Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizaveta Gaevaya.
Hi Elizaveta, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Minsk, Belarus to an extremely artistic family. My father was a renowned drummer who worked alongside my mother, who was the lead singer of her own band that performed for sold-out concert halls. My grandmother was a lead violinist and performed in international symphonic opera concerts. From early childhood, my family immediately encouraged me to pursue the arts. When I was five, my mother decided to set me on the path of becoming a figure skater, and for the next fifteen years of my life, I figure skated competitively, eventually reaching a regional level, and managed to win several competitions. In my youth, I would spend countless hours drawing whenever and wherever I could. I would constantly make up stories in my head and try to translate my fantasies onto a piece of paper.
At the age of ten, my mom enrolled me in an art studio, where my instructor encouraged me to broaden my horizons and follow my own artistic path. By the time I was ready to graduate from high school, I received an acceptance letter from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where I focused on developing my skills in CG art and eventually received my BFA. During my time there, I grew discouraged when I saw that my style did not match that of those around me. I began to not only doubt that my style would fit anywhere in the industry that I aspired to be a part of, but I also doubted my love of art as a whole.
Furthermore, despite my completion of the program, I felt as though my skills were still not up to par with what was expected from entry-level applicants to film and game studios. After much consideration, I decided to revamp my entire portfolio over the course of the next six months. I submitted this enhanced portfolio to the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, a school which seemed to better match my style, and was eventually accepted into their 2-year Certificate Program. These past two years, I have not only grown as an artist but managed to further develop my style in tandem with my own personal growth. Now that I am about to graduate, I am incredibly excited to get my start in the industry and work alongside like-minded artists.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say that the heaviest of my times were during my college years at both schools. Whether it was fitting in or trying to figure out whether or not I even wanted to continue pursuing CG art, I always found myself overthinking everything and constantly digging myself into a hole. From the very start of my journey, I doubted my artistic capabilities due to how much I struggled trying to transition from traditional art to CG art. When I began my first classes at the School of Visual Arts, it seemed as though everyone around me was understanding the lessons with ease, all while I was too embarrassed to keep asking the professors to repeat what was just told to us. I was falling behind, which caused other students to lose respect for me, as they simply assumed that the reason why I was not keeping up was because I did not care about my education. All in all, the biggest challenge for me was knowing what I wanted to do but not having the knowledge or skill to do it.
Once it came time for us to make our thesis film, a student-made film which was a requirement for us to graduate, it was a relief for me to know that I would soon no longer be surrounded by those who doubted me and my artistic abilities.
Once I started my journey at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, my experience was somewhat different. At the beginning, it was pure joy. I had friends who supported me, and I was receiving recognition and praise from teachers. However, at some point, it felt as though a flip had switched, and I had somehow fallen back into my hole of feeling like I was not good enough, which seriously disrupted my emotional state. Self-doubt is a plague that infects many artists, which is something that many of my Gnomon peers have experienced as well. The continued praise from teachers did not seem to quell my doubts. Despite feeling inadequate, my closest friends always stood by me and encouraged me to continue pushing forward regardless of how I was feeling. I am proud to say that I managed to overcome these challenges and even received multiple awards along the way, including the Finalist award in both the 2022 and 2023 Rookies Awards and several school awards.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
After starting my 2-Year Program at Gnomon, it did not take me long to decide what my main focus would be. During my second term at school, I took a texturing class taught by Tran Ma. Tran was the one who made me fall in love with Look Development, Texturing, and Lighting. I found myself happiest when taking her class, not only because I loved the subject matter but also because she saw potential in me. I was always very eager to complete assignments and quickly understood that this was something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life.
Once I completed the class, I continued pursuing Look Development and tried my best to incorporate my newfound passion into projects assigned in other classes. For example, one of the pieces in my portfolio was a project from a hard surface modeling class that I decided to enhance by texturing it. Furthermore, just like all my other projects, instead of keeping the model as a standalone asset, I decided to create an entire world around it in order to tell a story.
I am known for my dark touch in all my works. I love creating pieces that will instill the viewer with an eerie feeling. Rokoko, Baroque, or anything that is ornamental-looking is my favorite thing in the world. I have always been fascinated with historical objects and what secrets they may hide. I admire something that looked like it had a dark past, and I enjoy eliciting the beauty from mystery.
I am most proud of being able to find my own style of art. It has been a huge challenge for me to discover the way I want to approach all of my work.
I am also very proud to say that the majority of my projects have been original concepts, meaning that I took inspiration only from images I would find on the internet and combined them all into one environment. I believe this is one of many things that sets my work apart from others; I use my imagination to tell a story and use my own style to achieve the desired result.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
When I am at school or at home, I usually put on a movie I have already watched and have it play in the background. Historically-based, Sci-Fi and Horror movies are my favorite to watch, and I usually match the themes of the movies I choose to the type of project I am doing. Same goes for my music selection; I like to listen to original soundtracks from films that are related to the theme of the piece I am currently working on. For example, I would listen to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack if I am working on something that had the same adventure-like aura. I also like to watch my favorite YouTube channels that feature gameplay from my favorite childhood games. One of my favorite YouTubers is Bailey Sarian, who talks about history and true crime while doing makeup at the same time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizavetagaevaya.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cgmishkalizka/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizaveta-gaevaya-97284a13b/
- Other: https://www.artstation.com/elizavetagaevaya
