When we listen to our Muse and create a piece of art, the process may carry us to unexpected, surprising, and sometimes scary places.

In fact, art has long been used by some therapists to connect with their clients, as well as help them uncover and resolve psychological knots. This is especially true with younger children and those who may have trouble verbally expressing themselves.

Since the deaths of my beloved dogs, I have been on a journey. During this journey of life and self-understanding, I started to see certain themes in my artwork. I think that when we look closely at what we create, we start to understand ourselves better. It is also quite a lot of fun to go back and travel through mental imagery that made it to media. So I invite you to join me in this wonderful expedition. Look at your own artwork, and share with us below what you find. Here are some of the things that I found when I looked.

What a work of art is all about is a sense of delight. Touch here, touch there, delight. It is an appreciation of things as they are and of what one is — which produces an enormous spark. Something happens — clicks — and the poet writes poems, the painter paints pictures, the musician composes music.

~~ [Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, “Artists and Unemployed Samurai” from The Teacup and the Skullcup]

1. Fierce Red-Haired Warriors

I have a whole section in my gallery dedicated to fierce red-haired warriors. They are powerful, confident, bold, strong, independent, gorgeous, fearless, and the opposite of damsels in distress. These strong women save themselves, are comfortable standing alone, and do not need a Conan by their side.

Powerful, confident, bold, strong, independent, gorgeous, fearless, and the opposite of damsels in distress. These strong women save themselves, are comfortable standing alone, and do not need a Conan by their side.

While this may all sound good on the surface, it can also lead to the development of unhealthy aversions and fears if not properly addressed. Attachment to power, strength, independence, and courage, may lead to the aversion of their opposite. In this way, any kind of perceived weakness, dependence, and fear leads to great dissatisfaction. In my pursuit of strength, I forsook gentleness, kindness, compassion, trust in others, and ultimately developed a deep intolerance for fear. Intolerance of fear leads to fear of fear and chronic anxiety.

What happens when strength fails and independence or power is of no help? It is in our conditioning to value these traits. However, blind attachment and direct pursuit often lead to the opposite of what we desire, causing us much suffering. Strength and courage are not about being gorgeous, the color of our hair, what we wear, or carrying a big sword. True strength and courage comes only when we face our deepest weaknesses and fears, and learn to embrace them.

True strength and courage comes only when we face our deepest weaknesses and fears, and learn to embrace them.

2. Duality – The Good and the Bad

The concept of duality – strength and weakness, courage and fear, good and evil, beauty and the beast, winter and summer, life and death, are expressed in many of my images. One of my favorite fantasy artists of all time, Luis Royo, often combines erotic love with the juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness, black and white, good and evil.

This concept of duality, strength and weakness, courage and fear, good and evil, beauty and the beast, winter and summer, life and death, are expressed in many of my images.

Duality is pervasive in our upbringing, our learning, and our society. Indeed, it is weaved into the very fabric of our lives, because it is how our mind works. We love greatly, and in so doing, we fear (or want to avoid) the opposite of what we love. We love happiness and fear unhappiness, we love success and fear failure, we love doing the right thing and fear doing the wrong thing, we love being good and fear being bad. Most of all, we greatly love life, and so we fear death. We love being in-love and fear being afraid.

We greatly love life, and so we fear death. We love being in-love and fear being afraid.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with fear, rather, it is the avoidance of the things we fear that causes problems, dissatisfaction, and suffering. For example, we love happiness, so we want to avoid being unhappy. However, happiness does not and cannot last forever. As with all things in reality, it is impermanent. When the feeling of happiness fades and we begin to feel something else, we get dissatisfied. This pushes us even farther away from being happy, which leads to feeling more dissatisfaction and so on, until we spend most of our time feeling dissatisfied at being trapped in a World where happiness is, in fact, impermanent. The more we try to avoid unhappiness and directly pursue happiness, the less happy we become. The more we try to avoid the darkness within us, and directly pursue the light, the more mired we become in darkness.

Duality – Beauty and the Beast.

If we are brave enough to look below the surface of duality, however, we eventually see that duality is mind-made. Based on culture, learning, and inherited brain wiring, our mind categorizes phenomenon into good, bad, and don’t care. This is very good news because new research in neuroplasticity show that our brains are highly adaptable and with training, we can change our brain wiring, update learned thoughts, and modify old habits.

Our brains are highly adaptable and with training, we can change our brain wiring, update learned thoughts, and change old habits.

In my journey of self, I have found a very simple rule that helps me to transcend duality and reduce suffering. It is simply this:

To always face my fears.

I face my fear by leaning into my fear and embracing the very thing that I am afraid of. This is also known as exposure therapy. When we avoid the things that we fear, we become controlled by our fear, and cause it to grow in intensity and scope. When we face our fear, we weaken its grip on us and diminish its power.

When we avoid the things that we fear, we become controlled by our fear and cause it to grow in intensity and scope. When we face our fear, we weaken its grip on us and diminish its power.

There were some that found the image above so disturbing that it got removed from my Daz Gallery.

There are two kinds of suffering. There is the suffering you run away from, which follows you everywhere. And there is the suffering you face directly, and so become free.
~~[Ajahn Chah]

3. Lots of Furry Friends

While my fierce warriors do not need a Conan, they are often travelling with or enjoying the company of furry and not-so-furry animals. Animals have always been a great comfort to me, especially dogs. Dogs can sense, hear, or smell our emotions much better than people can. They seem to have a natural ability to be happy in the moment, even when experiencing difficult circumstances. Dogs appear emotionally liberated in a way that people usually are not.

While my fierce warriors do not need a Conan, they are often travelling with or enjoying the company of furry and not-so-furry animals.

I trust animals a lot more than I trust people, most likely due to my childhood. My parents divorced when I was quite young, and they both have many issues. Childhood was very unstable, restrictive, and full of poor decisions. As a result, I learned to rely on my own choices rather than the advice or dictates of others. This is perhaps a good lesson to learn, but it came at the price of not trusting others and being quite bitter about life.

In truth, everyone loves, wants to be loved, and wants to do the right thing. However, fear of not being loved and not doing the right thing, often leads to unskillful action because we try to protect ourselves from emotional pain, discomfort, dissatisfaction, and other similar perceived threats.

I trust animals a lot more than I trust people, most likely due to my childhood.

The deepest emotional pain I have felt though, was when I lost my beloved dogs. No person has ever made me feel this kind of pain. The deep pain was because of the deep love I feel for them. They are gone now, but I still love them very much and will likely do so for the rest of my life. Therefore, I will also feel the pain, but together with it, there is the wonderful feeling of unconditional love.

After going through this type of grief, it is easier to embrace everyday annoyances from people, and be less bothered by them. It is easier to put the pain caused by my parents into a healthier context. Sure, I still feel these emotions, but they no longer hold the power of being a real threat. Pain, discomfort, dissatisfaction, are all part of my emotional landscape. If I can embrace them, I will be liberated to feel any emotion, to think any thought, to recall any memory, and to love broadly and freely. For all this, I just need to do one thing – always face my fears.

“He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.”
~~[Ralph Waldo Emerson]

Deep pain comes from deep love. With loss, I will feel the pain, but together with it there is the wonderful feeling of unconditional love.

This is part 2 of the Making Skin Pop with the Daz Studio Iray Uber Shader tutorial. Here, we address tweaking a chromatic skin. Part 1 provides an introduction to Daz Studio Iray skin shaders as well as how to convert monochromatic to chromatic skin. Visit Part 1 here.

Tweaking a Chromatic Skin

1. Open up a figure of your choice (I’m using Babina 8 for my example) in Daz Studio.
2. Open up the Surfaces tab.
3. You’ll notice that the SSS map slotted into the Translucency Color looks different this time – it would normally either be an exact copy of the Base Color map, or a lightened version of the Base Color map. (It is important to note that some skins might have a more in-depth SSS map that incorporates things like veins and vessels, but the vast majority are simple lightened versions of the Base Color map.) In the case of Babina 8, you will see the latter, a lightened version of the Base Color map.
4. (Optional) If the skin you are working with uses a copy of the Base Color map slotted into the Translucency Color, I would recommend lightening it slightly in Photoshop. For a generalized process, start with the color map and add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer with the following settings – Hue -5, Saturation -15, Lightness +20. This might need to be tweaked depending on the skin. Once you have a lightened version of the color map, load this new SSS map into the Translucency Color slot and move to the next step.
5. Change the Translucency Weight to .90 (you might need to play with this depending on the character).
6. Change the Base Color Effect to Scatter & Transmit Intensity.
7. Change the SSS Reflectance Tint to 0.79, 1.00, 1.00. (you might need to play with this depending on the character, but I like this color almost all the time).
8. Scroll down on the Surfaces pane.
9. Change the Transmitted Measurement Distance to .15 (you might need to play with this depending on the character).
10. Change the Transmitted Color to 0.95, 0.20, 0.10 (you can definitely play with this depending on the character and skin tone you’re going for).
11. Change the Scattering Measurement Distance to .015 (you can play with this setting too).
12. Change the SSS Color to 0.95, 0.45, 0.55 (you can play with this setting too. In fact, you will have to depending on the character and look you’re going for).
13. Change the SSS Direction to -.25 (I typically don’t mess with this and leave it set to 0, but using small negative values, such as -.1 to -.25, can be helpful if there is too much scattering effect. This can vary greatly on lighting).
14. Repeat these steps for the Lips and Ears (I often do them at the same time as the Face since they use the same maps).
15. Repeat these steps for the rest of the skin surfaces – Arms, Body, Legs, Fingernails, Toenails, EyeSocket, etc.

Again, play around with the settings! That’s how you’ll learn what you like and dislike and what different colors and numbers do. This is where you might think about tweaking the settings for Bump, Top Coat, and/or Gloss/Specularity. They all add up to the skin’s final results! And if you’re comfortable with Photoshop, you can even build upon the SSS map for more detail (blending tattoos into this layer can help immensely in making them look more realistic and less stickerific). Also note that I do not adjust eyes…you can easily slot in eyes from another character.

It looks like a lot of steps, but it’s really not when you get in the groove. It also really helps to save your go-to colors to the quick select in Daz. Please see the below comparison for Babina 8.

Middle face skin was made following the steps above. Far right face skin has changes to Transmitted Color and SSS Color to create a lighter skin tone.

And just like with above, these steps work with darker skin tones, as shown below with Millawa 8, who has gorgeous skin out the box to begin with. My first tweaks are very subtle, but upon close inspection you can see that changing the Base Color Effect to Scatter & Transmit Intensity enhances the toning of the skin (in this case I used a color of 0.37, 0.99, 1.00 which seems really bright but it’s subtle with Millawa’s skin maps).

Comparison of out-of-the-box Millawa 8 skin with multiple tweaked Millawa 8 skins.

And lastly, we have Celani 8, another character with gorgeous skin out of the box. I changed the Base Color Effect and altered the Transmitted Color and SSS Color slightly, and the effect is very subtle. I also included a shot with her under different lighting so you can see how lighting itself has a huge effect on the same skin and settings.

Comparison of out-of-the-box Celani 8 skin with tweaked Celani 8 skin in normal and altered lighting.

In conclusion, the best advice I can give is to not rely on using things out of the box. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and dig around in the surfaces panel. Play around with stuff to see what it does. What’s the worst that could happen if you end up with something you don’t like…just undo or reload! I hope this guide and these steps help get you started on achieving the results you want when it comes to the way skin looks, whether you’re a beginner or a grizzled veteran trying to get used to Iray for the first time. In time my goal is to write more tutorials in the future that take these steps even further and build upon them. Happy Rendering!

Have you ever been frustrated with skin that looks flat in Daz Studio? Dull and lifeless? Rubbery with a distinct likeness to that of Gumby? (Google it if you’re too young to remember Gumby.) Or maybe it just needs a little bit of pop? Most of the time, any of these issues can be attributed to SSS, or subsurface scattering, and there are a couple easy tweaks that can be made to drastically improve the look of skin in Daz.

[Visit Part 2 of the tutorial which deals with Tweaking a Chromatic Skin.]

PBR Skin Shader vs Iray User Shader

Before we get started, I wanted to make a quick note regarding the new skin shader that was introduced with Genesis 8.1, the PBR Skin Shader (it can also be used on Genesis 8). ‘PBR’ is actually a technical term.

Physically Based Rendering, according to Wikipedia, is ‘a computer graphics approach that seeks to render images in a way that models the flow of light in the real world.’

Okay, well that was kinda vague. Both the PBR Skin Shader and the Uber Shader do this, so they are both technically PBR shaders. They use almost all of the same maps. So please don’t let Daz’s play at words lead you to believe that the Uber Shader is somehow lesser. It’s just different. While the PBR Shader has added a couple neat new tricks, it is also missing some neat tricks that will be made use of in this guide. Essentially, the PBR Skin Shader is a trade-off, and it’s up to the user to decide which they prefer. Please see the below comparison with Victoria 8.1.

Victoria 8.1 comparison of Daz Studio’s PBR Iray Skin Shader and the Iray Uber Shader.

It is so very much personal preference. Personally, I stick with the Uber Shader because it allows me to better control SSS. Now, if Daz were to update the PBR Shader to bring back the SSS capabilities that the Uber Shader gave us, then it would be the best of both worlds. But for the sake of this article, I will be sticking with the Uber Shader. (Another article may come at a later date that works specifically with the new Iray PBR Skin Shader.)

Spectral Rendering

One other item of note is Spectral Rendering. A lot of folks don’t know what it is and a lot of folks don’t use it. Personally, I do, and I don’t. It depends on the scene and the skin I’m working with. It is supposed to be more actuate in terms of how it bounces light around the objects in the scene, some scenes more than others. The downside is that it has a particular tendency to make skin out of the box look like muddy, green, flat…blech. The tweaks I will be going over won’t work with Spectral Rendering. Well, they will…but they require different SSS settings to not look like muddy, green, flat…blech. It also can add exponentially to your render times, even with the same exact lighting.

Is it really worth it? That’s up to you to decide. Like I said, I’ve noticed that Spectral rendering works better with some skins than others. For the purposes of this article, due to length, I will be sticking with basic rendering. If folks enjoy this article, I will do a write-up of my tweaks translated to Spectral Rendering at a later date. For comparison, here is an example with Vicky 8.1 with my Iray Uber settings.

Comparison of Iray Uber Shader with and without spectral rendering.

Okay! Ready to get started? Oh! I forgot to mention that if you want to follow along in Daz, I’m using this HDRI and no other lighting and default tone mapping.

My lighting setup – Just HDRI and no other lighting or default tone mapping.

Monochromatic vs Chromatic Iray Uber Skin

The first step is understanding what type of skin you are starting with, and that really boils down to SSS (subsurface scattering). To put it simply, think of subsurface scattering as the way light shines through the skin. Skin is translucent, so it’s only natural that we’d see things like veins and, well, meat beneath it. Older Iray Uber skins, such as those found on G3 and a very small amount of G2 characters, use a type of SSS called Monochromatic. Newer Iray Uber skins, such as those found on G8 (and G8.1) characters, use a type of SSS called Chromatic.

Now, what is the difference between the two? Well, I honestly couldn’t tell you, other than the fact that they behave completely differently, and that Chromatic SSS, when set up correctly, appears to behave more naturally in terms of light reflection than Monochromatic SSS. So how do you tell which is which? It’s really easy, but you’ll need to roll up your sleeves a bit and open up the surfaces tab (If you’re never looked at the surfaces tab, or are unfamiliar with it, you’ll be digging into it here!):

Monochromatic

You will see a greyscale map slotted into the translucency color. You’ll also see a rather tomato-inspired red set for the color itself (in most cases). And if you scroll down on the surfaces panel, you’ll see the word ‘Mono’ listed under SSS Mode.

Monochromatic skin typically uses a lower translucency weight (.3 to .5) and the general rule of thumb is that it can be lightened or darkened by adjusting that slider (lower for lighter, higher for darker, etc). Monochromatic skin can be converted to Chromatic skin with some work, and that work does involve Photoshop (or another photo editing program that can use layers, such as Gimp). I will be showing you how to convert a Monochromatic skin, such as Vicky 7, over to Chromatic SSS and apply my tweaks. (I’ll try to stick with the super popular base figures that pretty much everybody has so you can follow along exactly.)

Chromatic

You will likely see either an exact duplicate of the base color map slotted into the translucency color, or a slightly lightened version of the base color map. The translucency color itself should (in most cases) be white (this isn’t always the case for spectral rendering, but again, this article will only cover basic rendering). And if you scroll down on the surfaces panel, you’ll see the word ‘Chromatic’ listed under SSS Mode.

Chromatic skin typically uses a much higher translucency weight (.75 or higher) and it is harder to lighten or darken simply by adjusting. This can be tweaked slightly, but if you need to lighten or darken a skin drastically, I would recommend finding a different skin that starts out where you want it in terms of tone, or go the direct route of editing the maps manually in Photoshop (advanced users). The reason for this is that Chromatic skin relies on the translucency color map, or the ‘meat map’ as I call it, to shine through from beneath the outer base color layer. If you try to lighten the skin by dropping the translucency weight, you’ll lose that ‘meat’ and the skin will end up looking flat. Chromatic skins out of the box are the easiest to tweak because they already have the necessary SSS map (though advanced users can go even further and build a new SSS map or tweak the existing one for even more detail, something I will cover in another tutorial).

Converting Monochromatic SSS to Chromatic SSS

(Beginner Level in Photoshop Required)

1. Open up a figure of your choice (I’m using Victoria 7 for my example) in Daz Studio.
2. Open up the Surfaces tab.
3. Starting with the Face, open up the translucency map in Photoshop (or photo editing program of your choice that supports layers). In the case of Vicky 7, this map is here on my system – DAZ 3D\My 3D Library\Runtime\Textures\DAZ\Characters\Genesis3\Victoria7\V7FaceMapSSS_1001.jpg. There are other SSS maps for Vicky 7 that are dependent upon any makeup you choose, but for our purposes, we’re only concerned with the base skin that loads with the character. You can always convert the makeup skins if you’d like later (I usually just use third-party makeup anyways).
4. Once you have the Face SSS map open in Photoshop (it should be greyscale with blue squigglies), take a look at the vein detail. It’s great! I really wish Daz kept these details on their newer figures but c’est la vie. Now open up the base color map, in this case V7FaceMapD_1001.jpg. We’re going to need both to create a proper Chromatic SSS map.
5. Next take the SSS map and copy/paste it onto a new layer over the base color map. You should now have two layers…one with the SSS map, and one with the base color map. The SSS map should be on top, currently blocking the color map from showing.
6. Change the opacity of the SSS map to 25%.
7. Now create a new solid color adjustment layer and pick a nice fleshy pink tone (205,165,165).
8. Change the opacity of the solid color adjustment layer to 20%. The pink layer will bring back some nice color to the map we’re building.
9. Go ahead and save this working file as a .psd if you want to come back to it later and play around (I would highly advise playing around…that’s how I learned!). Flatten the image or stamp visible if that’s you’re thing and save this new SSS map as a .jpg (the highest quality setting). You can save it in Vicky 7’s folder, or anywhere you’d like to save it if you want to set aside a special folder for your custom maps. I’ve saved mine as V7FaceMpaD_1001 – CUSTOM SSS.jpg.
10. Back in Daz, change the Translucency Color map to the one you just created. You do this by clicking on the map in the Surfaces tap and then going to Browse when the menu pops up.
11. Change the Translucency Color to white (you can absolutely play with this if you’re going for fantasy skin colors)
12. Change the Translucency Weight to .85 (you might need to play with this depending on the character).
13. Change the Base Color Effect to Scatter & Transmit Intensity (Vicky 7 is already set up that way, but if the character you’re working on doesn’t have it, go ahead and change it).
14. Change the SSS Reflectance Tint to 0.56, 0.98, 1.00. (you might need to play with this depending on the character, I usually start with 0.79, 1.00, 1.00 and adjust from there).
15. Scroll down on the Surfaces pane.
16. Change the SSS Mode to Chromatic.
17. Change the Transmitted Measurement Distance to .15 (you might need to play with this depending on the character).
18. Change the Transmitted Color to 0.95, 0.20, 0.10 (you can definitely play with this depending on the character and skin tone you’re going for…unlike with Monochromatic SSS, this is where you can go to fine tune the ultimate lightness/darkness and tone…to an extent).
19. Change the Scattering Measurement Distance to .015 (you can play with this setting too).
20. Change the SSS Color to 0.95, 0.45, 0.55 (you can play with this setting too…in fact, you will have to depending on the character and look you’re going for).
21. Change the SSS Direction to -.15 (I typically don’t mess with this and leave it set to 0, but using small negative values, such as -.1 to -.25, can be helpful if there is too much scattering effect…this can vary greatly on lighting).
22. Repeat these steps for the Lips and Ears (I often do them at the same time as the Face since they use the same maps).
23. Repeat these steps for the rest of the skin surfaces…Arms, Body, Legs, Fingernails, Toenails, EyeSocket, etc. All of these maps are located in the same folder where we found the Face map (in example, the body would be V7TorsoMapD_1002.jpg for Victoria 7).

Again, play around with the settings! That’s how you’ll learn what you like and dislike and what different colors and numbers do. This is where you might think about tweaking the settings for Bump, Top Coat, and/or Gloss/Specularity. They all add up to the skin’s final results! And if you’re comfortable with Photoshop, you can even build upon the SSS map we created above for more detail (blending tattoos into this layer can help immensely in making them look more realistic and less stickerific). Also note that I do not adjust eyes…you can easily slot in eyes from another character.

I know it looks like a lot of steps but it’s really not so bad, and it goes quickly once you get the hang of it!

Please see the below comparison.

Comparison of out-of-the-box Victoria 7 skin with tweaked Victoria 7 skin.

The above steps can also be followed with darker monochromatic skin tones, as seen below with Monique 7 …the only thing I did different was bump the Translucency Strength up to .90 and change the SSS Reflectance Tint a smidge to give a more golden undertone rather than blue.

Comparison of out-of-the-box Monique 7 skin with tweaked Monique 7 skin.

Visit Part 2 of the tutorial which deals with Tweaking a Chromatic Skin.

Here are some of my favorite MM items so far –

• Harpy for Genesis 8 Female – I have been wanting an updated harpy character for a long time now. So excited to see that it is finally here! Already working on a render with the harpy parts. 😀
• Turbulent Tail Hair for Genesis 3 and 8 Female(s) – Awesome very long hair by OOT, with a variety of movement and wind controls. An instant favorite!
• UltraScenery – Realistic Landscape System – The description and promos look amazing. Can’t wait to try it out. Hope my system can handle it properly.
• Temple Pool – Fabulous fantasy environment by Stonemason. Nuff said!
• Ogre Camp Bundle – The HD Ogre looks incredible. The usual high quality work of Josh Crockett. I also like the Berzerker Battle Outfit in the bundle. It looks extremely bad-ass.
• Felidae by AM – Smilodon Populator – This guy looks super fierce and cool. Will work well in many of my fantasy images.
• Iray Ghost Light Kit 3 – I love the effect of volumetric lights, so definitely want to try this out. The promos look outstanding.

There were also some amazing deals to be had by stacking coupon codes with MM discounts. This allowed me to pick up some cool items on my wishlist including –

• HDRi sets by Dimension Theory – I am always looking out for good HDRi sets, and DT has some fabulous ones that I use in almost all of my images. I am particularly excited to try this one out!
• Themed vehicle and environment bundles by Polish – Their props are marvelously sculpted, with great details and realistic textures. I already have some ideas for the Military Aircraft Bundle 2, and the Weekend Bundle will be useful for a variety of modern as well as pin-up renders.
• Cute themed outfits by Pretty3D – I picked up Misfortune Outfit (pirate themed) and dForce Charming Witch Outfit. Perfect for pin-ups and fantasy renders.
• CO Reine and CO Reine Hair – Absolutely love the back tattoos on this girl.

April 2020 Contest Vendors

This March Madness Extended contest will include all items from the MM catalog as well as all newly released items in April. In particular, images this month must contain at least one NEW item from March or April. Free items will also qualify!

Newly Released Items on Daz

Sisi for Genesis 8 Female and anything released after that, in the list below, will work!

Images with the newly released Josephene 8, Jonathan 8, and the Mystique outfit will also qualify.

March + April contest entries.

Happy March Madness Month!

On a sad personal note, I just lost my best (furry) buddy to cancer. My head and heart are with her, so there aren’t any winner descriptions this month. There will, however, still be winners. I will also be taking a break from posting new contests for a while.

1st Place – Back to the Future

Artist – LIK

First place in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Judges also liked The Long Journey Home.

2nd Place – Heron

Artist – scorpio

Second place in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Judges also liked Necromancer. Super adorable!

3rd Place – Ogre

Artist – RLove

Third place in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Judges also liked Top Hat. Great “look”!

3rd Place – Angie’s Circus

Artist – atwen

Third place in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Awesomely creative and funny!

Honorable Mentions

The Last Warrior by Jewel Designs

Honorable Mention in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Judges also liked Fun Time and Beautifully Black.

Lara Croft Fan Art: The Cave of the Laughing Face by dawnblade

Honorable Mention in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Amazing scene, colors, and details.

Queen of Thorns II by BavarianR

Honorable Mention in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Judges also liked Queen of Thorns.

Ultimate Scrarlet Witch by kadaj777

Honorable Mention in the April 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Superb likeness!

Congratulations to Our April 2020 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Thank you all for your support and wonderful words. They are very helpful. Big hugs!

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Hopefully, we will be back soon!

My favorite MM item so far has got to be the RY Alison Bundle. Raiya’s new Alison character looks superb, and of course OOT hairs are always excellent. In addition, the bundle also qualifies as a key MM item, so this went straight into my cart.

What I love most about this MM season though, are the discount codes that stack with existing offers. This allowed me to get many items in Fast Grab, as well as the Related Mad and Mad Artist Stores, at anywhere from 70-80% plus discounts. Here are a few that I am most excited about –

• dForce Classic Fur Cape and Textures Bundle – The fur looks great in the promos and there are also many different options. Can’t wait to try it out on a Red Sonja render!
• Props & Poses Converter from Genesis 3 Female to Genesis 8 Female – Currently, I readjust g3f props manually when I need to use them for g8f, which makes me less likely to use them. This utility could change all that!
• XTransfer – Genesis 3 to Genesis 8 Converter – I have been using Redz’s method to manually transfer my favorite g3f morphs. Given the usual high quality of Zev products, I am very excited to try this one out. The promos are certainly very impressive.
• Mesh Grabber – Simple mesh editing from within Daz Studio. Very useful for those times where everything is perfect except for some small clothing, hair, or terrain collisions that are impossible to fix with the usual dials.
• Gayll Bundle for Genesis 8 Female(s) – I especially like the hair and leather jacket in this set. The character is also quite unique, so would be interesting to mix her with other morphs.

Before the start of March Madness though, there were also some great products worth mentioning. I particularly want to highlight Mystique by Herschel Hoffmeyer and Rarestone’s All Sweet Fashion Poses III. Mystique is a sexy bustier lingerie set with amazing details and realism. If you like doing pin-ups, definitely check it out. As for Rarestone, their stuff is always top notch. These set of poses look great! I also like that the different arm, hand, and leg poses are separated out, thus enabling easy combinations within the set and with other sets.

Finally, there was also a crazy good Daz Original sale in February. Picked up a bunch of great Mousso characters, as well as Miss-Quito for Genesis 8 Female(s) and some great outfits and accessories by chungdan.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Mystique for Genesis 8 Female(s) by Herschel Hoffmeyer

March 2020 Contest Vendors

As with previous March Madness contests, there will not be any featured vendors this month. Instead, qualifying items will come from the entire MM catalog. In particular, images this month must contain at least one NEW item released during the Daz 2020 March Madness Sale. Free items will also qualify! 🙂

Newly Released Items on Daz

Sisi for Genesis 8 Female and anything released after that, in the list above, will work!

Images with the newly released Leroy 8, Nida 8, and the Mystique outfit will also qualify.

March contest entries.

Happy March Madness Month!

On a sad personal note, I just lost my best (furry) buddy a few days ago to cancer. My head and heart are with her, so there aren’t any winner descriptions this month, except for the one I already wrote out. There will, however, still be winners. We will also have another set of winners next month, but I will be taking a break from posting new contests for a while.

1st Place – My Prized Possessions

Artist – Stalest

First place in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Congratulations! An amazing set of images from you, so we will start with the judges’ favorite – My Prized Possessions.

I love the concept of this piece. She has her bad-ass weapons, including her large gun and sword, but she also shows her softer, younger, side with that cute, purple dragon, books, and little doll. Excellent feature of Creepy Old Attic. You show-off all the marvelous details and realism of this environment, and of course, Misha, the little purple plush toy.

The girl looks amazing. Love her pose, her tattoos, outfit, hair, everything! Linday’s Side Layered Messy Hair is especially brilliant, with how it drapes over her face, arm, and body, enhancing that already outstanding pose.

My personal favorite is The Mint Patch. It is no secret that I love animals, and AM’s Felidae looks amazing here surrounded by all that greenery. I like that he cares about personal hygiene and is having a mint snack. He must have a big date later on in the night. 😀

Bewitched is another fun one. Rita Hayworth said “Every man I knew went to bed with Gilda… and woke up with me.” I wonder what poor Elios will say?! Hopefully, the enchantment will stay intact, and he will never know.

Finally, fantastic feature of Inside Linday’s Daz Studio Iray Scenes in The Rendezvous, Time To Board, and others. Sensational lighting, glow, and color.

Awesome job all around. Bravo!

2nd Place – Summers End

Artist – Secret77

Second place in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

3rd Place – Assassin Wars: Ambush

Artist – aograi

Third place in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

3rd Place – Penthouse Take Down

Artist – dtrscbrutal

Third place in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Honorable Mentions

I’ll get the ball! by atwen

Honorable Mention in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Stilleto, waits by ksmith3620

Honorable Mention in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Stop and Smell the Roses by Vueiy

Honorable Mention in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

The Dragonshifter by Carola O

Honorable Mention in the March 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Congratulations to Our March 2020 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Thank you for visiting and participating in our monthly contests.

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our March Madness 2020 contest.

Some other purchased wishlist items that I am particularly excited about –

• Lotsa Poses for Genesis 8 Female – As advertised in the product title, lots of fun poses here!
• Skin Folds & Creases HD for Genesis 3 and 8 Bundle – Been wanting to try this one out for a while now. Zev products are always high quality and this looks like it could add some nice realism to the type of figure based images that I do.
• Mafia Evironment Bundle – Three very detailed environments with lots of props. This was a steal with discount stacking.
• Lilac Chill Out – Peanterra has some beautiful and rich settings. I have always loved lilacs, so grabbed this one quick and early. 🙂
• ES Valentine’s Photo Shoot Props – Figured this would be useful for February themed images.

There were also some great $2.20 items as well as new releases. The new release that stands out most for me is dForce Wet and Dry Boyfriend Shirt Dress. Linday outfits are always top-notch and super realistic. Elaborate Jewelry Vol 1 also looks very cool. Great adornment for portraits and fantasy pin-ups. Several other January releases that stand out – ROG Red Crow Inn, Valley and Hills, and These Boots Poses.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Ancient Ruins by Peanterra

February 2020 Contest Vendors

Based on these very impressive products, here are the featured February vendors –

bitwelder
Zeddicuss
Peanterra
EyeStorm
Strangefate

Images with the newly released CJ 8 and Dain 8 will also qualify.

February contest entries.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Kadis – Ancient Legendary Armor, Weapons and Poses for Genesis 3 Female(s) by Strangefate

1st Place – Chunibyo Escape

Artist – SimmoDavis

First place in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Wow! Definitely an eye-catcher.

Superb feature of Zeddicuss’ Z Levitation – Poses. The camera accentuates her falling down motion, and the broken glass further enhances the dynamic nature of the scene. Definitely a daring and sensational escape.

I also love the character design. Fantastic use of the Miss Von Dark Outfit. Combining it with HP Yuyu and the blunderbuss really gives her that bad-ass anime look. The knickers are a great add and goes perfectly with the outfit and camera angle.

An action packed scene like this is very difficult to do, and you pulled it off perfectly! To top it off there is tension, an interesting story, and a sassy lovable heroine. Bravo!

2nd Place – A Peaceful Evening

Artist – scorpio

Second place in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A feast for the eyes! Amazing composition, realism, and lighting.

This is a stellar feature of Bend of the River. The sky and lighting are magnificent, giving the image a very photo-realistic look. Brilliant idea to add the ruined building and little deer. They add to the calm of the scene, and provide wonderful accents for the viewer to focus on.

Love it!

3rd Place – I Still Remember

Artist – melissastjames

Third place in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Fabulous character, backdrop, and expression.

Right away, one is captivated by her melancholy face. Is she remembering a past comrade in arms, a past lover, mistakes made, paths not taken? I love her outfit. Incredible looking textures, and the fur cloak is a terrific add, giving her gravitas.

Superb feature of Strangefate’s ROG Medieval Fantasy Bedroom. It is super realistic with great details. Excellent placement of the fireplace and candle. They add warmth to the scene and cast nice highlights on our main figure. This together with the DoF makes her stand out nicely.

A beautiful, storied scene.

3rd Place – My Secret Place

Artist – kadaj777

Third place in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A magical and magnetic image!

One is quickly drawn to her sensual expression, beauty, and fiery red hair. The hair movement is outstanding. It adds dynamics to the piece and also picks up pretty highlights from the surrounding illumination.

Awesome feature of the Hellenic outfit for Genesis 3 Female(s). There is a wonderful drape and softness to it, which fits the enchanting mood of the scene perfectly. The textures are realistic, and a match with her lovely jewelry.

DM’s Memorial provides a marvelous backdrop, adding to the druidic atmosphere. This image reminds me of Avalon, a mythical utopia just beyond our reach. Amazingly done.

Honorable Mentions

Cat And Mouse Games by Jewel Designs

Honorable Mention in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Haha! This is totally adorable. Beer drinking mice and a cat just waiting to pounce. Brilliant!

I especially love how emotive the cat and mice are. Terrific work with their poses and expressions. Also great feature of ROG Red Crow Inn. The zoomed in view shows all the superb details of the scene objects and walls. Excellent work including a range of items, and having them be part of the story. Finally, nice touch with the fireplace in the back, providing some rim-light.

For All Her Glory by zilla73

Honorable Mention in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Awesome warrior woman!

Her expression and incredible dynamic pose captures my attention right away. Love that tongue action! I also like the combination of contrasts. She is amazingly cute and petite, but also fierce and very strong, wielding a very large hammer.

The red hair enhances her fiery nature and fits her face very well. Wonderful work with the swing of her ponytail, which adds to the movement of her attack. Bravo on creating a fantastic character.

Bridal Portrait by Ig

Honorable Mention in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

This is a marvelous feature of Medieval Spanish Courtyard. Everything looks super realistic from the highly detailed stone walls, to the floor tiles, and concrete steps. Fabulous use of DoF to show the depth of the structure.

The bride looks lovely in her dForce wedding dress. The drape of her long veil is excellent, and adds to the photo-realistic quality of the piece.

Very well done!

Perfect Shot by Hoofbeats

Honorable Mention in the February 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Reminds me of Princess Merida from Brave.

I especially love the bright colors you used. The blue of the sky contrasts beautifully with the autumn leaves of the tree, as well as the greens of the grass. All the bold colors add a liveliness and spiritedness to the composition, which perfectly blends with our fiery heroine with wild red hair.

Outstanding feature of the various elements in Peanterra’s Woods Modules. You showed the brilliant colors of the set, and how they can be brought together to create a scene that complements the temperament of the primary figure.

Congratulations to Our February 2020 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Kudos to all the winners and thank you all for visiting and participating in our monthly contests.

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our March Madness 2020 contest.

For new releases, a big favorite for me is the Cloudscape Creator Bundle. Sky HDRis are always very useful for my fantasy images, and I like how customizable these are. I just started experimenting with it, so still in the early stages of use. Dimension theory also released a cool PC+ HDRi pack, which I scooped up right away. I am a big fan of their HDRi products.

Next, the dForce Spidertech Outfit looks totally bad-ass! It is also a Daz-O so bonus discounts. In the hair department, I like Alyssa PonyTail Hair. Definitely want to try combining it with other hairs as well, to create some new styles.

Finally, there were a couple of fun Zeddicuss pose sets. I especially love Z Guardian Angel Shape and Poses, which would be perfect for Valentine’s Day images. Z Pin Up Mania Props and Poses is another interesting set with some very cool props.

In addition to new releases, there were also some great vendor sales. Many vendor stores had discounts of 65% or more. Together with the loyalty discount, it was a really fantastic deal. I must have bought up most of the items in my wishlist. 😀 There are too many to list here, but a few that I am most excited about are –

1. IgnisSerpentus – Divinity – Athena Outfit, dForce Mistress Malefica Outfit.
2. Ansiko – Floating Market, The Gateway, Escape.
3. Pixeluna – The Pose Collection for Genesis 8 Female, Pix Onyx.
4. outoftouch – Vintage Leather Jacket for Genesis 8 Male(s), Sara Hair.
5. Mytilus – Star Warrior Outfit Set, Top Daily Outfit Set.

Finally, I want to highlight some wishlist item purchases that I am most excited about –

• Adventure Outfit – Excited to enhance my Lara Croft renders with this one!
• Muelsfell Modular Frozen Cascade – Beautiful winter environment.
• Dramatic Together Poses – Very well crafted and powerful poses.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Divinity – Athena Outfit for Genesis 8 Female(s) by IgnisSerpentus

January 2020 Contest Vendors

For the beginning of the new year, we selected six brilliant vendors that gave us good discounts during the Christmas/New Year sale –

IgnisSerpentus
Pixeluna
Mytilus
Neftis3D
E-Arkham
DimensionTheory

Images with the newly released Tristan 8, Rynne 8, and Darcy 8 will also qualify.

January contest entries.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Skies of iRadiance – Night Sky HDRIs for Iray by DimensionTheory.

1st Place – In-the-zlums

Artist – daguilera6

First place in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Emotionally powerful and amazingly rendered.

This image really speaks to me. It tells the story of abandonment, when we have run our course and are no longer useful. This is the story of the Little Fir Tree and sadly, the reality for many dogs and cats. It is the secret fear in our hearts, especially as we age. Indeed, this is not a comfortable image to consider, which is why it is so potent.

Superb feature of Li’l Scrap Boy HD by Pixeluna. The beat-up old texture, with gears and wires exposed, is a perfect fit for this tale. His face is heart-breakingly expressive, as he sits in his old box, amid the other trash. Great attention to detail, with the box showing the Technotronics logo, as well as the various pieces of thrown away paper, cans, bottles, and bags. The old bicycle wheel is an excellent touch.

One cannot help but feel deeply for this little abandoned boy. In these difficult and challenging times, where cruelty is being normalized, this piece is especially appropos.

2nd Place – Sue’s Secret

Artist – RLove

Second place in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A brilliant idea and a fantastic storied scene.

Sue is not only incredibly powerful, but she is also super cute. Love how much precision she has over her powers. She is levitating herself as well as a bunch of other objects. The pencil container is levitated, but the pencils remain in place. I also like the flipped clock face, which reminds me of the Twilight Zone. Wonderful choice of outfit for a high schooler, and the drape makes everything look very realistic. The scared couple in the background is a cool add.

Marvelous feature of iRadiance – Light Probe HDR Lighting for Iray – Expansion 4 by DimensionTheory. The lighting together with the materials make this image look as real as a photograph. Terrific camera work with perfect framing and depth of field.

The judges also loved Doom. The fear of the robot girl is palpable. One cannot help but feel her panic and desperation as those little robotic spiders claw their way into her little glass pod. Clever idea to convert Aeridian Lady Stardust into a young girl.

I also like Wired. Pix – Synx looks awesome in this pin-up. Outstanding job with integrating the Ron’s Cables & Hoses into the scene. The cables together with her short hair definitely gives it a strong Ghost in the Shell vibe.

Another set of sensational images. Bravo!

3rd Place – The Spiders Lair

Artist – Stalest

Third place in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Magnificently creepy!

You featured Black Widow HD For Genesis 8 Female perfectly as the spider queen. I love her evil smile and anticipatory pose. She looks like a child on Christmas morning, ready to pounce and open her very large present.

Excellent use of Heavy Metal for Creeping Death as an outfit for her victim. It makes her partly meld into the rocks. Mystical Cave is ideal as the backdrop. The rocks are beautifully detailed, sinisterly dark, and the lights embedded in them gives the image a lovely fantasy look.

Finally, fabulous camera work and lighting. Love the tilt of the picture as well as volumetric light effects.

3rd Place – Bird Watching

Artist – rolltiderichard

Third place in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Brilliant title and concept!

I totally love this futuristic take on watching airplanes take-off. Here, instead of taking a truck, she has suited-up and taken her sci-fi buggy to a great vantage point. As she perches on the large front wheel and wistfully looks into the distance, we are left to wonder if she is watching her true-love fly away.

Incredible detailed terrain and feature of Azzuria Hairstyle by Neftis3D. This hair fits perfectly with the futuristic theme and works well with the helmet.

The judges also love Hot Blooded. Another very clever concept that is wonderfully executed. Outstanding character, pose, camera angle, and effects. Marvelous feature of Pix Prisha HD as the volcanic diety, with Muelsfell Storm of Magic Iray FX for the dynamic storm energy around her.

Definitely reminds me of Disney’s Mowana.

Honorable Mentions

Beach Combers by Jewel Designs

Honorable Mention in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Awesome movement in this piece!

Love the dynamic poses of the horses and especially love the effort you put into the flying manes and tails. They definitely look like they are having fun!

Excellent textures and terrific feature of DAZ Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments. It is one of my most used HDRi packs. Also, I just noticed that it now comes for free with Daz Studio Pro, so bravo for Daz.

20200125 by TraceSL

Honorable Mention in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Amazing hot and cold colors! Definitely an eye-catcher.

You did an incredible job with the colors and effects. They definitely capture the viewers’ attention and draws them in. Superb feature of dForce Mistress Malefica Outfit by IgnisSerpentus. The colors of her outfit complement the backdrop very well, and the dynamic skirt also fits with the magic maelstrom around her.

A marvelous woman of power.

Tristan by Daventaki

Honorable Mention in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Haha! Love that he is just chillin by his monster truck.

Fabulous expression and pose. You also did a brilliant job showing the size of the vehicle. I never realized how large those trucks are. According to Wikipedia –

A competition monster truck is typically 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, and equipped with 66-inch (1.7 m) off-road tires.

~~ Wikipedia

Crazy!

Night Of The Fox by Drakenborg

Honorable Mention in the January 2020 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A wonderful dedication and happy belated birthday wishes to Alex!

Superb use of colors to separate foreground from background. The cute, otherworldly fox girl is composed mostly of cool colors, while the backdrop is mainly warmer colors. The effect is quite striking.

Excellent scene details from the hanging lights, to the oleander bushes and little butterflies. A very beautiful image.

Congratulations to Our January 2020 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Thank you all for visiting, participating, and a big congratulations to all the winners!!

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our February 2020 contest.

• Steam Voyager – This steampunk airship by Td3d looks super cool. It has a ton of controls, some wonderful props, and poses. A real steal at this discounted price.
• SY Rigged Water Iray 4 – Got this as well as some of the other water prop packages by Sickleyield. Always useful to have, and best of all, can be used for a long long time down the road. Check out the fun water dragon image that I made with this below!
• HDRI Dawn Clean Skies – I am a big fan of simple HDRis with just sky or sky with a very basic ground. HDRis are useful and the good ones I reuse over and over, so I always pick them up when there are deals.
• P3D Melanie HD for Genesis 8 Female – She is a beauty who reminds me of Meghan Markle. At $2.99 it went straight into my cart. 🙂
• Lanny Hair – Hair is another category of items that I search for in sales. Even the older ones can look fabulous with Iray shaders and on G8F.
• The Old Shambles – Finally, environments are also perennial and useful. This one has some superb details and is super realistic!

Shiba contest qualifying item used – SY Rigged Water Iray 4 by Sickleyield.

I also want to highlight a couple of awesome November PC+ items and a freebie.

• Winter Dweller for Genesis 8 Male(s) – Most of the time I skip PC+ clothing items, but this one looks fantastic! The textures are excellent and I really like that long coat. Marvelously realistic and a definite PC+ winner.
• dForce DeNile for Genesis 8 Female(s) – Another outstanding outfit, especially for PC+. Different and exotic.
• Corridor Clutter – This is a Merlin Studios freebie. Always love their work and the incredible detail in their props. Great for adding richness and realism into any scene.

November also had some amazing coupons and discounts all throughout the month, and culminating in the Black Friday sale. I took this opportunity to get many of the items in my wish-list. Here are some highlights –

• Marion for Victoria 8 – I am a big fan of Marilyn Monroe, so this Marilyn look-a-like for G8F caught my eye right away. Plus it was going at a great discount for Black Friday, so very excited to try her out soon!
• Lancy Character with dForce Hair and Expressions for Genesis 8 Female – Incredibly adorable. This terrific package comes with the character, hair, and expressions. With the BF discount, it is an awesome deal! Talking about awesome deals, I also got Xolani for Monique 7, another adorable girl with some cool skin textures.
• Cyborg Motor Bike Bundle – This bike is totally bad-ass. Been wanting it for a while now, and got it as soon as there was a good deal. I was thinking of doing a Cloud Strife image of it together with Yuzuru, but I think Lara Croft would love it too! 😀
• Temple of Sand – Unique and modular environment that I can see using this in many scenes. Dystopian Desert Destruction Kit is another cool modular themed set from the same vendor. In fact, The AntFarm has some amazing stuff in their store, so definitely check them out.
• UltraTrees – Realistic Tree System – These trees look incredible. As with other items by HowieFarkes, it probably requires quite a lot of memory, but the results look amazing.

This November, I mostly got older wish-listed items. However, I did get some new stuff as well. One that really stands out for me is Ping the Ringtail based on the Plushies 2.0 figure. As I have said before, I am a sucker for cute furry animals. 😀

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Scamp The Fox – Plushies 2.0 by Lady Littlefox.

December 2019 Contest Vendors

Lots of awesome items here, so the vendors for December are –

Lady Littlefox
Sickleyield
Merlin Studios
SWAM
Ravenhair
The AntFarm

Images with the newly released Leisa 8, Jenni 8, and Robyn 8 will also qualify.

December contest entries.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Kelsie Hair for Genesis 2 Female(s) and Victoria 4 by SWAM

1st Place – Your Money! No Good!

Artist – RLove

First place in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Love so many of your entries. The judges were split on which one they favored most, so I picked this one, because it is such a clever and creative composition.

You did a great job in capturing how scary and powerful the witch woman is. Fantastic job with her skin textures, and all the materials in the scene. The burning money is brilliant. It adds tension and dynamics to the picture, the fire effects are super cool, and it is a simple show of power. Nobody wants to cross this gal.

Excellent feature of Ancient Tomes by Merlin Studios. They are front and center, showing off the detail and realism of their props.

Amazing lighting as well, with a mix of warm colors in the foreground, and blues in the background. The heavy shadows cast by the candles also add to the ominous mood of the piece. Nice atmospheric lighting filtering in from some window up top.

Other entries picked by the judges –

• Easy! Easy! – Very realistic with superb rain effects, textures, and camera work. Wonderful feature of WW1 Trench, No Man’s Land as the backdrop.
• Pretty In Pink – She is stunning and I absolutely love the soft lighting here. Very different from the other images, and showing the powerful effects that different lighting can have on the mood of a composition.
• Toys In The Actic – Charming and whimsical, which is surprising given the Creepy Curios feature. Marvelous cat girl character, expression, lighting, and spell effects.

Absolute love how you show off different styles in your entries. At the same time, all are beautiful and creative, with incredible lighting, materials, and everything else.

2nd Place – Victorian Ex-Machina

Artist – Ninja Bunny

Second place in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Outstanding concept! This image is definitely an attention grabber.

Love how you combined the sci-fi elements in such a seamless way with the Elizabethan elements. Her dress is ornate, beautifully detailed, and fits the era. She also has jewels to match her eyes and is holding a skull. All this is consistent with the period, however, the skull is robotic, her exposed eye looks cybernetic, and her sci-fi monocle has tubes running out of it.

You featured the selected vendors very well. Ravenhair’s dForce Renaissance Dress combines perfectly with the various collars, hair, and headdress. Fabulous choice of rich materials, suited for royalty.

The skull from Antfarm’s Reaper Bot is very fitting, especially the way you textured it to be half bone and half metallic. The glowing eyes are very arresting. Finally, you used the Flex Pipes masterfully, showing how well they can be connected to her back and eye-piece.

Terrific work!

3rd Place – The Unusual Suspects (1/3)

Artist – Sisyphus1977

Third place in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

This is hilarious!

I love that there is a tiger in there, together with a cyborg, robot, and chimpanzee doing a facepalm. Apparently, he is the only one who thinks that the lineup is total bollocks. 😀

The demon, bad girl cuddling with the Ken-like guy, doing selfies, definitely made me laugh out loud. Wonderful attention to detail with her scrawling her call-me number onto her card. Also marvelous expression on the white angel girl. She seems to be quickly losing her patience.

Thank you for listing all the assets you used. I had a fun time matching up the hairs to the various characters. The angel with Olive Hair, bad girl with Long Hair, cyborg girl with MRL Gem Hair, and Ken with Classic Side Part Hair.

Such great characters and a brilliant composition!

3rd Place – Reel Troubles

Artist – atwen

Third place in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Hahaha! Another funny image and a superb pin-up.

Fabulous expression on the girl, and an amazing pose, especially the chest squish. Love how you included all elements from Merlin Studios’ Reel to Reel, with the sound system dismantled on the ground, the girl holding a spool, and the yellow chair in the background.

A very clever idea that is incredibly executed.

Honorable Mentions

I Believe In Fairies by LaPartita

Honorable Mention in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Terrific mood piece.

Chill for Genesis 8 Female(s) is fantastically featured. It drapes beautifully on that pose, and you textured it very well to fit the darker, dystopian atmosphere of the piece.

This is further enhanced by the pouring rain as well as gloom of the night. Reminds me of Bladerunner.

Zombie Kitty by CajunBeauty

Honorable Mention in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Hahaha! This is awesome!

I love the expression and pose of Pounce the Puma. You definitely got the zombie, wide-eyed expression, as well as stiff movement, down pat here. Cool environment and lighting as well, especially the back-light casting long shadows on the ground. This gives the image a more sinister feeling.

Brilliant combination of funny, cute, and Gothic. I absolutely love it.

In Search for More Skin by reserv888

Honorable Mention in the December 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Super creepy scene!

You did an amazing job with the axe wielding crazy killer. The mask is a great touch, indicating his face is too hideous to show, and letting the viewer’s imagination take over. I also like the tattoos from CitizenX and his menacing pose. The bloody large axe completes this terrifying figure.

The kids hiding in the backroom add some real tension to the scene. This monster is hunting the young and innocent. Excellent use of Antfarm’s Shanty Town, which provides the perfect eerie backdrop. Finally, the dark lighting with strong highlights further increase the sense of dread in this scene.

Everything works wonderfully together to create just the right atmosphere.

Congratulations to Our December 2019 3D-Art Contest Winners!

What an incredible set of images to start 2020 with. Big hugs, love you all, and may this year bring peace and happiness.

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our January 2020 contest.

• Creeping Death – A $1.99 IgnisSerpentus item is an instant buy!
• Creepy Old Attic – Had this in my wishlist for a while now. It has so many cool looking props, which makes it a real steal at 1.99
• Kyra Fantasy Outfit – A sexyful fantasy outfit. Nuff said.
• Rihatsuten 1954 – Another super prop rich environment. 1.99 Sugatek items are another instant buy for me.
• Woodman House: The Bedroom – Realistic modern bedroom with adjoining walk-in closet and bathroom.
• The Nutcracker – Just in time for Christmas scenes.

In addition to all the awesome 1.99 items, there are also the two PC+ items offered every day. I got all the Jack Tomalin Iray upgrades including Hallowed Eve Revived, Atrophy Iray Addon, and Degeneration Iray Addon. Some of my other PC+ item favorites:

• Desert Depression – Wonderful desert environment with trees, bushes, rocks, and nice ground detail.
• Path to Greywood – Another superb backdrop by Predatron. Filled with fantastic looking vegetation and rich organic textures.
• Creepy Curios – Some great macabre props to enrich any fantasy Gothic scene.
• SRB 800: Honor – I absolutely love these grunge set of textures. They add fantastic realism to the SRB 800 robot, really makes him sing.
• The Forgotten Courtyard – Another incredible material set, aging the Al Sharqia Courtyard, adding richness and character.
• Trearchi Folly – Yet another winner by Predatron. My favorite are the smiling demon faces on the upper walls as well as the climbing, flowering, vines.

Other than the 1.99 and PC+ items, there were also some terrific new vendor releases. My favorite so far has got to be Scamp The Fox – Plushies 2.0 by Lady Littlefox. These little guys are totally adorable, especially with the new Daz fur. I am working on some fun renders with them, coming soon!

In the same vein, I also got Antfarm’s Bitty Bat and Foxy Lady With dForce Hair. What can I say, I love cute critters with fur! 😀 The dForce Mech Dancer Outfit also looks righteous.

Last but not least, I also got some older vendor items. One that I am truly enjoying is Acicia Bundle for Genesis 8 Female(s) by Crocodile Liu. This character morph is superb, and looks great when dialed in fully or combined with other morphs. Below is my first pin-up render with her.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Acicia Bundle for Genesis 8 Female(s) by Crocodile Liu.

November 2019 Contest Vendors

As with previous years, we will honor the Platinum Club Sale with a single, very special, vendor – Daz Originals!

Daz Originals

Images with the newly released Teen Raven 8, Yuzuru 8, and the Acicia Bundle will also qualify.

November contest entries.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Daz Dragon 3 by Daz Originals.

1st Place – Red Vs Black

Artist – LIK

First place in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Superb movement, outfits, effects, and lights!

What a fantastic composition. I especially love how dynamic it is. The poses of the two girls are terrific, but there is also great action with the sci-fi tentacles, the little flying robot things, and the sparkly effects.

Marvelous feature of the dForce Mech Dancer Outfit. The side view, red texture, as well as cool pose, shows it off wonderfully. Very anime-ish. I am definitely rooting for the red team! 😀

Finally, the camera tilt combined with the Urban Future 7 backdrop frames the scene perfectly. Always love your work. Super ingenuity, compelling characters, and impeccably executed.

2nd Place – Wallflower

Artist – thoreandan

Second place in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Haha! This is outstanding!

Excellent job lining up the texture on her dress with the backdrop. It gives the effect of her top-body emerging from the wall. This is further enhanced by your choice of materials and colors. Her light and plain skin really stands out, compared to the dark reds and blacks of her dress and the wall behind her.

Her hat, red flower necklace, and matching nails, are great touches, solidifying the wallflower theme and creating a delightful clothing ensemble.

Clever, funny, and a perfectly charming image.

3rd Place – E- Cat

Artist – BavarianR

Third place in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

An Escher-esque image with cats, I absolutely love it!

Superb feature of the new Daz House Cat, and Ron’s Space Brushes are perfect as the backdrop.

The judges also liked Ready for battle, wait, I’m coming. Another inventive composition, and the pose for the little Orc boy is marvelous. It really captures the weight of that big hammer. 😀

Last but not least, Quing is another big judge favorite. Three super brilliant ideas that were brilliantly executed. Bravo!

3rd Place – Anticipation

Artist – RLove

Third place in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Fabulous character with an excellent come-hither look.

Outstanding feature of Xolani, and making her into a seductive alien character. The lighting on her is terrific, with blue highlights combined with warmer colors, and topped off by the cyan glow from her lightsaber.

Her companion robot looks awesome with those newly released textures. I have been wanting to try him out as well, because those materials look so good. Finally, the Arc Sci-Fi Corridor provides the ideal background, especially when combined with the cool smoke and flare effects.

Honorable Mentions

Next Op – Back To Work (4/6) by Sisyphus1977

Honorable Mention in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Incredibly realistic scene with some fantastic details.

This is a marvelous feature of the DarkHawk Helicopter by DarkEdgeDesign. I love all the detailing on the body of the vehicle, especially that fierce duck face towards the front.

The Tactical Assault Outfit looks amazing, as do the poses of the soldiers. They are all sitting with their guns, but each in a slightly different position, adding variety and realism. I also like the assortment of eye-wear! 🙂

Big Smile by valkyrieart3d

Honorable Mention in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A gorgeous smile!

Awesome use of the Genesis 8 PowerPose tool. She also has a unique and beautiful face. I like how her sunny smile contrasts with the darker mood of the Liquid Armor outfit.

Great use of lights to enhance the details of her skin as well as outfit. Very nicely done.

The Final Stand by atwen

Honorable Mention in the November 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Who doesn’t love a cute pirate girl? 😀

Superb feature of the dForce Seven Seas Outfit. She looks charming in the dress and her pose highlights the dForce drape of it very well.

Fabulous backdrop with the cage and fallen flag. I like that she is defiant till the end, manning the cannons, with sword and gun in hand, as well as a smile on her face.

A lovely and brave heroine, my favorite combo.

Congratulations to Our November 2019 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Thank you all for visiting and participating!!

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our December 2019 contest.

In addition, there is also the Face Transfer plugin. I have been playing with this the last few days and it has been fun. Not surprisingly though, it is extremely difficult to get to even a somewhat recognizable person. I played around with the textures as well as dialed in various morphs, but the end result was, at best, at the mild resemblance stage. There are still a few things I want to try out, which I will report on if they pan out.

September is all about the Premier Artist Festival at Daz-land. There were some superb discounts this year. One big one was the Stonemason store sale, with many items going for 70%, plus added discounts. Urban Future 7 was also released, and it looks amazing.

Another big Festival favorite of mine is Mountain Lakes and Forests by Andrey Pestryakov. In fact, I was just trying it out today and am very happy with the results. It makes for a very beautiful, customizable backdrop, especially when combined with an interesting HDRi sky.

Other highlights for me –

• Fawne Bundle for Genesis 8 Female(s) – She is super cute, and that smile is too adorable. The outfit and hair also look great. Definitely want to try her out soon, as well as combine her with other morphs. Should be fun! 😀
• Ensary poses – I also picked up several Ensary poses, including Bamboo Master Poses, Dark Archer Poses, White King Poses, and Greco Roman Poses. They each have something special that appeals to me. Can’t wait to try them out!
• Riviera Hair for Genesis 3 and 8 – Very unique looking with the usual OOT realism and quality. Also looks anime-ish to me, which is a big plus.

I also want to give a shout-out to SloshWerks for helping me out with transferring G8M textures to G8F. Very happily, their awesome UV Swap product works in the Map Transfer tool in Daz Studio. By using both, I am able to convert the actual textures from male to female (and vice versa).

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Genesis 8 UV Swap by SloshWerks

October 2019 Contest Vendors

With so many fantastic products released during the PA sale, we will feature 6 vendors this month.

Stonemason
Andrey Pestryakov
3D Universe
Ensary
outoftouch
SloshWerks

Images with the newly released Babina 8, and Silas 8 will also qualify.

October contest entries.

Shiba contest qualifying item used – Sapphire Hair by OOT.

1st Place – Blade Runner Blues

Artist – dtrscbrutal

First place in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Wow! Amazing concept, detail, lighting, and everything else!

Love it that he has a model city inside his apartment, while we can also see the actual one through the windows. Truly a magnificent feature of Stonemason’s Greeble City Blocks. You showed off what can be done with these versatile building blocks, with some effort and a lot of talent.

The lighting is also superb, with strong primary reds, blues, and greens. I especially like how they reflect off the various surfaces, and how they light our hero in the scene. The dynamic cloth on him, as well as his tousled hair are great touches, adding softness and contrast to the hard surfaces that predominate the scene.

An incredible work on art.

The judges also liked Sci Fi City Sunrise and Rouge Femme Fatale. A blonde femme fatale dressed in red, there is everything to love about this image.

2nd Place – Nocturne

Artist – SmR

Second place in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Stunning feature of Mountain Lakes and Forests by Andrey Pestryakov.

The brilliant camera work shows off the scale of the environment perfectly, and highlights the reflections of both the mountains as well as the large Nocturne ships on the lake waters.

I love the little guy on his boat. He further underscores how truly massive those airships are. They must be a sight to behold from his primo spot in the middle of the lake.

The rain effect is a wonderful touch, especially all the little ripples they make on the lake surface. A sensational idea that is marvelously constructed.

Colors is another composition that caught the judges’ eye. Another excellent comparison of scale, with cool use of environmental lighting and effects.

3rd Place – Portrait of a Demigoddess

Artist – Swan

Third place in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A fiery red-haired sorceress; powerful, passionate, and all around awesome!

Superb use of Classic Long Hair, which fits perfectly with her face and fierce expression. Love her eye color and taloned hands. It adds to the feeling of power and wildness that surrounds her.

The crackling ball of energy is another great symbol of her untamed strength and vitality. The color palette, character design, effects, and pose all work together to capture the essence of this dazzling heroine. Fantastic work!

3rd Place – Night In The Wood

Artist – BavarianR

Third place in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A brilliant rendition of the headless horseman.

Fabulous dynamic poses and amazing textures, particularly on the horse. Linday’s textures really shine in this image, as does their bad-ass horse armor.

Stonemason’s jungle elements provide the perfect backdrop, especially when combined with the cool fog effects. Combine it all together, and we get a marvelous composition with movement, detail, and hair raising spookiness! 😀

Young Blood is another judge favorite. Pale, dangerous, and drop-dead gorgeous; a perfect vampire.

3rd Place – Livie Loves Murdock

Artist – Jewel Designs

Third place in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

This image is totally adorable!

The poses and expressions of both girl and dog are excellent. As junk says in the comments section, “You can absolutely see the love between these two!”

I love the cute little ladybug toy, as well as that classic bulldog stare. Together, they make a very charming trio. I must say though, that a toy like that would not fare very well with my pups. 😀

Always feels good to look at your pictures.

Honorable Mentions

Gone Fishing by Kismet2012

Honorable Mention in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

Haha! Such a brilliant idea!

The little robot with mismatched eyes is adorable, as he patiently waits for the fish to bite. Outstanding top-down camera angle, framing both fisherman and fish perfectly.

Marvelous feature of The Streets Of Asia 4. Terrific details on the stonework of the bridge, surrounding vegetation, and realistic water. Love the reflections of sunlight, shadows from the bridge, and of course seeing through the clear water to the fishes in the river, as well as the pebbles on the river floor.

Lollipop by Daia

Honorable Mention in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A fantastic portrait!

It has all of my favorite elements, including the realistic red hair, striking green eyes, detailed skin, school uniform, and a lollipop. Excellent choice of colors. The strong reds of her lips, outfit, and lollipop, definitely draws the eye. That, together with her hair, also sets off her green, green eyes beautifully.

Into A Bright Sunny Dawn by denavin

Honorable Mention in the October 2019 Shiba 3D-Art Contest.

A rich scene and superb tribute to our Allied forces.

You feature Stonemason’s Battleground environment very well here. The zoomed out camera allows us to see many of the ruined buildings on both sides of the bridge. I liked that there isn’t much DoF, allowing us to see details even in the farther structures.

The varied army vehicles crossing the bridge adds movement and activity to the composition, while also highlighting the vastness of the set. Terrific work!

Congratulations to Our October 2019 3D-Art Contest Winners!

Another fabulous month of entries! It is always great fun going through all the entries, so thank you all for participating and sharing your amazing art.

To claim your Daz GC, please post a comment below with a valid e-mail in the comment e-mail box. I will use this to send you your gift card code. Please feel free to message me on Daz or Deviant Art if there are any issues.

Visit our October 2019 contest.