Galan Pang, GW Username: galanpang
Shanghai, China
www.galanpang.com

Image Challenge Contests Awards
3rd Place: 2D, July 2008, Theme: "Wasteland"

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GW: How did you hear about the Gnomon contest?

GP: I usually visit the Gnomon Workshop periodically to check up on new DVD releases. Then one day I saw the banner about this contest, and the prizes are quite attractive, therefore I tried to participate in one.

GW: When you won the challenge, were you a student, professional or hobbyist?

GP: I was a freelancer at that time. Before I was a professional in the CG industry.

GW: Has your status changed since, and if so what influence did the DVDs have? Where do you study/work and what do you do?

GP: Actually I knew of these DVDs a long time ago since I was working in the studio. And I found that they were very inspiring to people with experience and also to people fresh in the CG industry. Especially at my studio in Hong Kong, there was a lack of professional training in very specific areas, and Gnomon Workshop DVDs really provided us with some up-to-date techniques.

GW: Of the titles you won, which do you feel had the biggest impact?

GP: I feel all of them are very inspirational. I especially like "Practical Light and Color", which provides lots of information that
is very practical for concept art.

GW: How important do you feel communities, like the Gnomon Workshop Forum, are to your growth as an artist?

GP: As an artist, the most important thing to survive is to accept criticism. Therefore a forum is really a good way to receive opinions from different people.

GW: After viewing the DVDs has your career path changed in a direction you didn't expect? For example, new interest in design, rendering, matte painting, dynamics, etc?

GP: Actually it didn't change my career path, but they helped me to develop my own career path. For example I was a concept artist and focusing on 2D drawing. I knew ZBrush was a very nice software to do organic 3D modeling, and that it would be nice for me to know how to use it and incorporate it into my work. So I learned most of my techniques by DVD, therefore it also expanded my skill set.

GW: Any other feedback regarding The Gnomon Workshop or individual DVDs? Are there any specific areas you would like us to cover more?

GP: I was very happy that Gnomon Workshop added the download option in purchasing, which really helps people that are living in places that require a high shipping cost. And I think the DVD collection now is very complete. Perhaps I want to know more about the video game industry, such as game design, level design etc...