 We are excited to present a new series of interviews
featuring members of the Renderosity Cartoonist Team. Each week
these outstanding artists put the "giggles" in our funny bones, and
the "thrills and chills" in our adventurous spirits. The first of
our interviews is with Tony Sellars, better known on Renderosity as
Bigt. Tony's Boys [the mischievous dragon trio] have been
causing havoc on the Renderosity site for years: running amuck
among the Renderosity Gallery Images; playing within the pages of
the Renderosity Magazine; and now you can enjoy the newest family
of Tonys imagination, The Mudds, each week on The
Renderosity Front Page News - by clicking on Renderosity's
Front Page and scrolling down to the 'Rosity Comics Strip!
It is a pure pleasure for me to introduce you to the amazingly
talented man behind the laughter Tony Sellars the gentle soul
with a big heart ...
As the founding member of Renderositys cartoonist team:
as the official cartoonist for the Renderosity [printed]
Magazine, then, heading up Bigts Sunday Funnies on
The RIM, and now as the lead cartoonist for the
Renderosity Front Page News Comics Strip, where do you get
the inspiration for your weekly strips? My inspiration mainly
comes from life around me, and my own experiences with others
that and a rather overactive sense of humor!. Please give our
readers a history of your Dragons series [or The Boys
as they are more affectionately known], and your more recent strip
The Mudds. Well it all really started with one
particular image, which is still posted in my Renderosity Art
Gallery [The Great Escape], that image received a great community
response. Encouraged by that, I followed up with a second, then a
third, and so on. Before long, the trio had taken on a "life" of
their own, getting into all sorts of mischief.
The Great Escape Tony Sellars [Bigt]
The Mudds I created with just the comic strip in mind. My
vision of these characters, was to get them into all sorts of
comical scrapes and situations, similar to The Boys, but I wanted
a change from dragons. The characters I chose were well adapted and
very animated for this type of work.
The Mudds Tony Sellars [Bigt]
How difficult is it to come up fresh ideas? On average, how much
time goes into creating a single strip? What is the process of
creating a strip, do you come up with a concept first, or do the
characters take you on their own journey? Well sometimes I
simply sit in front of the monitor and wait for ideas to gel.
Sometimes I may see a particular prop, or perhaps I may have
seen something funny during the day that gives me an idea. Most of
the time though, ideas and situations simply pop into my head. Once
the idea takes hold I then work from it to produce a finished, and
hopefully funny strip. As for how long, well, most of the time once
the idea is in there, the actual time spent producing the strip can
be very little, perhaps an hour, maybe two. What version of
Poser are you currently using, and do you use additional 3D or
computer paint programs to enhance your creations? I started
with Poser version 4, then moved onto version 5 which I loved. I
continued to learn as much as I could then moved onto Poser 6 when
it was released, this is now my version of choice, I find it very
easy to use and the work flow is very productive. I also use Vue 4
and Carrera 4, both of which have their own brand of qualities, but
for speed I always go back to Poser. Once the images are rendered I
use Photoshop to add certain postwork effects, or additions as
required by the image. Postwork is the part I actually love doing.
Tony, you have been an active member of the Renderosity
community for over five years, so long, in fact that you have
become a site icon! What has kept you so involved with the
Renderosity community for all these years? I stumbled across
the site quite by accident just after getting Poser 4, I was a
newbie then of course, it was like finding an Aladdins cave of
goodies: things to buy, lots for free! As my interest grew and my
style began to develop, I started posting to the galleries, as you
all know, you getted Hooked! I found that the members and
staff of the Renderosity site were friendly and extremely helpful
and generous, I felt comfortable amongst friends with a similar
interest as myself. Also, I learned an incredible amount from the
site and its members, so much so, that I feel a very strong sense
of loyalty towards them. I will continue to be an active part as
much as I can. Although you have touched upon your health
issues in the past, I know that our readers would like to know how
you are feeling these days, and how you are able to balance your
health issues with your artwork. How do you use art to cope?
When I first started posting to the site I was recovering from a
rather nasty heart attack, therefore I had quite a bit of free time
to use. Ideas came thick and fast, and my style and knowledge of
the software quickly developed. I was creating image after image as
I tried to get the ideas onto screen. As my ability to use the
software grew so did my need to create better and better quality
images, if you look at my early images compared to my later ones
you will see what I mean. Then I developed MS [Multiple Sclerosis],
this was a real blow. I lost the use of my left hand, both my legs
are numb, so is the left side of my head, and I have trouble with
vision and balance. The images quickly slowed to a crawl, I now
produce very few, but I work harder on them somehow, working with
Poser and Photoshop and communicating with the Renderosity
community in general, help me tremendously to cope with long term
illness, and of course my family who continue to support and help
me a very sincere Thank You to all. On a personal note,
I have been after you, for a long time, to publish a childrens
illustrated book featuring those crazy dragons, have you done
anything toward making my dream a reality? No nothing I am
afraid, but having said that, your question to me has now made me
think positive, I will start to create a book using the three
dragons as the main characters, thanks for the nudge Dee-Marie,
I WILL do it ! Besides posting to the
Renderosity Front Page News and your Renderosity gallery,
what other art projects have you been working on? I have been
approached by Paul of Pama-Art, who is now producing very high quality prints
of selected images from my gallery, these are on sale to the
general public at various sites in the UK, he is currently working
on a website to promote sales worldwide too and of course I now
have a book to produce!
The Boys on the Cover of The Renderosity Magazine - Issue
8
Do you have any words of wisdom that you would like to
share with Renderosity artists on finding and developing their own
style? Words of Wisdom? ME? HAH! .Well, ok.
- Only to go with how you feel
- Let your own style develop, sure, ask for help around the
community, they are a good bunch, but let your style be your
own
- I personally put a LOT of effort into posing characters well,
into giving them weight and a natural feel, so much so that is
now easy for me and I now do it as second nature.
- Whatever you choose to do or use, THE main thing is ENJOY
Yourself doing it.
Thanks Dee-Marie for your support and encouragement now and in the
past. Also, a special thank you to all the members of the
community, who take time to comment on my images and who model the
fantastic meshes and textures that I use. Bye for now and I will
see you in the Funnies! Best regards, Bigt ;0)
We invite you to visit the following sites:
 "Lets Talk" with Dee-Marie
is a monthly featured column
by Dee-Marie:
Senior Staff Writer, and Managing Editor of
Renderosity's Front Page News Aug 8,
2005 |
Comments