The Department of Art + Design and the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts welcomed award-winning senior matte painter and environment designer Heather Abels to Austin Peay State University on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
“Abels is a Clarksville resident and friend of the Department of Art + Design who works with major film, TV and animation studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Rhythm and Hues and Nemesis Collective,” Michael Dickins, chair of the Visiting Artist Speaker Committee, said.
Abels has worked on matte painting for various movies, including “Frozen II,” “Deadpool,” “Game of Thrones,” “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Django Unchained,” “300: Rise of an Empire” and “Moana.” She also worked on Academy Award winners in best animated feature or visual effects, including “Zootopia,” “Big Hero 6,” “Avatar” and “The Golden Compass.”
During her talk at Austin Peay, she discussed with the students three major things that she has learned throughout her career: inspiration, failure and acceptance.
Abels was inspired early in her career by legendary matte painters. She got her inspiration when she was a young child by watching “Star Wars,” “Toy Story” and “Jurassic Park.”
“When I talk about inspiration, I’m not talking about what excites you,” Abels said. “I’m talking about people that you surround yourself with and surrounding yourself with people who inspire and motivate you is one of the first things that helped me in my career.”
She encourages the new generation of artists to take the next leap and evolve from digital 2D to digital 3D matte painting techniques. She has taught at several universities and has an ongoing workshop at CGSociety.
She reminds her students that they will fail at times.
“It’s about failing and failing again until you get it right,” she said. “And it’s not always what you want. You’re trying to execute somebody else’s vision.”
Acceptance is being able to take the feedback and create something better.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, till you’ve learned what you didn’t know,” she said. “What I’m saying here is about being humble. There are a lot of artists whose careers haven’t taken off because they were unwilling to accept feedback, and visual effects is all about modification.”
The Department of Art + Design, with support from The Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is pleased to welcome award-winning senior matte painter & environment designer, Heather Abels, to Austin Peay State University.
“Abels is a Clarksville resident and friend of the Department of Art + Design who works with major film, TV and animation studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Rhythm and Hues and Nemesis Collective,” Michael Dickins, chair of the Visiting Artist Speaker Committee, said. “She is credited on such films and TV series as ‘Frozen II,’ ‘Deadpool,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events,’ ‘Zootopia,’ ‘Django Unchained,’ ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ and ‘Moana.’ We are really excited for her visit as she will give an artist lecture on her creative practice and her life and career as a sought after, award-winning, Hollywood matte painter.”
Abels’ lecture – which is free and open to the public – is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, in the Trahern Theatre, located in the Trahern building at Austin Peay. All ages are welcome.
Abels has contributed to multiple Academy Award winners
Abels is a senior matte painter with over 12 years of experience in the visual effects industry. Her work encompasses live-action blockbusters, animated feature films, national advertising campaigns, cutting-edge VR and concept work. She also has taught at several universities and has an ongoing workshop at CGSociety.She has worked at top studios including Walt Disney Animation, Blur Studios, Weta Digital, Matte World Digital, The Orphanage and Rhythm & Hues. During her time at Rhythm & Hues, she became matte department supervisor. In doing so, she was able to cross the divide between artists and technicians in order to build and adapt the department to meet new demands, as seen in the Academy Award-winning film “Life of Pi.”
She worked on other Academy Award winners in best animated feature or visual effects include “Zootopia,” “Big Hero 6,” “Avatar” and “The Golden Compass.” Abels was mentored and inspired early in her career by the legendary matte painters who made the leap from traditional painting to digital. She has focused on mentoring the new generation of artists to take the next leap and evolve from digital 2D to digital 3D matte painting techniques.
