I create artwork and animated short films about science and the natural world.

You’ll also find writings, videos, tutorials, and courses that help artists learn to create with digital tools.

Recent Work

Here is a quick look at some of my latest work. If you would like to learn about work available for sale, please visit the Available Work section.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
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Latest Posts

Here, you’ll find writings about digital art techniques and the tools used to create digital artwork. You’ll also find occasional writings about my own work.

  • How to Become a Medical Illustrator – All You Need to Know
    Learn everything you need to know about becoming a medical illustrator – what one is – what one does – and how you can become one yourself.
  • How to Become a Medical Animator | Everything You Need to Know
    Learn all about the steps and qualifications for how to become a medical animator and the different paths you can take to get there.
  • Female Artist Reading
    Must-Read Books For Artists and Creatives in 2024
    I love reading books for inspiration in my art-making and in my teaching. These are some of the best books for artists I’ve ever read. I recommend them to my students often, and now I want to share them with you.
  • image transfer 3
    Two Easy Inkjet Image Transfer Techniques You’ll Love
    Do you want to take your pigment-based inkjet print to the next level? I’m going to show you my two favorite methods for getting my digital artwork onto hard surfaces like wood panels or artboards. As a digital artist, I’ve…
  • frustrated artist
    How to Quickly Overcome a Creative Art Block
    Are you feeling stagnated in your creative process? Just can’t get past it? You probably have a creative art block. It happens to just about every creative person at some time or another – no matter what kind of artist…
  • Network 002 [earth]
    9 Reasons to Add X-Particles to Your C4D Workflow
    Are you a Cinema 4D user but feeling like you can’t get the cool particle effects, smoke effects, and liquid simulations you’re seeing on everyone’s reels these days? Do you want to make branching growth simulations or have tons of…
  • apthumb
    My First Main Title Design
    I’ve been in love with title design for years now. I teach students about them in my motion design courses at CU Denver and I think about them constantly. I even dream about them. Last year (2022), I was lucky…
  • Stranger Things
    How to Create the Stranger Things Intro Title
    I absolutely love looking at title sequences and thinking about how they might have done what they did. The STRANGER THINGS title sequence is stunningly gorgeous in my humble opinion. I wanted to figure this out, so I spent some time creating an After Effects tutorial that shows you just how to do it.
  • pop
    4 Easy After Effects Techniques Every Motion Designer Should Know
    Here is a collection of videos I made to show the basic-level animation effects every motion graphics designer should know. Pop, Slide, Hinge, and Bounce!

Latest Videos

Here, you can view some of my tutorials and reviews about digital art-making tools.

A few years ago, I was doing a bunch of 3D animations about the human heart, and I couldn't stop seeing mouths in the heart valves when the opened and closed. This is a whimsical side project I did mostly to entertain myself. I hope you enjoy it! #heart #heartsdesire #bacon #icecream #burger #frenchfries Would you like super-fast web hosting? This is what I use: https://wpx.net/?affid=11979 Like this video? Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/travisvermilye Other creative work and info about me: https://www.travisvermilye.com/ My Gear: Computer: https://amzn.to/41BuZH9 Monitor: https://amzn.to/3NF1wWU Microphone: https://amzn.to/3RDlvq6 Camera: https://amzn.to/3NJQ4JF Desk: https://amzn.to/3TCxPcL Chair: https://amzn.to/47i7bZT Affiliate Links: Some links that appear in this description allow me to earn money using affiliate advertising programs.
Is this what our hearts' desire? Digitally animated short film in C4D
The new particle tools in C4D 2024 and 2025 are really getting good! In this demo, we're going to use the new 'follow spline' option in the particle sims to generate a slime mold-like set of tendrils reminiscent of the first few seconds of the opening title credits for The Last of Us on HBO. This is a long one, but its totally worth the effort! Learn more about slime mold here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_GTIL7AECQ Get wicked fast web hosting here: https://wpx.net/?affid=11979 Like this video? Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/travisvermilye Other creative work and info about me: https://www.travisvermilye.com/ My Gear: Computer: https://amzn.to/41BuZH9 Monitor: https://amzn.to/3NF1wWU Microphone: https://amzn.to/3RDlvq6 Camera: https://amzn.to/3NJQ4JF Desk: https://amzn.to/3TCxPcL Chair: https://amzn.to/47i7bZT Affiliate Links: Some links that appear in this description allow me to earn money using affiliate advertising programs. #c4d2025 #c4d #mograph #particles #simulation #thelastofus #redshift3d #3danimation #fx #particlefx #slimemold 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Beginning the scene 04:28 Building the slime mold spline path 06:35 Set up the particle sim 25:18 Get the Volume Mesher set up 28:47 Refining the particle flow (this part takes a while) 44:19 Cache your particle sim 48:25 Save Alembic file - This is crazy cool! 52:45 Set up the slime mold pulsing action 59:31 Camera animation 1:06:55 Lighting and materials 1:20:52 Final product and wrapping it up
Make slimy tendrils with the new particle tools in C4D 2025!
Using these steps, you can quickly and easily turn just about any text in any typestyle into balloons. We'll use the cloth simulation fx + the volume tools to help. This tutorial is great for beginner and intermediate Cinema 4D users. Project File: https://www.travisvermilye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BalloonTextProject-1.zip Get wicked fast web hosting here: https://wpx.net/?affid=11979 Like this video? Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/travisvermilye Other creative work and info about me: https://www.travisvermilye.com/ My Gear: Computer: https://amzn.to/41BuZH9 Monitor: https://amzn.to/3NF1wWU Microphone: https://amzn.to/3RDlvq6 Camera: https://amzn.to/3NJQ4JF Desk: https://amzn.to/3TCxPcL Chair: https://amzn.to/47i7bZT Affiliate Links: Some links that appear in this description allow me to earn money using affiliate advertising programs. #c4d2024 #c4d #motext #clothsimulation #redshift3d #3danimation #fx #clothfx #balloontext #balloon 00:00 Introduction 00:16 Create your text 01:19 Add the Volume Builder 02:10 Remesh the Volume Mesh 03:34 Set up the Balloon Simulation FX 05:30 Wrap it up
Quickly and Easily Turn Any Text Object into Balloons in C4D
EMERGENCE: On view every night in August 2024 at the D&F Tower in Downtown Denver This is a short clip of the full 2-minute and 15-second piece. Thanks @night_lights_denver for the opportunity! EMERGENCE is a digital exploration of creatures and forms inspired by life in the sea. I’m fascinated by the patterns, colors, and shapes of small creatures that inhabit ocean waters and seem almost alien compared to what we see on land. We begin along the shore in tall sea grasses, where fish-like eggs begin to hatch. As we move deeper into the waters, fantastical forms emerge in an ocean trench at an almost meditative, steady pace. Thanks @thirdduneproductions DuneProductions for the filming! #cgi #3danimation #projection #denverartist #sealife #sea #oceancritters #digitalart #digitalanimation #underwater #meditative
EMERGENCE: Screening All of August 2024 in Denver
Join me for a quick demo of MoSplines in C4D. In this quick video, I'll walk through my process for creating a Christmas tree worm-like form using simple MoSpline features and a cloner object. This is great for beginner and intermediate C4D users. Project File: https://www.travisvermilye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mospline-FeatherDusterWorms.zip Get wicked-fast web hosting here: https://wpx.net/?affid=11979 Like this video? Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/travisvermilye Other creative work and info about me: https://www.travisvermilye.com/ My Gear: Computer: https://amzn.to/41BuZH9 Monitor: https://amzn.to/3NF1wWU Microphone: https://amzn.to/3RDlvq6 Camera: https://amzn.to/3NJQ4JF Desk: https://amzn.to/3TCxPcL Chair: https://amzn.to/47i7bZT Affiliate Links: Some links that appear in this description allow me to earn money using affiliate advertising programs. #c4d2024 #c4d #mograph #mospline #c4d #redshift3d #3danimation #fx #particlefx 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Create your first MoSpline 06:45 Create the Secondary MoSplines 10:46 Setting up the MoGraph Effectors 17:00 Refining the animation 23:20 Wrapping it up
Getting Comfy with MoSplines in Cinema 4D
Join me as I continue to learn and test out the newly updated particle system in C4D 2024.4. I wanted to try and create some practical FX and decided to focus on making beer bubbles that appear, float to the top, and pop. We will also create a foamy head on the beer using particles and the volume builder. You'll need to update to C4D 2024.4 to follow along. This is great for beginner and intermediate C4D users. Link to project files: https://www.travisvermilye.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/BeerBubblesDemo.zip Like this video? Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/travisvermilye Get wicked-fast web hosting here: https://wpx.net/?affid=11979 Other creative work and info about me: https://www.travisvermilye.com/ My Gear: Computer: https://amzn.to/41BuZH9 Monitor: https://amzn.to/3NF1wWU Microphone: https://amzn.to/3RDlvq6 Camera: https://amzn.to/3NJQ4JF Desk: https://amzn.to/3TCxPcL Chair: https://amzn.to/47i7bZT Affiliate Links: Some links that appear in this description allow me to earn money using affiliate advertising programs. #c4d2024 #c4dparticles #particles #c4d #redshift3d #beer #bubbles #3danimation #fx #particlefx 00:00 Introduction 00:37 Set up the beer glass and beer liquid 08:08 Create the beer bubble emitter 10:42 Modifying the bubbles to be more realistic 18:57 Making the foamy head on top of the beer 30:17 Setting up materials, cameras, and lights 34:33 How to cache particles for rendering 35:20 Final results and wrapping it up
Create Realistic Bubbles with Cinema 4D's Particle System
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