Sublime Digitals e-zine

Oct 07, 2007 at 12:00 am by Store Staff


An e-zine, for those who don't know, is the technology age's answer to a traditional magazine. Thought to have originated in the mid-eighties, today's e-zines are more than digital reproductions of your average magazine. As the e-zine grows in popularity, it is now becoming a new tool in the realm of digital art.

I've had the pleasure of meeting one of the many e-zine creators, Mrs. Tima Cooke [3DSublimeProductions]. She is the creator of the e-zine Sublime Digitals.


When did you first become interested in digital art?

I didn't get my computer until 1999, I remember bringing it home, plugging it in and then thinking what now? My very first experience with anything art related on the computer was a disk that I purchased at Wal-Mart with clip art and such things. At the time, I had no idea what clip art was either. I found a web site that allowed you to make a homepage for free, and I was able to put some of that clip art on my page and the rest is history I guess.

From there I moved onto playing in MS Paint, which can have some good end results once you use it long enough. The first software I ever used outside of MS Paint, was Corel 9, and I loved it, but I wasn't good at it at all. I acidentally found the tool that allowed me to make animated gifs and from there, I was hooked. In 2001 I found Paint Shop Pro and started doing every tutorial I could find to help me learn the program.

In late 2002 I started creating web sites for small businesses in my community and that lead to a whole new world of art. We live in a very small town and we are known as "The Website People". I have 3 accounts now that I maintain monthly, and once a year as a token of our appreciation they get a choice between a new site design, or a web logo and banner package. I give my own site at least 2 face lifts a year :)

Do you have any type of previous art experience outside of the digital world?

I was raised by a single mother for the first 13 years of my life. Money wasn't something that we had a lot of, but somehow she managed to allow me to take an art class when I was around 9 years old. I can still remember the smell of the kneaded rubber art erasers that we used. I took every Art class I could in school, and found a way to express myself with a pen, pencil, or paintbrush.

I am also an avid picture taker. I take pictures of things that most people don't find worthy of being caught on film. Old barns, fields with tall grass, old trees, etc.

Is there any one artist in particular that has inspired you more then any other? If so, what do you find so inspiring about them?

The one person that has inspired me the most would have to be my art teacher in school. She pushed me to do what I thought I couldn't and she always helped me find ways to make it better, even when I thought it was finished.

As far as digital artists go, hands down, it would have to be my good friend Rebelmommy (Amy Galloway). I remember seeing something she made when I first came to Renderosity and I remember just sitting here staring at it thinking how awesome it was. She has also become a wonderful friend and mentor to me over the years. We laugh a lot and I think that is why we get along the best. She has helped me more than I can ever explain, and she always has time to answer my questions, even at 2 in the morning we we are both so tired we can barely type! I know that I can send her a preview of something I am working on and she will give me an honest answer. If its horrible, she will say that I should do this or that to make it "even" better, and if it is good from the beginning, she tells me that too. I am always amazed with anything she creates, and while I definitely have my own style, she always helps me figure out ways to keep improving on what I think is done and ready to go.

There are a ton of different programs out there; which ones do you use?

My toolbox is quite full actually. I find myself never sticking to just one program to do what I want, I swap back and forth and use each for different things. I have Photoshop 7, which I adore for the brushes that are made for it. I also have Corel Paint Shop Pro 10 and Animation Shop which I use for creating almost anything that I don't create in Photoshop.

I have Poser 4, 5, and 6 and don't see a need to upgrade to 7 yet because I just now started unleashing the power in 6, thanks to Rebelmommy teaching me a little about the material room, and the Firefly engine :)

I have Hexagon that I am slowly getting the hang of. I have A.G.E., Poser Toolbox, UVMapper Pro, Cr2 Editor, and a few other little small utilities that help me further my frustration :)

For creating anything to be used with Poser, I swap back and forth between Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.

Where did the idea for the e-zine come from?

I am currently in school studying for my Associates Degree in Graphic Arts and Commercial Publication. We were asked to pick from a list of at home projects that would test our skill about things we had learned, and were learning at the time. This project will also become a part of my portfolio one day to show potential clients. It is a learning experience, and I am having loads of fun learning!

I had seen a few e-zines online and wanted to be able to take part in a project that would bring viewers "back to art". It isn't about selling products, but it is about promoting artists and allowing others to see and learn about some of the artists out there. I wanted to be able to offer a publication that featured artists, allowed them to tell viewers about themselves, and offer a wide variety of other things.

My girls are a large part of the e-zine. The eleven year old is here with me while I work on it, and while the smaller one can't help me put it together, she does like looking at the pictures :)

There is always a goal with any sort of publication. What is the goal of your e-zine?

Other than that of making a good grade in my classes, my goal for the publication goes much further than that for me actually. I hope to keep this going long after I am done with my schooling. I think that it allows artists to have his or her work in another form for others to see. The Renderosity Galleries are a wonderful place to start, but sometimes it is easy to get lost if you don't have a few hours to catch up on new submissions each day.

I want it to continue to grow from month to month and offer informative articles, tutorials, and links to places where people can learn new things, or polish old skills. I said from the beginning that it was Art & More for the Artist, and I intend on keeping it that way.

Right now its a free publication. Are there any long term goals of changing that, perhaps when the popularity increases?

I certainly never want to make money off of someone elses work, and I would never make it commercial unless ofcourse, I could make enough from it to pay each and every artist or speaker that contributed to it. My husband and I have discussed creating another version of the e-zine that would allow for nudity to be in the images, and that publication would be commercial and we would pay the contributing artists and speakers for allowing us to use their creations.

Right now, SublimeDigitals is a family safe publication. I have my two young daughters that create something for each issue, and the offer is on the table that if any artist wants his or her child's art included - they are more than welcome. The original SublimeDigitals will always be free, and maybe in the future we can make another version of it that allows for more adult appropriate material to be included.

Do you have any concerns about copyright violations?

Oh absolutely! There is always a concern of copyright violations. I make sure that each and every artist knows what issue their work will be in, they receive a link where they can download that issue, and we keep archives of each issue published. I hand pick the images and I make sure to name them as they are originally named, as well as add all copyright info below the selected image.

My husband is so far from digital art creation, or understanding Poser past opening it and closing it that he has agreed to help with email and go online once a week and use several search engines to search for keywords relating to SublimeDigitals to make sure that it hasn't been placed on another server somewhere. The only two places that SublimeDigitals will be available will be at our business site 3DSublime Productions, and ShareCG. If it was obtained from somewhere else (the actual download) then, it was placed their without our consent.

Artists, speakers, and sponsors are welcome to link to the download of the ezine on the ShareCG server, and are welcome to send our contact info to those that may be interested. We are using "word of mouth" and a small sponsor program to get the word out about SublimeDigitals. Advertising is free, we simply do a link exchange with anyone that wants to help us advertise and promote the publication. We also keep track of our sponsors and check once a month to make sure that our link is properly credited and displayed on partnering sites.

In the future, we hope to increase security even more with a home for SublimeDigitals on its on server so that it may be obtained only through us. Right now, that isn't financially possible, but we have our hopes that the publication will only continue to gain popularity which will lead to maybe that second version, and not only money to pay for the more adult version, but also to give the contributing artists a little cash as well!

What do you enjoy the most about producing the e-zine?

Overall, I think that planning, gathering the content, laying it all out, and creating the finished product is just a change of pace for me. I find that if I do too much of the same thing, I tend to lose my edge, or my muse - whichever gets worn out first , lol!

Aside from that, I would have to say I have very much enjoyed seeing other artists get to be a part of this and have their work smiled upon. It makes us all feel good when we become a part of something larger, and outside our normal circle and in the end, all of that pride drives us to create even more!

Do you have any advice for someone who's playing around with the idea of starting their own e-zine?

Do some research on the "type" of e-zine you want to create. Look at other e-zines of the same subject matter, and take note of how things are presented and displayed. You want to keep it simple for the reader, and exciting.

Make your artists, and your readers a part of what is going on. Do interviews, special sections, etc.

While making a working template or bone structure of your e-zine is a good idea, don't be afraid to change it up and do different graphics or visual elements. This keeps it interesting and appealing.

Any final thoughts or words for the members of the community and your subscribers?

Have fun doing what you do. I know that a lot of people here are artists and creators and earn a living doing this, but there has to be some form of enjoyment - or it becomes a tedious job that we don't look forward to anymore.

I hope that SublimeDigitals continues to grow and can become a part of this community that gives back! We are always scouting for new talent as they say :)

If you are interested in becoming a featured artist, or you would like to advertise with us, just drop me a note here at Renderosity.

Also, keep your eye out for SublimeDigitalsX which will be released in 2008. It will be a version geared more toward the adult audiences, therefore opening even more outlets for artists to share their work.

A final thank you goes to all of the wonderful friends I have made since becoming a member here, and all of the talented artists that have shared their work with SublimeDigitals. We appreciate you all!

October's e-zine is right around the corner, you can download your free copy of Sublime Digitals e-zine at: http://www.3dsublime.com/SublimeDigitals/.

We invite you to visit:

Tima's Renderosity Home Page
Tima's Renderosity Gallery
Tima's Renderosity Store
3DSublime.com 


All supporting images are copyright, and cannot be
copied, printed, or reproduced in any manner without written permission.

Kathy Poche [kathym], a married twenty-seven year old mother of one, has been fascinated by the 3D realm ever since 1995. An artistically minded individual, her hobbies include everything from acrylic paints on canvas and short story writing to images generated in Poser, Bryce and Photoshop. Her goal before turning the big 3 0 is to gain some formal education in the field of 3D animation. For six years and counting, she has been an outspoken member of the Renderosity community. Currently she is a stay-at-home mom, which allows her greater time to work on her writings which she hopes to have published in the not so distant future.




October 8, 2007

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