3D animator Jack Sachs: »The act of doing is what’s important to me«

Illustrator Jack Sachs was one of the first to take off into 3D spheres with his work. He made smileys float through the Tate Britain, cabbages roll out of still lifes, and pencils dive through the historic parquet like dolphins. That was seven years ago, and since then, his work, full of color, imagination and his own stunning style, could be seen in The New York Times, The New Yorker, at Apple, Nike, and in numerous exhibitions around the world. We visited the Londoner, who’s been living in Berlin for many years, in his studio in Neukölln and talked to him about tools and techniques, why the process is most important to him – and why some people say they would love to eat his work.

Almost ten years ago, you had a bad accident that forced you to give up hand drawing.
Jack Sachs: Yeah, here you see the scar. We just ar­rived at a party in London, my friend and I were show fighting and I fell into a glass. It went really deep into my arm, cut my nerve. I couldn’t move my fingers and the doctors told me that I would probably not be able to draw again. That was really difficult because I was constantly drawing. I never used a computer for artworks, I just had my sketchbooks.

You were still studying at that time, weren’t you?
I had one year left of my degree at the Camberwell College of Arts where I did illustration. The options were taking a year off and trying to recover or learning a new way to make images. So, I down­load­ed some 3D software and with my right arm in a big cast, I used my left hand and the trackpad to move things around. I didn’t know if I could use my hand properly again until they removed the cast. It was a really bad time. But moving shapes around was relaxing and felt a little bit like playing a video game. So, I watched tutorials on YouTube and got into 3D and finally found my way of drawing.

What changed?
In 3D, you constantly have to learn new techniques and solve new problems. And every time it opens whole new possibilities to create different shapes or movements. In the beginning, I was just manipulat­ing 3D models but eventually, I started to make 3D characters. And that’s when my work really went forward, I got jobs, and it all began. Even though my drawings are still graphic and quite flat, I think about them in 3D ways and that influences how I form them.

That was circa 2013 and there wasn’t much 3D illustration around.
Absolutely. Jordan Speer and Julian Glander were the only two others I knew. It’s really cool how accessible 3D is today. Often, people ask me for tips and I’m always happy to give some advice. I don’t want to guard secrets; I want to give back. Every­thing I learned was because somebody shared their knowledge on YouTube.

How do you think 3D changed illustration itself?
Interesting question. I think Blender had a big impact. It’s open-source and free, so more people are using it, more artwork is being made and people are inspired by it. Like I was inspired by all the post internet stuff on Tumblr fifteen years ago. I grew up with those graphics, they’re implanted in my head and influenced what I feel in my work.

Can you describe this feeling?
It’s nostalgic. As a kid I was constantly online. The graphics in the early 2000s were quite tactile and blown up and today I like to mix high-end graphics with that feeling. People often say that my work ­makes them want to touch or to eat it (laughs).

To me, your style seems very eclectic. You combine real objects, different surfaces and everything is floating around in its own world. How would you describe it?
The process forms my work, trying out how I can put a drawing, a painting, or a real object into 3D and then possibly put it back into a video. Having access to all these different processes gives me so much ­inspiration. I’ve been doing 3D for ten years now and I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface. It’s an endless world that joins up with other worlds and branches out into completely limitless options. I love to draw because I find it relaxing and it’s interesting to see what I end up with. But it doesn’t stim­ulate the same part of my brain as 3D. I don’t find it challenging.

But you still start your day drawing.
My day is always better if I draw first. It’s like a kind of meditation. I really hate the word “doodling”, but I think it’s because that’s what I do and I don’t like to admit it. If I was being pretentious, I would say “automatic drawing” (laughs).

You added many new techniques to your work over the years. One is VR sculpting.
VR sculpting is an absolute game changer for me. It’s magic. When I was a kid, I always wished that I could draw in the air, and that’s what you can do ­with this. Drawing directly with your hands in VR is so different from just moving things and clicking on them on a screen. You’re getting so many new ideas. I think it’s not such a big sensation because it’s expensive and you have an annoying thing on your face. But it opens up so many more things. Like the new computer I built with a friend. For six years, I was using a laptop for doing very heavy 3D stuff. It never failed, but it was slow. Now I can try much more and make things like the really hi-res Covid-cover for The New York Times. It has a lot of see-through and reflection parts, which are taking up a lot of processing power.

But you don’t do much editorial work anymore.
The deadlines are too fast, and the creative freedom is often small. But this time their idea was very close to my work, it was print, and it was the cover of The New York Times (laughs). But I prefer longer and more diverse projects.

Like which?
I did illustrations and a big inflatable for the music festival Primavera Sound in Barcelona and worked for my old university in London and developed characters to welcome new students. I’m also making an AR game now, but I think I can’t talk more about it yet.

You also have quite a huge range of things like candleholders and a lot of shirts.
The shirts are drawings I already made. My professio­nal moral code is that I don’t do drawings for commission. I refuse to have any feedback on them.

Because they are more personal?
100 percent. My drawings are not commercial. That’s why I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my injury. I just wouldn’t have a job in graphics. It’s crazy. I also think that having complete freedom in the drawings gives me ideas for my 3D work. My drawings always have been a bit strange and not commercially viable, but everything in 3D instantly is. Even the weird stuff is somehow perfect, glossy, and you can make it move.

Not long ago, you started your project refreshment. That was in Bangkok. What brought you there?
I was taking part in an exhibition and thought it’s a nice opportunity to go. I spent six weeks there and didn’t want to do the tourist stuff, but my own things. I experimented with different 3D scanning techniques before and found OpenScan. It’s a tiny operation of a guy who developed a software to scan online. You upload your pictures and 10 minutes later you get an email with your 3D file. You don’t have the same con­trol as if you were building it yourself. But that can be interesting too.

What did you scan?
I’m always up to finding textures, surfaces, and little moments of life that interest me, a wall that has a ­nice patina, a pattern, some trash. That sent me to some really strange and interesting parts of Bangkok. Light is important too. Best for 3D scanning is when it’s cloudy, because you don’t get shadows. So, the days when it was sunny, I would go swimming, the others I walked around. And while I was doing that, the public arts program Neo Shibuya offered me to put some of these scans on the screens they run. A few years ago, I was in Tokyo, saw these screens and hoped to get my work on them sometime. And it worked out. That was really nice.

Your work is extremely popular in Asia anyway. Does it have something to do with the aesthetics?
My mom was living in Hong Kong and after my degree I spent a lot of time there and was also travelling to Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. I think that my aesthetics are massively influenced by spending a lot of time there, by the feelings, shapes, sights, and smells. It was in Hong Kong as well, that 2D and 3D were starting to come together in my work.

It seems like experimenting is crucial for your work.
The act of doing is what’s important to me. I’m not trying to tell stories or have any message in my work. I’m a visual designer trying to make interesting graph­ics. Little things that I just think are nice decorations. What the hell? Yeah (laughs).

This interview was published in PAGE 08.2023. Download the whole issue here.

PAGE 08.2023

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Wachstumsstrategien für Kreative ++ Ratgeber: Schutz vor Ideenklau ++ Leitsysteme: Trends und Ideen ++ ENGLISH SPECIAL Jack Sachs ++ Gestalten für Neurodiversität ++ Fontfamilie Knit Grotesk ++ Roblox-Game »Blackout at Mt. Earverest« ++ Typografie und KI

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