SCIENCE FICTION ARTIST IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS

DigitalArtLIVE.com

FANTASY PORTRAITS ISSUE

KEVIN B MCBRIARTY

REBECCA ELSEY

TWENTY-NINE
MIRJAM MAY 2018

VUE ● TERRAGEN ● POSER ● DAZ STUDIO ● REAL-TIME 3D ● 2D DIGITAL PAINTING ● 2D/3D COMBINATIONS
 https://digitalartlive.com/events/
2
 CELTIC TREASURES
Includes FREE SEATS
Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th May
Can’t make the live webinar? Register and we’ll send you the HD quality recording
(paid seats only)
20:00 BST (London)/12:00 PDT (Los Angeles)/15:00 EDT (New York)
In this workshop John Haverkamp will unlock Celtic artwork showing you the pattern lan-
guage, the historical materials and techniques originally used. Taking advantage of PBR,
he’ll use Substance Designer and Substance Painter, explaining the graph view and nodes
along the way.
1. Discover the pattern language of early Germanic and Celtic ornaments
2. How did they do that? Uncovering historical materials and techniques!
a. Repousse
b. Engraving
c. Casting
d. Carving
e. Enamelings
f. Inlay
d. Niello
3. Why clay?
4. Polymer clay construction techniques
5. Preparing the clay relief photo in Photoshop
6. Learn Graphs and Nodes in Substance Designer
7. Exporting maps and publishing to .sbsar format for use in Substance Painter, modeling
programs with the substance plugin, and realtime engines.

Presented by John Haverkamp

3
 https://digitalartlive.com/events/
4
 COMPLETE LIGHTING GUIDE
For DAZ Studio : Scene and Portrait Lighting
Presented by Esha
HD Recordings Included with Registration

When we experience lighting in the “real world” it tends to just well—happen! Without much ef-
fort from us, the sun rises, we flick a switch, or we open the curtains and there we have it, light!
We may put some thought into where we place a lamp, how we angle the blinds, or where we
aim a torch, but much of the time our experience with light is generally a passive experience.
Things are different in the 3D graphics world, where we’re wanting to maximize a scene that we
have carefully set up. It’s to optimise the elements of mood, a character’s expression, the tex-
tures and objects or certain areas in the scene.
With effective lighting you can make your 3D models really stand out!
There are a number of deep-rooted 3D lighting standards, and the type of scene usually deter-
mines which one is most appropriate.
Esha, a long standing published artist at DAZ will guide you through the lighting maze. She’ll ap-
proach each 3D lighting paradigm consistently with a first webinar exploring realism for scene
lighting and a second session going into depth on portrait lighting to make the most of your 3D
characters!
For the Scene course:
Learn how to light outdoor environments and indoor scenes. Master the Daz Studio Environment
Render Modes and how to tweak them.
For the Portrait course:
Light your digital portraits like professional photographers do in real life. Learn how to translate
photography tutorials into 3D rendering environments.

Presented by Esha

5
 SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE
SHARE YOUR CREATIVE STORY

We are actively looking for artists or content creators who would enjoy the
opportunity of teaching other artists in a live setting.
Would you like to work with Digital Art Live as a partner in presenting some
of our live webinars? We’re particularly looking for artists and content
creators with DAZ Studio and/or Poser in mind.
Use the link below to submit your application and we’ll get in touch!

https://digitalartlive.com/presenters

6
 Front Cover:
“Crown” by
Mirjam of the
Netherlands.
Read Mirjam’s
interview, later in
this issue!
Headpeice is the
“Melidae Crown”
by Anna
Benjamin and
Mary Williams.
THE FANTASY PORTRAITS ISSUE

CONTENTS
OUR LIVE
WEBINARS!
―― 02

EDITORIAL
―― 09

MEETUP
―― 10

BACK ISSUES
INDEX
INTERVIEWS
―― 46
―― 12 ―― 30 ―― 52
CONTESTS
KEVIN McBRIARTY REBECCA ELSEY MIRJAM
―― 50
We talk with Kevin about Rebecca talks about how Mirjam delights in making
GALLERY childhood art training, his DAZ Studio runs on a female fantasy portraits,
disappointment in college budget PC, kit-bashing 3D and she has developed a
―― 66
art, and his discovery of content, and the low-light style full of rich
IMAGINARIUM the power of 3D software. importance of details. shadows and soft glows.

―― 82 DAZ | PHOTOSHOP DAZ | PHOTOSHOP DAZ | PHOTOSHOP

“As a young child I would
set me off across town
with my bike and $10
every Saturday morning,
to take private art
lessons. While all the
other kids were sleeping I
studied drawing,
sculpting, painting...”
“I often imagine [finishing
a 3D render is] similar to
the way a sculptor feels
when they stand back
and look at their work.
It’s not always what the
viewer sees, but the
hidden and subtle details
that make a render.”
“For a long time I was
trying to develop a style
that felt natural and
comfortable. I think that
is really important [that
your style feels natural],
because otherwise the
style is difficult to stick
to.”

7
MAGAZINE PODCAST
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Subscribe at digitalartlivecom Subscribe to the Podcast feed

LIVE
Join our live webinar-based
workshops for digital artists.
digitalartlive.com

Credits for pictures, from top left: Detail from “Celestial”, by Rebecca Elsey; detail from “Nocturna” by Mirjam;
Detail from “Naginta v3.0”, by Kevin McBriarty. All artists are interviewed in this issue.

Paul Bussey Dave Haden

Editor-in-Chief, Conferences Editor and magazine layout
paul@digitalartlive.com david@digitalartlive.com

Copyright © 2018 Digital Art LIVE. Published in the United Kingdom. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written
permission of the publisher. No copyright claim is made by the publisher regarding any artworks made by the artists featured in this magazine.

8
EDITOR’S LETTER
WELCOME...
“
It's been 20 years since 3D first arrived in
the mail. Or, more precisely, since chunky
cardboard boxes arrived on people's
doorsteps. Each box carrying a precious cargo of
Poser 3.0 CD-ROMs, a door-stop sized printed
manual and a licence-key card. Amazingly there is
no precise shipping-date online for Poser 3.0 — the
Internet forgets much, even at Archive.org. But a
deep-dive into Google turned up an in-depth review
from Germany (April 1998, avAtaR eZine, “Test
Bryce 3D und Poser 3”), and this suggests Poser 3.0
probably shipped in May 1998. More certainly, the
famous Poser Forum Online was first established in
June 1998 and then grew exponentially.
By summer 1998 users had their hands on the first
really usable Poser version, with the familiar and
much-loved user-interface it still has today. Phil
Clevenger of MetaCreations had successfully
transferred to Poser 3.0 much of the unique user-
interface from MetaCreations’s popular Bryce 3D
landscape software. The company then enlisted
Zygote to provide a huge bundle of add-on 3D
content for Poser. There was nothing else like it,
and by Christmas the ‘street price’ of Poser 3.0 was
£179 in the UK — a bargain even at 1998 prices.
The new Poser software proved a great success,
and the price fell as the volume of sales rose. By
1999 the online archives show: that Poser 3.0 was
being listed at just $119 U.S.; that flagship artists
such has Larry Weinberg had shown what was
possible with the software; and that it was being
very well-reviewed even in magazines at the
upmarket end of the industry. The mass-market
desktop 3D art revolution was well underway.
How far we’ve come in just 20 years. But… the
face. For so many years there was that ‘uncanny
valley’ effect for the face and the eyes in 3D
renders, which made many shudder on seeing the
renders and talk of ‘doll-like’ eyes and ‘unconvincing
expressions’. Artists found various ways around the
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/3DArtDirect
9
problem, as artists will, and much hard work was
done with getting skin looking realistic in 3D
renders. But it’s arguably taken us 20 years to
find ‘The Stairs of Cirith Ungol’ and to make the
slipperly and vertiginous climb out of that ‘uncanny
valley’ of the 3D face and hair. But perhaps we
shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves — considering
that even the big Hollywood studios took decades
to find their way out. Just a few years ago they
were still making cringe-inducing ‘uncanny valley’
faces, as seen in the likes of the dire Tintin movie.
But many still portrait renders can now make you
do a double-take: ‘is it real or is it 3D rendered?’
Increasingly, you’re not quite sure. The veteran
3D artist might be able to tell, after some moments
of considered thought. But it’s not always
immediately obvious, especially when the picture
was made by someone who has mastered the
software and knows about lighting. Equally, we’re
starting to see a similar drift toward having ‘3D
that looks like 2D’, moving toward a point where ‘is
it drawn/painted or 3D rendered?’ may also be a
frequent question.
Of course we’re not quite there yet, but the ‘once
upon a time’ fantasy of making convincing portrait
art with computers is definitely coming true. To
extend my earlier ‘The Stairs of Cirith Ungol’
allusion, we are standing at the top of the stairs
after a hard climb, but still have to face the great
‘Shelob’ — which is hyper-critical public
discernment. The public will demand more and
more of its 3D art in the coming years, especially if
it’s paying. But it’s no longer a fantasy that even
amateur artists will be able to reach such heights,
given the range of software we now have available.
DAVID HADEN
Editor of Digital Art Live magazine.
david@digitalartlive.com
RSS: https://digitalartlive.com/feed/
 TOLKIEN
Use new Charpentier fon

10
Picture: with thanks to Tejvan Pettinger.
 MEET THE TEAM, AND YOUR
FELLOW ARTISTS!
We have a splendid opportunity to
meet the Digital Art Live team, our
magazine readers and digital artists, at

nt
the New Bodleian (Weston) Library of
the University of Oxford.
Starting in June, this venue will host
the major free exhibition: Tolkien:
Maker of Middle-earth. The world's
foremost Tolkien archive is being
matched with rare items and art from
other collections, to present a ‘once in
a generation’ show of original Tolkien
items in the city where Tolkien wrote
The Hobbit andThe Lord of the Rings.
A wealth of Tolkien’s own artwork and
original designs will be on show.
OUR SCHEDULE
11.30am meet outside the venue. We will
be carrying seven spare printed tickets for
1pm entry — but you should not rely on
these, and you should first try to book
your own personal 1pm or 1.30pm tickets.
11.50pm we go for a quick light lunch and
chat in one of the nearby cafés, or inside
the venue if they have a suitable café
(purchase your own snack and drinks).
12.50pm we assemble at the exhibition
entrance ready to start our 1pm tour of
the Tolkien exhibition. We anticipate that a
full appreciation of this large exhibition
may take about an hour or slightly more.
2.30pm informal break.
3pm informal chats continue. We will try
to book a 3.30pm group tour of Exeter
College, Tolkien's ancient Oxford college
(very nearby, in Turl Street).
5.30pm. Depart for the train station
(about a half mile walk from the venues).

PLEASE BOOK NOW!

https://digitalartlive.com/event/tolkien-maker-
11 of-middle-earth-digital-art-live-meetup/
We talk with Kevin McBriarty about his
early childhood tutoring in art, his
disappointment with art college classes,
and the revival of of his creativity
through discovering 3D artistry and the
possibilities of DAZ Studio.

DAL: Kevin, many thanks for taking the time to

do this in-depth interview with Digital Art Live.
KM: I’m humbled and flattered by your interest
in my work, and by your contacting me for an in-
depth interview. Fantasy and fantasy art has
been an escape for me, since a young age. I’ve
always dreamed of creating fantastic images of
mythical creatures and people. 3d imaging
allows me to bring my dreams to life — and
many more dreams that I had ever imagined
when I was a boy.
DAL: Yes, I think that’s one of the great things
about fantasy, in that at its best it can give
individuals the ability to tap into the wider and
interwoven imagination of the group, and at the
same to time to tap into poetry of real history
and landscapes. But to start talking about your
art, I must congratulate you first on your very
stylish control of light and shadow in many of
your pictures. The outdoor ‘sunlight pictures’
also have excellent lighting. Have you trained in
that, in terms of studying traditional art and/or
photographic studio set-up or movie/stage
lighting? Or does it just come naturally?
12
 Picture: “Taranis” V. 1.2.

KEVIN MCBRIARTY

USA

DAZ | PHOTOSHOP |
CARRARA | ZBRUSH

WEB

13
KM: Thank you. All the training I received was can bring to their creations. Lighting can make
prior to college years. As a young child my or break a 3D piece, and a good foundational
parents ‘saw something in me’ and set me off understanding of basic lighting and framing skills
across town with my bike and $10 every can take a piece from ‘interesting’ to ‘incredible’.
Saturday morning to take private art lessons.
For the past couple of years I have found that I
While all the other kids were sleeping in late, or
enjoy using light as a medium. The balance or
watching Saturday morning cartoons on TV, I
imbalance of light and shadow on a piece can
was peddling my bike across town to study
have a dynamic effect on the emotion of a piece,
everything from drawing to sculpting to painting.
especially portraits.
I did this until I reached high school where I
enrolled in every possible art related class that I DAL: You mentioned weaving. Did you go on to
could fit into my schedule. Jewellery making, study at college, and did you take similar
photography, graphic arts, traditional art... courses there that fed into your creative talents?
anything to be creative. I know that Chicago always had a very strong
reputation in the arts, since the 1910s if not
DAL: Right, so the training started early for you.
before, especially via the Art Institute — which
Was there anyone special you helped develop
trained generations of traditional artists and
your talents, in those early years?
illustrators — and others for over a century. Did
KM: My private art instructor, who also you get on the educational path in the city,
happened to be one of the many teachers I had which led to such places?
in high school. He was the most influential figure
in developing my skills. I had spent virtually
every Saturday morning with him and his family “As a child I spent virtually
in his home — painting, drawing, sculpting and every Saturday morning with
at one point even weaving. Yes, weaving — not
my favourite experience! my art tutor and his family in
He would push me to ‘reach outside my comfort
his home — painting,
zone’ through-out my learning. Ultimately he drawing, sculpting and at one
was the one who pushed me to sign-up for a point even weaving. Yes,
photography course in high school. He felt I
needed to have a basic understanding of light, weaving — not my favourite
shadow and depth to help me see the world in a experience!”
different light (pun intended, his joke not mine).
Once in high school he pushed me further. There
KM: My college was extremely brief, actually. My
were projects that others would work on for
path only included a single course at the local
ages, but he had me completing those projects
community college. I enrolled in a Graphic Art
years earlier at his kitchen table. He always
course for a semester. The course did not
managed to find things to challenge me and
challenge me, and I quickly lost interest.
keep me interested in creating.
There was a long period where I walked away
DAL: That sounds like a great start. And then
from creativity and stopped virtually all types of
photography became a big input, in terms of
artwork. It started shortly after completing that
feeding through into you 3D skills. Would you
one college course.
recommend 3D artists take a short course in
that, to help boost their lighting and framing DAL: Wow, well that’s something for younger
skills? readers to remember. The power of certain types
of lacklustre art college and course to kill
KM: Taking that first photography course set the
creativity. Although, looking through any recent
foundation for me, later in my development of
issue of contemporary ‘fine-art’ magazines such
3D art. I would recommend a budding 3D artist
as Modern Painters will have much the same
to invest in a basic course, at least, to develop
warning
14 effect! /Laughter/
their understanding of lighting and the power it
Picture: “Wadjet” V. 1.0.

15
KM: I became frustrated and my focus moved
away from art. I held onto all my traditional art
supplies, and dabbled here and there, but the
flame faded. I had never considered digital art,
and of course where I was at that point it still
only existed in movies as the early CGI. But
when I discovered this new medium it was
liberating. The tools that are out there are
incredible and there is virtually no limit.
DAL: How exactly did you get started in 3D art?
Did you go through and try various software, or
go straight to DAZ Studio?

“Some 3D artists feel postwork is

cheating. I am not here to agree
or disagree, I simply feel it is
another tool that helps me make
what is in my head a reality. In
some cases, the initial render is
far from what I expect, but is not
a total loss. This is where
Photoshop becomes my
workhorse — and can save an
image from ending up in the
trash bin.” RAW RENDER
16
KM: I was looking for a method to build my own
reference material, that would allow me to
create pieces without having to employ a live
model. Doing some searches online I was
introduced to 3D-rendering. Initially I had no
intention of using the software to create finished
AFTER PHOTOSHOP
17
pieces, I planned to simply use it to pose figures
to be used as a references in support of my
traditional painting process. I quickly learned
with some practice and experimentation this was
a powerful medium. So much so that it
eventually replace my traditional art supplies.
I dabbled with Poser early on, but found DAZ
Studio provided me with a more familiar
‘feeling’ and work flow. For a period, though,
I dove head first into Carrara (also by DAZ).
DAL: Yes, for readers who don’t know it, it’s
sort of DAZ Studio’s ‘big sister’, although not
marketed as such these days. Very powerful,
able to use all DAZ and Poser content. Also
modelling capabilities.
KM: At the time I found the render speeds to
be better and to provide me with a better set
of lighting options. During my use of Carrara I
began to embrace texturing and effectively
using shaders. Carrara introduced me to 3D
modelling and options to manipulate existing
prop geometries.
It wasn’t until Reality renderer plug-in came
onto the scene that I start to be drawn back
to DAZ Studio. Then the first of the Genesis
line of figures was released and DAZ Studio
again became my go to software of choice.
The things one could do with this ‘new’
character was staggering. One figure could be
shaped into so many options, the possibilities
were virtually endless.
About the time I returned to DAZ Studio
from Carrara I dabbled in texturing. For me
DAZ Studio was a perfect fit to experiment
with texturing. I spent months at a time
creating modified textures in Photoshop and
applying them to props and figures in DAZ
Studio. I am not sure any were worthwhile
enough to share, but I learned more and
more about the software in the process.
DAL: And then they added iRay…
KM: Now that iRay is a core part of Studio I
would be hard pressed to walk away from
DAZ Studio… just from a content investment
point of view.
DAL: Yes, and with the Scene Optimizer
plugin even those without ninja graphics
cards can get relatively speedy 3000px
pictures from iRay. You’ve mentioned the
attractive features of the software, but what
were the initial barriers you found, as you
started out with the learning curve in digital
art with DAZ? How did you overcome these
difficulties?
KM: The largest barrier for me was actually in
the hardware limitations. I was using a basic
computer when I started out, slowing my
learning curve and increased my frustration.
Not to mention having to learn how to
manipulate ‘fake’ lighting limitations. I
marvelled at what other artists were able to
achieve early on. The realism some were able
to capture was inspiring.
I began to learn what my tools were capable
of and what I needed to improve them. 3D
imaging can be an expensive medium to work
with, between some of the software and the
hardware that is needed to get the most out
of all the software... not to mention content.
“What I enjoy most about
creating 3D images is
allowing the viewer to write
their own back-story for the
piece. I try to focus on
creating an image that
allows the viewer to
question what is happening
off camera, or what brought
the subject to the place or
point they are in the image.”
Yes, that’s true. People say: “Well you digital
artists don’t have to buy the art supplies, the
tubes of paint, the brushes, the sketchbooks.
And you just use free software”. But they
don’t figure in all the costs involved. Plugins,
third-party software tools, content from
stores, the desktop and its upgrading with
things like graphics cards, the electricity that
uses. It would be interesting to see a creative
industries economist student do a paper
comparing the two sets of costs, per output.
So you went for the hardware upgrades
needed for DAZ Studio and iRay?
18
 Picture: “VR 2016” V. 1.1.
19
KM: Yes, when iRay was added to DAZ Studio I invested in
some hardware upgrades. There was also a learning curve
with lighting, shaders, render settings and times but not as
significant as those I was challenged with using 3Delight
and old hardware.
DAL: Yes, there are now a good range of light present and
‘virtual studios’ on the stores, which can help things along.
But to step back a moment, you said that you chose to use
the Reality plugin for DAZ Studio, I think?
KM: Yes, I chose to use Reality, when I found that 3Delight
— DAZ Studio’s basic long-standing render option — did not
meet my needs. The primary reasons for me using Reality,
and not diving right into iRay, was my lack of understanding
of iRay and the hardware limitations of my original system.
Reality was part of my development and learning journey,
my work would not be what it is today without my
experience with Reality.
Replacing Reality for iRay was then a natural progression for
me, and has given me little reason to look back. Both
provide phenomenal results, but I prefer the built-in
interface DAZ Studio has created for iRay.
DAL: How did you find wrangling the iRay shaders?
KM: The biggest draw to iRay, for me, was actually the
amount and depth of iRay shaders that provide click and
play ease. I now have a rather extensive library of iRay
shaders but I find myself using less than 20% of what I
have. There are two types of content I have a weakness for,
iRay Shaders and Figure Poses, those, to me are bread and
butter. I have gigabytes of both, poses and shaders.
DAL: Yes, I saw some excellent packs of metal/armour and
fabric shaders recently, for iRay. Poses, too, are an
overlooked niche in the content market I think, and one
which hasn’t yet been eroded/flooded by people having their
own home-studio motion-capture via Kinect etc.
How long does it tend to take you to setup and frame a
scene with the lighting, would you say? Do you do the
lighting afresh for each picture, or do you have saved files
in which the lighting is all set up as you like it?
KM: The initial lighting set-up I use for my indoor renders
are based off a saved file, and that contains over 15 lights
or light sources in it. I have found a lighting set-up that
works for me and which affords me almost limitless options.
I rarely move the position of any of the lights in it, but I
regularly adjust the intensity and temperature to cast the
right amount of light and emotion.
DAL: Is that also the case with your very attractive outdoor
pictures? 20 Picture: “Not from Kansas” V. 1.0.
KM: My outdoor lit pieces start with the figures, props,
landscapes and posing, and the lighting is added after and
are unique to each piece. I have had pieces take longer to
render than set-up and pieces that have taken several
days of set-up before accepting a final render.
Framing of a piece is initially rather quick for me. I
generally have an idea in my mind before loading a figure
or prop into a scene of the framing I have in mind.
Unfortunately, the best laid plans don't always work out.
Once I am happy with the point of view on a piece, I
render it larger than the final piece more times than not.
The final framing or cropping is done in post work.
DAL: Yes, often one can get rid of a high number of
fireflies in the picture by rendering to say, 4800px and
then taking it down in Photoshop to 3600px or suchlike.
The interpolation smushes away most of the fireflies.
KM: Some pieces that have taken days to set-up, to get
the texturing just right, adjust and set lighting and then
render up to 24 hours — they can end up being cropped
into a tenth of the original size of the full render... not to
mention the post work time invested.
This is one of most appealing parts of 3D rendering for me,
the ability to modify the original idea without having to
scrape a canvas clear or grab a new sheet of paper or
block of clay. Change a pose, move a camera, change a
texture, add a prop... all within minutes.
DAL: Yes, and one can also render in layers, with a bit of
thought, and then mask each of them. Foreground,
middleground, characters, background, sky. And then
you’re free to play with each in Photoshop. Dropping in a
new sky, for instance, and giving the background some
depth haze.
But back to portraits, which is the theme of this issue.
One of your most recent Gallery posts is a terrific demon
with a “before and after” view. Showing the raw render
and the picture after postwork. That’s a lot of very
impressive postwork on show, there! What other software
do you find especially useful in making your art, in terms
of the postwork?
KM: Photoshop has been there for me since early on as a
postwork tool. Some 3D artists feel postwork is cheating. I
am not here to agree or disagree, I simply feel it is
another tool that helps me make what is in my head a
reality. In some cases, the initial render is far from what I
expect, but is not a total loss.
This is where Photoshop becomes my workhorse and can
save an 21
image from ending up in the trash bin.
Picture: “Not the Horny She Had
in Mind” V.1.2.

22
23
Photoshop has become an integrated part of my
process. It offers unlimited power to make magic
happen, and I sprinkle that magic in one form or
another across almost every render.
Every time I use Photoshop I learn something
new, a new shortcut, new technique or a new
option that was there all along that I missed.
DAL: I’d certainly deep software. Yes, I agree
on the perpetual learning. I’ve been at
Photoshop for more than 20 years now and I’m
still learning. How long did all that postwork
take, for the demon picture?
KM: I was blessed with this piece, I used a
Photoshop Action created by an artist at
GraphicRiver named Sevenstyles, and that
performed much of the hard work. The action
took minutes to run but I spent a couple of
nights adjusting the light levels, colours and
effects… about six hours in total plus render
time.
There are so many amazing artists out there
that share their skills, SevenStyle is one of them
and he has a talent for making actions to
completely transform an image. I feel the magic
happens after using his actions, the adjusting
and tweaking is what makes both Photoshop and
SevenStyle's actions so tremendously powerful.
DAL: And do you create back-stories for the
characters in your pictures? If you do so as
you’re making the picture, do you think that
doing so adds to the resulting picture?
KM: What I enjoy most about creating 3D
images is allowing the viewer to write their own
back-story for the piece. I try to focus on
creating an image that allows the viewer to
question what is happening off camera, or what
brought the subject to the place or point they
are in the image. Some of my most recognized
or commented on images are those that tell a
story allowing the viewer to fill in a back-story
that relates to them.
DAL: I see. Now let’s turn to a specific picture.
The picture “Not the horny she had in
mind” [seen on previous pages] is a super
concept and very expertly realised. There’s
something about the power of the concept that
distracts the mind of the viewer from the usual
“oh, it’s nice but it’s still a 3D face” thought.
As such, the idea lifts the face out of “the
uncanny valley” and the mind accepts it as if it
was really photoreal. It’s one of the very few
pictures I’ve seen do that when you first see it.
Could you tell the readers more about how the
picture came about and was made?
KM: Actually this image came together almost by
chance. My goal was to create a piece that
evoked a sense of surprise on the character’s
face. While posing the face I began to develop
the title, “Not the Horny She Had in Mind”. Once
I added the horns the rest fell right into place.
The early morning, just woke-up look of the hair,
the subtle hint of an open lingerie helped to pull
off the ‘story’ of a girl waking up with horns she
did not have the night before.
“… one of most appealing
parts of 3D rendering for me,
is the ability to modify the
original idea without having
to scrape a canvas clear or
grab a new sheet of paper or
block of clay. Change a pose,
move a camera, change a
texture, add a prop... all
within minutes.”
Getting the camera angle right proved to be
harder than I expected. My base lighting file was
not cooperating and forced me to move my
standard lighting positions to keep them out of
the reflection of the mirror… which altered the
lighting angles… that in-turn changed how the
shadows fell on the face, that changed the
effectiveness of the expression. I found myself
saving this over several days and going back to
it with fresh eyes before completing the final
render.
DAL: Thanks. Who influences you, these days,
either in terms of visual or ideas?
24
Picture: “Springs Elite Guard” V. 1.2.

25
Pictures: “Naginata" V.3.0; "For Hire", V.1.2.

26
27
KM: I am influenced or better yet inspired by
Greek artist AS-Dimension-Z (Anestis Skitzis),
with his ability to bring realistic human textures
to life. As well as the work done by
BlackTalonArts (Mel) at DeviantArt, her lighting
and texturing is exquisite. Outside of the 3D
world, Boris Vallejo, Larry Elmore and Micheal
Whelan continue to astound and influence me.
DAL: Who are your favourite “must Wishlist!”
content makers on the 3D stores?
KM: I have several of these. Favourite pose
content creators include Danie & Marforno (DM).
Danie & Marforno capture the most realistic yet
simple poses possible. I use their work as much
as I can as a base, tweaking and adjusting fit my
vision.
“I am currently exploring
ZBrush. I just installed it
on my computer and have
begun watching some
tutorial videos. I have
always been amazed at
what artists are able to
create with 3D sculpting
software and felt it was
time to give it a try.”
Favourite architectural content creator is Stefan
Morrell (aka Stonemason). His work is second-to
-none, I only wish I used more of it. Everything
Stefan creates is content gold.
My favourite clothing content creator is Aeon
Soul, for their ability to create pieces/sets that
are interchangeable with one another — that
aspect of their work is worth every penny. The
work and detail they put into their content is
unparalleled, not to mention the ability to use in
a variety of genres, from sci-fi to medieval.
DAL: Thanks. A question we often ask is: what’s
your studio like, and especially — what’s the
view from the windows?
KM: I have a very humble ‘studio’. It is nothing
too fancy and is tucked in a corner of the
basement of my home.
DAL: Ah, so... no windows in a basement!
KM: I have an area for working on traditional art
and projects, with the heart of my workspace
being my computer and its dual monitors. It is
comfortable and out of the hustle and bustle of
my everyday… my lil’ place to get away.
DAL: What are you working on at the moment?
KM: I am currently exploring ZBrush. I just
installed it on my computer and have begun
watching some tutorial videos. I have always
been amazed at what artists are able to create
with 3D sculpting software and felt it was time to
give it a try.
I want to continue exploring both fantasy
portraits and modern day portraits that evoke
emotion, but I am being more and more drawn
to expanding my sci-fi portfolio. Not only aliens
and imagined creatures, but how day-to-day life
might be in our future.
DAL: Fascinating. We wish you well with that.
What would be your “dream commission”, if
someone popped a note on DeviantArt inviting
you to work on ‘something big’ and get paid
commensurately?
KM: I have always been interested in fantasy
book cover-art and I think it would be fulfilling to
give that a try, or even 3D content promotional
imaging. Getting to do some of the first renders
of new store content has a certain appeal as
well!
DAL: Ok, thanks for this in-depth interview. We
wish you all the best with your future art and
career.
KM: Thank you, again, for this tremendous
opportunity to share a little bit of me with your
readers. This has been a wonderful experience
and humbling honour to have others recognize
my work.
Kevin B. McBriarty is online at:
https://kmcbriarty.deviantart.com/
28
 Picture: “Autumn Free Faery”, V.1.0.

29
Digital Art Live visits South Africa, to talk
with graphic designer Rebecca Elsey. We
discuss how DAZ Studio can run on an
budget PC, kit-bashing to make unique
‘new characters’, the importance of
adding detail to renders, and much more!

DAL: Rebecca, welcome back to Digital Art Live.

RE: Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to featured
here.
DAL: We first encountered your work when you kindly
gave us permission to show three of your cyber-portraits
in the Gallery of our Tron tribute magazine issue
(‘Cybertronic’, #14), and many readers will especially
remember your wonderful “Digital Life” picture to be
found there. That picture was a fine melding of
cyberpunk science-fiction and fantasy themes.
Your DeviantArt gallery shows quite a progression from
your early digital sketches of 2008, and then again from
2013 where your first 3D work starts to appear. Are
you pleased with the progression in 3D that you’ve
achieved in the last five years?
RE: Yes, very much so. I had actually been playing
around with 3D for quite some time before that, but it
was only in 2013 that I really started to ‘get the hang of
it’ and felt confident enough to post my work online.
Since then it has really been a matter of ‘practice makes
perfect’. Every render teaches me something new, and I
feel that I am still improving and that I will continue to
do so. I imagine that there will be a vast improvement
in my work in another five years time.
DAL: What challenges did you have to overcome along
the way, to make 3D art at a high level, and how did
you tackle those problems? 30
 Picture: “Kitsune”

REBECCA ELSEY

SOUTH AFRICA

DAZ STUDIO |
PHOTOSHOP |
GRAPHIC DESIGN |

WEB

31
RE: The obvious one is always ‘PC trouble’.
Luckily I’m quite the geek and could usually fix
whatever problems my PC had. Having said that,
though, I do not have a particularly high-end PC.
But I make do and simply have patience and
deal with long render times. I have left my PC
rendering for days on many occasion, sadly it’s
just something I have to put up with.
DAL: Yes, we’ve all been there. Thankfully the
software is now vastly more stable that it used
to be. Did you have to upgrade, then?
RE: Well, the price of computers parts (graphic
cards specifically) are just unaffordable here in
South Africa. Although I could save up for one I
simply could not justify the expense, there are
simply better places that money could go.
DAL: Yes, and once installed they do suck
electricity, often via needing a new power-supply
unit (PSU) to run them. Which also costs, drip by
drip over a year. Which is why plugins in like
Scene Optimizer for DAZ Studio are so welcome,
enabling everyone to make iRay renders.
RE: Another challenge is time, I have a high-
pressure job and work long hours.
DAL: Ah, I see. So especially thanks for taking
the time for the interview…
RE: I usually try to at least get one render done
on the weekends, but often have family events
to attend and the likes. I would love to be able
to make full scene setups all the time, but a lot
of my renders are character portraits only with
static backdrops. That’s because of time
constraints, not only on setup but on the actual
rendering side too — but I’m still fairly young
and I imagine these are simply challenges that’ll
get over with time.
DAL: Yes, there can be a lot of frustrations in
3D, beyond simply the technical. But what about
the enjoyment side of making pictures in 3D?
What would you say keeps you coming back to
making 3D portraits, and keeps it enjoyable?
RE: Well, I enjoy science and physics. Although I
never studied science at a school level, I have
always found it extremely interesting. I love
how much 3D has taught me about the way light
and surfaces work — it’s ‘art meets science’ in
way and I love it for that. The thing that ‘seals
the deal’ though, is how you can bring fantasy to
reality. It is one thing to have a 2D drawing of a
character, but it’s another to have them in
movable, posable, full 3D. I often imagine it’s
similar to the way a sculptor feels when they
stand back and look at their work. It’s not
always what the viewer sees, but the hidden and
subtle details that make a render. I always try to
add little details so make it as believable as
possible, I’m not necessarily going for true
photorealism but I want the render or character
to be believable, if that makes sense.
DAL: Yes, that’s very perceptive. The mind must
pick up on details, as well as the basic outlines
and forms, which adds to the initial
understanding of the picture. Even if such
details are only noticed later, or not at all. In
the study of photography they have the idea of
‘the punctum’, the small emotionally-weighted
detail that you often miss on first viewing, but
when you do see that detail it tends to re-
configure your understanding of the whole
picture. In colouring black and white postcards
— which I’ve been doing a lot of recent, re: local
history — I’ve noticed that all the little niggles
and problems one sees on completing the
colorisation, they all vanish when you go back a
see it six hours later. The mind compensates,
and ‘fills in’ — kind of like a mental auto-correct.
So I guess it’s a tension between getting the
details right, but only ‘right enough’.
I take it that you’re enjoying the latest edition of
the DAZ Studio software, presumably? What are
some of the latest features (from the last 18
months or so) that you’re most pleased with?
RE: Well, of course, the word on everyone’s lips
is “dForce”! I personally adore cloth simulation;
it adds a level of detail that cannot be achieved
through traditional morphing. As old and as
unfriendly as that was, I have used the old
OptiTex Dynamic Clothing control in many a
render. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get
my hands on many of the dForce compatible
outfits just yet, but I’ve used the super-easy
conversion on a couple of old items and I’ve
seen some other artists so some very clever
stuff with it.
32 Picture: “Sorrow”.
33
The only thing that has stopped me using it is
again my poor old PC — the cloth simulations
can be painfully long.
DAL: What new things would you like to see in
DAZ Studio 5.0, when it eventually ships?
RE: Oh please… DAZ Devs ‘hear my prayers, it is
but a simple little request…’ All I really want
from a new version — an auto-save feature! I
have lost hours and hours of work on many
occasions, due to just getting so involved in
setting the render that I forgot to save.
DAL: I seem to dimly remember that there’s a
plugin for that, though I could be wrong.
RE: To be a bit more wishful, I would love to see
them continue the physics trend, with soft body
and ragdoll physics for the characters and
perhaps basic liquid simulations.
DAL: Great. Physics all rather passes me by, I
must say. Nice for animators, though. I’d prefer
more focus on tools to enable believable ‘hand-
drawn’ toon and natural media ‘painterly’ render
output. To a level that will convince hypercritical
graphic-novel buyers that it was done by hand.
But who are the 3D content makers, the ones
you regularly pay attention to and ‘wishlist’ on
the stores, and what makes them special?
RE: For outfits my absolute fave is Aeon Soul (a
two person team I believe), I adore their stuff.
Their designs are everything I love, sci-fi,
fantasy and awesome combinations of the two. I
can honestly say they are the only content
makers whose stuff I use ‘as supplied’. The level
of detail on their models and textures is top
notch and worth the price. As for characters I
love Pixeluna, his/her sci-fi and fantasy
characters are so different from most other
characters on the market.
DAL: Thanks. What’s your background in art?
Did you train, and if so how and where? Or are
you self-taught?
RE: I took traditional art at a high school level,
obtaining a distinction upon matriculation and
then I studied the Adobe and Corel graphics
suites further as a graphic designer. At school
level my painting and drawings were often
featured in the school offices, newsletters and in
the yearbook. I would always doodle and, as in
my early days on DeviantArt, fancied myself a
digital painter. But I soon lost interest in it, as I
started my working career.
However being a graphic designer never really
satisfied my true creative need and I start
delving into 3D further, from there it just took
off. I am completely self-taught, and simply
learned as I went along. The DAZ community
and forums has a wealth of knowledge available
to and people are always willing to share which
has been especially helpful.
DAL: Yes, there’s wealth of training out there,
from webinars to forum tutorials. What was it
that influenced you to take up 3D digital art?
Was it just, like…: “Oh look, there’s a free copy
of DAZ Studio, I’ll give it go…” Or did you spend
time researching what was out there, and what
the options were?
RE: Ha, ha, it was exactly that. My cousin had
actually given me a free copy of DAZ Studio and
at first I thought it bit like ‘playing digital dress
up’ with Barbie dolls... But then I started to see
what others were doing with it and it blew my
mind, I did a few tutorials and I quickly
developed a love for it. Of course over the years
I have tried different software packages as well,
unfortunately the good ones are costly. So I
always end up back at my dearest DAZ Studio.
DAL: Yes, “Oh, it’s all just digital dollies…”. That
was the snooty ‘pro’ attitude we got a lot from
the Maya and Lighwave folks. For a long time.
But one encounters that less and less now,
though. Now it’s more like: “Ah, oh… OK, how
can I quietly intregate this into the studio
workflow without the clients knowing…”
And it’s certainly become much more usable in
the last three years or so. It still lacks in certain
areas though, and I should say something in
favour of Poser, for balance in this DAZ-heavy
issue. DAZ lacks Poser’s excellent and easy real-
time toon / comic-book options. And also Poser’s
excellent and smooth export of scenes to Vue
and Cinema 4D. Poser also has excellent
multipass render options, plus all the Python
scripts, most of which are free.
34 Picture: “River Guardian”.
35
36
37 Picture: “The Faun”.
“I would love to
do tabletop RPG,
game manuals or
playing card
illustrations. Like
Dungeons &
Dragons or Magic
the Gathering.” 38
So, once you got into 3D art you obviously drew
and still draw a lot of inspiration for your art,
from both fantasy and science fiction. What are
you favourite aspects or approaches in these
genres, and who are your favourite creatives?
RE: Hmm, it’s hard to say. I love RPG gaming
and I think a lot of my inspiration comes from
there, in terms of an influence from a genre. I
also draw a lot of inspiration from music. But my
characters almost ‘make themselves’, sometimes
I will start with a basic idea in mind and other
times I will jut load up a character I found
interesting and just see where they take me. I
like to believe that I am a creative in that
respect; my characters are reflections of me, my
ideals and my overactive imagination. I like to
think that though I am influences by gaming,
movies and TV a great deal of my works are just
straight from my head.
DAL: I see. Yes, kit-bashing so make a new-look
character — or runtime bashing — can be very
time-consuming. But you can end up with
something that no-one else has, and as you say
the process can be very creative. It probably
helps if you have a 100Gb runtime to choose
from, though! /Laughter/ Have you ever
considered using DAZ to illustrate some of the
games you mentioned? Or books?
RE: I would love to do book illustrations but
more so tabletop RPG, game manuals or playing
card illustrations. Like Dungeons & Dragons or
Magic the Gathering. To see my artwork feature
on something like that would be a dream come
true. The artwork on some of those cards and in
the books is absolutely incredible — if they
displayed that stuff in art galleries I bet they
would have a lot more patrons.
DAL: Yes, indeed. There’s going to be a lot more
kids in the world in the next 20 years, and that
means there’s going to be a growing scope for
niche games like that. I wonder what an African
version of such RPG card-games will look like.
That’ll be interesting to see. What is your own
personal favourite image and why?
RE: It’s hard to choose just one. It would have
to be a 50/50 split between “The Journey” and
“Unitaur”. They both have the most beautiful
Picture: “Celestial”.
atmospheres and a certain magic about them,
you can almost feel the warmth from the sun in
“The Journey” or the coolness of the forest in
“Unitaur”. They have an immersive quality which
happened by complete accident which means
more to me in a way. “Unitaur” started with an
experiment of combining in DAZ Studio the G8
centaur and the unicorn for DAZ Horse 2, and
the character just turned out so stunning I had
to place her in a full scene. While “The Journey”
started with all intentions of just being a
landscape, but the atmosphere I created called
out for a wondering fantasy character.
DAL: I really like your “The Faun” picture [seen
across previous pages], it’s a wonderful
evocation of the spirit of fantasy, as well as
being an intriguing portrait. Could you talk us
through the making-of, please? From initial
planning and assembling content to the final
postwork?
RE: I had just picked up HFS’s Fantasy Morphs
— one of my absolute favourite morph
resources. I was trying it out, playing with all the
various dials. The idea to do a faun came to
mind, after I did a bit of research and reading on
the general lore about fauns and satyrs I decided
to take an “anthropological” view of creatures,
with that I came up with the general idea on
how I wanted to represent the character, wild
and tribal. As with all my characters I start with
skin textures and morphing, they need to
complement each other. I then add hair and
basic accessories — horns in this case. By this
time the character has developed a little
personality of their own, and posing and
selecting a complimentary outfit came fairly
naturally. I instantly knew I wanted the
character in the woods, with light pouring from
leaves and I added the last tree and grass props
to finish the scene. From there it was just a
matter of tweaking the HDRI light and adding
any needed additional lighting. Lastly I play with
camera angles and other render settings, and hit
the render button. After that just some minor
colour and brightness filtering in Photoshop, and
a few ‘god rays’ and all done. It all just flows as
I go along, I do very little planning on my actual
works, apart from the odd image search here
and there for references.
39
DAL: I see, so... postwork in Photoshop is fairly
minimal for you, most of the time? Is that a
time thing for you, or is it just that DAZ renders
don’t really need it if correctly set up?
RE: I would say more so the latter, I feel that a
good render should hold its own and shouldn’t
require a ‘paint over’. I’m also a bit of a purist,
in that I want my artwork to look like a 3D
render. In the same way that a photographer
would only do minor filtering edits to their
photos, because they want to preserve what
they captured.
DAL: Ah yes, I think you may underestimate
how much good photographers ‘really work over’
their pictures. But I take your point.
RE: But with 3D too much postwork can often
give renders a ‘painted’ quality, which can look
beautiful but tends to end up looking more like a
photo manipulation or digital painting than 3D
render. I feel if there is a clear distinction
between photo manipulation and actual
photography, so should there be a distinction
between heavily post, worked renders and plain
rendered 3D artwork. For me it determines
whether you are more of a skilled digital painter
or 3D artist.
DAL: I understand. Do you make back-stories for
some of you pictures?
RE: In my head, yes, but they never make it to
paper. I’m not the best storyteller to be honest,
of late I have been doing some Dungeons and
Dragon character portraits which I am
thoroughly enjoying, taking someone else’s story
and descriptions and interpreting them is way
more fun. The same works in reverse, I much
prefer to let people interpret my characters
themselves, inspire them to come up with their
own ideas about the character. I may have had
one thing in mind, but I often receive comments
interpreting the character in a completely
different light, which I always find very
intriguing.
DAL: I see. What sort of studio environment do
you work in, and what’s the view from your
window?
RE: I wish I could call it ‘a studio’, but I work
from the comfort of my bedroom. My PC is setup
on a large desk facing the large window with a
beautiful view of my garden, the window catches
the afternoon sun nicely and often catch a lovely
golden glow across my desk. My desk in
decorated with all sorts of little knick-knacks,
such as figurines and other little statuettes of
dragons, Pokémon, comic book characters and
even Lego men.
DAL: Sounds fun. And what sort of technical
setup do you work with in the studio, these
days?
RE: As I mentioned earlier I don’t have the best
of rigs, just my trusty old gaming PC, with i7
Processor and NVIDIA GTX750Ti graphics card, a
good pair of head phones and dual monitors.
DAL: Yes, I’d say good wireless rechargeable
headphones are vital for art or graphic design
creation. Ideally with a wide frequency response
— which is a sort you can almost never buy in
bricks and mortar stores, unless they’re glitzy
wired gaming headphones for boys, which look
nicely ‘sci-fi’ but which have super-thin wires
designed to stress-break after six months. But
Phillips wireless I can recommend. They keep
changing the product number every 18 months
but basically the wireless ones to get are at
about the £120 price mark and with a 17-23,000
Hz frequency response or wider. You really have
to dig into the PDF product manuals though, to
find out what the frequency response is. Even
Amazon doesn’t tell you that stuff.
Anyway — I got sidetracked there! — I read that
you work as a Graphic Designer, near the large
South Africa city of Johannesburg? Do you find
that you can keep your DAZ artwork seperate, or
does some DAZ work find its way over into
commercial work for clients?
RE: Unfortunately I’m no longer doing graphic
design full-time, I got promoted to Executive PA
to the CEO of the electronics company I work
for. But I still do the company adverts twice a
year, and have convinced my boss on a few
occasions to let me do a sci-fi themed render for
the basis of the advert.
DAL: I see.
40 Picture: “Mechanical Angel”.
41
RE: In fact “Digital Life”, the picture which you
previously featured in the magazine’s Gallery,
was originally made for such a venture. Sadly I
don’t get to be half as creative as I would like to
be in my job.
DAL: A pity. There are of course an increasing
number of options today, for digital talent, for
people who can move and work from anywhere.
If you were to move to another country at some
point, where might you like to go, and why?
RE: Canada for sure, it’s a stunning country with
genuinely nice people, with all the benefits of a
first-world country without losing its untamed
wilderness. My mother grew up there and I do
have family there, so it’s also a logical move.
DAL: Good choice. I hear that a lot of the
farmers in South Africa are considering the
Australian outback, with its traditional lifestyle
and worldview. But yes… Canada would be
good, although rather cool in the winters.
Who are some of other digital artists who inspire
you? Not necessarily just those working with
DAZ Studio.
RE: On DeviantArt: kadaj777; elianeck;
karismacgart and shibashake are all amazing 3D
artists with very different styles. Your readers
can find them all by adding devinart.com to their
names and plugging them into a Web browser.
DAL: Thanks. Have you found any useful
techniques for getting over the ‘speed bumps’
that we all get on the road to creativity — the
problems that arise from being ‘blocked’ or that’s
‘it’s just not working’, etc.
RE: Always remember that just because you’re
an artist doesn’t mean you have to be creative
or inspired all the time. Everyone hits a block at
one time or another, rather than trying to ‘force
it’, step away and go do something else for a
while. Read a book, play a videogame or watch a
movie or series, go out and have fun. You’ll
either find the inspiration you’re looking for or
find another way to look at what you are trying
to achieve — a way that didn’t seem obvious at
first. Sometimes you just need to ‘take a break’
and reboot your brain and imagination. I find
that forced work never looks or turns out as
planned, which can demotivate you further. So I
really feel it’s better to drop it a start on
something new once you’re rested or feeling
inspired again. I have tons of unfinished works
because of this; even the greatest artists of all
time left a lot of stuff incomplete.
DAL: Yes, it’s important not to ‘force things
through’. Or you risk just walking away from it
altogether and doing something else, and never
going back. You just get sick of it. What aspects
of your artwork would you like to improve on
next? Or… what new subject matter would you
like to explore?
RE: At this moment in time I’m really trying to
work on my lighting skills, lighting can ‘make or
break’ a render. It also has a lot to do with
render times, so I’m busy experimenting with
what kind of lighting looks best but also doesn’t
take a couple days to render a scene. As for
subject-matter I’m fantasy and sci-fi junky and
that will never change. But I would like to step
away from characters for a bit and do a few
architectural and landscape renders, simply
because I have not done any in quite some time.
DAL: Do you also have aspirations to get into
content creation and selling?
RE: I actually gave it go a year or two ago and I
learned a fair amount about 3D modelling.
Unfortunately a change in my career direction
left me extremely busy at work, and life in
general got the better of me, so that pursuit fell
flat. It wasn’t a total loss as I have applied what
I learnt in my renders, but it is definitely
something I would like to look into again
someday, hopefully when I have more time on
my hands
DAL: Ok, great… well, thanks very much for
taking the time to talk with us in this in-depth
interview. It’s been super!
RE: Yes, and thanks to you too for the
opportunity I really appreciate it.
Rebecca Elsey is online at:
https://madamgoth.deviantart.com/
42 Picture: “Snow Flake”.
43
Picture: “Moonlight Magic”.
44
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● Christian Hecker ● Exidium Corporation ● Jean-Francois the new Poser 11)
● Gallery: Future ● Gallery: Ryzom Liesenborghs ● Ariano di Pierro
Cities, a huge 32 page concept illustrations ● Gallery: “These are ● Paulo Ciccone
mega-gallery! ● Gallery and essay: not the planets you're (the Reality plugin)
● The Imaginarium the future bodily looking for…” ● Our in-depth 8,000-
(regular feature, in all evolution of humans in ● Gallery: SpaceX word review of the
subsequent issues) space manned Mars mission new Poser 11 Pro!

46
Issue 5 Feb 2016 Issue 6 March 2016 Issue 7 April 2016 Issue 8 May 2016
Cosmos (space art) Cyber-humans + VR Future Female Heroes Our Future Frontier
● Dave Hardy ● Tara de Vries ● Leandra Dawn ● The Mars Society
● Ali Ries (Second Life) ● Aaron Griffin ● Ludovic Celle
● Tobais Roersch ● Ludovic Celle ● Paul Frances ● Gallery: Orbiting
● Oyshan Green ● Elaine Neck ● Troy Menke Cities in Space
(Terragen 4) ● Anders Plassgard ● Bob May’s collages ● Gallery: Space
● Gallery: The art of ● Gallery: Future ● Gallery and essay: Colonies/Outposts
the cosmic. cyber-humans Female future heroes ● Gallery: Mars in
1950s pulps

Issue 9 June 2016 Issue 10 July 2016 Issue 11 August 2016 Issue 12 Sept 2016
Blender: special issue Steampunk Future Landscapes Second Skin (tattoos)

● Colin Masson ● Renderosity ● ‘Artifex’ ● ‘Pixeluna’

● Thomas Piemontese ● Suzi Amberson ● Lewis Moorcroft ● Paolo Ciccone
● Shane Bevin (‘Kachinadoll’) ● Rob Wildenberg ● Deane Whitmore
● Tutorial: How to ● Bob May ● ‘Tigaer’: ‘making of’ ● HiveWire: new Big
export a clean .OBJ ● Sci-fi in PC pinball ● Gallery: Future Cat for Poser
from Blender ● Steampunk gallery Oceans and Craft ● Gallery: Second Skin
● Index of past issues ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium
● Gallery: Blender art

47

Issue 13 Oct 2016
Spacewrecks (TTA)
● Vikram Mulligan
● Xistenceimaginations
● Craig Farham
● TTA series tribute
● NASA’s rescue-bot
● Index of past issues
● Gallery: Space hulks
wrecks, crashes
A FREE MAGAZINE
Issue 17 March 2017
Movie magic
● Greg Teegarden
● Tobias Richter
● Phil Dragash
● ESA’s Moon Temple
● Scott Richard
● Index of past issues
● Gallery: the spirit of
the cinema
YOUR
ART
HERE?
Issue 14 Nov/Dec 2016 Issue 15 Jan 2017 Issue 16 Feb 2017
Cybertronic Mistworlds Future vehicles
● ‘CG Artiste’ ● Chuck Carter (Myst) ● Syd Mead interview
● ‘Keplianzar’ ● Cynthia Decker ● Vadim Motiv
● Jacques Pena ● Cathrine Langwagen ● Adam Connolly
● TTA series tribute ● Ulco Glimmerveen ● Mark Roosien
● Ugee 1910b pen ● Evolo competition ● UK’s Bloodhound
tablet—in-depth review ● Index of past issues supersonic rocket-car
● Gallery: Neon and ● Gallery: Myst-like ● Index of past issues
‘cyberglow’ artists digital art ● Gallery: “Vrooom!!”
YOUR YOUR
ART ART
HERE? HERE?
Issue 18 April 2017 Issue 19 May/Jun 2017 Issue 20 July 2017
Vue 2016 special issue Sci-fi comics Digital clothing
● Barry Marshall ● Patrick Gyger ● Kim Schneider (‘Arki’)
● Vue 2016 R2 review (leading sci-fi ● Melissa Moraitis
● Anaor Karim museum curator) (‘BlackTalonArts’)
● NASA’s tunnels ● Georges Peters ● Marvelous Designer
● W.P. Taub ● Arne Cooper 6.5—in-depth review
● Index of past issues ● RoboSimian ● Jepe
● Gallery: Nature ● Index of past issues ● Index of past issues
Grows on You! ● Gallery: comic-book ● Gallery: Future Fashion
48
 YOUR YOUR
ART ART
HERE? HERE?

Issue 21 August 2017 Issue 22 Sept 2017 Issue 23 Oct 2017 Issue 24 Nov 2017
Ecofutures Lighting for effect Gateway to space Abstracts in sci-fi

● Hal Tenny ● Joe Pingleton ● Neil Blevins (assets ● Andy Lomas (The
● Frank Little ● Davide Bianchini artist at Pixar) Matrix, Avatar)
● Organics in pulp art ● Characters in the ● GrahamTG ● Erwin Kho
● Linda Granqvist public domain ● Arthur C. Clarke ● Alastair Temple
● Index of past issues ● Lee (aka ‘Conlaodh’) ● Oshyan Greene ● Gallery: ‘At the borders
● Gallery: visions of ● Index of past issues ● Gallery: Arthur C. of abstraction’ in
the ‘ecofuture’ ● Gallery: characters Clarke tribute science fiction art
● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium

Interested in being interviewed in a future issue? Please send us

the Web address of your gallery, and we’ll visit!
paul@digitalartlive.com

YOUR YOUR YOUR

ART ART ART
HERE? HERE? HERE?

Issue 25 Dec 2017 Issue 26 January 2018 Issue 27 Feb/Mar 2018 Issue 28 April 2018
Dynamic posing To the skies! Giant monsters Future oceans

● Jaki Blue ● Kevin Conran (Sky ● ‘Sanskarans’ ● Artur Rosa

● Tasos Anastasiades Captain movie) ● Simon Beer ● Matt Nava
● Brian Armieri ● Alois Reiss ● Jean-Marie Marbach ● Samuel de Cruz
● Sugary Ashes ● Airships over Venus ● John Haverkamp ● Future oceans timeline
● Index of past issues ● Vladimir Yaremchuk ● Index of past issues ● Index of past issues
● Gallery: World of ● Index of past issues ● Comic strip ● Evola mini-gallery
Wearable Art ● Gallery ● Gallery ● Gallery
● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium ● Imaginarium

49
 YOUR YOUR YOUR
ART ART ART
HERE? HERE? HERE?

Issue 29 May 2018 Issue 30 June 2018 Issue 31 July 2018 Issue 32 August 2018
Fantasy portraits Alternative history Abstract characters Design for videogames

● Kevin McBriarty
● Rebecca Elsey Are you interested in being interviewed in a future issue of the
● Mirjam
● Index of past issues magazine? Or presenting a webinar for our series? Please send
● Gallery: fantasy the Web address of your gallery or store, and we’ll visit!
portraits
● Imaginarium paul@digitalartlive.com

Part of the National Space Society’s International Space Development conference:

2018 theme: “Space Travel: Putting People into Space”.

50
In collaboration with NASA and Boeing, SciArt
Exchange presents the major Project Mars
Competition: your chance to tell the story of
human exploration of deep space. Make a video
film or poster showing the next step in human
exploration beyond Earth orbit, and have it
judged by a mix of top movie-industry talent
and NASA astronauts. Over $20,000 of prizes.
Enter by: 31st August 2018.

http://projectmarscompetition.com/ 51
Mirjam from the Netherlands talks about her
work with DAZ Studio, how the female figure
and face are especially suited to art, and how
she develop a distinctive style based on dark
tones, shadows and glows.

DAL: Mirjam, welcome to Digital Art Live magazine.

Many thanks for taking the time to do this in-depth
interview with our free magazine.
MJ: Hi, my pleasure and thank you very much for
wanting to interview me. I feel honoured. I have
never done an interview before, so I'm very excited.
DAL: I see. OK. Let’s start at the beginning then. How
did you start off, in terms of initially learning how to
be creative? Was it at school, or later? Did you train
with an art school?
MJ: When I was younger I always liked to draw, but I
was never really good at it. It never came out the way
I ‘had it in my head’ and that was quite frustrating. I
never went to an art school, simply because we could
not afford it. I started working when I was aged 15.
Busy with my job and with growing up, are lost my
interest for quite some time. It all started again when
I was in my early thirties. I bought my first high-end
laptop and started videogaming. That's how I was
introduced to the new computer graphics. I loved how
fantasy was being brought to life using a computer.
So, at some point, I was searching the Internet for
more information on the subject and a video on
YouTube caught my eye. It was a video about DAZ
Studio. I installed the free software and started
exploring. I was really really happy, because I found a
way to make pictures without holding a pencil or
paintbrush!
DAL: I see, so did you then research what else was
available, or just your first choice?
MJ: Yes, DAZ Studio was my first choice in software. I
didn't test other software. I started with DAZ Studio
and never stopped using it. 52
 Picture: “No Escape”.

MIRJAM

NETHERLANDS

DAZ STUDIO |
PHOTOSHOP

WEB

53
I knew about other programs, like Poser or
Zbrush, but I never tried them. I like DAZ
Studio’s concept of free software. It is much
more accessible for people to try it out without
spending hundreds of dollars first.
DAL: As an absolute beginner there must have
been some problems you had to overcome, in
learning to create digital art? And what
solutions did you find, along the way?
MJ: At first I really didn't know what I was
doing. I just wanted to make digital images. I
was very impatient and didn't want to waste
time reading about the program and watching
tutorials. But I quickly realized that that
approach would not take me anywhere. So I
searched the Internet for tutorials and read
posts on forums about every question or
problem I had. And so I slowly started to get to
know the program. You have to learn how things
behave, things that are so self-evident to others.
Things such as light and shadow, depth, point of
view etc. I created an account on DeviantArt and
saw lots of beautiful 3D art from other artists.
You can learn a lot by looking carefully at other
people's art.
DAL: Yes, I find a useful way to start into
analyzing a picture is to mentally ‘count the
layers’ from foreground to background.
MJ: And if you have questions about making
artwork you can always ask the artist ‘how they
did it’. Most of the time they will answer your
question. Also the forums on Renderosity and
DAZ Studio are very helpful.
DAL: What do you especially enjoy about
working with DAZ Studio, in its latest version?
MJ: I really like the iRay render engine and
dForce simulated cloth engine. Both contribute
to a lot of realism in images. iRay renders light
in a very natural way. That makes it possible to
play with lights or shadows. I haven't used
dForce much yet but I really think it's a great
addition to the software. Finally, some natural-
behaving cloth! I hope we get a lot of dForce
hair too in the near future. Because I see a lot of
beautiful hair at the stores, but it does not
behave as naturally as it should.
DAL: In your work I especially like what might
be called your ‘sense of shadow’. In
“Moonchild”, for instance [seen right]. It's more
normal for a commentator to focus on use of
light in an artist’s work — but I think one of the
most interesting things in your pictures is that
the light is often constrained to certain glowing
points, and there are all these multiple ‘shades
of shadow’ that are ‘at play’ elsewhere in the
picture.
Of course it does help the viewer to see all
those, if one sees the pictures full-screen and in
a dark environment. And that takes a few
minutes for the viewer’s eyes to adjust, so they
can really appreciate the picture. Do you
consciously work at bringing out those subtle
tonal values in the picture, or is that something
that happens more instinctually when you set up
the lights for a scene?
MJ: Ever since I started making 3D pictures I
always admired artists who had developed a
style of their own. A style so distinctive that,
when looking at an artwork, you instantly knew
‘who made it’. For a long time I was trying to
develop a style that felt natural and comfortable.
I think that is really important, otherwise the
style is difficult to stick to. As for my sense of
shadow, I love the way you describe it, and I
think in my case it comes naturally. I had never
thought much about it until this question!
/Laughter/
I think it's a very good question because it made
me think about where it is coming from. It's not
that I don't like light, but I do find bright light
unpleasant. Sure I love going outside when it's
summer and sunny, but only with some good
sunglasses on. So… being in the shade or ‘dark’
is kind of natural to me. My living-room isn't
very bright and when it's in the evening and it is
dark I don't have many lights on. I really like
candlelight or dimmed lights. Just enough light
to see. Same goes for my images, I don’t like
them bright. I like to work with lights in a way
that they light up a part, the part where I want
it to be lit in a very subtle way. Using lights like
that makes you discover things when you look
more closely. I also think it creates a certain
atmosphere. An atmosphere that I personally
like a lot.
54 Picture: “Moonchild”.
55
56
Pictures: “Skull Queen” and “Salome”.
57
DAL: Great, it certainly works. What
would you say are the key main
themes in your work, in subject
matter, that you keep returning to?
MJ: Fantasy, fantasy and fantasy!
Wings, magic, horns, bones and
skulls, warriors, angels and demons,
witches, elves, I love them all. As a
child I loved fantasy characters and
magic. Reading fairy-tales and
watching fantasy movies. That never
changed and my love for fantasy
continued to grow. Especially with
the CGI these days in movies and
the software to create wonderful
fantasy art. I really get inspired by
TV shows such as Game of Thrones,
Penny Dreadful, The Shannara
Chronicles, Sleepy Hollow etc. And
movies like The Lord of the Rings
and The Hobbit and games like
World of Warcraft or Diablo.
DAL: Ah yes, a Diablo-alike is one of
my favourites: Titan Quest.
Although I hear great things about
Divinity: Original Sin II which I have
a copy of cued up and ready to play
— once I get a 160,000-word
scholarly book on Tolkien ‘out the
door’ this summer! To what extent
do you plan a picture? Can you
could talk readers through the
process of making a picture like the
recent “The Bone Collector”, please?
MJ: It’s not really a plan, I think. It
all starts with the mood I'm in, or a
certain feel I want to give the
image. From that mood I pick the
character. In this case I wanted her
to look fierce but still a bit sweet.
Someone you should not
underestimate. From there I choose
the armor and apply the pose. Then
I start to build the scene around
her. It's not that I have planned in
advance what the scene should look
like. The only thing I knew I wanted
to use were bones, lots of bones.
Adding them to the scene, the name
of the image popped into my head. 58
59 Picture: “Roar”.
I like using TV show or movie references as
names for my images. When everything is into
place only then do I start picking lights. I use
environment lights, but I always put the
intensity very low, because I don't want the
environment too bright. A front spotlight and a
left and right rim light, nothing more. The rest of
the light in the scene comes from emissive
props. I love using emissive props to make a
scene come to life. They have a subtle way of
lighting a scene.
DAL: Yes, and there some nice sets of iRay
emissive light shaders to be had, these days.
MJ: After checking the scene for flaws I adjust
the render settings and let it render in iRay until
it is finished. In Photoshop I adjusted the colours
a bit and added the name and logo and voilá,
done! It can take up to a few hours before it's
ready for the final render. Loads of test renders
in between, and adjusting things when needed.
DAL: I see, thanks. What are your favourite
tools for postwork on the nearly finished picture?
MJ: I always try to make my render so that I
need as little postwork as possible. I use
Photoshop for postwork only if needed. I kind of
suck at using Photoshop, so most of the time I
only use it for adding a name and logo or some
magic effects with brushes. Sometimes I adjust
colour a bit or lighting/shadows if needed. I do
like the NIK Tools plugin for Photoshop, because
you can enhance an image very easily without
needing some serious skills.
DAL: You focus mostly on females in pictures,
and only very occasionally a male. And there are
many aspects shown. What aspects of ‘the
female’ — as a subject matter for pictures —
interest you the most, and why?
MJ: For me females are more versatile to render
than men. They have beautiful curves and are
more sensual. These curves are perfect for
playing with lights and shadows. Tough or
sweet, thick or thin, good or evil they always
look amazing. They look good in every outfit you
put them in. Also the majority of quality content
is made for females too. I think the torso of the
female is most interesting for me. It looks good
from whatever angle you see it. I like using
lights in a way that accentuates parts that cast
shadows or parts that catch light. The female
face is perfect for portraits too. Love those high
cheekbones, long lashes and big eyes!
DAL: You mentioned clothing. Who are your
favourite content makers on the DAZ/Poser
stores? And what keeps you coming back to
them and putting them on “the WishList”?
MJ: I think there are a lot of high-quality content
creators these days. But of course I have some
favourites. For poses, props and scenes I really
like Danie & Marforno. They have a very unique
style I really like a lot. They have a bit of a
medieval, druid and witch style but sometimes
very modern too. Perfect for a lot of my renders.
Items from them are always on my wish list.
Same goes for Faveral and Polish.
For me females are more
versatile to render than men.
They have beautiful curves
and are more sensual. These
curves are perfect for playing
with lights and shadows. […] I
like using lights in a way that
accentuates parts that cast
shadows or parts that catch
light. The female face is
perfect for portraits too. Love
those high cheekbones, long
lashes and big eyes!
For characters I have a couple of favourites. I
really like characters from P3design. They have
great skin textures and same for the eyes. They
render very naturally. And of course
Maddelirium, great textures and characters.
ADSI and Silver make lovely characters as well.
And Mousso, for great morphs and good skin
textures. Absolutely ‘wish-list worthy’.
For clothing I love Aeon Soul’s content. Great
looking clothes with extremely detailed textures.
60
Picture: “Crown”.
61
Pictures: “Guardian Angel”; “Doing Time”; “Maple”. 62
63
A very gifted artist(s). Lilflame, Sveva, drive and thus only has a 1200px version of
Bobbie25, Sarsa, Arki, Strangefate, RPublishing, something they made. Talking of ‘space’, what
Rhiannon, Damage Inc... the list is endless. They is your studio like?
all have their own style and great eye for detail.
MJ: Actually I don't have a studio or a desk. I sit
Instant ‘buys’ and ‘definitely wish-list’ content.
on the couch with my laptop on my lap and my
When it comes to hair I use hair from Out of mouse on the armrest. That's how I work! The
Touch and AprilYSH most of the time. It looks TV is on the left so I can watch TV when I want
natural, it comes with lots of morphs and I like to while I work. It's nice to change focus every
the hairdos a lot. Also great wish-list candidates! now and then. And my boyfriend is always on
the other couch on the right watching TV. It's
DAL: Which digital artist communities do you
nice to change focus every now and then. Plus I
use and recommend (on-line or off-line) and
can still have a conversation while I'm working.
how have they helped your work?
DAL: Right. I see that you’re in the South part
MJ: To be honest I only have a DeviantArt
of the Netherlands. Does the landscape or sky-
account and sometimes I put my renders on
scape there influence you at all, would you say?
Renderosity and the DAZ gallery. So I don't have
much comparison. I don't think I have enough MJ: No, not really. We live in a normal street
time to maintain multiple accounts to be honest. with terraced houses. But not very far from
I have a full-time job and work long days. So I'm where we live you have a forest and a few
happy if I can finish one or two renders a week. castles.
I do like DeviantArt a lot. Loads of talented
DAL: Sounds good. Have you been tempted to
artists and more important, I really think it's a
look at other software, such as Vue, or 2D digital
friendly community. You can find tutorials and
paint tools such as SketchBook Pro, to your
always ask an artist. Plenty of groups you can
toolkit? Perhaps to help to widen out the
join too.
landscape and backdrop elements in your work?
DAL: Yes, though the DeviantArt Groups are not
MJ: Not yet. If I want to develop more skills in
always as active as one might hope, and a great
using software like that it will be Photoshop first.
many are moribund. Perhaps they now need a
I do think Vue is very nice software to create
50 x paid ‘niche themed Group’ moderators/
fantasy landscapes. So maybe in the future.
curators, now that they’re in new ownership.
DAL: What aspects of your artwork would you
What three tips would you give to those who are
like to improve upon next?
just starting out with 3D digital art. Mistakes to
avoid, but also habits to cultivate? MJ: Even better use of lights and shadows. Using
dForce to add more realistic movement to a
MJ: Take the time to get to know the software
render. Learning how to use Photoshop better,
you are working with. If you need to know
to enhance a render or add something extra.
something Google it or look on YouTube or the
various 3D user forums. DAL: Ok, thanks so much for this in-depth
interview with our free magazine. We wish you
Practice, practice and practice. Only by
all the best in the future.
practising a lot you will become better. Don't
give up and stay critical. MJ: My pleasure and thank you for giving me the
opportunity. All the best to you too!
Save your work! Every single time! From base
render, to Photoshop file and final render. You
never know if they every need anything for an
Mirjam is online at:
interview.
DAL: Very true. It’s always disappointing when https://mirriejam.deviantart.com/
an artist has ‘deleted for space’ on their hard-

64
Picture: “The Bone Collector”.
65
Digital Art Live magazine presents a choice gallery of fantasy portraits.
Enjoy: robot knights on strange horses; halflings battling spiders;
wood-gods; carousing dwaves; sharp-suited lions; fading dryads and
budding plant people!

Taliesin II

I was a prince in disguise: Then I administered, to my enchanter,

He, who enchanted me, the stroke of a greater enchanter.
placed me in hot metal ties. Now I am free; a skilled bard, worthy of praise.
I was called Red Enamel’s Glory; my and a spirited, fluent, reciter.
chest-jewel a destroyer to enemies. My voices climb with the Eagle.

I was a bolt in the thunder: I set in order a nook in hilly Merion.

I would shed blood to stop a host. I enchanted a fair-sized simple creature
I drew blood to avenge Kymror; driven to that mountain top.
Daring the fight against the sons of the Lost. Avagdu he is, and we ride now together
Their blood filled the tidal reaches. down upon the bright dales of Cim.

— adapted from Taliesin, 6th century

Welsh translated by J. G. Evans.

66
Picture: “Taliesin II” by Mutinate, UK.

BEAUTY

POWER

NATURE

STORIES

67
68
 Picture: “It’s a Dangerous Business, Going
Out of Your Door...” by Mutinate, UK. A
69 high-res print is available at DeviantArt.
 Pictures: “Nebula forest”
by Nassima Amir
(France); “Smiling Elf” by
Kkadaj777 (Tia Marie
Maze, USA), Daz Studio.
70
71
 Pictures: “Story time” by Spartank42
(Kenneth Sofia, Philippines); “Keeper of
the Forest” by Simon Beer (Switzerland),
72 made with Poser and Photoshop.
73
Pictures: “Dwarf Rodric”; “Lando”;
and “Wood-elf Ecil”, all by Taonavi
(Park Jinwoo, South Korea).

74
75
76
Pictures: “Drops” by Grim Red
(Ruth, UK); “Usurper” by
Echidnaean (Jules, USA).

77
Pictures: “Dryad before Winter” by MorgaineleFee; “Astral Tribe” by Lapec; “Lion” by Stahlber.

78
79
80
Pictures: “Fern Diva” by
MichaelF77 (Michael
Frank, USA); “Bionika
Ikebana” by KitsuneRyu
(Alex Vas, Russia).

81
Movie: Solo.
Released 24th & 25th May 2018.
For many devoted fans, the new Star
Wars franchise has rather outworn its
welcome. Can the new ‘young Han
Solo’ movie remove the sour taste
left by last December’s Star Wars:
The Last Jedi and the messy Rogue
One? Let’s hope so, because Solo: A
Star Wars Story may be the last
chance many older fans will give to
Disney. The omens for Solo were
initially not good — a ‘messy’ shoot,
many re-shoots, and then movie
heavyweight Ron Howard had to be
brought in as Director to rescue the
cludgy edit. But the cast and
dialogue are apparently top-notch,
and the trailer strongly suggests that
it should be decently entertaining.
The UK cinema release is on 24th
May, and 25th May in the USA.

Our pick of the most inspirational art, science and sci-fi. Make your imagination LIVE!
82
83
 Picture: VNV Nation play live at Cologne, Germany.
Music Album: VNV Nation
A free science-fiction concept album — this
one is a bit of an experiment, here at Digital
Art Live magazine. We’ve created a public
‘playlist album’ on Spotify, which you can
listen to for free via the Spotify service. VNV
Nation—Selection is a carefully selected and
sequenced selection from the work of
leading electronica band VNV Nation, so as
to make that most rare of things — an
optimistic science-fiction concept album.
This ‘fan-edit’ album runs to 54 minutes and
ten tracks. The album opens with an
overture of scene-setting instrumentals
before launching into tracks featuring the
sublime vocals of Ronan Harris. The focus is
mostly on the strongest electronica found in
VNV’s output, and the idea is that each track
is a step along a timeline toward the future.
The album ends as-if with a requiem for the
last person who could remember living in
‘the old world’ of the past.
https://open.spotify.com/
Comics: The Green Hand and...
Many 1970s readers of Heavy Metal magazine
will remember Claveloux’s marvellous 56-page
“Off-season” as one of the all-time classics of
comics, a surreal tale featuring two private
detectives aboard an experimental train. This
book collects ‘the best of the rest’ of her strange
comics stories, drawn from her French books La
Main verte (1978) and Le Petit Legunie (1980),
all expertly translated and re-lettered in
Claveloux’s lettering style. The new book’s
contents are: The Green Hand / The Black
Grass / The White Night / Blue Funk / Purple
Sideshows / No Family! / The Little
Vegetable… / The Ninny and Her Prince
Charming / Stupistory Number 1 / A Little Girl
Always in a Dream / The Tale of Blondie... /
Underground Chatter. There is also a new
interview at the end of the book. As such, this
isn’t the long-awaited one-volume English
reprint of “Off-Season” (Morte-saison in French
in 1980) — but presumably if it sells well we
may see that small masterpiece circa 2019.
84
Graphic Novel: Downward to Earth
Some of the best science-fiction art of 2017
was found in the graphic novel reworking of
Robert Silverberg’s novel Downward to the
Earth (1969/70). This is now out in a two-
volume graphic novel from Humanoids,
which radically reworks the original 256 page
novel and squeezes it into 100 pages. The
novel was a 1960s take on Conrad’s famous
novellette Heart of Darkness. Anti-hero
Eddie Gundersen returns after the wars to
his backwater planet of Belzagor. Much has
changed, but Eddie finds work leading a
scientific expedition into the vivid
ecosystems of the still-unexplored parts of
the planet. The book was written in the ‘free
love’ era and as such the adaptation has
some melodramic ‘love-interest’ and
swearing among the scientists, but the
wealth of Avatar-like art of alien
environments and flora makes it worth the
price. If you want the original novel without
the graphic novel’s radical changes, there’s
an unabridged audiobook to be had.
Non-fiction: A Future Remembered
Any new Syd Mead book is always welcome,
and this one is the autobiography of the
master of future-design and envisioning! His
book is titled: A Future Remembered:
Autobiography of Syd Mead Part 1 and it
contains Syd’s personal life story, as written,
illustrated and designed by the original 'Visual
Futurist' himself. Syd writes that this is
intended as a special treat for his fans, friends
and followers alike. For those who are unsure if
this is a re-issue or not, be assured that this is
a new book, released in early Spring 2018. It
contains never before seen photos of Syd's life,
from childhood through his long career as a
futurist designer.
Note that this signed soft-back book is not to
be found on Amazon or in bookstores — it is
only available through direct mail-order sales
from Syd’s own website and costs $75 plus
shipping.
http://sydmead.com/a-future-remembered/
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Hobbiti
Until 3rd June 2018, Helsinki.
Currently running is an exhibition on Tove
Jansson’s illustrations for the Swedish/
Finnish edition of The Hobbit. The show is at
the Vantaa Art Museum Artsi near the capital
Helsinki, in Finland. Janson was of course
the artist famous for creating the Moomins,
and the full range of her original Hobbit
illustrations are here on show for the first
time. Her work illustrated the translation,
called Bilbo: en hobbits aventyr (‘Bilbo: a
hobbit’s adventure’) and were in a looser
style than her highly-worked Moomins art.
https://museot.fi/exhibitions/
Pictures, from left, across double-page spread:
Detail from a Tove Jansson illustration of Gollum,
for The Hobbit.
Detail from “Crown of Leaves” screenprint by
Clive Hicks-Jenkins.
Detail from a Jackson portrait by Kehinde Wiley.
Logo of the Museum of Science Fiction, a
nonprofit museum to be based in Washington,
D.C., USA.
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Gawain to the graphic novels
9th June 2018, Machynlleth, Wales.
MOMA Machynlleth, in mid Wales, presents
“From Gawain to the Graphic Novels”. The
study day will focus on links between art and
mythic narrative and will be led by Olivia
Ahmad of The House of Illustration. The day
will also feature talks by artists, illustrators,
and publishers. The event is paired with a
gallery exhibition of the screenprints made by
Clive Hicks-Jenkins for a special Penfold Press
edition of Simon Armitage’s modern-
language adaptation of Gawain and the
Green Knight (on show until 23rd June
2018). Gawain is the famous West Midlands
medieval dialect poem which J.R.R. Tolkien
worked on for most of his working life.
The venue is near the coast of mid Wales, on
the southern edge of the Snowdonia National
Park. The best train route appears to be
Birmingham to Shrewsbury and then on
through the Welsh mountains to the coast at
Aberystwyth — but ensure you’re on a
stopping train that makes the Machynlleth
stop just before it reaches Aberystwyth.
http://moma.machynlleth.org.uk/
Michael Jackson: On the wall
28th June – 21st Oct 2018, London.
“Michael Jackson: On the wall”, will be a
blockbuster art show at the National Portrait
Gallery. It will celebrate the “rude, kitsch,
and hilarious” art that the pop star Michael
Jackson inspired from the early 1980s
onwards, and which soon made him a
considerable influence on the rise of kitsch
and celebrity in the art of the 1980s and 90s.
Some of the most interesting portraits of
Jackson drew on and reworked long-standing
iconography found in devotional and
aristocratic art, confirming that such
approaches still have power. The exhibition
will also be a celebration of the star and his
many innovations in pop videos, dance,
fashion and music. The show is billed as a
“landmark exhibition” that will draw from
public and private collections around the
world, but also as one that will also be taking
“an entirely new and quite radical approach”
— so expect surprises! Although tickets are
expensive, demand is likely to be high at peak
times and as such early booking is advised.
https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/michael-
jackson-on-the-wall/exhibition
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Escape Velocity 2018
25th-27th May, Maryland, USA.
‘Escape Velocity: From Imagination to
Reality’ is a major three-day event from the
Museum of Science Fiction and its partners,
"featuring over-the-horizon technology and
panels on hard science and pop culture". The
ongoing aim of the event is: ‘To create a
center of gravity where art and science are
powered by imagination’. The location is
Maryland — which is on the east coast of the
USA, and by American standards of distance
is fairly close to New York. The 2018 event
expects around 3,000 attendees and has
already announced talks from the designer of
the Halo videogames, from space developers
such as John Elbon of Boeing, and major
science fiction authors such as David Brin and
Greg Bear. Plus a 2001: A Space Odyssey
50th Anniversary Special Program. The
theme for the Friday of the event will be
“How science fiction inspired exploration
achievements”. The event also has much to
interest younger attendees, with things like
hands-on junior science workshops and a
Costume Competition and Fashion Show.
https://escapevelocity.events/
 Are you interested in being
interviewed in a future issue of
the magazine? Or presenting a
webinar for our series? Please
send the Web address of your
gallery or store, and we’ll visit!
Back cover: “Automaton”
by Cean Herzfield. paul@digitalartlive.com

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