THE DAY HAS COME

ARTIST

Saby Menyhei

SOFTWARE

Maya, Arnold, Photoshop

Concept artist and digital matte painter Saby Menyhei currently works as a matte painting supervisor in

DNEG’S Feature Animation division, and he loves to create imaginary landscapes. “It feels like going on a journey, being part of an adventure,” he says. “I had a concept in mind when I started working on this piece but there was a lot of room to improvise.”

The creative process behind this elaborate cathedral began, as it always does for Menyhei, with a sketch. “I always have a notebook with me to write down new ideas and scribbles,” he adds. Assets are built using Maya or Zbrush, with Substance Painter and Mari being the tools of choice for texturing. “To be more efficient, I reuse my assets quite often,” Menyhei admits. “I have an evergrowing 2D and 3D library that I can pull elements from.”

Ever since his childhood, Menyhei has been attracted to distant, foreign lands; places he thought he might never visit or didn’t actually even exist. “I feel so lucky that making art is my profession,” he reflects. “It’s perhaps the closest thing to childhood for me. I’m like a kid playing with his favourite toy when working on a new piece. Even if those places don’t exist, I can be completely immersed in them.”