with what I'm doing now, a master's degree in 3D - Animation (3rd year out of 5).Outside of work I like alternative fashion and make up, animated shows, monster high, create and custom everything I can (sewing, painting, make jewelry,...), learn new things, play minecraft, go to the park and other little things in life.At the moment I'm the team lead of my final year's project and recently the new illustrator for the E-Sport structure GFS !I hope you'll like my work!

This part of the website is currently being updated, it's gonna be a mess for some time. Thanks for your understanding.

Artwork

Gallery | Projects

This part of the website is currently being updated, it's gonna be a mess for some time. Thanks for your understanding.

Artwork

Gallery | Projects

Vitruvian man - Ymmersions

September 2024, back to school for our third year in 3D animation, we are presented with the "ymmersions" challenge: in groups of 5 we have fouur days to bring to life, in an unexpected way, a famous artwork with Unreal Engine 5.
This time I was the lead of my team and we chose the Vitruvian man by Leonardo da Vinci.
After reading about it, we really liked the god like aspects as well as the disturbing image that result of all the limbs. That's why we went for a psychedelic image, being a mess but also organized, like a bad trip ascending to godness and the art of creation.
I was in charge of the organisation, moodboards, a bit of modeling, rigging, skin and animation of the character and part of the presentation.
Even if we had problems with the rendering and it's the weirdest thing i've ever created, I really like the result!

Thaïs ASTIER- moodboard, sculpt, retopology, compositing, sound design
Manon D'ORIANO - moodboard, modelisation, texturing, presentation
Kyo LACONI - moodboard, modelisation, texturing, UE5 setup
Anonymous team member - moodboard, concept art, storyboard, textures, objects animation, lighting

Arch'Ynov

Arch'Ynov was one of the teams for Summers Schools 2023 of Aix Ynov Campus, who worked for Aix Ynov Campus and its director Jérôme JOUAN. Our project was to do the new campus in 3D from the construction plans, to do a promotional video anouncing the arrival of the campus and the ability to do a visit in virtual reality. For that we used Maya, Substance 3D Painter and Unreal Engine.
At the beggining of the project we had the opportunity to visit the construction site, which helped later down the line when we decided to do all the exterior.
We organized in three teams plus our project leader. Each team chose a room to do and we search for references based on the graphic charte and mood board from Bordeaux's campus. After that we started the production until the room was validated for the integration in Unreal and go for the next room.
For my part, my team worked on the art rooms, the computer rooms, the audiovisual rooms and the exterior as well as the storyboard for the final video.
The biggest challenge for me was to achieve a fairly realistic result given that until then I had only done stylized or semi-realistic results. Despite that, we had good support so we could rework the props until we got the right result.
Screens by Baptiste APPARICIO and Thomas CAILLY. Final video by Emma USSEGLIO.

Fantastic Bestiary 2022/2023

Ydays is a program from Ynov, where students are given the opportunity to create a startup for the year, a total of 2 oral presentations in 13 days in the year. There's a whole process of presenting the project to the school, hiring a team of students and work on the project in a professional way. This way we have some professional experience inside the school.
In my first year I made it into Fantastic Bestiary, a startup for 3D students to make a creature, from the moodboard to the animation. It was a great experience, even more as a first year student, I got to learn a lot and get out of my comfort zone to ask for help from students I didn't know.
To begin, I decided to do one of my original characters "petit gardien", he is a small forest spectre from a personal project. Since he has no legs, no hands and little colour, I could focus more on harder steps like the texturing and rigging.
The 2D aspects weren't new to me so it was easy, I was still getting the hang of sculpting and I learned about retopology. I tried three times to do it manually on Maya but I didn't know about n-poles or e-poles, so I failed the three times and did it in Zbrush instead. UV's were pretty easy and that was the first time I opened Substance painter (I did not like it). Then the time came for rigging, which excited me because everyone around me said how horrible it was, I wanted to make my own opinion. To be honest it wasn't that bad, the hardest thing was that that day we were working from home. I made mistakes, but I started to really get it, until the startup lead told me to do an IK/FK switch for the arms. Keep in mind it was my first time rigging and I didn't even understand the difference between IK and FK in animation. Even if I got a lot of problems with that and I had to start over many times, I was really proud when everything worked. The skin was rushed for time reasons, but I had the opportunity to do a small idle animation for my little guardian! It filled me with so much joy to see my creation come to life, I really got to learn a lot and I'm glad I got into this startup in my first year.

Fantastic Bestiary 2023/2024

In my second year the sistem changed a bit so I had to be in two startups, one in "B" weeks and one in "C" weeks. That way i had the opportunity to come back to Fantastic Bestiary and make a new creature! Since I had more experience, the creature had to be more complex, and I decided to do a colorfull fae, with hands, legs, a dress and a face.
As always, I went fast on the 2D aspects and on the sculpt too. This time I knew how to do retopology manually, so it was a good practice, and then I had to do the clothing! The hardest thing was that a lot of elements were overlapping so I had to carefully adjust everything, because it could create problems in the baking for the textures, I had to do some back and forth from Substance to Maya. For the textures I was looking for a painterly to go with a second project I was doing. I still don't like texturing yet I got a bit better at it. The last step was rigging my little fae, I was excited to do so, to see my improvement and maybe try to rigg the face, but sadly I injured my hand and wasn't able to finish it. Despite that, I'm proud of what I've done and I want to finish it in my free time with a healthy hand.

Agaldia creations

Agaldia creations is a start up made by some of my friends in 2023. This project creates figuramas about original characters in their universe, called Khàos. I worked with them at the beggining of the startup as a concept artist and character designer. Even though we workeg as a team we were also in two groups: one for Eurime the angel and one for Naos the vampire. I worked in the Naos team, i did concept art of principally weapons and her character design but the final design was done by Kyo Laconi. In the end i also did an illustration of Eurime I'm really proud of.

Table of content

Blog

The school year started kinda badly. With the school-work system we barely have class (3 1/2 months of class in 10 months of school year) and as in a lot of places there's administration issues. If you know about 3D animation production you'll understand how difficult it is for 4 students to make a 2 minutes short film in 3 months with classes, assignements, internships and part time jobs in the middle of it. This system is not adapted for animation productions.
That's why I went to visit another animation school! In highschool it was my dream school but it was out of budget for me, so I did not go. But this time things are different, I have more experience, I'm older and know what I'm looking for.
That school really was amazing but I realized that they had much more skills as third year students than in my school, we were falling behind and if I wanted to go there I had to redo a third year, which means more money and effort. So after a lot of thinking and considering options I'm gonna have a gap year to work on my skills and make enough money.
On one hand, visiting the school, knowing the potential and having feedback, plus watching the new season of Arcane, seeing all these talented artists gives me more motivation and hope. On the other hand, all the effort it's already taking me, all the effort it's gonna take in the nexts months, the doubts, seeing all the layoffs and herdship of getting into the industry it's scary and frustrating.
Nonetheless I have hope for the future of the industry and the future of my career. Changes are difficult but I know I'm going in the right direction and I'm not giving up.

Having a career in the digital, it's important for me to have a good relationship with the internet, outside life and what surrounds us.
Three or four years ago was the first time I realized that I was no longer using social media as a way to find new artists and inspiration, but as a (bad) escape from my problems. Like many people, and even more so after lockdown, I was addicted to my phone. It's something that has always irritated me, it wasn't pleasant and the worst part is that I am the only one responsible for how I choose to pass the time. Not only was I addicted but it had affected my art: I drew less, I tried to film the processes for social media, looking for an art trend that I might like,...
I had tried putting time limits on social media, which was a step forward but not effective enough, plus there was always something that made me return to those bad habits, again and again. So after reflection and a lot of disgust towards my phone, I made the decision to delete as many apps as possible and return to old ways of doing things. Instead of taking notes on an app I do it in a very small notebook that I always take with me. If I have an idea for a next creation I scribble it in a sketchbook of the size of my hand. If I'm bored I can just observe what's around me and get lost in thoughts. Honestly staring at the ceiling makes me feel better than spending a single hour on my phone.

I highly recommend this video from Digging The Greats, who started a series where he spent a month with an iPod instead of Spotify and ended up getting rid of his phone as much as possible. At the end of the series he makes an analogy with a Swiss army knife: the blade in a Swiss army knife can be practical in some situations, but to cook a whole meal it is better to take a large kitchen knife, to take the adequate tool. A smartphone must be like a Swiss army knife, practical but only a tool, you still have to know how to choose the right tool. For him, an iPod is better than Spotify on a daily basis, but for writing his video scripts, Notion on a computer is more practical than a typewriter. On the other hand, thanks to the typewriter, he is now more aware of what he wants to write before pressing the keys.
Coming back to the creative aspect, my phone is not the right tool for my inspiration and creations. It's only been a week since I took the plunge but I'm already noticing changes: I observe more, I'm more curious, everything around me can be a source of inspiration. And in my personal life, I'm in a better mood, I sleep and rest better, I spend more time doing things I love and I realize how much the rest of the world is glued to their little screens.
For personal and professional reasons I can't switch to a flip phone without internet but I now think of my phone as a Swiss army knife. I continue to make changes and adapt accordingly. I am happy and proud to have made this decision and all the positive impacts on my life that came with it.

After being refused a work-study offer that I really wanted, I questioned my work. I talked with friends, watched videos of industry professionals, and my conclusion was that I needed to have a portfolio specialized in a field instead of a generalist one to apply. So I decided to make a character design portfolio but I needed a good quality main project which I quickly started. I was inspired, motivated, organized and, above all, stressed given its importance in being able to get a work-study program and continue my degree. That's how I spent more than a month working every day without rest, for far too many hours, until my hand hurt. For those who don't know me, I'm really stubborn and with the added anxiety I continued to work despite the pain (bad idea). The inevitable happened, I spent almost two months with a wrist splint and a pain that angered me more than anything, because I could only blame myself. I could no longer work, no longer draw, my daily life had become more dificult, I could no longer do the things I love and I depended on those around me.
This whole story started from a good intention but I was not able to see my limits, I was so blinded by stress that I was not responsible enough for my hand and my health. Today I became aware of it, my hand is healed, I am starting to draw again gradually and I have incorporated stretching exercices into my routine.

This month I discovered indie animation thanks to my best friend.
I have a dumb problem, it's that I watch always the same shows I love and I listen to the same playlists, again and again, I obsess over a content and I struggle to go discover new things. It seems dumb, but wanting to work in the animation industry it's important for me to have a cinematic culture (sorry Ari).
First I watched Helluva Boss, created by VivziePop and produced by her studio SpindleHorse Toons. It's an adult 2D animated show that takes place in hell, that is also a spin off of the show Hazbin Hotel, both pretty well known.
Then we had the pleasure of discovering the pilot/episode 1 of The Amazing Digital Circus, created by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions. This 3D animated adult show talks about humans stuck in a game/virtual world, inspired by video games from the 90' and the story I have no mouth and I must scream.

What is remarkable and inspiring for everyone in the industry is the fact that these are independent studio series, released on YouTube and they are doing very well. They are proof that we do not have to go through big studios to hope one day to see our ideas come to life. A good story and an attractive visual can be enough for the public to see small productions and, who knows, maybe one day see them appear on Prime Video like Hazbin Hotel!
On the other hand, it's nice to see animated series for adults that are pretty and (to my taste) interesting.
I can't wait to see the future of these series and the future of independent animation on YouTube, hoping that one day I too can present my stories to the world!