tablets like the Ugee are becoming much more
affordable (we had a review of the Ugee in our
last issue). I think we’re about to see a boom in
digital sketching, to all sorts of people.
CD: Yes, I do paint that way often. Many of my
textures are created that way. In terms of
finished images, I prefer the 3D workflow,
largely because I'm not a very good digital
painter. This year I bought myself a few books
on the subject because I've never really learned
proper technique with the tablet and pen. I'm
looking forward to trying to improve in that area.
DAL: I think you’re nearly 20 years in to making
digital art, at the end of 2016? What new
thematic horizons or new skills would you like to
develop? VR, perhaps, or ‘augmented reality’
like the Microsoft Hololens offers?
CD: I want to keep doing what I do, but improve
at each aspect of it. As I mentioned, I'd like to
become a better 2D painter, both digitally and
traditionally. I'd like to improve my modelling
skills. I'd like to work on building a bigger
texture library, maybe adding new modelling and
texture creation software to my wish list.
I'd also like to do more content creation. I have
a few models and textures available at
Cornucopia3D, and at Renderosity.
DAL: Ah, right. And have you ever done a book?
Perhaps a picture story book for children?
CD: I did make a book, and self published it in- I wrote the story, and then created the
artwork in Bryce. I'm currently re-working the
images and will put a new version of the book
out sometime in 2017.
DAL: Wonderful. Blurb are reported to be the
best, though not the cheapest, in terms of
quality print-on-demand.
CD: I'm not sure if I'll do print on demand or
just make it available as a digital download and/
or YouTube slideshow.
DAL: Are you happy with all your early work?
Are you ever tempted to revisit it and do a re-
vamped re-rendered version?
CD: All the time, as evidenced by my comments
about The Gray Beetle above. Honestly I'm
rarely completely satisfied with any of my work,
old or new, and if it wasn't for the constant
stream of new ideas, I could re-work and fiddle
with older images full time. I think that's a
common trait among creative people, though.
DAL: What has inspired you in science fiction or
fantasy, lately?
CD: While I love both genres in many different
formats: art, games, comics, movies... lately
I've been more focused on atmospheric and
conceptual images. I will always love and be
inspired by other worlds and realities, and sci-fi /
fantasy is a rich source for that. It will always be
the foundation of my work, even if what I'm
working on isn't directly related to the genre.
DAL: Super. Well, thanks very much for this in-
depth interview. We wish you well with your
future work.Cynthia Decker is online at:
and