The Rich Palette of Rustom Tamayo
From the northeast of Manila in the Philippines, about as distant a world from Budapest one could find, comes one of Brick’s dearest artists.
Rustom Francisco Tamayo, “Tom” for friends and colleagues, took the familiar route so many before him have taken towards becoming a full fledged arch viz 3D artist. That is, studying and practicing architecture for about nine years, before the realization hit, that he was going to take the leap and turn his attention completely towards making beautiful images instead.
So, by immersing himself in the craft, through countless webinars, tutorials and all those self-teaching methods many of us are familiar with, he soon was able to land some freelancing work, and eventually present some promising material that we could not ignore. The passion and dedication always finds a way to come through, from artists who obviously have the talent and commitment soaring in them, and eager to evolve further, as far as it will take them.
One of the outlets for his creativity was a participation in the Rookie Awards back in 2022, a huge online platform for emerging artists. Winning first prize in the arch-viz category gained him a 4 week internship at Graph visual studio in Barcelona, where he had the opportunity to complete an entire project of his own. An additional award received enabled him to be mentored in his work for a long period by 2G Studio, one of Indonesia’s leading arch-viz companies.
“I couldn’t afford to take courses, so everything I learned at that point were from free Youtube webinars.”
Another outlet where Tom could make his name and skills known, are through his participations in the D2 challenges. Eight times to be precise, grabbing the silver medal twice with his work, not a bad way at all for a self-proclaimed junior to enter the industry! Til this day, he is practically regarded as family at the conventions, by fans and colleagues from around the arch-viz world.
Tom points out that his deliberate transition from architect to 3D artist had to be carefully planned every step of the way. Finding the leading names in the industry, emulating their styles, while gathering inspiration for his own ideas and letting the sparks fly! Eventually the improvements showed, as he kept setting the bar higher and higher, one step, one piece of art at a time.
“Arcade” D2 – Wes Anderson Challenge
Come 2024, and lo and behold, Tom is currently producing high-end architectural visualisations as a senior 3D artist with Brick Visual, alongside some colleagues with similar stories. All based on the dream, commitment and hard work, that eventually lead to the possibility to make their living practicing the craft they love.
“Aftermath” D2 – Cabin Challenge
“I’ve been walking this path by myself, and so far, I’m kind of enjoying the adventure!”
It’s obvious that we’re never too accomplished to quit the excitement of creative competitions and challenges like the D2/CommonPoint, in which Tom took part this year as well, letting that imagination flow once again, as presented in our previous Art of Brick article.
Check his entry for “Lost and Found”, along with three fellow Brick artists’s work here:
