Read Issue 12 of Digital Art Live : Superb Skin Art!

Welcome to Issue 12

The digital art medium allows for precise and delicate imagery on the skin, much more than what can be achieved in the real world with a tattoo. So as we thought about the theme for this issue, we realised that there was a wealth of fantastic artwork that deserved to be promoted in demonstrating these advantages!

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‘PIXELUNA’

We interview a leading DAZ content vendor, about her excellent skin-based characters, tattoos and much more.

DAZ | POSER | PS

“From my studio windows I can see cacti, xeriscapes and scorpions.  It’s extremely hot during the summer and very cold in winter time.”

PAOLO CICCONE

Paolo is the developer of the well-known Reality plugin, which harnesses LuxRender so it can used by DAZ and Poser users.

REALITY | DAZ | POSER

“… yes, you definitely could do glowing sci-fi alien skin in Reality. In fact, in this light emission modifier in Reality, you can even plug in a texture to emit light, and do things like glowing veins.”

DEANE WHITMORE

We talk with New Zealand artist ‘RGUS’ about tattoos, zebra skin,  and never accepting caricature art commissions!

DAZ | POSER | PS

“I like to mix colour with monotones [and in that context using] striped patterns seem to stand out best against crisp colours.”

HIVEWIRE’S NEW 3D ANIMAL FOR POSER: THE ‘BIG CAT’

GALLERY: ‘SECOND SKIN’

IMAGINARIUM

Sample Interview from Issue 12

PIXELUNA

DAZ  | POSER | PS

PIXELUNA’S DEVIANTART GALLERY

DAL: Let’s start with your early days. You were trained at university in advertising, I understand? That’s a somewhat unusual creative foundation for 3D artists, in my experience. Tell us about that, please? What was it like, and where? And how has it then fed into your art and content production?

PL: As a young girl I found my love for art and enjoyed drawing comics and fashion clothing designs. I eventually went to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, studying Fine Arts and I majored in Advertising. This gave me a broad base of knowledge to apply in various art fields. When most people hear “major in Advertising” they only think of the layout side of the process of making an advert. Advertising is actually very broad and it covers many things. Such as fashion design, photography, product development of a consumer item from production to print, animation, radio and TV marketing strategy, even creative practices such as ceramics and pottery, printmaking, and silkscreen printing, to name just a few.

DAL: Has the advertising profession changed since you were at university?

PL: Things were so different back then, when an advertising layout could be done without the aid of image-editing software and computers. Everything was done by hand, pens and camera-ready colour separation process using an acetate sheet and white board.

DAL: Wow, that sounds like good training, though.  I understand that many degree courses today force the students to do at least some of their course work ‘old school’, non-digital, just to keep those skills and approaches alive.  They’re found to be very useful in learning, re-shaping the pathways in the student’s brain.

PL: Eventually the times change and the I saw the use of computers being implemented at work.  And it did make the job much easier.

DAL: Yes, in production it’s much quicker. Tell us about how you first encountered Poser 3D art,please? How and where did that happen?

PL:  Ah, well… I discovered Poser in 2008 while browsing for a 3D program at Fry’s Electronics.  I was looking for something  that I could use for my magazine layouts. I purchased it more out of curiosity, but that was when I got hooked by it and… the rest is history.

DAL: Was there anyone who especially helped and encouraged you, in the early days?

PL: In the early days with Poser, most everything I learned with the software was self-taught. As I got more involved in the 3D community, I met several influential friends. Some of the earliest friends were ‘Shadownet’, ‘Ghostman’, ‘StudioArtVartanian’ and ‘Midnight Stories’. I worked on several projects together with ‘Ghostman’ and ‘Shadownet’, and continued refining my skills. We eventually moved to RuntimeDNA where I met Syyd and Eric (‘Traveler’), who were very helpful in learning DAZ Studio.

DAL: I understand you’ve also been an active collaborator on making 3D content, when you were at Runtime DNA. With ‘Ghostman’ and ‘Shadownet’, for instance? How did that process work out for you?

PL: The best part about collaborating with them is that we split the work, based on our specialties. We start each project by brainstorming and sharing ideas, then I make a comprehensive sketch detailing the front, back and side of the outfit and props. Next step, ‘Ghostman’ models the outfit and ‘Shadownet’ rigs it, while I make the textures.

Then we test the product ourselves, or even past it on to our testers. The last stage is making the library content and my favourite part, promos.

DAL: Yes, well, the process certainly pays off.  You’ve made some of the most striking of recent fantasy and cyber figures for DAZ/Poser. As a popular DAZ/Poser content vendor, you recently moved to the DAZ Store from Runtime DNA, after the DAZ purchase of RDNA. Has that move been a success for you?

PL: Yes, I am very pleased with how things have turned out.

DAL: What’s your view on what 3D content vendors need to offer to their customers at present? Apart from their usual ‘high quality’ and ‘compatibility’ needs?

PL: I’d say that they should offer unique and original products that are worth someone having in their content library. Products that can be used with many possibilities are more appealing.

DAL: I agree, ‘unique but flexible’.  Where would you like to see the DAZ/Poser scene ‘go’ in the future? What new trends do you see emerging? On price, content diversity, usage,all sorts…

PL:  Well, it seems that the trend nowadays is realism in renders, 3D printing and computer gaming. I’ve seen more and more vendors are opting to offer commercial licenses with their bundled products. As for the price and content diversity, there are those who stay in their own comfort zone and others are starting to break out from their shell and then a new wave of style and content is born.