At fifteen, Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and tries to cope with country isolation, no friends, and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.
Here I am, forgetting to update my own portfolio thread ... again ... lol.
Info can be found for the following books on my website. Just look for the titles on my site map.
The non-book cover pieces, Cloud Runner and The Keeper, can also be found via my site map. Cloud Runner was ‘just because I felt like it’ and The Keeper is to be published in Scape Magazines upcoming issue.
This is great stuff. You are the real deal. I’ve seen these covers before going through google images but never knew it was you who made them. How long does it take for you to set up one of these. I admit I am a little lazy and rarely do complex scenes like yours with multiple characters and several objects and foreground and background elements. You are talented and very patient. Have you ever tried the Reality Plugin for Daz? I bet if you re-rendered some of these in that, it would be even better. I have abandoned Daz rendering and use Reality exclusively.
This is great stuff. You are the real deal. I’ve seen these covers before going through google images but never knew it was you who made them. How long does it take for you to set up one of these. I admit I am a little lazy and rarely do complex scenes like yours with multiple characters and several objects and foreground and background elements. You are talented and very patient. Have you ever tried the Reality Plugin for Daz? I bet if you re-rendered some of these in that, it would be even better. I have abandoned Daz rendering and use Reality exclusively.
Thanks :D
I wasn’t aware my work was that visible. Maybe you’ve seen them in my rendo gallery? As far as time, it varies. Cloud Runner I put together in one day and rendered the following day. The Keeper took a bit longer, due to the character merging and custom textures I tweaked in PS. The other two were about two days as well, as far as actual ‘put together time’. What really takes time is figuring out what I want to do.
Even jobs with strict parameters have elements I add that enhance the scene, but were not in the original job specs. You know? I have had some covers take a few months, simply because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the scene.
I have considered using reality, but I think I was deterred by the odd download page. I didn’t know what to download ... lol. And I could not readily see how to use it, and I hate the time it takes to learn new software (which is why I haven’t made the switch to DS4, yet, even though I have the software). I have Poser, too, but have never taken the time to learn it. Same for Hexagon and Bryce ... lol.
Besides, I prefer a painted look or dreamy look over realism for most scenes. But there are some genres that favor the more realistic look, more. Maybe someday, if it gets easier for me to understand ... lol. Took me to years to learn what little I know of Daz ... lol.
I’m exactly the same. It took me years to get to a point where I am actually making something rather than just experimenting. I have Lightwave 10, Maya 2011, Cinema 4D R11, ZBrush 4, the newest bryce, Poser and Cararra, The adobe suite. I don’t know how to use any of it. I only used Daz Studio 4, Reality and Photoshop.
WIth Reality 2.2, I have to use it because I had headaches trying to get the lighting right with Daz. Reality uses physics to render everything as if it were in real life. You can use just one HDRI light and light the entire scene. Also, you can render stuff without Daz being open. Also you can adjust the lighting DURING and AFTER you render it which is a big plus because you don’t have to keep re-rendering. Here is an example of an image I rendered with Daz and then with reality. (No post work on either)
I’m exactly the same. It took me years to get to a point where I am actually making something rather than just experimenting. I have Lightwave 10, Maya 2011, Cinema 4D R11, ZBrush 4, the newest bryce, Poser and Cararra, The adobe suite. I don’t know how to use any of it. I only used Daz Studio 4, Reality and Photoshop.
WIth Reality 2.2, I have to use it because I had headaches trying to get the lighting right with Daz. Reality uses physics to render everything as if it were in real life. You can use just one HDRI light and light the entire scene. Also, you can render stuff without Daz being open. Also you can adjust the lighting DURING and AFTER you render it which is a big plus because you don’t have to keep re-rendering. Here is an example of an image I rendered with Daz and then with reality. (No post work on either)
No re-rendering would be cool ... lol. I def like the top one, better.
I know this thread is a month old, but I just ran into it and thought it needed bumping
Aidana, you are a great artist with a flair for the commercial image - that’s a lot of why you’re probably so successful.
I really like the progression you’ve shown in your work here. The experience curve is obvious - you’ve come a long way.
What I like most about this thread is the business knowledge you impart. I’ve been contemplating making a living at this. I already do freelance work (writing, designing, programming), and your business advice is spot-on! Real helpful for me right now.
One of the things you touched on is something that has taken me a long time to understand - sometimes “good enough” needs to be good enough - it’s easy for me to beat a project to death trying to get it just perfect, when the client is just looking for “good enough”.
Thanks for all the good info and art! Look forward to more!
And as you pointed out, I have not updated lately ... lol. I should remedy that soon. As soon as I finish a PITA of a layout with a PITA of a deadline ... lol.
