Creating digital art, although rewarding, can be a solitary experience – it’s just you and your workstation . All those hours can be burned away and you may have your next masterpiece ready to upload, but there hasn’t been another human soul in the process.

So what about collaborating with another artist on a project? This offers the advantage of bringing together additional strengths to a creation. For example, one artist may be excellent with landscapes or starscapes, another may have good experience with Poser figures – so combining this example of skills could really generate something eye-catching.

For issue 17, my assistant editor Mickey Mills spotted an excellent collaborative project entitled “ExtraSolar” by Björn Malmberg and Ryan Malone and a great interview ensued. Initially the partnership was to just last with one image, but they soon recognized a lot more scenes and stories could be created under the umbrella of “ExtraSolar”, the project was named by Björn. The joint venture between Björn from Sweden and Ryan from North Carolina in the States worked well, with both having similar mind-sets on where they wanted to go with the artwork. The only real challenge was the six hour time difference, prompting them to work on weekends, rather than work day nights.

We’d love to hear about any similar collaborations that you have achieved, so you are welcome to post a reply and mention or give links to co-operative artwork that you’ve created.

Remember that the premium magazine is now completely free, and you can sign up to get the latest on-line edition delivered to your inbox every month. Past issues will then be shared in the magazine section.

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40 Pages of Inspiring Galleries and Digital Artist Interviews 

Editorial

Collaborations: Digital art really lends itself to co-operative projects.

Tutorial : How to Create a Nebula Scene (Photoshop)

Glenn Clovis specialize in Space and Science Fiction Art and presents a tutorial using Photoshop to create a stunning nebula scene.

Interview : Bjorn Malmberg (Hexagaon, Poser, Vue)

“With the Wacom I had a tool that could be anything from a pen to a brush in my left hand again. All of a sudden I could paint hair on models and add fine detail. From that moment on I felt at home.”

Interview : Ryan Malone (Poser,Vue)

“Since Asimov was my first Sci-Fi love and influenced me later on to write my own stories, that is ultimately what brought me to the 3D world.“

The ExtraSolar Project

“We realized we had the potential to create not just one image, but a whole universe of connected scenes and stories and we must have talked on Skype for hours trying to flesh out ideas and lay the foundation. “ – Ryan Malone on his collaboration with Bjorn on the ExtraSolar project.

Interview : Lewis Moorcroft (Mojoworld)
“The final renders themselves are taking days instead of hours as I am using a new method to really maximize image quality.”

Printed Edition Available via Magcloud

Most 3D digital artists encounter the Victoria 3D figure developed by DAZ 3D early on in their careers. It is often a landmark moment when artists realize  the capabilities of 3D art, when being able to introduce dynamic human figures into a scene, that gives an image so much more impact.

The life-likeness of human figures in 3D graphics was a thorny issue in the beginning. A human figure doesn’t bode well for limited processing power and pixels—too many complex joints, curves and blemishes to deal with. However with the advent of Poser, the first kernel of it developed by Larry Weinberg in the late 80s, a digital manikin maker was suddenly available for the amateur artist. It added a great element of fun into imaging—especially with all the clothing and scene props you could integrate with a figure. Nowadays, Victoria offers thousands of add on (DAZ 3D quotes 10,0000) clothing and props items.

It’s a widely supported model that deserves its high popularity. But aside from Victoria’s sassy visual appeal, why has she kept turning heads and how was she initially developed?

Born Just Before the Millennium

Victoria has been available since February of 1999 from DAZ 3D (known then as the Zygote Media Group).  Her earliest roots were at the time of Poser 4, when she was known as the “Millenium Woman”, but the lovely name of “Posette” was the figure’s more popular moniker. Do you remember that classic box front image for the Poser 4 software, with the precarious girl hanging from a trapeze? I wonder what prompted that particular pose  to help sell the software; perhaps circus acts were “in” during that time?

Victoria 1 was the first named figure for use with Poser. Later the Stephanie and Michael figures would join her, but Victoria remained the prima donna of this group. At this point Victoria 1 was $100.

Victoria 2 was improved with extra body shaping features and thankfully a better range of facial expressions was introduced. This version had a more detailed mesh, and looked smoother as a result. There was backwards compatibility with Victoria 1 and could use the same conforming items.

Victoria 3 was a bigger leap forward. This time there was a good density of polygons (now over 74,000  compared to almost 29,000 polygons for the previous models).It was  the first of DAZ 3D’s ”Unimesh” figures which included a much improved method of body shaping called “Morph injection”. And the base model was now free!

Victoria 4 had a new excellent body shape and there was some new technical improvements to the figure. The mesh for Victoria 4.0 was developed using Luxology’s Modo.

Version 4.1 was released in April 2007 and improved on the capability to load multiple sets of morphs into the character without causing conflicts.

Version 4.2 was released in February 2008 which added a set of built-in male morphs and further technical improvements.

Version 5 This long awaited version came in the end of 2011. Victoria 5 is part of the “Genesis” 3D platform, which offers greater versatility for the model, allowing it to be altered to be a male, a minor, or even a gorilla!

Genesis clothing fits all genesis figures, not requiring a ‘unimesh’ morph. The mesh of Victoria 5 was updated and made smoother, with the use of weight maps and optimisations native to Daz Studio. These could let morphs and movements be smoother, without glitches or bumps .  It means that Victoria’s joints bend better and the skin detail is more precise. Both proportions and mass of the figure can be altered in a variety of ways without losing the superior bending and detail within the mesh.

Poser can still load her with some plugins or exporting from Daz, but will lack enhancements not supported in Poser. Previous generation clothing and add-ons can be re-configured to fit the Victoria 5 Genesis figure using DAZ Studio 4’s Auto-Fit tool. At the time of writing the version 5 base model is $40.

What’s Your Experience with the Victoria model?

Tell us what success you have had with using the Victoria model and let us know if you’ve used the latest version 5.

You can download the podcast to your computer or listen to it here on the blog. Additionally, I will be submitting the podcast feed to iTunes soon, so you can subscribe there as well – but I’ll let you know when it’s up and ready to go.

Right click here to download the MP3

Summary

In this session we introduce 3D Art Direct’s mission statement to help and inspire 3D digital artists. There’s a brief introduction about me, Paul Bussey, the editor of 3D Art Direct magazine, and I promote four artists published in issue 16 of our magazine; Tarik Keskin, Neil Thacker, DeeDee Davies and Les Garner from Sixus1 Media.

There’s also a tribute to Ralph McQuarrie who inspired many a digital artist. We paint a potted history of his involvement with George Lucas and Star Wars in his influence on the eventual box office success of this movie and its sequels.

Artists Promoted in this Session

Tarik Keskin (3DS Max)

DeeDee Davies (Vue Studio, Poser Pro and Carrara Pro)

Neil Thacker (Bryce, Vue)

Les Garner  from Sixus1 Media (Poser models and props)

Artwork examined in this Session

Heartbeat of Stone by DeeDee Davies

Space Dock I06 by Tarik Keskin

Links mentioned in this Session

Ralph McQuarrie’s official website

Paul Bussey’s gallery at Renderosity

Action Items

Let me know what you thought about the Podcast!

Post a comment If you have been influenced by Ralph McQuarries work, in leading up to becoming a digital artist.

Visit the artists above and support them with feedback at their respective galleries.

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Prolific Mojoworld Artist

To get a free Mojoworld Viewer or 30 day demo of the full Mojoworld product, then you can download them from the original Pandromeda website

3DAD: Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? What is your profession?
 AN: My name is Alexander Nikolaev. I’m 36 yrs of age. I live with my wife Natalia in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk in Russia. My profession is designer. My hobbies include computer games, 3D graphics arts, new age/electronic music and marine aquariums, the latter being part of my profession.

3DAD: Was your first introduction to digital art with Mojoworld? What is your earliest history with digital art?
AN: My adventure with 3D art started in 2006, when I bought a magazine with a CD containing Terragen. After a yearI got acquainted with Mojoworld.

3DAD: Did you work with traditional art or photography before doing digital art?
AN: I had always liked to draw, but on a paper.

3DAD: Are you a sci-fi fan? What are some of your biggest influences in your artwork?
AN: I love the Sci-fi genre and love sci-fi movies (Star Wars, Aliens and others), games (Egosoft X-series). I very much like to listen to space/electronic music (Mark Dwane, Jonn Serrie). I think I am the ultimate fan!

3DAD: When you first used Mojoworld, what made it exceptional for you? What made it special?
AN: It was the possibilites to work with a whole planet and its surrounding space. I liked the interface and I took to the software at once.

3DAD: Did you find Mojoworld’s interface difficult to learn at first? Is the biggest difficulty with learning Mojoworld?

AN: I found it a pleasant and user-friendly interface. For the creation of your first planet it is possible to use a Planet Wizard – which makes it very simple! But there is greater difficulty when learning the many different parameters and nodes when studying the Function Graph Editor. There are some aspects of Mojoworld that are difficult to learn.

3DAD: One of the challenges of Mojoworld is sometimes importing models. How have you overcome these challenges?

AN: Undoubtedly, this is a challenge. I think it is an essential function for any modern software generator of landscapes.

3DAD: What are two of your favourite aspects of Mojoworld?

AN: The potential quality of the final image and the opportunity to work with the whole planet.

3DAD: If Mojoworld was to be developed further, what would you have improved or added to it?

AN: To support multi-processor rendering and a new generator of vegetation.

3DAD: Do you use other software such as Vue or Terragen?

AN: I like what Vue has to offer, especially EcoSystems™ – it is cool!!!

3DAD: What hardware box do you use?

AN: My old machine:

OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition

Monitor Benq FP241VW 24″

Processor Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 3.5GHz (overclocked)

Memory DDR2 Corsair CM2X2048 4GB

Hard Drive Seagate ST3500320AS & ST3640323AS

Video Card Palit GeForce GTX 275 /896 MB.

And notebook Toshiba Satellite l505 (Windows7 64bit OS)

3DAD: Is the Sine City series of images you have done one of your favourite acheivements? What gave you the idea to create the Sine city planet? What was the hardest challenge in creating it and how do you overcome it? Do you have a favourite Sine City?

AN: The idea for the creation of a city was born naturaly. I had created the surface of a Mojoworld planet reminding me of strange buildings. I began to work with this world, developing it further. Warren Turner (Woz at Renderosity) was a great help to me; he created cool material, including mirror windows. It was hard to create a more accurate form of buildings but I have succeeded to do it. I consider the Sine City series one of my best achievements. My favourite Sine City is verison 7 in all its varieties.

3DAD: Spirit of Mars is a nice piece and your latest entry in your gallery.

AN: Thanks! I want to make several more images of those dedicated to the “red planet”. No doubt!

3DAD: I really like your “Asmodeus” and “Pelloris” asteroid images. The lighting in both images creates nice depth and perspective. Are you proud of these?

AN: I am glad that you like these images and you have mentioned depth. For me it means to obtain the looked-for result ! I hope to return to the images of the meteorites.

3DAD: “Destroyer 2” . There are nice textures here. Is this using the sunset parameter on the planet? Did the model import okay into Mojo, or did it need tweaking a bit?

AN: I used an imported model for the ship. The planet used a very bright orange atmosphere with a sunset parameter. For this scene i used additional light sources. All postwork was done in Photoshop as always.

3DAD: “Sine City 7” – it looks like you have dedicated this to your friends who’ve supported you with your artwork. What has the Mojoworld community been like throughout your devotion to this software?

AN: Yes, i have devoted this image to all who supported me all this time.

3DAD: “Solar Ritual”. Planet Chasma is a great planet to work with. Great land material and textures – I’ve used it for some of my own images.
AN: “Chasma” is my favourite planet! I have the greatest respect for Olivier Cousinou (hillrunner at REnderosity). I have made some images of this beautiful world, with the consent of the author.

3DAD: “Zorba Desert”. You have used OnyxTREE STORM 3D models in this. I’ve seen other examples where this has been used to great effect in Mojo. Pity that it can take a long time to render the vegetation in Mojo if it’s used too much.
AN: This is the most successful example where i used OnyxTREE STORM model. Also there is “Shore of Hope” using OnyxTREE STORM – my second work in Mojo. It is a pity that quality of the MojoTree module leaves much to be desired.

3DAD: “Observer”. Tell me about this image, you’ve used a lot of elements to build this image. You have used the volumetric container and the isosurface to create the alien spaceship here – a great idea. Do you plan to use these again for other images?
AN: Yes, for creating this scene I used the Volumetrics plugin. For the creation of alien ship, I used the volumetric container and isosurface, based on the Hexagonal node. I also used the Hexagonal Boulders by Slav for drones.

3DAD: What three tips would you give to those who are just start-ing out with 3D digital art?

AN:

Tip 1: Continuous and consistent use of the software will bear fruit.
Tip 2: Be not afraid to experiment, sometimes it gives rise to great ideas—and great works as a result.
Tiip 3: Dream… And if even if a part from what you dream is to be embodied in your works, consider that you have excelled!
I would want to wish to all readers of your periodical and to you: Creative successes, inspiration and fresh ideas! If your skills bears good works, it is always pleasant to speak about it!

Earlier this year the 3D Art Direct website was closed, the decision to do this wasn’t easy to make, and at the time a number of factors had to have me stop work on the magazine and website. The WordPress site also became hacked and infected, so I certainly didn’t want any of our readers to get bitten by this problem.

Now though I’ve decided to bring back the magazine and add a good amount of security to the website, including a service that now scans for malware every few hours. As you’ve noticed, I’ve changed the format of the site – so I’m really hoping that you’ll find it easier to read, browse and navigate. I’d love to get your feedback on the new appearance.

As you can see at the moment, I’m still fixing previous posts and restoring some of the associated post images.

If you have a website I would very much recommend the services at sucuri.net who will clean malware from your site and then continuously scan for more infections at a very competitive annual fee. They are a very responsive service and some of their last work was done for me over the recent Easter holidays, when I certainly wasn’t expecting them to reply.

In short, I’m just so passionate about 3D digital art, it was very hard to stay away from the subject! I’ve also loved interacting and helping out some of the many wonderful sci-fi and fantasy artists that I have gotten to know over the last few years. A special shout out to Jack Tomalin (Redhouse Graphics), Rob Caswell and Woflgang Sigl who showed support during the shutdown.

I’m pleased to announce the premium magazine is now completely free, and you can sign up to get the latest on-line edition delivered to your inbox every month. Past issues will then be shared in the magazine section.

44 Pages of Inspiring Galleries and Digital Artist Interviews 

Editorial

Did concept art launch the American Space Program?

Interview: Tarik Keskin

“I had a great experience working with Mental Ray, since it is the industry-standard renderer for many movies like Avatar or the later Star Wars films. ”

Interview : DeeDee Davies

“Back when I started playing around with 3D programs, my hardware could only cope with a few items in the scene, so I learned to try to get as much impact as possible. I think it makes you think hard about only including what’s really important to the story behind the picture.”

Interview : Neil Thacker

“I want others to enjoy and understand the creative process, and make it easier than it was for me when I started out! I also skim the forum posts and offer whatever advice I can. “

Model Zone : Sixus 1 Media with Les Garner

“My line of work not only allows, but actually requires me to spend inordinate amounts of time inside my own imagination.”

Printed Edition via Magcloud

Fabrice Delage is known for his persistant objective in trying to gain photo realistic character portraits from using Poser, Vue and Photoshop. We originally interviewed Fabrice in issue 3 back in September 2010 and included some of his best work from his portfolio at the time alongside the interview. We’ve reproduced the article in full here for you to learn a little more about Fabrice and his portfolio.
Let us know what your favourite image is from Fabrice’s portfolio and let us know of other artists that you think manage to obtain photo realism with their images. You can check Fabrice’s current gallery at Renderosity.

3DAD: How long have you been involved with digital art? What were the beginnings?
FD: I started with 3D seven years ago. I already used 2D at work and since I love doing portraits, I wanted to create my own images.  The idea of using 3D for portraits came quite naturally. I started with Poser 5 and was really satisfied with this program.
3DAD: Did you work with paints or photography before going digital?
FD: I do a lot of sketching and painting.
3DAD: Who were your first mentors or artists that inspired you the most as you started out?
FD: Koji Yamagami, Liam Kemp and Alceu Baptistao with their efforts to create realistic images, have been and still are a great inspiration for me.
3DAD: What was some of the first software and hardware you used in the early  years for your work?
FD: I started with Photoshop, which was my main working horse, on an old Mac, but luckily things evolved for the better.
3DAD: Has imaging the human form always been your main motivation in the creation of your artwork?
FD: I love the human body and especially the female body. It is a real pleasure to work on the curves and forms of a beautiful woman, even when she is made of polygons.
3DAD: Is your primary goal to gain photo realism with the human form and to push the boundaries in this direction?
FD: My goal in 3D is to make an image as realistic as possible. Be it lights, scene set up, facial expressions, I want to make people forget that it is 3D! My friends have often told me, that my creations are really close to photo realism.
At this stage I do have a certain reputation in 3D world. And I feel very proud when my creations are used as a reference at art fairs or when 3D mags publish entire pages of my work.
3DAD: Has it taken you a while to get a streamlined work flow in the creation of your images? What are the broad steps you take in your work flow?
FD: My work flow is quite simple, I use one highend Mac for the scene set up and rendering and another with a Wacom tablet for postwork. I use the following apps: Poser 6, Vue 6 Infinite and Photoshop.
3DAD: You’ve created a great series of “Uzilite team” pieces, is that part of a graphic novel project? Is there an on-going story with these characters?
I did this series because Wusamah’s Uzilite products are really excellent! I love the quality of the Uzilite products and a couple of enterprises have been interested in these futuristic images. I have done those images to promote the products as well as to show their quality in complex scenes with great lightning.
3DAD: “Dream” and “Make a Dream” from your Vue C3D gallery are using a similar setting; floating spheres in front  of the “Dreamer” character. These are fantastic images. What gave you the idea to create these pieces?

FD: “Dream” and “Make a dream” are both made for my parents who love these kind of images.
3DAD: “Dabrat” is a nicely toned portrait. There’s a metallic reflective poll that the character is leaning against that adds interest to the scene and there’s a nice photo-realism about this picture. Tell me about this piece.

FD: “Dabrat” is inspired by an image in the Mode Lifestyle magazine. The model was very beautiful with a certain saucy quality. I often use such magazines as source of inspiration for poses, lights and expressions.
3DAD: “Ronin2”  is a nicely posed male character, with great expression; he’s looking for a fight! What’s the story about this character?
FD: The “Ronin” series simply exists, because I love the “Koji” Asian character from e-frontier. It is a fantastic character with very realistic expressions.
3DAD: Some examples of your photo realistic images “My Light 1”, “Meryl” and “Ruelle” that are rendered with a lack of colour. Is it easier to achieve photo realism with a lack of colour? Have you enjoyed working in this mode?
FD: I love very much the black and white portraits, I feel they look very natural. There are a lot of black and white images, which would be less beautiful in colour. I prefer doing my portraits in black and white, whereas the other scenes look evidently better in colour.
3DAD: Nikita looks like a dangerous character! It’s a nice touch using reflective light with her glasses. What’s the story behind this image?

FD: “Nikita” is inspired by the film of the same name by Luc Besson, which I love very much.
3DAD: “Mist” and “Elf” are more fantasy type images. Have you done much work in this genre, or is contemporary photo realism your main focus?

 

 

FD: Every now and than I feel the need to do a fantasy style image, just to change universe. But that never lasts very long and I quickly return to portraits. But it feels good to change sometimes.
3DAD: What’s one of the hardest challenges you have had to overcome in your work and how have you overcome this challenge?
FD: The biggest difficulty in 3D is the lack of imagination and ideas. How to overcome that? Just look around you and keep your eyes open!
3DAD: What three top tips would you give to those who are just starting out in 3D digital art?
FD: My 3 tips are:
Tip 1: Work hard on the scene set-up.
Tip 2: Do lots of test renders before the final render.
Tip 3: Never neglect all those little details which add life to an image!

Issue 15 Now Published!

Click the above cover image to read.

Editorial:

What makes good sci-fi cover art?

Tribute: Peter Elson

His stunning sci-fi cover art was an illustrative benchmark in the 70s and 80s.

Interview: Chris Hecker

“The creative process is always ‘work’ for me. It’s a certain kind of work. It’s rewarding.

Christmas Galleries

Melissa Krauss, Artur Rosa, and Arthur Dorety comment on their Christmas Gallery entires and reveal their inspirations.

Interview: Susanne Korff-Knoblauch

“Most of the women I portray are the heroes in my stories or my original characters from the games I’m playing…these women often are mages or adventurers and actually live a life not for the faint of heart.”

3DAD : What are some of the techniques in the creative process that Peter used that you can bring to light?
CB: I don’t have any specific comments, other than Peter worked in gouache and air brush, with quite a lot of fine painting. He would cut a brush down to just a few hairs so that every little detail was perfect.
3DAD: What artwork pieces would you consider to be at the peak of Peter’s career and what satisfaction did Peter derive when at this point?
CB: When I tried to think about this I just came up with too long a list. The Early Williamson, Babel, The Outposter, Venus Plus X, Reach for the Stars, Nova 4, The Power of Blackness, Secret Harmonies, A Sense of Wonder, The Status Civilization. But many of his later works were fabulous creations in a different way. Icehenge, Cold Allies, When the God’s Slept, Freedom’s Challenge. The list goes on and on.
Many of the early classics were fortunately printed in Parallel Lines, the book that showed both Peter’s and Chris Moore’s work together. Fortunately you can still get hold of copies on the internet. Peter was really happy with his success. It was work he was born to. But there are no royalties for cover arts, or very rarely. You live from job to job. That can be a great worry.

Check out his video portfolio and if you’v eenjoyed it, please “like” the video at youtube.com/3dartdirect

After you’ve read the interview, let us know how you liked it and please share this interview with others using the social media share buttons at the end of the article

3DAD: You’ve mentioned in your last post on Deviant Art that you’ve been on-line since the Beginning of the internet! Did you start posting your digital art very early on in the internet’s history?

No, I did not, I was busy with writing and bulletin boards (now known as forums). Digital artwork was not even in the picture for me at that time.

3DAD: What were some of the earliest influences for your artwork? Was much it from RPG?

RPG was definitely a strong influence, and books. The forest has always had a great deal of influence on my artwork too.

3DAD: Did you work with paints or photography before going digital? What were the earliest tools you used to create your images. Were you surprised at what you could achieve even back then with digital paint tools?

No. Before 3D I had never created artwork other than the drawings of horses I made when I was a child. 3D became a way for me to bring some of the visions in my head to life.

3DAD: Did you have any early “breakthrough” images that you posted where you suddenly received more than expected feedback?

Yes, there were a couple, “Conjuring Magic” and “Freedom” are two that come to mind.

3DAD: Your artwork is very much character based. Do you tend to create a backstory of those characters for the images you create?

Usually not, no. Most of the time I make a character image based upon my perception of how someone might react in that particular situation. Or how they might look, their facial expression, stance, etc.

3DAD: It’s great to see many well defined female characters in your work, have you helped inspire other women in digital art because of this?

I truly hope so. You see so many female characters in stereo-typical fantasy art settings, but so few with true depth.

3DAD: You have a category of “angels” in your Deviant art gallery with some fantastic imagary– what’s the influence in creating so many angel figures?

I have always been a spiritual person, but not particularly religious. Angels, specifically archangels, are one of the mystical creatures that fascinate me. I have heard them described as both terrible and beautiful, having envisioned them that way myself.  That is such an elusive, ethereal combination to try and capture in an image. I feel as if I never quite capture it, so I feel compelled to keep trying. I feel that the closest I have come to that is with “Heaven’s Spear”.

Specific artwork questions:-

 

 

“Remnants of a Dream”

 

This is striking angel figure in a stony courtyard, with great grey toning. How did this image come about – was it a remnant from one of your own dreams?

I wanted to make an angel in a context that people could relate to a bit more, as opposed to the warrior visions of my angels.

 

The series of “Heavens Spear”, “Heavens Bow”, “Heavens Sword”.

What made you decide to do a series here? Was it wanting to explore this Poser character with the given armor clothing?

I have always had this vision of archangels as quietly powerful, a being both terrible and beautiful, majestic in the fullest sense of the word. The series was born because I felt compelled to create archangels as “weapons” that serve heaven, one might say. I felt that particular armor was a perfect choice.

 

“Untitled warrior commission”

This is a strong image of a female warrior: Tell me about this commissioned work.

The woman who commissioned it saw another similar image of mine, and contacted me about creating her RPG character. She was extremely frustrated by the lack of female warrior images with armor that actually covered most of the body. Having played an RPG warrior myself online for a number of years, I could truly empathize with her.

 

“I am the warrior”

This image has a good pose and a great use of light in it. Were you pleased with the outcome?

Yes I was, though the lighting took forever to get just so on this one.

“The Heart of a Knight”

This is a good combination of using Poser and Vue, with a great snowy backdrop. Is there a backstory for this character, given the quote that goes with the image?

During my RPG years, I ran an online group, an order of elite RPG warriors. Our writings were very detailed and I insisted on some aspect of realism to it, in order to make it more believable and give our storylines more depth. It was common practice for us to research warriors and battle tactics of the dark ages, medieval times, etc. The more I learned about knights, the more I realized how much they had been romanticized. The truth was much darker, and far less noble. Even so, there always was and always will be idealists, and this image represents the ideal of what a true knight should be. Noble but not arrogant. Courageous and smart. Strong and merciful. Someone who can indeed think swiftly on their feet.

“Primal”

This is one of my favourites. It has a compelling pose and tells a story straight away. Tell me about how you created this image and any story that this image portrays.

I was walking my dog one day and my mind wandered, as it usually does when we walk in the woods. I thought about what it might have been like, back in ancient times, if Amazon women had actually existed. What would the land have been like? Arid and dry? Jungles? I opted for arid and dry, with a character I felt would have been more on the savage side. A fierce hunter, to be sure. She would have to be, to survive in such a harsh environment.

 

“The Moment”

This oriental warrior has outstanding colouring, great hair and a nice out of focus background. I notice it’s from a series of oriental warriors you’ve done. What helped you inspire this image?

The martial arts, plain and simple. My son has been in martial arts for 9 years, so it’s often on my mind. It’s such an elegant style of fighting, and movies like “Hero” are part of the inspiration for these images.

“Remembering the Brave”

You’ve mentioned that this was an image you reworked, which you rarely do? Is this one of your favourites – what inspired you to make this image?

Yes, this is one of my personal favorites. The inspiration for this image came from two sources; the brave people that lay their lives on the line to protect the rest of us. And from my father, one of the strongest, bravest people I have ever known.

3DAD: What hardware and software are you using now? Is it enough for the job!?

I use a Dell Inspirion, but I would like to get a larger, more powerful computer. I’m a bit limited by my current system. Software wise I mainly use Poser Pro 2010, Vue 7.5. On occasion I might go to Bryce or Carrara, but rarely.

3DAD: What’s one of the greatest challenges you’ve had in creating your art and how did you overcome it?

To be honest, creating the art itself has been one of the greatest challenges for me. Learning the ins and outs of all the programs, learning the postwork, the composition of the images, everything about it was a HUGE challenge. I never imagined 10 years ago I could do any of this.

3DAD: What’s your favourite postwork software tool or function at the moment and why?

I use Photoshop for all my postwork. I’m very comfortable with it, and I feel it is a very versatile tool.

3DAD: Which other digital artists inspire you the most?

Luis Royo
Marta Dahlig
Cris Ortega
Stefan Morrell
Dominic Davison

3DAD: What three tips would you give to those who are just starting out with 3D digital art?

Do not assume that 3D art is created quickly.

It takes patience, passion and persistence to learn the programs and create the art.

Study the images of the old masters, there is so much to be learned from them!