Meet Daniel Moy, Digital Artist and World Traveler
I grew up in the Bay Area of Northern California. As a young artist, I started out using drafting pens and Indian ink, mimicking my favorite comic book artists, such as Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee. Later, I explored mediums such as charcoal, clay, and wood sculpting. My exploration translated into digital mediums when I discovered Computer Graphics in College.
Jump To Section
- Working Professionally as a Visual Effects Artist
- Moy’s Cinematic Inspiration
- Building Up a Resume
- Personal Work
- Moy’s Horror Art Contest Winning Character - Nosferatu
(Me with a friend in nature. When not immersed in a film project, I enjoy mountain biking, photography, traveling, and traditional sculpting. I have traveled to 25 countries.)
Working Professionally as a Visual Effects Artist
After college, I received a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Effects from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco.
I pursued a career in visual effects, building my portfolio at Digital Domain, Los Angeles, where I was an integral part of the VFX pipeline for movies such as The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Flags of Our Fathers.
(An old digital sculpture I did of a zombie soldier.)
Moy’s Cinematic Inspiration
I was inspired to grow in my craft after watching The Lord of the Rings movie, directed by Peter Jackson in 2001.
(The poster for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The digital character work in these films was an inspiration.)
Building Up a Resume
My early credits and skills development paid off in 2008, when my career landed me in Wellington, New Zealand, at one of the top Visual Effects companies in the world, Weta Digital Ltd. My work there included high-profile international films such as The Hobbit, Avatar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and X-Men: First Class.
I currently live in Vancouver, BC with my family where I've been fortunate enough to continue working at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as a Senior Creature Modeler. You may have seen my work on films such as Black Panther, Aladdin, and The Irishman.
(For Aladdin, I created the assets for the digital double and Iago, the parrot, pictured above. I worked alongside many other amazing artists at ILM to help create the VFX for this film.)
To date, I have been credited with twenty-five films and have sixteen years of experience in the field of visual effects.
(A collage with most of the films I have worked on. Some of my favorites were Avatar, Aladdin, and The Mummy.)
(I was a model lead on Beauty and the Beast, pictured above, brought to life with the help of the team at Digital Domain. It was a great privilege working on this digital character.)
Personal Work
Even when I'm not at work, digital sculpture is my passion. As an attempt to trick viewers, I composited one of my digital sculptures into a plate from a sculpture studio to make it look like it was made from clay rather than pixels.
(My illusion, The Water Beast, a digital creature sculpture, made using Mudbox, a 3D sculpting software developed by Autodesk. Concept design by Austin Eddy.)
Here's a short video showing off my Water Beast (watch your volume, the music is loud):
I am very eclectic with my art and have worked in both photography and videography. I both filmed and produced a promotional short film for a local artist named Deuce Eclipse. The project was a blast to create.
This is my short video promoting Deuce Eclipse, a local artist/performer:
(A zombie I sculpted traditionally with Super Sculpey.)
Moy’s Horror Art Contest Winning Character - Nosferatu
For this character piece, I created a mesh that I could use for facial shapes, which included a good topology for deformations. From there, I used traditional digital sculpting skills in Mudbox. I spent a significant amount of time blocking out the primary forms for the face and hands, just as you would in traditional sculpting.
(My mesh figure. Everything seen here had to be re-topologized manually.)
(The pattern that I used to create the coat in Marvelous Designer, a 3D design tool for clothes and fabrics.)
The hands-on elements told a big part of this character's story, so I wanted to put just as much detail into them as I did on the face. I made secondary and tertiary forms using Texture XYZ to create high-resolution detail.
(Nosferatu's clothing, pictured above, with high-definition detail that I sculpted in Mudbox.)
(I rendered the grey-shaded pass with Arnold, a ray tracing renderer.)
I wanted my Nosferatu to resemble F.W. Murnau's 1920s original, as played by Max Schreck, but with a modern twist. I explored different ideas with quick concepts that I sketched on my phone using the Autodesk SketchBook app while commuting to work.
(Greyscale mesh with hair highlights selected.)
An important part of making him look realistic was adding hair. I added a complete pass of peach fuzz, eyebrows, nose hairs, hand hair, and cloth fibers.
(An angle of the final sculpture, mouth open.)
The facial expression was key to bringing this character to life. I created a few FAC-based shapes to help bring out a few expressions. I also used the reference of aged skin to create thin-skinned areas, as seen across the back of the hand.
Breakdown of the tools:
- • Marvelous Designer - costume
- • UVLayout - straight uvs for the clothes panels
- • Mudbox and Photoshop - initial sculpting and texture work
- • XGen - the eyebrows, eyelashes, peach fuzz, hand hairs, and nose hairs
- • Maya - lookdev and lighting
- • Arnold - rendering
- • 3D Wrap - FAC-based shapes
Realizing my Nosferatu required spending time after work, some weekends, and moments in between family time. But it was worth it. The end result, with all the fine-tuning and detail, was a process that I enjoyed. I would be proud to see this creation used on the big screen!
(A detailed close-up of the face)
I spent a lot of time looking at endless references to human faces, trying to replicate the subtleties I wanted and capture them digitally.
(My finished Nosferatu.)
It was important for me to try to capture the essence of the character and not deviate too far from the original, but without making it a copy. Given the iconic pose, the hands had to be just as detailed as the face. And I do think I achieved what I set out to do.
Thank you so much to the Stan Winston School for picking my piece as their Horror Character Contest Winner. As an artist, it is very fulfilling to be recognized for my work. I also want to give major praise to the other entries; so many were amazing, and if I were deciding, it would have been a very difficult decision.
- Daniel Moy
You can follow Daniel on the following pages:
- Instagram: @moyboyart / @moyboyphotography
- Website: danmoy.com
- ArtStation: DANIEL MOY
Do you want to learn to sculpt, mold, cast, and paint? Try our online courses with Hollywood's Master FX Artists: FREE 7-Day Trial.