SciFi & Fantasy Artwork by Sandra Leigh Wagner

I'm going to go off on a little rant here I hope it doesn't sound to mean- you can draw pretty good so why do you use poser!!?!?!? Poser ... well it's probably pretty clear I'm not a fan. In my eyes, it's much better used as a tool to help create real art. You've come up with some beautiful compositions with it using them as a referance with other mediums could create some really beautiful things. some of your more traditional images 'gypsy dancer' 'green maiden' 'kiss of death' show great potential.
Poser images always always look like they were done in poser, it's the poser curse I suppose. I think your too talented to be using it.
The reason I'm so mean to the program isn't entirely out of nowhere. It alows alot of people to avoid learning how to draw. You don't need to know proportions or anatomy. It really drowns the soul and style a person puts into an image.
I've been drawing as long as I can remember, studying and scraping for any new piece if information that could help me further my skill so I can understand how much of oneself people put into their art. and when I see a poser image it looks so lifeless. Imagine how good 'Bottled' would look with the soul filled lines of a pencle. or how the color would really bring out the emotion in 'courtship or combat' if it were done in oils!
ok end of rant I'm going to wander back through your gallery and leave some comments because I do enjoy your images.
P.S congratulations on the book!

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "unfortunately, anyone who says Poser requires no skill has never played with the program. Also, equipment matters. High quality models and clothes allows one to make high quality pictures when skill has increased enough. Yes, some of the models look like dolls, but I've seen pieces of artwork so beautiful and lifelike it would make you weep done in Poser and Bryce. I have both used poser as a tool (for lighting and positioning reference) and as art in and of itself. I admit I am not a master of the program, and most of the 'garbage' you refer to was done with poor skill or equipment. (you should have seen my first attempts) I will grant that it allows individuals who have no manual dexterity to draw to take the incredible ideas they have in their heads and get them across as art, but it is not an excuse 'not to learn to draw', which is not something you can learn if you have no talent for it, no matter how you practice. (I've a friend with the most beautiful handwriting, who cannot draw a simple dress with any skill, and she's a seamstress so she's had to have a lot of practice)your advice is thorough and appreciated, but my muse is fickle and easily distracted (mostly by writing) and I cannot always draw. One day I can do the most beautiful sketches, and the next (or if I am not interested in my subject) I can't draw any better than a ten year old.If all you have ever seen of painting was abstracts or impressionists, very few would like paintings at all. View a Titian or a Waterhouse and you find your mind blown away. Poser is like any other medium in that respect. There are those who are either unskilled or untalented, (or don’t have the right tools) and their product is substandard. But skill is developed through practice and there is a lot more ‘practice work’ out there than masterpieces, yes. Some may develop the skills but never have the talent, or what I refer to as ‘the eye’ for it. I understand that for some art is easy and it seems to them that if others only practice they can too. But there are some artists who, though they can draw what they see, or sketch beautifully, have no mind for composition or color arrangement. And some have wonderful ideas, see brilliant vistas in their mind's eye but just can't hold a pencil straight (maybe due to physical limitations). Should those people be denied a chance to express themselves or share these images with the world? No. And with Poser they can. Reference http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/m/i/michellekk/goldenangel.jpg.html as an example of a poser piece without that ‘poser’ look.I understand how you feel. I’ve heard that argument before. I stand by my choices and dream of the day when my skill (and my memory card) is great enough that I can reproduce a vision from my mind to the computer as lovely as the masters of the medium I aspire to."

Hi, I liked your pictures in your story, "Kismet" (awesome story, too) so I followed the link straight here. *Runs off to look at your pics*

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "thank you, though they are the rough drafts of what actually ended up in the book. I had to take them down because of print contract (not that the book is findable AT ALL, growl) thanks"

interesting responce and valad points. However I do know people who say themselves they can't draw and make no attempt to learn anything besides poser because it's easy and convenient. Why learn something hard when there's something willing to do most of the work for you.
Talent is only a small fraction of what goes into learning to draw, anyone can draw if they take the time to learn reguardless of dextarity, foot and mouth painters are a valiant tribute to that effect.
As you also said, there are alot more attempts out there then masterpieces. This is true and posing a pre-made doll with slide bars to adjust the character to your liking is not going to teach people about gesture, weight, and anatomy. Adding a lamp in the program isn't going to teach someone how to light a form or about volumes.
The best computer stuff I've seen, (there is indeed some amazing work out there) were done by people who understood how the body worked.
I'm not opposed to poser existing, people would just learn so much more if they didn't depend on it to do the work for them. a person who struggles to pose a person by taking the poses or having a friend or model do it and then figures out how to light the figure will learn a hundred times more then the one who poses a doll and adds a lamp. The latter may be prettier now but in the long run the first will not only be able to draw better, but will understand how the body works and if given something like poser will be able to pose something in a more balanced natural way.
thanks for the responce by the way I really enjoy a good disgussion over any medium and I really hope you don't think I'm just some angry girl taking my bitterness out on poser. I personally live to learn and sometimes don't get that other people don't feel that way.

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "Poser is a difficult medium. You have to learn all those things you just attributed to drawing in order to use it well. Twisting a doll around and adding a lamp will look like you twisted a doll and added a lamp. Proper lighting is almost a science in and of itself, a separate skill (called Cinematography and one makes top billing and dollars in Hollywood for it). Someone has to sculpt these models out of wire pixel frames, someone has to take a 'pen' to the textures. concepts of composition, posing and subject placement all apply or it IS just a doll and a lamp.it is not a crutch, it is a medium to be chosen, and it is unfair to assume it is a crutch unless the artist 'never improves'. I've seen people who can take a line drawing and paint it up in Photoshop or Corel Painter and make a masterpeice of a cartoon, but who themselves couldn't draw the underlying stick figure. Me? I can't draw from life. For some reason I am incapable of translating a 3 dimensional image into a 2 dimensional one. And don't say I haven't practiced. I have, for YEARS. Trial and Error results: Take a picture of it. I'll draw from that. Flawlessly when the mood is on me.It all boils down to individuality. Not everyone is DaVinci or Michelangelo who mastered many mediums. Some of us mere mortals have to get by on what we are good at. With poser, photographer types don't have to have expensive props or unreliable models to achieve what they want. Yeah, you can study all the technicalities of art you want and practice your way up to making Art. But an unstudied (but somewhat practiced) natural Talent will show you up with the same subject EVERY TIME. You can copy the form, you can master the technique, but if your music isn't in you, your music will have no soul."

Do wicca allow syncretism?

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "As far as I know (Myself not being Wiccan by following a more Shamanic/spiritual path) it is a religon that thrives on what I understand Syncretism to be. Please explain why you ask?(Oh, and none of the characters in this book are Wiccan. (If you are refering to The Speaker) Hecuba is a Green Witch, and the bad guys are actually followers of a darker, black path that also is not Wiccan. The Russian is in fact Rasputin and former Greek Orthodox lay clergy if my history serves me)"

Why would someone troll this gallery? I like the variety of styles here and the figures look natural. I couldn't troll anybody who likes cats! X-D

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "Thank you. I don't understand why anyone would Troll period. But it takes all kinds. Thank you for visiting and thank you for the observations. "

Your gallery is really nice.

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "Yours isn't bad either. Thanks"

About a year ago you commented on a costume shot of mine, with me as Capt. Jack Sparrow, saying you'd like to see better shots of the compass. You can find them here: http://zlurpo.deviantart.com/gallery/
Thank you!

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "Thank youvery very Nice"

This is very great gallery..... er most more come........!!!!!!!


Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "Thank you. Danke."

Hi there!! You have a cool and huge gallery!!! You are a really good artist. I also really like your smiley. ^^

Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "thank you. I’ve worked for many years, though there are folks out in these woods with less experience and tons more talent. I can only produce art when the muse moves me. As for the smiley... its a trademark thing. You’ll see it as a watermark on some of my art."

These are my favorites days, when I feel like nothing can excite me or surprise me more than I already have, and then, suddenly, I found a fantastic gallery like yours

I’ve had a wonderful time visiting in your gallery Sandra, and I wish you all the best!

Keep on creating


Sandra Leigh Wagner replies: "thank you. That is the purpose of my art."