Matvey Sheyanov is a passionate 3D artist. Motivated by everlasting childlike curiosity, he experiments with various techniques to create materials and models from different historical eras. In the interview, he opens up about his journey and shares his positive outlook on life.
Hi Matvey, would you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m 21 years old. I was born in a small village in the Novosibirsk region of Russia. I grew up in a big family with a very basic computer and painfully slow internet. Despite these challenges, I’ve loved spending time on computers since I was a kid.
I had always wanted to leave Russia because I couldn’t see myself building a life there. My plan was to pursue higher education in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, the war broke out, and it completely shattered my visions for the future. It took me a year to recover and another six months to finish my studies.
As graduation approached, I had to make a decision quickly, or I’d miss my chance to leave the country. A close friend played a huge role in my journey—supporting me when I needed it most. Together, we pooled our resources and moved to Montenegro, which became my second home. It’s a small, cozy, and welcoming country where I finally feel safe.
My friends and I have teamed up to build our own CG studio named SubVis Creative. We're focusing on creating textures and architectural models, but in the future, we aim to produce cinematic-quality cutscenes.
Why did you choose a career in 3D graphics?
Creativity has always been a big part of my life, but it took me a while to figure out what I truly enjoyed. I tried drawing (not very successfully), crafting things, and exploring many other creative hobbies.
One day, I simply Googled “3D graphics software,” and Blender came up as the first result. I downloaded it, clicked around, realized I had no idea what I was doing, and promptly closed it. As I was about 10 years old, Minecraft was way more interesting to me at the time! A few years later, my interest in 3D graphics suddenly reignited. I remembered Blender and decided to give it another shot, this time taking it more seriously.
I played a lot of video games, and I became fascinated by how beautiful visuals were created. I loved analyzing game and movie graphics in my own way. I explored various areas of 3D art, mainly driven by YouTube recommendations—visualization, simulation, modeling, texturing, character design, VFX, and even environment concept art. This diverse exploration eventually helped me become a well-rounded 3D artist. It’s been an exciting journey.
I’m grateful that I never lost my childlike curiosity for learning new things. CG allows me to spend my days doing what I love, all from the comfort of home, and earn a good living.
How did you learn to use Blender?
Everyone has their own learning style. Some people prefer to focus on one thing and see it through to the end, while others need lots of courses and take detailed notes along the way. My learning process, however, was quite chaotic—I would dive into anything and everything that caught my interest. I watched videos on all kinds of visual art, soaking up information like a sponge.
I consumed a ton of tutorials, listened to industry professionals on podcasts and streams, and most importantly, I didn’t try to monetize my skills early on. I genuinely love CG and enjoyed the process. I learned a lot from channels like Gleb Alexandrov, CG Matter, CG Alies, CG Speak, among others.
Your work is largely focused on the Middle Ages. What interests you about this period?
What fascinates me most about the Middle Ages is how so many different textures—wood, stone, and other materials—blend together beautifully. I enjoy sculpting objects from that era because people back then didn’t have precise tools or advanced machinery. This gave buildings and everyday items a natural, imperfect look, full of variation and character. I love their imperfections; they feel authentic and visually compelling.
I’m also inspired by how cohesive medieval designs appear. The variety of shapes and surfaces provides more creative freedom, making it a great era for stylized art as well.
How do you find references?
A lot of my work is influenced by years of visual exposure. I spend a lot of time browsing ArtStation and Pinterest, where I can find great examples, but I never search for something specific. All of my works are ideas that come to me randomly. I don’t follow strict concepts. Instead, I gather lots of references for different elements and rely heavily on my own sense of aesthetics.
Lately, I’ve been very inspired by the nature outside my window. I often find myself observing the mountains and forests of Montenegro. A recent trip around this gorgeous
country inspired me to create my latest ArtStation piece, Medieval windmill, which I also uploaded to BlenderKit.
For the creation of some models, e.g., rocks and bricks, you use photogrammetry. How would you describe your workflow?
I scan a lot of things whenever I have time and good weather. It took me a while to perfect the skills required for processing scans, and I’ve managed a lot despite not having a good camera—I’ve always scanned with an old budget smartphone. When I was learning this technique, there were no proper tutorials, so I had to invent my own workflow.
I take several hundred photos of a single object from two or three different angles, then I transfer all of them to Lightroom, where I remove any overexposure and shadows and adjust the white balance. After that, I import the photos into Agisoft Metashape or Reality Capture, where I generate a low-density point cloud and then a simplified model. This model is used to create masks for each photo, allowing me to generate a point cloud in 360 degrees. Once that’s done, I proceed to generate the high-res model and texture at the highest possible resolution. Next, I create the low-poly model and bake everything in Marmoset, then open the textures in Substance Painter to finalize them, including adding maps like Roughness and Metallic. The result is a high-quality model or material that can be used in my own work or shared with others.
You have also uploaded to BlenderKit an impressive collection of materials. What do you like about creating them?
Materials are essential for everything, from creating large scenes to motion graphics. Not everything can be textured with unique textures (like in Substance Painter), and tileable materials are reusable across different projects, making them more versatile.
I also just enjoy making them. It's a fun process. I’ve experimented with many different workflows for creating materials, some of which I came up with on the spot (maybe they already existed, but I wasn’t aware of them). I’ve used photogrammetry, tried out Substance Designer, sculpted a lot by hand, and baked textures. Many of the textures I’ve made are things I use repeatedly in my projects, especially the scanned ones.
What projects are you currently working on?
Our team, SubVis Creative, is working on creating a realistic pack of props, materials, and architecture focused on the industrialization era (old London, America as it looked a hundred years ago). We’re building everything from scratch, without using external resources. Some of it is already partially available on BlenderKit and we want to add more assets, so that large scenes can be designed in a unified style. We also plan to make this pack available for game engines on platforms like FAB and Patreon, including project source files (like generators from Substance Designer, geometry nodes, and other internal tools).
Do you have any tips for starting 3D artists?
Enjoy 3D! Don’t worry about AI taking your job. Just focus on doing what you love and take pleasure in the creative process. Don’t rush to make money- it will all come in time. A good specialist will always find ways to make money, sooner or later.
Don’t rely on others to constantly help you, and don’t wait for an "expensive course" to start experimenting with things. Try to find information on your own and play around. When I started, CG felt like magic, and that excitement is still with me. I wish you the same.
