Biggest inspiration when you started as an artist:

Anime was a big inspiration to me at a young age. I was hooked on the Pokemon Special Manga series not because of the creatures, but because of the trainers and their journey. I guess that was when my love for character art began, because you can find a whole sketch book just filled with copies of character illustrations from the manga.

Favorite suite of software when working on 3D characters:

Blender (The only 3D software that I know how to use)

Coffee or tea:

Tea, sometimes hot chocolate.

Good habits:

I am keen to learn new ways to improve my art skills and I am extremely aware of deadlines.

Worst habit:

Procrastination (we all do that)

Favorite movies:

Marvel hero movies

Favorite games:

Skyrim, The Monster Hunter series.

Music while doing art:

J-Rock or Kpop, My favourite band has to be One OK Rock!

How to bounce back from a bad day:

Talk with friends online, because they always have your back

What is a good day:

When there is no load shedding in the country and I can get some quality time to work on my art.

Favorite quote:

“Don’t be afraid to dive, be afraid that you didn’t try.” – One Ok Rock: Wasted nights

Future goals:

Travel the world and work for video games or featured movies 

Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Jason Chan, I am a 21 year old character artist and graphic designer, all the way from South Africa. I recently graduated from university with a Bachelor degree in visual arts (Graphic Design) and now I am currently working as an intern in a Graphic Design company.  I am “Ninjason Chan” online, so you don’t get confused with the Riot artist.

What got you into character art, when did it all start?

Art in general, had been a major part of my life since I was a child. I was introduced to 3D at the age of 16, when my friend showed me his Blender teacup model. At that time it was like Pixar to me, my mind was blown away. Soon after, I’d discovered that you can make your own character in 3D and so the rest was history.

What influences were the most responsible for your current art style?

My biggest influences to this day, mainly comes from any character concept that I find online. I love simple yet visually appealing designs, and games such as Overwatch and Fortnite have this type of quality. I pay a lot of attention to 2D concept art as well, from pro artists such as RossTran, Ilya Kuvshinov, Artgerm, to name the few. I want to create art that captures the same feeling like they do with their characters, but in 3D.

How did you get to the level you are at today? Did you study in any particular way you would recommend?

I’ve learned all of my art skills from YouTube tutorials, I enjoy any sort of content that is art related, whether it is After Effects or traditional water colour, I love seeing the process. One big way to boost your skills is by entering competitions like these, where you challenge yourself and learn new techniques. Contests teach you how to cope with deadlines and learn from other interesting entries.

How did you begin the process of creating your piece? What was your inspiration?

A lot of my inspiration came from elfish armour. I find the patterns on their garments and their weapon design to fit well with the majestic feeling of a warrior that I had in mind. Artstation and Pinterest were great sources to find ideas to add-on to my design.   

What was your biggest hurdle during the process? What did you do to overcome it?

Time was my hurdle. I had to simplify and change my concept because I was afraid that I couldn’t finish it.

If you had to do it over would you do it differently? Why?

I should have tried and sketched more before I translated them into 3D because some of the poses that I had in mind did not really work well if you imagine her in a battle field. The other thing is my character lacks a background or some sort of floor that tells the environment, I know it is unnecessary to have one, but adding something like that would bring more life into the scene.

Why the villain or hero?

I chose the hero side because I wanted to experiment more with brighter colours and effective lighting setups.

What do you think the Art War 3 challenge experience taught you, and would you participate again next year if you could?

Art War taught me to prioritize my schedule and work according to plan. It taught me to keep myself organized with all of my saved files and stay on par with others. Would I participate again next year? Hell yeah!

Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists out there who might be looking to get to your level one day? What’s your recipe for success?

Don’t make excuses and pressure yourself. Design with whatever that makes you feel comfortable. Despite having a drawing tablet myself, I mostly used a mouse to create my character. I am still new to tablets, so using a mouse made things faster for me. All that matters is if it can deliver the task according to plan.

Any final thoughts?

I would like to thank everyone that got involved in running this spectacular competition and to all the judges who took their time to select the finalists. Congrats to everyone that participated in the contest, you all have worked hard! I am glad that I took part in this challenge. Can’t wait for Art War 4!

Check out Jason's winning entry here. And the 'making of' Kira here.