A Happy Hobbyist Shows the Beauty of CG

Sponsored by the cloud render farm Fox Renderfarm, Renderosity 2020 Halloween Contest with 3D theme, Costumes, Cauldrons & Concoctions, was successfully held. Congratulations to all winners and thanks to everyone who participated in this event. Each entry tells us a magical story.

We are very honored to have the opportunity to interview the third-place winner, Morrigan Flebotte, who is a CG enthusiast from Canada. She used her spare time to create the work Ya Want Two Scoops, Sweetheart?, which was rendered in Daz 4.10, using 3Delight with a dab of PS postwork.

Ya Want Two Scoops, Sweetheart? © Morrigan Flebotte

This is how Morrigan described her work: “There aren't many places to eat out in the Unseen World, but hit the Woods and eventually you'll find Louwheeze's Malt Shoppe. No denizen of dark places can resist the luscious flavour of cauldron-fresh cockroach-cream and worm Eye-Scream! Treat yourself, you won't regret it... just don't forget to leave her a tip.”

Here’s the interview between Morrigan and Fox Renderfarm.

Fox Renderfarm: Hi Morrigan, could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?

Morrigan: I am a happy hobbyist in digital art from Alberta, Canada. I live in a small town, where usually there really isn’t much to do – even before COVID-19! I actually have more work, now, since all my children are now at home for school which means I am a teacher by day as well as working part-time as a librarian. Computer art gets what’s left of me.

Fox Renderfarm: Though it’s not the first time you win the contest on Renderosity, how do you feel about being the 3rd place winner of the Renderosity 2020 3D Halloween Contest this year?

Morrigan: I am very pleased to have won third place; Halloween pictures aren’t something I am very good at. It was an exciting contest because there were so many interesting entries!

Fox Renderfarm: What is the inspiration for your work Ya Want Two Scoops, Sweetheart?

Morrigan: I think my inspiration was the waitress from The Emperor’s New Groove, which I had just re-watched recently with my son. It was her voice that kept whispering in my ear!

Fox Renderfarm: How long did it take to finish the work?

Morrigan: The piece took about three days – I was quite enthusiastic about it, so I kept sneaking away to work on it. The children are very supportive of my hobby, and would bring their work into my room so they could talk to me about school while I fiddled with the picture.

Fox Renderfarm: Did you meet any difficulties when creating this work? And how did you solve it?

Morrigan: Difficulties... well, for whatever reason, I was having a problem with the material for her eyes, and no matter what I did they would only render white. In the end, I just accepted it and moved on, using hand-painting to bring them to life in postwork.

Fox Renderfarm: Since you often share your CG works in the community, and also participate in CG contests, what is the biggest gain in your CG art journey?

Morrigan: I think my biggest gain is the feedback I get from the community. I find that if I look at my pieces too long I only see the flaws, or the things I wish I was able to do differently. My style is not photo-realistic as so many other people’s are, and I wonder often if anyone else out there will like the results from my choices. Overall just a few kind words (or 3rd place!) is enough to make me continue to share what I do.

Good Horse Goes to War © Morrigan Flebotte

Fox Renderfarm: Could you tell us how you improve your CG skills?

Morrigan: My learning style is quite random! I start with an idea, then enter negotiations with my software and my knowledge to see how far I can get before I either have to compromise or manage to discover something new or approach my problem a different way. Occasionally I will find a Youtube video that helps or win a new piece of software that opens up new possibilities.

Hatchling © Morrigan Flebotte

Fox Renderfarm: Any other things you want to share with the CG enthusiasts?

Morrigan: The beauty of computer graphics is that with work anyone can bring an idea to life and share a vision with hundreds of other people. It’s amazing and fun!