Digital Art by John Michael

Todays Tip: General Workflow and Tools

When creating digital art, my workflow is rather simple. After visualizing the art either in my head or on paper, I turn to my 3D tool of choice DAZ Studio to lay the groundwork for the art. Inside DAZ Studio I build the characters, add hair and clothes. Most of the hair and clothes add-ons come from DAZ and Renderosity. Both companies offer very high quality add-ons. I then pose the characters and give them expressions. I pull in any scenery, trees, buildings, backgrounds. Lastly, the most critical piece, add lighting, which makes it all work and seem real.

Depending on the complexity of the scene, I may create and render multiple layers. Initially I render at relatively low rez for a test to see how everything works. Later, I render at the highest rez my computer is capabable of producing.

Postwork: After rendering in DAZ Studio, I open the art work in either Corel's Painter or PaintShop Pro. Sometimes I use Photoshop for special brushes, but I usually find Painter and PaintShop Pro do everything I want and need. They are both amazing tools.

That's about it. But if I had to give one piece of advice about working with 3D characters, it would be this: no matter what tool you use, get the lighting right. It can really make or break your renders. The right ligthing can make your renders looks cartoon-like or photo-realistic.

Have fun!

John Michael

the art of portrait