Artist Spotlight: Tsubasa Arai

Creature artist Tsubasa Arai’s fascination with creature creation began in childhood, sparked by countless films watched with his father, along with the lifelike dinosaurs and animals he saw in picture books. With his passion for depicting living beings, Arai went on to study CG at university. Groundbreaking films like Jurassic World, The Jungle Book, and The Revenant deepened his interest in realistic creature creation, eventually leading him towards the world of VFX.

For our latest Artist Spotlight, we spoke with Arai about his career journey, daily work processes, and how he’s using Mari to build an efficient texturing workflow.

Can you tell us about your career so far?

After graduating from university, I started my career at a CG production company specializing in creating commercials. Working in a small team, I gained hands-on experience across all stages of video production. This fast-paced environment taught me about production workflows, team roles, and the fundamentals of being a working professional.

Later, I became involved in VFX production for domestic TV programs and other video content. Currently, I specialize in modeling, texturing, and look development for animals and prehistoric creatures — a lifelong dream of mine since childhood — and have been working in this field for six years.

What project have you worked on that stands out the most to you, and why?

The 2019 broadcast of Curiosity Stream: Amazing DinoWorld was a pivotal moment in my career, fueling significant growth. This was the first large-scale, long-term project I was involved in, and it required meeting high-quality standards and tackling new technological challenges. With the support of my senior colleagues, I gained invaluable experience step by step, and I feel that this helped build my confidence for subsequent projects.

In documentary-style programs like this, it's crucial to accurately convey information to the audience. In particular, the challenge of realistically depicting extinct dinosaurs was key to the project, requiring a balance between academic accuracy and artistic expression. As a generalist, I worked on everything from modeling to shot work, collaborating closely with paleontologists. This experience was incredibly beneficial for improving my technical skills.

For the sequel, Amazing DinoWorld Season 2, I took on the role of lead modeler and became more deeply involved. Collaborating closely with researchers, I pursued more realistic and convincing dinosaur representations. This series was a valuable experience, as it made me realize the difficulty of blending the artistic aspects of entertainment with scientific accuracy. 

Could you tell us about your usual workflow? 

In asset production, I start by gathering references and then proceed with creating shapes in Maya and ZBrush. Since the final scale affects details, textures, and look development, I take scale into consideration during the initial modeling phase.

Once the primary and secondary shapes of the model are fairly complete, I check its appearance under multiple lighting environments similar to the final production, such as HDRI, and initiate the first stages of look development, including creating base textures. I then iteratively refine the asset using Mari, improving elements such as sculptural details and texture information to address any shortcomings, aiming for a polished result. 

In Japanese projects, high-quality results are often required within a limited timeframe, making efficient iterations of look development crucial. The same approach applies to personal projects — carefully observing references and maintaining a balance between shapes, textures, and materials throughout the process. 

What resources do you use for inspiration, and how do you typically approach turning ideas into reality? 

In my artwork, I aim to capture the fleeting breath and presence of living creatures. To achieve this, I draw inspiration from the works of renowned photographers, as well as traditional art and design, focusing on visual elements such as color usage, composition, and lighting. By combining these elements, I breathe life and realism into my creations. 

Do you have any habits or practices to help you stay focused when starting your work?

I don't have any specific routines, but I often find myself naturally thinking about my projects throughout daily life. Rather than consciously trying to generate ideas, they tend to emerge naturally in the flow of everyday moments.

However, when I do begin working, I make it a point to gather extensive references and set a clear creative direction. In the reference-gathering process, I expand my ideas by considering various perspectives and imagining the context and motion of subjects.
I make it a habit to go beyond internet-based information by visiting zoos and museums to study real subjects and capture them in photos. I believe that experiencing real objects firsthand provides intuitive understanding and sensory insights that give presence and depth to my work.

How did you acquire your fundamental knowledge and skills in texture creation?

In my university design classes, I learned about color blending, the color wheel, and the visual impressions colors create. This understanding became the foundation for my texture creation, enabling me to make thoughtful color combinations and better understand their visual effects. My practical skills were developed through online courses and hands-on experience in the field. Working on real projects, in particular, helped me apply what I had learned and further refine my techniques. 

Could you tell us what you have done to grow in your career as an artist?

I really enjoy both appreciating and creating art, and this naturally boosts my inspiration. For example, watching documentaries or observing animals often leads to moments when I come up with ideas and expressions that feel convincing and authentic, and those moments are especially exciting. In addition, I actively engage with talented artists and researchers, seeking feedback that helps me identify technical challenges. By addressing these challenges, I continue to grow and improve my work. 

What methods do you practice on a daily basis and what resources do you use to improve your texturing and look development skills? 

I make it a point to reference real-world materials. Since resources available online, such as images and videos, have their limitations, I purchase materials like crocodile leather and bird skin to observe them closely. What’s more, I create my own HDRIs to build environments, all with the goal of refining my skills to achieve more realistic representations.

What made you start using Mari, and what were your initial impressions? 

I've been using Mari for about eight years now. When I was a student, high-resolution texturing using UDIMs wasn't yet widespread in Japan. I decided to learn Mari because it was used in blockbuster films like Avatar and Jurassic World, aiming to create photorealistic assets. Initially, I faced challenges with gathering information and language barriers, but Mari's UI was simple, and since I had experience using painting software like Photoshop, I found the interface intuitive and easy to use.

What challenges has Mari helped you overcome, and how has it been beneficial?

In projects, it's essential to share looks within the team and exchange asset data from external sources. Mari has been particularly helpful in these situations. Its strong capability for sharing materials and data enables teams to establish a consistent texturing workflow for each project. This helps unify specifications across the team, creating an environment where individual artists can focus more on creative tasks.

How does Mari help with handling complex assets and creating realistic textures?

Mari is an essential tool for handling high-resolution assets that require photorealistic quality, as well as for managing large volumes of assets. By utilizing the Node Graph, you can save and share generic node trees as gizmos, enabling an efficient and non-destructive workflow. What’s more, it is easy to unify the lighting, compositing process, and color space. With the ability to preview in an environment close to the final lighting, Mari helps prevent unexpected outcomes.

How do you combine Mari with other software when using it? 

While using Mari as the main tool, I utilize Substance Designer for creating utility maps. By leveraging the strengths of each software and building a unique asset flow, I am able to enhance work efficiency while striving for higher quality texturing.

What features or characteristics of Mari do you particularly like, and why?

Lately, the Teleport Node has been my favorite. It enables me to broadcast the masks and textures I frequently use, helping to keep the Node Graph organized and creating a visually intuitive data structure.

In more complex texture workflows, I find the BakePoint Node extremely helpful as it reduces viewport load through caching and enhances performance speed.

What do you think are the advantages of Mari compared to other software?

Mari excels in performance with high-resolution assets and a large number of UDIMs. The flexibility of the procedural workflow through the Node Graph is also particularly impressive. Since the information shared across each step and texture element is visually represented in the Node Graph, even complex, high-resolution textures can be intuitively and delicately adjusted. There is no other 3D texturing software with so many unique features.

How do you feel about the future evolution of texturing and look development? How do you think Mari can contribute to this evolution?

With the growing demand for real-time and GPU-driven look development, Mari’s shading features and OCIO color management enable look adjustments in conditions close to the final environment. This will minimize back-and-forth between different software and reduce the need for high-load rendering iterations, leading to more precise look development in the future, which I am very much looking forward to. 

How do you plan to use Mari in the future? How will you adapt to new technologies and changes in workflows?

I aim to build a more efficient texturing workflow with Mari while accumulating technical expertise, maximizing performance across all assets. Specifically, by creating presets for reusable materials and node trees, I want to reduce the need to build everything from scratch, allowing for greater focus on creative processes. I also plan to flexibly adapt to the latest technologies and workflows, actively incorporating Mari's new features to improve both efficiency and quality. To achieve this, I always strive to stay updated on technological trends and continuously improve my skills. 

What features or improvements would you like to see in future versions of Mari?

While Mari already offers a robust set of features, I believe improvements in color blending would allow for more structurally realistic expressions. In digital multiplication blending, colors tend to become darker and muddier when layered. In physical color mixing, however, intermediate colors are typically more vibrant. Since pigments in the real world follow subtractive color mixing and are composed of melanin and other pigments — a painting mode that allows for more perceptually natural color blending would enable more realistic and vivid color representation. 

Are there any projects you'd like to take on or new skills you want to learn in the future?

As an artist, I am deeply committed to pushing the boundaries of CG to create lifelike creatures that could be mistaken for reality. In my work, I strive to achieve breathtaking realism, ensuring that each piece conveys a tangible sense of warmth and weight, as if it were truly alive.

I aim to take on medium- to large-scale VFX projects beyond Japan, collaborating across borders to deepen my expertise in photorealistic creature development. By working with artists from around the world and engaging in diverse, challenging projects, I hope to expand my creative range, refine my texturing and asset management workflows, and master more efficient techniques to enhance my craft.

I also look forward to gaining fresh perspectives and insightful feedback, which I believe will provide valuable opportunities for artistic growth. Ideally, I hope to work alongside talented artists who share the same vision and contribute to world-class projects in Japan.

Do you have any advice or messages for young artists aiming to pursue a career in the VFX industry?

To succeed in the VFX industry, it is essential to thoroughly understand each stage of production and the roles of different artists. Broaden your perspective and seek out the moments when you feel enjoyment or fulfillment in your work. Identifying these moments will help clarify your path for learning and skill development.

If you have specific goals, clearly define the skills you need and the challenges you must overcome to reach them, and consciously dedicate yourself to creating works. I truly believe that consistent effort will eventually open doors to success.

Check out more of Tsubasa Arai's work.

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