My Art >^.^<

[Calypso]

I do a bit of a mix of computer graphics, though I seem to prefer 3D.

Katsuki, the redhead below was created for a manga a friend and I were doing over e-mail. Alas the project stopped but I liked doing the character so much I kept doing new pics... I also happen to Luv nekos. :P

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/k4friclose.jpg
http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/katsukilaughscloseAts.jpg

[Alicia]

Prettyful. :)

[Calypso]

We had a few beautiful days even though it's not quite Spring yet...
And they inspired Letti. ^^
She's a neko sunning herself on a beautiful Spring day when this little bird flies out of nowehere and starts singing at her. I wanted to catch that moment of startlement before she's simply charmed by the birdie.

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/springcharmshead.jpg

You can see the whole image over at my Deviant Art Gallery (http://caly.deviantart.com)
Don't forget to check out my scrapbook (http://caly.deviantart.com/scraps) while you're there. ^^

[Calypso]

Prettyful. :)


Thanks ^^

[Riotfug]

This is really cool, I'm huge catwoman fan. The whole cat and lady thing is so cool. What software did you use?

[Calypso]

And here's a larger version of my Avatar Face
http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/pdface.jpg

She's an elf and part of my Phoenix Dreams picture at Deviant Art. ^^

[Calypso]

This is really cool, I'm huge catwoman fan. The whole cat and lady thing is so cool. What software did you use?

I tend to use Poser/Daz Studio and Photoshop. :)

Yeah I love a "touch" of furry. ^^

[Calypso]

Here's a gray tabby mix.
A friend requested her, she told me what hair & eye colors she wanted etc. ^^

http://www.vulgarbard.net/forums/files/theadlrg.jpg

[Calypso]

If you like your nekos a bit goth... meet Hisa. ^^

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/commentanimecaly.jpg

[Riotfug]

Where did you get the software, oh and how much did it cost? Thanks!

[Alphonse Elric]

i really want to get that software..

[Anasatcia]

WOW! Those are so cool! They almost look real!

[Tyleete]

Ok, first off, that Phoenix Dreams is my fave. Neat!
And that last one you put in too was neat, the tabby mix I think?
I've never tried creating works on the computer. That's what you said you did? I'm interested in those programs that Riotfug asked about too.

Ok, and to Riotfug, what's that pic from you use in your avatar?

[DemonSamuraiMonkey]

Your artwork is really good! My breath has been taken away so many times on this message board and yours is one of my favorite. Keep doing a really good job.

[Diaphanus]

Oh, cute catgirls!

Felipuellae bellulae sunt! :D

[scentedxsharkattack]

Oh, cute catgirls!

Felipuellae bellulae sunt! :D


Latin? Catgirls are beautiful.
And I just realized that it's a translation of what you typed and... so yeah. =)

Btw, awesome work. :cool:

[Louann1]

You're art's amazing!!

[Parfait]

I really love the picture you used for your avatar. It's gorgeous, and somewhat calming. Your style has hints of Final Fantasy to it, always nice to see.

[Calypso]

Thank you very much! I'm so glad you like my stuff. >^.^<

Where did you get the software, oh and how much did it cost? Thanks!

Poser is sold by the same company that sells Manga Studio.
www.e-frontier.com (http://www.e-frontier.com/)
Poser 6 is what I use and it costs about $250.

Daz Studio at www.daz3d.com (http://www.daz3d.com/index.php?refid=573976007&b=11) is similar to Poser and is free, a great place to start and see if you like the feel of using 3D.

There are free basic people & anime models at Daz as well. My favorite 3D model is Aiko and I used her to make all the girls you've seen here so far. :)
You can get her "base" for free at Daz. I bought morphs and stuff for her so she could look different. ^^

After I render in Poser or Daz I take the stuff into Photoshop.
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/main.html
Photoshop CS2 is pretty expensive but what I did was get a basic one at a student discount while I was in school and then I just kept upgrading it. :) If you look around you can sometimes find some great sales on it.

[Calypso]

The thing about 3D is that if everyone is buying the same models, hairs, skin textures, morphs, clothes, lights and scenes, you can get very similar pictures from different people.

The folks that use the really expensive 3D program like Maya & Max and Lightwave tend to make their own figures so that they can be unique.

But I think you can be unique using the less expensive programs if you think "out of the box" and really work on changing how your models look.

If you know anything about 3D you know that clothes starts out looking like white plastic. :D For example, look at this dress here-
http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=2351&cat=16

It can look very different/real thanks to textures. I tend to make unique textures for my 3D clothes and stuff using Photoshop and Painter. You can get Painter -
http://apps.corel.com/painterix/home/index.html
at a great student discount or look around for bargain sales. :)
I also have Zbrush (http://pixologic.com/home/home.shtml) and have used it for textures though you can make your own figures with it. ^^

Below's an example of textures that I made- all 3 models are the same girl wearing the same outfit, the only things that change are the textures, hairs, poses, and shoes. :)

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/Haltia_Trio_sm_Caly.jpg

[Calypso]

Another thing to do "personalize" 3D stuff is to mix and match outfits. Usually people buy an outfit then they just use it together.

What I like to do is use pieces of different outfits and give them similar textures so I can basically make my "own" outfits. :)

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/adblueposessm.jpg

The Anime Doll I used in the Blues pic above and for the Bewitched Neko below is a nice companion for Aiko and she can be bought
here- Studio Maya (http://www.3digitalcrafts.net/studiomaya/1store/index.html)
If you look around his site you'll find a free MayaDoll too. She's very Final Fantasy-ish. :)

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/bewitched500.jpg

[Calypso]

My freehand art style is a bit more American comics than manga.
I also know that I have a lot to learn. :)

Below is a picture showing the steps that I took to get to the Calypso Sig I used to use all the time. :)

First I drew the girl using a black pen and posterboard, then I scanned her into Photoshop.
I took colored markers and a ruler and drew the colorful twisty twirly checkerboard thingie. I was just having fun, and I scanned it into Photoshop.
In Photoshop I doodled the little dragon. I used a basic black paintbrush. :)
Once I had all the pieces in Photoshop I colored the little dragon, used the twisty checkerboard thingie as a background, and made the girl kinda ghostlike using layer transparencies. ^^
I added the text and voila, one Calypso Sig.

http://www.calypso-dreams.com/img/doovers/maidencombo.jpg

[Riotfug]

WoW! They're so cool, thanks for all the info

[Calypso]

WoW! They're so cool, thanks for all the info


Glad to help. ^^
If you have any other questions let me know.

[mrphoton5]

i love your pics they are great, i can draw, but i cant really do art on the computer without a wacom and stylus though, you know, cause i have to have a pencil, or something, but if i have it, i can do really good.

[Calypso]

Thanks! ^^
I have a Wacom though I have to admit I don't use the stylus much. ^^;
I really should it would be better for me. :P

[chibi_katie_kat]

And here's a larger version of my Avatar Face
http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/pdface.jpg

She's an elf and part of my Phoenix Dreams picture at Deviant Art. ^^


How did you learn to do 3d like that? Its amazing... You do that with photoshop? I can't figure that out for anything...:(

[Calypso]

How did you learn to do 3d like that? Its amazing... You do that with photoshop? I can't figure that out for anything...:(

It takes time and practice. That picture alone took me over a month. ^^;

When I set up the 3D picture I have to test things as I change them like lights and if stuff like her hair is going through her body, or her dress is cutting through her legs etc.
Once I get the 3D stuff done as well as I can, I render it out as large as I can and then take it to Photoshop where I clean it up and do stuff like give her eyes that starry reflection. :)

[Foreordained99]

can you do stuff like that with Paintshop Pro?

[Calypso]

can you do stuff like that with Paintshop Pro?


Sorta... once you get the 3D render from a program like Daz|Studio or Poser, you can then paint over it/touch it up in programs like Paintshop Pro and Photoshop. :)

[Foreordained99]

Sorta... once you get the 3D render from a program like Daz|Studio or Poser, you can then paint over it/touch it up in programs like Paintshop Pro and Photoshop. :)

oh ok, i don't have the 3D render, so i don't think i'll be able to do it *sighs* i'll just have to practise phsically drawing it!

[Calypso]

oh ok, i don't have the 3D render, so i don't think i'll be able to do it *sighs* i'll just have to practise phsically drawing it!

You can get Daz|Studio for free, see my sig. :)
They also have free 3D models you can try out.
It's worth playing with. ^^

[Foreordained99]

You can get Daz|Studio for free, see my sig. :)
They also have free 3D models you can try out.
It's worth playing with. ^^

ok i think i might! that would be cool. I'm going on holiday tomorrow though (to Greece) and when i come back i nee to revise for exams *sighs* i guess i won't have alot of time

[Calypso]

ok i think i might! that would be cool. I'm going on holiday tomorrow though (to Greece) and when i come back i nee to revise for exams *sighs* i guess i won't have alot of time

ooo Greece?! Wish I could go! I'd love to travel. ^^
Have tons of fun. Pity about the exams though...

If you go to Poserpros.com on their front page they usually have 2 3d-related freebies that they change every week or so. ^^

[Foreordained99]

ooo Greece?! Wish I could go! I'd love to travel. ^^
Have tons of fun. Pity about the exams though...


thanks! im sure i will! I love travelling too...but i've only ever been around Europe. yeah, i'm really not looking forward to these exams...i really have to revise thoroughly T_T

[Calypso]

thanks! im sure i will! I love travelling too...but i've only ever been around Europe. yeah, i'm really not looking forward to these exams...i really have to revise thoroughly T_T

Do you live in Europe?
I've only been to France (studied there)/Spain. I really want to go to lots of places but it's kind of hard with a fulltime job.

That's the one thing I don't miss about school- the exams. :P

Another site with 3d freebies is Poserworld.com ^^

[Foreordained99]

Do you live in Europe?
I've only been to France (studied there)/Spain. I really want to go to lots of places but it's kind of hard with a fulltime job.

That's the one thing I don't miss about school- the exams. :P



yah i live in UK. I've been to Sicily, Germany, AUstria, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Poland, Belgium..it think thats it...but there are a few countries i've driven through but not really visited!

[Calypso]

yah i live in UK. I've been to Sicily, Germany, AUstria, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Poland, Belgium..it think thats it...but there are a few countries i've driven through but not really visited!

Very cool, you are quite lucky. ^^

[Foreordained99]

Very cool, you are quite lucky. ^^

but i've never been to US T_T

[Calypso]

but i've never been to US T_T
You'll probably make it here someday. :)

[Calypso]

Another thing to remember in 3D is that expressions are vital.
A lot of folks forget that even the eyes are posable! If they don't get posed you get a "dead" stare off to infinity, which tends to get Poser figures a bad rep.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h122/KalyKitty/aikotabby1.jpg
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h122/KalyKitty/akittyredhead.jpg

[Calypso]

I started my own website gallery. Some of my anime-ish stuff is under the 3D & Scraps sections. :)
Feel free to share my dreams...

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h122/KalyKitty/SigsNSites/EMbigbannercalypso.jpg
http://www.calypso-dreams.com (http://www.calypso-dreams.com)

[Honey]

wow...didn't see this thread before!! your 3d art is amazing!! so going to your site!!

[Calypso]

wow...didn't see this thread before!! your 3d art is amazing!! so going to your site!!


Aww thank you very much!
Under the 3D/Textures section I have a maiden anime blond girl in a blue dress too. :)

[Calypso]

Just wanted to let you know that from time to time I sell prints of my art through my Ebay Store (http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=dohernan) >^.^<

Some of my original characters are also available at the Portrait Adoption (http://www.portraitadoption.com/paartist.php?profile=252) site. :)

[Dreamcomicmaker]

And here's a larger version of my Avatar Face
http://www.calypso-dreams.com/sigs/pdface.jpg

She's an elf and part of my Phoenix Dreams picture at Deviant Art. ^^
Very pretty!

[Calypso]

Very pretty!

Thank you very much. :)
She ended up inspiring a poem (which is on my gallery web-site, the Calypso Dreams (http://www.calypso-dreams.com) link in my sig) and a short story called Jasmyn Smiles, which is in a free online magazine for artists-

http://www.emg-zine.com (http://www.emg-zine.com/)

for the month of November only. :)