about the artist

Melissa Chiu is a 3D artist and Illustrator. She loves using her 3D skills to help visualize and create whimsical illustrations, and is interested in non-photorealistic rendering styles. With 5 years of experience in advertising and 2 years of experience in games, Melissa is currently sharpening her skills as a Digital Production student at Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Escape

Concept ✧ Modeling ✧ Texturing

A self portrait of myself evacuating from the Eaton Fire in January 2025. I drew the concept art and aimed to emulate as much of the lineless style as I could in 3D using a flat color shader attached to a color ramp

FEESH

Modeling ✧ Texturing ✧ Rigging ✧ Animation

An exploration of translating concept art to 3D, using art by Sabrina Sentoso in her Glutton's Feast project. I focused on the Feesh protagonist and an environment prop.I also created a 3D print of the character to be used during Sabrina's senior show!

Great Horned Owl

Concept ✧ Sculpting ✧ Texture Painting ✧ Rendering

Created for the Digital Sculpting class during Gnomon's Fall 2025 term! I had a lot of fun designing and sculpting this character. He's based on the Great Horned Owl. This project was entirely completed in Zbrush, from the sculpting, texture painting, and rendering!

Speciman Jars (WIP)

Modeling ✧ Sculpting ✧ Texturing ✧ Lighting ✧ Rendering

A peak into the shelves of a magical apothecary. What could these jars be possibly used for...?Created as an exercise in projection painting in Mari. Thank you to Kirti Pillai for his instruction!Concept Art by Anthony Feliciano

The Missing Post Office (WIP)

Modeling ✧ Texturing ✧ Lighting ✧ Set Dressing

The goal for this project was to create a small, believeable scene in Unreal Engine, using modular assets. I was inspired by the Missing Post Office art installation in Japan, where they collect undeliverable letters. I always thought that was wistful and romantic, and I hope this scene is able to capture that feelingThank you to Jon Arellano and Gabe Cervantes for their instruction and feedback and helping to direct this scene to be cohesive!

The Green Fairy

Modeling ✧ Texturing ✧ Lighting ✧ Rendering

I've always been fascinated by the history and paraphernalia of preparing and drinking absinthe. It was once known as the green fairy, for it's supposed hallucinogenic properties. This still life is inspired by hidden Parisian bars filled with smoke and secrets.Thank you so much to Tran Ma for her masterful instruction in our Texturing & Shading 2 class!