Rolando Barry
Spanish Freelance 3D artist, Rolando Barry, produces incredibly detailed and intricate 3D Illustrations and motion graphics. Using basic shapes, colours, lighting he creates some of the most stunningly simple, yet complex, 3D art you’ll see in the business. I’ve followed his 3D journey since mid 2018, and have been amazed ever since.
One of the relatively new kids on the 3D block is Rolando, more known by his internet handle, “Honear”. He started his design journey at Ringling College of Art & Design in Florida USA where he studied film and photography for four years and graduated in 2017. At the start of 2019, Rolando left behind his job in travel photography and decided to pursue a career in 3D design, specialising in Cinema 4D. Though Rolando has a smaller following than the likes of Peter Tarka, he’s one of the best in the business! He’s worked for the likes of Huawei, (advertising their P30 phone in 2018) and BVLGARI ( creating a piece to represent their brand ID).
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
Why does he inspire me?
As a relatively new face on the 3D scene, Rolando has certainly left his mark! More and more people, myself included, have become bored with the stale, ‘Space’ themed digital renders, and have opted for a more Art/Set Direction style. Rolando, like Peter Tarka, has become a catalyst for this movement and his style is something many want to emulate. Not only is his work aesthetically pleasing, but his attention to detail is just fantastic. From the small scratches on gold materials, to the subtle changes in light to cast just the right reflections on objects. It’s this attention that commercial brands want to see, and it’s easy to see why he attracts big clients!
Though Rolando’s work isn’t part of the ‘daily post’ genre, his consistency is another thing that keeps his work in the spotlight. Every couple of days his feed greets you with another beautify crafted composition, full of colour and detail. He himself recognises his ‘cluttered’ style, but this is something hard to find in the Art direction scene. Everything is about minimalism, yet Rolando has managed to make his work minmalist in other ways (colour, light, shape). It’s people like this, people who can adapt a genre, that are the ones paving the way for new designers and styles.
The thing I love about Rolando’s work is that he isn’t afraid to use basic shapes, in fact it gives the illusion that his work is simple. Well as someone who makes 3D work, believe me, wow these are hard to make 😂
The Interview part
I was lucky enough to be able to ask Rolando some questions about himself and his career. I hope that’ll give you a little bit of an insight into his life, personal and commercial as well as his design process. It’s not every day you get to interview an idol!
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
1. Who are you, and how did
you start your journey into the
world of design?
My name is Rolando Barry. I’m currently a freelance 3D Artist based in London. I graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 2017 after studying a major in Film and a minor in Photography. During my time at college I directed a 7 minute short film which received numerous commendations, including one from respected cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and the short was semi-finalist at the LA Cine-Fest Awards.
Image - https://www.behance.net/honear
2. What made you want to pursue 3D Modelling and Design?
I started working in 3D a little bit after graduating. I had tried out Blender before but nothing too serious. I was in Spain at the time, and after a small surgery I couldn’t leave my house for a while, and my eagerness to do some work led me to 3D, which I could do from the comfort of my house. I created an anonymous instagram (@honear) and used it as a platform to put out my findings and learning track in 3D.
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
3. Could you give some insight into your creative process? (As much detail or as little as you’d like)
It’s a bit weird when it comes to the work I do, which is mostly abstract. I like to experiment with shapes a lot, and I almost never have a clear idea of what a piece is going to look like in the end. I just put things together and move them around until “it feels right”. Often I will centre a piece around a new technique I am trying to learn!
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
4. What other activities do you enjoy besides Digital Design?
Well it’s hard to pick something other than 3D work, as it was my hobby until it became my job! (which absolutely I love). So when I’m not doing commercial projects I’m usually working on personal stuff or experiments. I sometimes go climbing in the mornings with some friends, and I enjoy playing video-games with my brother. Working from home means I’ll spend most of the day in my house, so I always try to make time to hang out with friends and go for a drink or two.
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
5. If you could, what career advice would you give to your younger self?
I’m in conflict with this. I’m not so sure I should have gone for film in College. Looking back, I would have much rather gone for Computer Animation or Motion Design. However, I think that if I had never taken film, I wouldn’t have eventually switched to doing 3D this way. I also carry over a lot of knowledge and concepts like lighting, composition, colour, etc from film to 3D. I guess I will never know!
6. After creating over 240 posts on Instagram, what project (past or present) are you most proud of?
I’m proud of all of them! Maybe one of the vine/flower growth systems I made. It took a lot of time and is something that had been in my mind since before I even knew C4D. Being able to create it and seeing peoples reactions to it really made me happy!
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
7. What piece of advice would you give to anyone wanting to improve their work and grow in the digital design world?
Start little by little. I feel there’s a trend nowadays where people want to start doing 3D on day 1 and come out with a post-apocalyptic environment loop on day 2. The ‘dailies’ culture of trying to get something out-every-day-no-matter-what doesn’t really work unless you already know 100% what you’re doing.
“Start slow. Master techniques one by one. Build up on that. You will develop a solid foundation and in no time you’ll get further than if you tried to approach everything at the same time.”
(Absolutely loved this comment by Rolando. I’ve always found it hard to focus on one thing, which in turn has left me with 50 or 60 unfinished projects, some of which I don’t think I’ll ever go back to. I regret this immensely now. Some of them could’ve been the next viral post on Behance or Instagram, or I could’ve found my new ‘style’.
I’ve always striven to get better, but never remembered that we only learn from our experiences.
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
8. Do you have any Collaborations in the works or anything that excites you about the future of your career?
There’s a lot that excites me about the future of my career. I want to keep doing what I’ve been doing! I also do have some new projects in the works, a lot of Houdini experimentation and of course trying to get better, prettier works out
in the future!
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
Image - https://rolandobarry.com/projects
9. For the people who will read this interview, what are your social media links
for people to follow your future work?
Thank you very much! My main form of social media is my Instagram (@honear). I have a website at http://honear.art and once in a blue moon I do a secret stream at twitch.tv/honear :)
twitch.tv/honear
