We invited digital artist Wes Cockx to take over our social feed for a week with projects from his curated moodboard. Learn more about Wes and his approach to creating expressive and experimental 3D art.

“In both personal and client work I like to do my own thing and not a copy of something that has been done already by somebody else,” shares Brooklyn-based digital artist Wes Cockx.

Finding your creative voice is not something that happens overnight, and Wes has invested many years into honing his craft. These days, his dynamic compositions and 3D art are sought after by international clients including international brands including Microsoft, Nike, Vans, and Asus.

Microsoft Fluent UI by Wes Cockx, Nando Costa, and Microsoft Design 

Wes began his creative career in advertising, specializing in branding and campaign visuals. Ultimately, he found the agency life lacking in creative satisfaction and found himself pursuing his own illustrative work in his free time. “It wasn’t until a few years later that I started to explore Cinema 4D which really clicked with me and motivated me to spend all of my free time learning the software and techniques,” he explains.  

COLLECTED • Explorations 28 by Wes Cockx

To this day, Wes continues to experiment with techniques, visual styles, and software. On his Behance page, you’ll find many projects from his COLLECTED series alongside the work he’s completed for clients. 

“Throughout the years I learned to not try and force inspiration and keep staring at a blank screen. Sometimes it is just not there in that moment. Walking away and doing something very different can really do magic — something will trigger that idea you are looking for.” 

GREYSCALEGORILLA • Time by Wes Cockx

After juggling both a full time job and freelance projects on the side, Wes decided to take the plunge and pursue freelance work full-time. “The thing I like about working freelance is that you get to collaborate with different people and teams all the time. It can be challenging to get in sync with everybody but once in a while you get to collaborate with somebody you align with 100%,” he reflects. 

GOOGLE • Material You by Wes Cockx, Zelig Sound, and Nando Costa

Wes first started sharing his work to Behance in 2013, and since then, it’s become a standard part of his creative process. “To me, making the Behance project of personal and client work is part of the actual project. I usually start setting things up while still working on the project, writing up some copy and details on the why and how of a project, adding work in progress shots, and so on,” he explains. 

He also set up his website through Adobe Portfolio, which is connected to his Behance profile and has saved him valuable time: “I only create the project once on Behance, when it gets published, it automatically gets published to my website also.”

COLLECTED • Explorations 26 by Wes Cockx

Wes’ consistency in sharing his work to Behance has helped him attract new clients and collaborations: “I think it is super important to keep it alive and be able to post new work as soon as it is possible or finished — this is how new work and collaborations come in. Most new clients mention they have found me through Behance.”  

MAXON • One Hero Animation by Wes Cockx

While every project he works on is unique in its own way, one client project that stands out for Wes in particular is the work he did for Nike for the release of their Air Max 720. “Even though looking at it today there might be 50 things I would do differently - it was my first big project where a client put their full trust in me and let me do me. No 10 page moodboard with other people’s work but only a brief description of the project to explore.” 

NIKE • Air Max Day '19 by Wes Cockx

“I have had one big moodboard on Behance for years now, I still love browsing through new projects every morning and adding things that inspire me here.” When curating his moodboard for the takeover, Wes looked for projects that inspired him without restricting himself to a specific medium or style. “I’ve been trying the past few years to not gather too many CGI references but other mediums, from photography to packaging and material references.”

See all the projects from Wes’ moodboard

“Kervin is the master of his own style while blending manga and human anatomy perfectly,” says Wes of the work of fellow New Yorker Kervin Brisseaux. “I have several of his prints scattered over the apartment and I’m very proud to own one of the Burizu pieces as an NFT myself.” 

Burizu by Kervin Brisseaux 

Another Behance member whose work Wes admires is 3D artist George Stoyanov: “I’m a big fan of George’s minimal compositions and amazing texture work, I’ve always felt like we like using the same type of colors also - hopefully we get to collaborate on a project together one day!”

Xiaomi Wallpaper Design by George Stoyanov, Alan Lu, and MIUI Design

“One of my absolute favorite CGI projects of the past few years out there is by Studio Tendril,” shares Wes. “I’ve been lucky to collaborate with them myself a few times so this project isn’t just about Tendril. Be sure to check out all the collaborators in this project who are an amazing bunch of rockstars and friends.” 

Microsoft Windows 365 Cloud PC by Studio Tendril, Yeseong Kim, Zachary Corzine, Aaron Covrett, superdesigners studio, Samuel Bohn, Eric Bernal, Tom Crate, Christoph Strohfeld, Rita Louro, Nando Costa, Chris Bahry, Alvaro Navarro, Rich Nosworthy, Zelig Sound, and Microsoft Design

Follow us on Instagram this week as we share more projects from Wes’ moodboard and to learn more about his creative process. You can see more 3D art by Wes on Behance.