Today we throw the spotlight on CG Spectrum student Kristian Kebbe, an FX artist who is currently living in Melbourne, Australia.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you discovered your passion for visual effects?

I'm Kris, I'm 25 years old and I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I studied FX online with CG Spectrum, and recently finished a 6 month internship at Method Studios in Melbourne, where I worked on Christopher Robin.

I've always been interested in CG, and have dabbled throughout the years with various software. I didn't really consider it could be a potential career for a really long time though, until I found Houdini and CG Spectrum and decided it was what I wanted to do.

I find FX specifically incredibly rewarding, overcoming the various challenges that are different from project to project is very fulfilling and doesn't get boring.

Can you describe your working environment? What kind of music do you listen to while working?

At Method Studios the working environment was laid back and very collaborative, with everyone being super helpful and sharing knowledge and tips.

At home when I'm working on personal projects I basically just lock myself in my room until I'm finished! I don't often listen to music while working, but if I am it's either some Synthwave like Perturbator, or something chill like Tame Impala. I like watching TV series on my second monitor when working on a time intensive project, because there's always a bit of time when simming/rendering to do that sort of thing.

You have some great FX work, which of your projects is your favourite, and why?

Thank you very much!! Professionally, my favourite project is Christopher Robin because it is the first film I've worked on, and I'm proud of the work I did on it. Of my personal work, my favourite project would have to be 'Angry Alien'.

It was the first big project in which I worked on incorporating many types of simulation with a cinematic feeling, and ultimately the portfolio piece that probably secured my job at Method Studios. I worked on it for 3-4 weeks full-on, and learned so much in the process!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from other artists who are making really cool stuff. Erik Ferguson and Filip Tarczewski were really big inspirations for me to learn Houdini, and a lot of my organic soft body stuff is influenced by them. Most recently Thomas Marque has been a huge inspiration in terms of mastery of the software and control over the output. He has made all sorts of mindblowing, photoreal FX that keep me inspired and remind me of how awesome Houdini is. All of these guys are on Vimeo, be sure to check out their work!

Are there any other Rookies' that you recommend our readers check out?

All the other people from CG Spectrum!

John Olofinskiy, Vincenzo Buffalino, Aaron Skinner to name a few of them, they're all super talented in their disciplines.

FX-wise specifically, I've seen some great reels from Hau Tran, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Riley Miladi, and Stefan Kang Chun Yih. The student work across the board has been mindblowing this year, there are so many amazing artists who have participated.

What’s left on the agenda for the rest of the year? Any interesting projects lined up?

I'm starting a job at Luma Pictures at the end of July, I'm really looking forward to what projects are in-store there and to work with the awesome team! Other than that I have been doing a lot of personal work.

I'm currently finishing a big personal project incorporating crowd simulation, clustered pyro simulation and debris for a large scale shot. I'll continue doing personal work and experimenting with Houdini, probably doing some more squishy alien stuff because it's super fun.

And finally, if you had to give one piece of advice to artists like you what would it be?

Do lots of personal work! If you can derive pleasure from the work you do and this passion comes across in your portfolio/reel, recruiters notice this. Plus it's really nice to enjoy what you do!