WIP - Wolf dreams of happier endings

Sometimes the drafts are better than the finished piece. This is a case in point. This was an earlier version of the Poser Debut rendering mentioned in the previous post. I deleted it by accident. I never managed to recreate the same expression in the little girl's face. It was meant to be an expression of affection, but in the final version, I think she just looks a bit dopey.

TIP: Save many copies.

Finished - Wolf dreams of happier endings

 Wolf dreams of happier endings

This was my first (and currently only) attempt at rendering, having been given a copy of Poser Debut as a gift by my gorgeous friend Jen aka Bel. Jen is a seriously talented render artist living in Sweden, although we met playing WoW (World of Warcraft for the non-gamers). She also designed my avatar picture. Her work can be found at http://www.artofjenni.com.

Whilst I am a huge fan of Jen's work, I found rendering to be seriously difficult. My figures kept looking wooden, the lighting is simply impossible and my post-posing work using Brushes on the iPad is basic at best. Additionally, I was intimidated by having an artist of Jen's capabilities actually paying attention to what I was doing. It sort of makes you want to go and hide under a rock. You know that you can't create the scene you see in your head and you let her down both by producing mediocre work and then by not having the heart to persevere with the learning curve. I am sad that I haven't done her gift justice, but for now I am treating the software as another work in progress, as I will definitely give it another go this year.

For the record, I have even more respect for Jen and the other artists who work in this medium. It takes a hell of a lot of effort and imagination to create emotion and drama in this art form. Everything has to be so perfect. There is no room for errors.

Incidentally, Jenni won the Poser Debut copies in return for having her work published on the cover of the software packaging. In addition, her fan art was a featured piece on the Star Wars the Old Republic game site. I am going to take some liberties here and post that piece below - remember the Twi'lek girl is Jen's work, not mine.

 Twi'lek girl by Jen - see www.artofjenni.com