Meet Daniel Carbone | 3D Animator and Digital Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Carbone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Growing up I don’t think there was a time I wasn’t drawing or creating art. I would always be sketching and drawing all throughout the day any time anywhere, be it in illustration pads, my school notebooks or on the back of my math tests I would always be cooking up something to draw. However there were probably several factors in my youth that I can confidently say played a big impact on me and why I chose to be a 3D animator and digital artist.

One of my earliest was the discovery of comic books. growing up I had a next door neighbor who was a professional artist who worked for Marvel Comics. During Halloween instead of giving out candy and treats to kids he would give out comics books. While some kids were out on Halloween getting KitKats and bubblegum, I was getting 3 issues of Spider-man and the Fantastic 4. This man and his kindness exposed me to a world of storytelling, art and creativity I never knew was possible, and there was no going back.

Growing up I had a very large very loving and close knit circle of family and friends. With more cousins, uncles and aunts then you can count, family reunions holidays and just the plain old weekends were always lively and never boring. It was amongst this wild loving family group that I discovered my greatest passions and inspirations. My love for video games through my older brother putting me on the couch so I can watch him play Nintendo 64, My parents taking me to the movie theaters to see my very first movie on the big screen gave me my fascination for the magic of cinema, each of my cousins and brothers and sisters almost indescribable sense of humor and personal passions that opened my eyes to new ideas.

In the end it was everyone around me growing up and their kindness and willingness to show me what there is to see in this world that impacted who I am today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It’s kinda hard to describe a definite answer to encompass all my art and its style. When creating 3D models and characters I like to think I create them with a semi realistic stylization, When I wanna design scenery or an environment for a 3D animation I always try to go for warm inviting mood lighting and for the said scenery to have character and to feel like there’s a history there. However for my illustrations and graphic designs, I think one of my first year college professors described my drawing style best……..”self taught roughness”. I put an emphasis on outlining and small details usually with a lot of heavy inking.

It would be a lie to say learning all these things was a cake walk. Going to school for illustration and deciding to switch over to 3D animation, an all computer medium, was big change and a tough one. I was a kid who was barely able to compose an email and now I had to learn about animation programs, render sequences, 3D topology, animation lighting and a whole swath of other things. It all may as well have been a foreign language to me. It wasn’t easy, but I persevered and came out the other side a professional 3D artist. Learning 3D animation meant I needed to learn the ins and outs of how animations work and what tools are used to put them together. Fortunately learning all these necessary factors of the medium gave me a repertoire of skills to have on hand should the need ever arise and I still continue to hone them to this day. They include but are not limited to: 3D animation, digital modeling, photo editing, graphic design, video editing, special effects, audio visual editing and composition, digital illustration and design, photography and so much more. It allows me to tell the world, “Not only am I a multi-talented professional, but I’m an adaptable one”.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them out for a night out in my hometown. My hometown has amazing restaurants and great bar scene and some of the best Pizza on Long Island. In recent years a concert venue was opened on main street that grew swiftly in popularity and reputation, so maybe event catch a concert or a comedy show if there was anything good playing they might find fun. My cousins and family would probably tag along too. With their outgoing and generous nature, they would make swift friends of whoever I bring along and make them memories they would always cherish.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family and friends, for being my biggest supporters and also at times my biggest critics. When looking for ideas or comments on whatever personal or professional projects I work on they are some of the first people I turn to and usually have good insight on how I can improve on what I’m working on at the moment.

Website: https://dcarb.carbonmade.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-carbone-027b8a9b