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Chapter 1

David Ho

(Artist Statement) I’ve created art for so long that it’s become ahabit. Creating art makes me feel productive in this world.During different stages of my career, I’ve learned to admire dif-ferent artists. When I first started out, I loved the works ofMichael Whelan, Michael Parkes, and HR Giger; then theworks of John Jude Palencar, Odd Nerdrum, Cam deLeon, andMark Ryden started growing on me. I still love the works ofthese artists, but today I find myself looking at traditionalChinese paintings quite a bit. I’ve created art for so long thatit’s become a habit. Creating art makes me feel productive inthis world. During different stages of my career, I’ve learned toadmire different artists.

InfluencesI’ve created art for so long that it’s become a habit. Creating artmakes me feel productive in this world. During different stagesof my career, I’ve learned to admire different artists. When Ifirst started out, I loved the works of Michael Whelan, MichaelParkes, and HR Giger; then the works of John Jude Palencar,

Odd Nerdrum, Cam deLeon,and Mark Ryden startedgrowing on me. I still love theworks of these artists, buttoday I find myself looking attraditional Chinese paintingsquite a bit. I’ve created art forso long that it’s become ahabit. Creating art makes mefeel productive in this world.During different stages of mycareer, I’ve learned to admiredifferent artists.

BioI’ve created art for so long that it’s become a habit. Creating artmakes me feel productive in this world. During different stagesof my career, I’ve learned to admire different artists. When Ifirst started out, I loved the works of Michael Whelan, MichaelParkes, and HR Giger; then the works of John Jude Palencar,Odd Nerdrum, Cam deLeon, and Mark Ryden started growingon me. I still love the works of these artists, but today I findmyself looking at traditional Chinese paintings quite a bit.

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Artist’s StatementI’ve always believed that art’s purpose is to serve as an outlet formy thoughts, feelings, and expressions. Without Poser, I defi-nitely would not be the artist I am today. Poser’s wireframe andits ability to bring in other wireframe figures from places likedaz3d.com are invaluable. No other software can create humanfigure gestures like Poser.

The Creative ProcessI always create my dominant subject matter in Poser. I usePoser when I create figures, and most of my works are figura-tive. I work in grayscale first to concentrate on certain ele-ments, such as lighting, composition, form, and texture. AfterI’m satisfied with the illustration, I convert the entire file intoan RGB file and then start coloring each element in each layer.

Technique: How to Create “Block Figures”My series of block figures deal with themes on the disintegra-tion and integration of man. The human form is portrayedwithin a series of blocks.

It took me roughly 6 months to nail down this technique, andI’ve never shared it with anyone until now. To create this effect,you need some skills in Photoshop and Poser and some texturesthat you can create digitally, traditionally, or from your digitalcamera.

I’ll demonstrate this technique with the artwork “Letting Go.”(See Figure 1.12.) To start out with, it’s usually easier to workon this style with a close-up of a figure (as opposed to showingthe entire figure). Let’s begin.

1. Beginning with Figure 1.1, you can see that the pose is quitestandard. It’s always easier to create this “block” artworkwhen the figure is close-up. For the lighting, use a single-source light. For the background, pick a color that’s entirelydifferent from the figure. Later on, you’ll select the figureseparately from the background. Render the figure overblack in Poser without texturing it. For this technique, I willadd my own texture on top of the figure in Photoshop.

2. After rendering the figure, set the Document Display Styleto Hidden Line. (See Figure 1.2.) Again, the color of thewireframe should be drastically different from the back-ground color. Depending on what version of Poser you areusing, either output a high resolution wireframe/hidden lineview (Poser 5, 6), or capture the screen if you are workingwith an older version.

3. Open the screen capture in Photoshop by choosing File,Open. Next, go to Select, Color Range and pick the back-ground color. (See Figure 1.3.)

Figure 1.1 Close-up of stock figure.Figure 1.3 Select the background color in Photoshop.

Figure 1.2 View Hidden Line and use contrasting line color.

TipIf you’re an artist who is just starting out with Poser, beginwith more static poses. Users who aren’t too familiar withPoser often end up trying to create figures in dramatic ges-tures, but those usually appear unconvincing.

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7. Notice in Figure 1.7 that the wireframe doesn’t look all thatgreat because it’s been enlarged. Continue with steps 8–12 toimprove the look of the wireframe.

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4. Delete the background color so that only the image of thewireframe remains. (See Figure 1.4.)

5. Next, open the rendered Poser file with a black backgroundin Photoshop. Notice in Figure 1.5 that the file is still ingrayscale at this point. For this technique, you do not con-vert to RGB or color the image until later.

6. Now bring in the previous wireframe file, color it black,copy it, and paste it onto your new file. (See Figure 1.6.)

Figure 1.4 The wireframe with no background color. Figure 1.5 Open the rendered Poser file in Photoshop

Figure 1.6 Add the block layer.

Figure 1.7 The enlarged wireframe.

TipUsing Memory Dots is helpful. This feature remembers a cer-tain pose after you click it. Figure 1.13 shows Memory Dots.

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8. See what happens when you apply the Gaussian Blur (Filter,Blur, Gaussian Blur) filter to the wireframe in Figure 1.8.

9. Go to Filter, Other, Maximum to sharpen the wireframe. Ifit appears a little light, you might want to duplicate thelayer. (See Figure 1.9.)

10. Figure 1.10 shows both of the rock textures used in this piece.I don’t think that any one texture is particularly better thananother. The only manipulation done on the textures wasprobably adjusting the brightness and contrast. Place twodifferent textures in Overlay mode on top of the file.

Figure 1.10 These rocks were scanned to create realistic overlay textures.

Figure 1.8 Apply the Gaussian Blur filter.

Figure 1.9 Duplicate the layer to darken it.

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11. In Figure 1.11, you duplicate the wireframe and then colorit white. Move the entire white frame a little, and erase cer-tain areas where the shadows were erased.

12. In a nutshell, that’s how you can create the block feel. Afteryou’re satisfied with the file, convert it to RGB and coloreach layer individually. (See Figure 1.12, which is the finalimage.) I created the blocks in Bryce and then duplicatedand rotated them.

Figure 1.11 Offset the wireframe layer to give the illusion of depth.

Figure 1.15 You can utilize Memory Dots to temporarily save up to nine poses,camera angles, and user interface layouts. Memory Dots are in the Poser work-

space by default. You can access them by choosing Window, Memory Dots.

Figure 1.12 “Letting Go” by David Ho.

LightingI love dramatic lighting. That’s why I use the simple "singlesource light" so much in my figures. Every once in a while, Iadd a spotlight to add a more dramatic chiaroscuro effect.Chiaroscuro (Italian for light-dark) is a fine art technique thatuses bold contrast between light and dark, which gives the illu-sion of more depth. In addition to creating more depth, shad-ows can help to hide the imperfections of the Poser figures.Sometimes I use the stock lighting scenes.

ContentThe most important stock content for me is the hand gesturesbecause they are a pain to adjust. Moving each joint and fingergets tedious. Having stock content really helps to eliminate thehassle. I find the best stock content at http://www.daz3d.com.

Posing FiguresPosing takes patience and lots of coffee. Getting the exact ges-ture, pose, or expression is the most challenging part of work-ing with Poser. The hardest gestures are the action-orientedones because of the complex way our bodies and muscles twist,expand, and contract. I like developing static poses to create asurreal, strange, and quiet mood. I also enjoy creating staticfacial expressions. While I’m creating the figure, I usually add alow-resolution image of the background in Poser so that adjust-ing the perspective and lighting of the figure is simpler. I usual-ly bring all the files back into Photoshop to fit them together.

TipPhotoshop works great with Poser. I always create hair inPhotoshop. Also, any 3D program has areas you need toclean up. Photoshop is effective at managing those touchups.

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InsightsWhat do you wish someone had told you when you firststarted with Poser?I wish someone would have told me the great leaps Poserwould take. I remember using Poser 1. Boy, now that I thinkback, those figures were quite archaic.

Where do you think computer-generated imagery will be5–10 years from now? I think computer-generated imagery will take a turn toward amore abstract and expressionistic style. It’s currently at a pointwhere it’s so realistic. After a while, people will consciouslymove away from realism and find their own style. It’s similar totraditional arts, where hints of modern art came into play withthe advent of Impressionism. In Impressionism, artists made aconscious effort not to make refined and realistic art.

What do you think will be most significant in CGI 5–10years from now?I think it will be the infinite possibility of outputting hardcopies. Now anyone can output his works on paper with theabundant supply of various printers out there. Maybe, justmaybe, someone will invent some kind of sculpture outputtingdevice where the artist can one day output his wireframe tosculpture at a reasonable cost.

David HoStudio

Software: Photoshop, Bryce, IllustratorHardware: Mac G5

ContactDavid Ho ■ ho@davidho.com ■ http://www.davidho.com

On the DVD

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