Magnolia Time

This one was done as a book cover -- Magnolia Time, which will be out early next year, from DreamCraft. It's not actually a scene, more or a photo-montage ...where the model (as drop dead gorgeous as he is) is completely digital. These models are imaged and created in the computer, where every last detail is tweakable ... yes, Virginia, even those. Or do I mean, especially those?!

The basic model is DAZ's Michael 4. But there, the similarity ends. What you do with the model is entirely up to you. Put it like this. Starting with the "base" you can model the character into anything from Woody Allen to Brad Pitt. The trick is, knowing how to drive the software.

So this one became a book cover (see left), with post-producion work done in Serif Publisher X3. It's clickable, so you can get a larger view.

What am I working on right now? Well, Mel Keegan's ICE, WIND AND FIRE is rolling up to its 20th Anniversary reissue (jeepers, has it been that long?!) and I'm working on the cover design for the paperback. It's set in Jamaica, so obviously it starts with an image of the island. Then you import the base model twice ... during the next couple of days they'll turn into two different guys, but at the moment they're twins in the 3D interface:

Adventures in 3D, right?!


And if you'd like to see where I am one year later, here's a slideshow of October 2010 artwork:

Please so browse around and watch the artist's progress! I was pondering whether to take down these early posts where the art is so comparatively simple, and I actually woke up to the word "comparatively." At the time -- it wasn't simple at all. I had figure everything out, and the purpose of these early posts was to record my journey from the start to the culmination. So instead of taking down the simpler art I decided to gussy up the early posts with slideshows and, soon, videos, and perhaps encourage folks who are just starting out to stick with it, never say die, and ... enjoy the process.



Jade, 28 September