Chris Waaka
Chris Waaka was born in New Zealand in 1989. His first experiences as an artist was when he was 11 and he entered a manga drawing competition and he won. From then on, he wanted to pursue art as a career.
Chris’ influences were the cartoons that he grew up with such as Dragon Ball Z, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon. His passions would also gain influence from games such as Kingdom Hearts. It was then that he wanted to pursue 2D animation. This was so that he could improve his drawing capabilities thus allowing him to learn more about the animation industry.
People often say that being an artist is a gift or a talent, but that tends to give the belief that it is something you are born with. Chris see it as a skill set, one that takes time and dedication to develop into your own unique way.
He has applied 3 years of learning 2D animation at Animation College in hopes to make it into that industry. Inevitably, he had to put those dreams on hold to focus on his life. This setback put Chris into a workforce mindset that seemed inescapable. Over time the creative side in him rose to the surface again and led Chris back on the path of 3D production. Since learning animation and wanting to return, there have been a lot of changes to not only animation and the capabilities of 3D, but also a push in video games and what his influences were as an artist.
When Chris returned to study, the intention was to use his animation knowledge, something he was already familiar with, and apply it to the 3D medium. Over time, while studying 3D production, Chris grew attached to the idea of modelling and had found that love he had when he was growing up and creating characters.
