A person must first and foremost be a talented and capable artist in order to become a matte artist. This could necessitate a formal education at an art school or university, or it could simply be a natural talent developed over many years of practice. Anyone aspiring to be a matte artist should be familiar with color, form, and perspective, regardless of how they achieve it. Beyond that, the aspiring artist will most likely want to learn how to use computer software to create realistic and lifelike two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) images.
A matte artist is a person who creates matte paintings, which are used as the background image for a scene in a film or television show. These are fully illustrated environments matted into the scene, not backgrounds or set paintings. Traditionally, matte paintings were created with paint on glass to make it easier to composite the image with the film scene. However, as the use of computers for special effects increased toward the end of the twentieth century, digital matte paintings began to take the place of hand-painted glass images.
These digital scenes are created with computer software to produce photorealistic images that blend in seamlessly with footage shot in a studio or on location. As a result of the shift to computer technology, anyone interested in becoming a matte artist must possess both computer skills and traditional artistic talent. Some matte paintings are still made as a two-dimensional image and then composited into a still image. Other matte paintings, on the other hand, are fully realized 3-D environments that are blended into moving shots to create a breathtaking landscape into which the viewer is immersed.
Someone who wants to work as a matte artist should be familiar with both 2-D and 3-D formats. It’s also a good idea for a potential artist to have at least a rudimentary understanding of film and filmmaking. To create backgrounds that blend with what is shot in a studio, a matte artist usually needs to understand camera movements, lighting, and depth of field. As a result, any potential matte artist should have experience creating digital artwork and working in the film industry.
The type of educational institution a person attends is usually less important than the skills of a matte artist. Most good schools will assist a student in creating a demo reel, which allows the student to showcase his or her work and serves as a resume when looking for work. The quality of the demo reel work is usually more important than the name of the school where the artist received his or her education.