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Okay, your work looks pretty good online, but how does it look on the products in your shop? |
Good question, and I'm glad you asked. I recently ordered two of the black Darkwolf Gear T-shirts and three mini-posters of some of my artwork. I ordered Merowyn, Lacrimosa, and the Red Dragon.
The colors on the T-shirts aren't as bright as they are in the image. I've only ever ordered the dark tees, so I that's all I can base my judgment on. However, even though the colors aren't as bright, the images still look great.
The posters, on the other hand were an entirely different story. All I could say was WOW! They looked even better than I expected and we plan to frame them and hang them in our home. Yes, they look that nice. The colors were absolutely brilliant and the images were sharp and just plain gorgeous, in my humble opinion and my wife's of course. |
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What's with this whole "Darkwolf Dictionary" stuff? |
Well, I've always loved Ambrose Bierce's "Devil's Dictionary". It's funny, it's satirical, and in some cases, it's just plain too close to truthful. I've also always wanted to add a few of my own entries to the dictionary.
The idea sort of just sat on me one day. I was brainstorming for new designs and "plomp" - there it was, the first idea for the Darkwolf Dictionary. Then I thought, the original Devil's Dictionary is no longer copyrighted because it was written in 1911 and the copyright has run out. I've never seen any sort of shirt that had any of the original definitions, or even a reference to the Devil's Dictionary on them, so I thought - "now there's an idea!"
If you're not familiar with the original Devil's Dictionary, I'd suggest that you run a Google search on it, because quite a lot of it is still relevant today and your sure to find some of it that will tickle your funny bone. Not only that, but if you find a favorite definition that isn't on a shirt design yet, drop me a line, and I'll see if I can put it on a shirt design. just please don't send me one of the definitions that is more than a paragraph long - I only have a certain area on the shirts that I can work within. |
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What if I want one of your designs on a particular item that it's not already on, or what if I'd like a personalized version? |
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It's easy enough to add a design to a new product. If you'd like to see a particular design on a product that it is not already featured on,
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and let us know, we'll be more than willing to add it to any available product.
As for personalized items, we're less likely to do this, unless we see a lot of requests for it. However, we are considering adding some personalized items in the future, so keep checking back. |
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How long have you been an artist? |
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I think the most common answer that any artist gives to that is "all my life", and I'm no different. I've been drawing, coloring, or doing something creative for as long as I can remember. |
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Did you really do all of this on a computer? |
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Yep. 100%. The only thing that isn't computer drawn, rendered, or created is some of the textures, which which were originally photographs of certain materials (and even these are reprocessed on the computer to fit the models), and a few reference photos. |
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You keep mentioning "rendering". What does that mean? |
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"Rendering" is a term used by 3D computer artists to describe the process by which the computer takes the information we give it and turns it into a completed image. Basically, we set up a scene using very crude representations of the objects we plan to use and then tell the computer to go back and fill in all of the tiniest details. To be honest, I doubt I could even begin to give and accurate description about what the computer does during all of this, but I can absolutely assure you that it involves some seriously complicated math! |
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Ok, so what is a "texture"? |
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"Textures", or materials, as we call them are the images that get "wrapped-around" a 3D model to make it look like what it is supposed to be. For instance, all of the people in my artwork would be one solid color, like a statue, if I didn't apply a flat, 2D "skin" texture to them. The Textures contain all of the model's color and skin details, so if I want my model to have a heart-shaped tattoo on her arm, I have to go in and draw it onto her skin texture. |
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So, you just set up a scene and let the computer do all of the real work? |
It's not quite that simple, although I wish it was sometimes. 3D artwork is, in a lot of ways, like photography. In fact, I learned a lot of my 3D lighting skills by reading tutorials on photographic lighting. You certainly wouldn't tell a photographer that his camera does all of the real work!
A lot goes into creating a scene. You have to decide on what model or models to use, what skin to give them, their hair, eyes, makeup, etc. Then you have to pose them, so that they are doing what you want them to do.
From there, you move on to the background and foreground scenery, such as mountains and trees in the background to maybe some mushrooms or stones in the foreground. All of those have to be textured to look the way you want them to look too.
Now that you've got everything and everybody in the proper places, the real fun begins: lighting. Just like in photography, lighting in 3D artwork is extremely important. It can also get a lot more complicated. Where a photographer can only control certain elements of lighting, a 3D artist can control almost every element there is to the lighting in a scene. The 3D artist doesn't necessarily have to use all of the complicated features, but they are there if he or she chooses to use them.
Ok, so here's the short answer. No, I don't let the computer do all the real work. I just let it develop the image that I've created. |
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How long does it take to complete one of your images? |
That's a hard question to answer because it depends on the image. Some images can be finished in 2 or 3 days. Some can take months. One big factor is how complicated the lighting and the scenery is in the image. Something with only one or two elements renders much more quickly than something with a hundred.
For instance, I had one image, that was later put in the "to do later" bin, that had a very complicated atmosphere (yes, in 3D, you can even control the sky and the weather). The image also had two pieces of land, a large body of water, and two moderately complex lighthouse models. Water can take forever to render and this particular atmosphere was extremely complex.
My most powerful computer's estimated time for completing the rendering process: about 16 months! |
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What kinds of art do you create? |
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Mostly I create fantasy art, of which fairies and dragons are my primary subjects. However, I also enjoy creating pirate artwork and glamour pinup art. Of course, I also enjoy creating fun t-shirt designs. I have, and still do, create other types of art. In the past, I have painted in oils and acrylics and even done a bit of pottery and sculpting. However, since I became ill with CIDP, my hands tend to tremor, and I have difficulty working with traditional media. |
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CIDP stands for Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. It's the chronic form of Guillane-Barre disease and it's a fairly rare condition. In terms of symptoms, it's a lot like Multiple Sclerosis and even damages the myelin sheath that surrounds the nerve cells within the body, just like MS. The difference is which nerves are primarily affected. In MS, the brain is the primary target of the disease, while in CIDP, it's the nerves outside of the brain that are primarily damaged. You can find a lot more information about CIDP by visiting the CIDP USA Foundation. |
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Where do you find inspiration for your work? |
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Honestly, I find inspiration pretty much everywhere. There are several artists that influence my work, mainly Boris Vallejo, Luis Royo, and most recently, fantasy artist Amy Brown. I also find inspiration in random photographs, magazines, television, you name it. |
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What's your favorite subject for your artwork? |
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It all depends on my mood. Right now, I'm working on a lot of fairy artwork, but I've got a few other designs in mind that I'm planning to work on soon. Of course, I also do a lot of funny shirt designs and those pop up all the time, usually when I think of or see something that I find funny. |
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What software do you use to create your images? |
There are three software programs that use for almost everything I create. They are: Poser 6, Vue 6 xStream, and Photoshop.
Poser is a program used to shape, pose, and dress the models that I use. I think of it as sort of the model's dressing room.
Vue is primarily a landscape and scenery design program, although it does have some minor capabilities for creating objects. I use it for scenery and it is also the program that I use to render all of my images. It has a very robust rendering and lighting engine that I love.
Photoshop or a similar program is an absolute must for computer artists. I use it for creating and painting everything from textures to background images and I also use it to do "touch-ups" of the final rendered images that Vue produces. |
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So why do you use the name "Darkwolf"? Why not just use your real name? |
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There are several reasons. The first is that I'm a very private person, and I want to remain that way. The second is that I've been using the nickname Darkwolf for years and I just like it. Besides, it's a really cool name. |
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What kind of stuff can I find in your store? |
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All kinds of things. There are fantasy prints, fantasy posters, fantasy t-shirts, fairy prints, fairy posters, fairy t-shirts, dragon prints, dragon posters, dragon t-shirts, pinup girl prints, pinup posters, pinup t-shirts, pirate prints, pirate posters, pirate t-shirts, funny t-shirts, inspirational t-shirts....and that's just a starter list.
Most of the art available in the shop also has some other neat stuff, like coffee mugs, mousepads, and journals. Some of the works are even featured on clocks and throw pillows.
Most recently, we began adding stuff designed with dads in mind. I'm really enjoying fatherhood, but I noticed that there just wasn't a lot of cool stuff for dads out there. It's hard to find a macho diaper bag, so I began designing some that were more manly, or at least less embarassing.
The best way for me to answer that question fully is to simply tell you to go have a look for yourself, because there's no way I could possibly list it all here. Besides, we're constantly adding to the shop! |
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Do you do all of this by yourself? |
Actually, no. My wife runs the business end of things. She manages the shop and decides what products to carry and then arranges to make those products available. There's no way that I could possibly do all of that with my physical disability and still produce art.
My end of the work is making the art, which is something I can do whenever I feel physically up to it. I do maintain this site most of the time, but everything that is in the store is actually managed from a different site and then the info is pulled here to Darkwolf Designs through a special software package.
Either way, you still contact us through one email address,
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. If it's a question about the shop or a business question, it gets forwarded to my wife. If it's about my artwork, then I'll be the one to respond. |
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