 An Interview with
Renderosity Artist/Vendor: Biscuits
"I have a great love for art and letting
loose my creativity. I don't have one specialty, I kind of like
variation. Painting, drawing, photograpy, 2D design, fashion
design, makeup, texture development and interior design are all
subjects that I'm interested in."
-Biscuitsonline.110mb.com
At SIGGRAPH this past August, I had dinner with Jenifer Carey (the VP of Renderosity) and friends.
Over an excellent meal, I asked her if she could recommend an
artist in the Renderosity community to spotlight on the front page.
The first name she came up with was "Biscuits" and I promised to
find out more about this member and do an interview. Well, now I
know why Jenifer was so excited about letting more people know
about this thoughtful and creative artist. This last week I
contacted Biscuits and asked her some questions about herself and
her work.
Biscuits is not only a creative artist with a
specialty in the female figure, but also a much admired vendor at
Renderosity, with over 100 "credits" (other members using her
artwork) listed in her gallery. Her "Biscuits Hair Trio" is used in many Renderosity
artists' images along with several of her Poser poses and
textures/backgrounds. It's no wonder as they are all extremely
well-done and imaginative. Her penchant for bright colors that
compliment/contrast each other is particularly enjoyable. I also
find her "Biscuits 2D Patterns" and "Biscuits Magical Props" to be so interesting
and well crafted that I'm already thinking of ways to use them in
my own projects. Her work is like that, I think. Simple and
inspiring.
Biscuits Magical Props
But it's Biscuits artwork that really shines at Renderosity. Her
female characters are all very human and full of feeling. The poses
are expressive and the camera angles she chooses are unusual, but
just right for the figure she's working on. None of the women
characters she creates are derivative or cliched either. When you
look at the eyes or the expression on the face of the woman in
"Curly Cloe," you get the impression that
something is about to happen; the character has been caught in an
emotional moment and that the artist has captured it perfectly.
Biscuits has a particular skill with nude female figures, but
unfortunately you'll have to check her gallery for those as I can't show them here on
the front page. I will say that there is an innocence and
naturalness to her nude figures that is refreshing. The skin
textures are so very good and the poses (which is not easy to get
right) are simple, but appear spontaneous. She's done some really
great work in images like "Blown Away," which is a favorite of many
who have gone through her gallery here at Renderosity, which I urge
you to spend time in.
But, let's hear from the Netherlands-based artist herself. Take
it away, Biscuits!
Curly Cloe
Ricky Grove: You joined Renderosity in 2008; what
brought you here? And how has renderosity been for you both as an
artist and a vendor?
Biscuits: First of all, I want to say that I'm
honored and positively surprised by this interview, thank you
Ricky!
My interest in Poser brought me to Renderosity, this is a very
good place to learn about Poser and the possibilities of the
program. I feel very welcome here, people have been very kind, very
helpful in the forums and in the site-mail. I've met lovely artists
in the chat, and browsing through the galleries is very
enjoyable.
I'm also very happy when other artists find the things I make
for a hobby useful.
Ricky Grove: Can you go over some of your working
methods? What software do you use generally? What is the process of
creating images for you?
Biscuits: The best thing for me to trigger
inspiration is when I'm alone with no disturbance, so I can work
out a new idea in my mind. Unfortunately, not all ideas will see
the actual daylight, but imagining things is already half the
fun!
I enjoy working with 2D and 3D packages like Photoshop,
Illustrator, CINEMA 4D, ZBrush, and, of
course, Poser!
What also works well is brainstorming in chats. There are times
the group comes up with hilarious ideas, very good for a laugh, but
sometimes you really can help each other and get good feedback.
Because of the lack of a specialism and interest in so many facets
of 2D and 3D, my workflow is never boring or just routine.
Ricky Grove: Tell me a bit about yourself; do you have
any training in digitial arts? Are you selftaught? What interests
you in creating images and props?
Biscuits: I'm 33 and live together with my
husband and our cat. As long as I can remember, drawing and
painting were my favorite hobbies. Later, my interests expanded to
photography, texture development, interior design and fashion
design. I have a degree in Design and Illustration; on the Academy
of Visual Arts. I learned my base of 2D, the 3D part came much
later and was self-taught. Unfortunately, I suffer from Multiple
Sclerosis. Life is a very bumpy road that way, but art and coming
up with new ideas is a fantastic distraction.
Rock your world
Ricky Grove: I really like the image "Rock Your World";
can you tell me how that piece came about? What was the
inspiration?
Biscuits: I like to do simple setups with one
figure. I often try to let the character connect with the viewer
through eyes and/or body language.
First, I choose a skin texture. I'm very fond of the textures
created by Ceridwen and _Fenrissa_. After that, I do some morphing. I
used to work mostly with posepacks, but recently bought a fantastic
pose tool from William the Bloody. Now I can make a complicated pose
in just one hour. And I love to make my own V4 hair.
Something which is very important I think, is the light and
camera setup; I mostly do some mixing, matching and tweaking with
the lights till it suits the textures best. Then, to finish it up a
bit, enhancements are done in Photoshop.
The pictures I still like are "The Muse" and "Blown Away".
Ricky Grove: You are quite skilled in creating hair. Why
is hair so interesting to you?
Biscuits: The hair thing fascinates me. I
initially started to learn modeling to make my own clothes for
Vicky. How ironic that now that I actually can make my own
clothes, I mostly make unclothed characters with custom hair. I
don't know what happened! It's probably a phase.
Ricky Grove: who are the artists that inspire
you?
Biscuits: I love the super-real, the sci-fi and
the surreal in images.
There are so many artist who make fascinating art. To name a
few: Edward Hopper, Carel Willink, David Ho, Mark Ryden. My favorite artists here at
Renderosity are plenty: Stonemason, blackshep, michael119de, EportsBlade, doarte and many more.
Ricky Grove: Here's my last question - What are your
plans for future projects? I notice you tend to focus on female
figures (hair, poses, clothing), are you thinking of adding male
figures to your work at some point?
Biscuits: At the moment I'm not working on
anything because the MS has gotten worse and my husband and I are
planning to move to a new home that is more suitable for me. But, I
would really love to make a complete V4 character, I love doing
makeup and custom morphs in ZBrush. And I also have fun ideas for a
new Hair Trio. Designing for male figures I tried...I think it's
best if I leave that to others. ;)
Portrait of Mimi
My sincere thanks to Biscuits for taking the time to speak with
me about her work. I hope you find her comments and artwork as
interesting as I have. Be sure to check out her gallery and items for sale in the Renderosity store.
Best of luck on your moving house, Biscuits.
Be sure to also visit:
 Ricky
Grove [gToon], Staff Columnist with the Renderosity Front
Page News. Ricky Grove is a bookstore clerk at the best bookstore
in Los Angeles, the Iliad Bookshop. He's also an actor and
machinima filmmaker. He lives with author, Lisa Morton, and three
very individual cats. Ricky is into Hong Kong films, FPS shooters,
experimental anything and reading, reading, reading. You can catch
his blog here. |
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