CS.MONEY presents a series of interviews with the best skin creators! And we start with the artists whose works were recently included in the Fracture Case.
This guy used to make music under the nickname Deleted Account, but then he switched to creating skins and his P2000 | Gnarled became part of the new case, that is already available on our website!
We talked with 3stia about why you shouldn’t give up, and how to create your own unique monster.
— Tell us about yourself.
— Hi! I don’t know what I can tell about myself … In fact, I am an ordinary guy living somewhere far away in cold Siberia. I am often inspired by local nature and mountains. I try to develop my creativity and implement my ideas in CS:GO skins. Earlier I made music, and now you can still find my tracks, which I released under the nickname “Deleted Account”, but after some time I switched to painting and digital design. The themes of my works for CS:GO range from flora and fauna to something aggressive and gloomy, and I’m really happy that one of them was officially added to the game.
— How did you start creating skins?
— I learned that game developers accept skins created by independent designers and this work can be well-paid. At that time I was looking for sources to make some money. I came across the YouTube video “How to create skins”. After watching it I realized that it is not as difficult as it seems, and I have enough interesting and unique ideas to create something cool. I asked my girlfriend if we can do it together and she supported me. First, we studied the workshop and the already accepted works and then we started to generate our own ideas.
— Is it necessary to be a professional designer to create skins?
— No, I do not think so. My opinion is that you can have moderate painting skills, but if you have interesting ideas, you can find a way to realize it. If you have some skills in 3D design, you don’t even need to be a painter – you can do interesting things without artworks.
— Where do you get your ideas for skins and how do you start the creation process?
— First, I generate some ideas, and then I make a research to find out if someone has made something similar. If yes, then I rather skip it, but sometimes I don’t. If you look at my “Burning Sakura” skin, you will notice that many designers have used a similar idea before. I got many negative comments saying that I’m a plagiarist, but I didn’t pay much attention to them. Normally I and my girlfriend discuss ideas and then we think about how to implement it. We create a concept, make first sketches, and test them in the game. If we decide that it has some potential, we begin working on it.
— Do you remember your first skin? How long did it take to create it?
Of course, I do! This was the black USP-S | Burning Sakura. The original file was called sakuroid:D. It took me about a week to create the artwork, and then I tried to transfer it to a 3D model. When I published it, I saw 1.5k upvotes and was like: “Wow! That’s a success!” Later I decided to remove the version of the skin from the workshop to rework it trying to increase its quality. I also made a white version of the skin. After publishing both of them, I got a call from my girlfriend and she said that my steam account was flooded with messages. I checked it and saw 5 stars, 2.5k upvotes, and 53 notifications. The skin became viral and I really did not expect that. Later I reworked the skin two more times until I was fully satisfied with the result. It turned out that it has taken me about 2 years to create the skin and make all the necessary improvements to get the final version. Now it is the most popular work in my workshop. Amazing!
— Is it only money that makes you create skins?
— Not at all! I want to contribute to the game and to make the world of skins a little better.
— But it is still profitable, right?
— Creating skins is profitable but it is also a very enjoyable process. My first intention was to make money but I didn’t succeed at that time and I had to take a break for almost two years to focus on my studies and upgrade my painting skills. Later I returned to creating skins, which was rather a matter of pleasure, but money was a nice bonus, though.
— Congratulations on the release of Gnarled! How do you like the Fracture Сase in general? Are there any interesting works besides your skin?
— Thank you! I think this case is very interesting. There are only 4 designers whose works have already been accepted to the game earlier, and the rest are new names, which is quite surprising. The works are very diverse and non-standard. I personally like a lot of skins such as SG553 | Ol ‘Rusty, MAC-10 | Allure, M4A4 | Tooth Fairy.
— Tell us about Gnarled. How did you come up with the idea for this design?
— The idea came up a little spontaneously. I have a sleeve tattoo with Cthulhu, one day I looked at it and thought: “That would look really cool as a skin!”. I didn’t want to recreate monsters from Lovecraft but wanted to paint my own, unique creature. From multiple options, I chose this guy and called him the Nameless Ancient.
— We heard that Gnarled is planned to be part of a whole skin series.
— Yes, originally this series was called “The Lost World”. I plan to create a number of different skins in the same style, and these won’t be replications of the same design. We already have a lot of cool ideas. One of our monsters slightly resembles a penis, which we find really funny.
— And if we consider all the skins in the game, what are your favorite ones?
— AWP | Neo-Noir, M4A1 | Desolate Space, AWP | Aetheris, USP-S | Torque, MP7 | Blood Sport, AK-47 | Orbit mk01, AK-47 | Rat Rod.
— What are your favorite books and movies?
— I like “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, “Far Rainbow” by the Strugatsky brothers, “The Scarlet Plague” by Jack London. As for movies my favorite ones are “Inception”, “Interstellar”, “The Dark Knight”, “I Origins”, “Mr. Nobody”.
— Do you play CS? What are your favorite weapons?
— Yes, I usually play just for fun but sometimes I examine default weapons, which I can use for my future works. My favorite weapons are AWP, AK-47, MP7, USP-S, and Tec-9.
— And what about the maps?
—I like Dust 2 and Mirage.
— Do you watch CS:GO tournaments? Any favorite teams?
— From time to time I follow the news. I root for NaVi and I am very happy when they win. They sometimes share my designs in their personal groups and I appreciate it so much.
— What plans do you have for the future?
— I plan to continue doing what I love and strive for Valve to notice my work again!
— What advice can you give to those who are thinking about creating their first skins?
— My first and main advice is not to steal pictures from the Internet. Create your own unique artworks and do not pay too much attention to ratings and comments. Even if the community ignores your first works or shares negative comments, you shouldn’t give up. Be patient and always make efforts to increase the quality of your skins as seeing your personal technical and creative progress is already a big success!
More arts and skins by 3stia you can find in his Workshop.
All Fracture Case skins ale already at our site!
