Two ESMA students stand out at Pixar's Renderman Art Challenge

Pixar’s Renderman competition: an ideal platform for young artists

Created by animation giant Pixar, Pixar’s Renderman Art Challenge is an eagerly awaited event every year for 3D and animation enthusiasts. Open to all – 3D artists, students, professionals… – this competition is the ideal opportunity to showcase your work, make a name for yourself in the microcosm of the animation industry, and demonstrate your skills on the Renderman rendering engine.

For this 11th edition, the theme – ‘SciTech’, which refers to new technologies and their evolution – was an opportunity for talented artists to bring to life fascinating universes, tell unique stories and push back the limits of their imagination. Judged on criteria including storytelling, composition, textures and shading, as well as lighting quality and rendering, the competition proved to be extremely comprehensive and raised the bar very high in terms of creativity and technique.

Margot Brun, who graduated from ESMA in 2024, took 1st place!

Among the works presented by the artists, it was that of an ESMA alumna that particularly stood out, winning no less than 1st place! Produced by the very young graduate Margot Brun, this work, entitled The Robot Artist, convinced the jury thanks to its originality and the richness of its proposal: “I wanted to represent Bill,” explains the young woman on her ArtStation page, “a highly-developed robot that feels emotions and has real artistic talent. He gets his imagination from cables connected to computers, and paints like Jackson Pollock.” Drawing her inspiration from works as varied as Stranger Things, The Mandalorian, Blade Runner and Alita: Battle Angel, Margot Brun combined a personal touch with modern references to impress the jury.

3rd place goes to Noémie Layre (ESMA 2022)

Not to be outdone, it was another ESMA alumna, Noémie Layre, who took 3rd place, thanks to her work entitled The Robotanist. She describes her work with passion: ‘It was an extraordinary experience and an opportunity to challenge myself, particularly with regard to the deadlines and the subject imposed, to make something that I would be satisfied with, to acquire new skills and to bring my original idea to life.’ Depicting a robot-engineering grandmother with a passion for the plants of old Earth, The Robotanist is a poetic and futuristic mix, hailed for its unique approach, attention to detail and deeply human story, despite its technology-focused subject matter: ‘The scene takes place in her personal laboratory,’ explains the young artist about her character. All her life, she’s collected the last plant species she could find and, using her technological knowledge, she’s trying to save them from annihilation.”

A huge well done to Margot Brun and Noémie Layre, who brilliantly represent the qualities, talent and excellence of our graduates in an extremely demanding and competitive competition.