Our Renderosity Vendor of the Month for April 2022 is Kaleya. She has been a Renderosity member since 2004 and has over 1,600 followers. It’s easy to see why: her fashion sense combined with an eye for detail. Kaleya’s creations are so lively and colorful. We just love her work.
Kaleya spent some time answering questions about his work in the interview listed below. We also have a video gallery featuring 10 items from her Renderosity store. There is a special sale going on April 26 - 30th where Kaleya’s inventory will be available at a good discount. Click the button below to go to her store.
I just love your logo/avatar pix, how did you come up with it. So Celtic!
Kaleya: Well everyone who knows me knows I love cats and in fact, I use the name Shadowcat Studios but have not officially changed my name so as to not confuse people who might be looking for my products. So I wanted a logo that felt unique and would combine my love for cats, especially black cats, with my vendor name.
Your fashion sense is so high, how did you learn how to create fashions and what kind of research do you do?
Kaleya: When I was a little girl my mom would give me her old fabric scraps, she was an avid sewer, and I would use them to create clothing for my dolls usually my own designs. As a kid, I always wanted to be a fashion designer but life happens and I never managed to get there so 3d fashion is a way for me to continue my love for fashion. A lot of my clothes are inspired by real-world clothing. Some I try to stay true to the original and make a recreation and other times I will see something that sparks an idea so an outfit might be inspired by a real-world outfit that I then reimagine into something completely different. Other times I am just doodling and end up with something I find interesting enough to try and make. I also sometimes go to places like Pinterest and Etsy for inspiration.
One of my favs in your store is the Bewitching Capes – what was the inspiration for this work and how did you create it?
Kaleya: I love Halloween and these capes were mainly inspired by my love for Halloween and all things dark and gothic. They were created using multiple different software. All of them started out as relatively simple models and much of the details are created using the textures which is sometimes the best way to create details in my opinion, especially in the case of dforce items.
What tools do you use to create your fashions?
Kaleya: I use several different applications for my creations. Sometimes I start with Marvelous designer, sometimes for more complex models, I start with Hexagon or Silo. I also use Zbrush for sculpting and morphing, blacksmith3d, Photoshop, Filter Forge for making textures sometimes.
Color is another thing I love about your creations: they are so vivid. Do you consciously make an effort to use so many intense colors?
Kaleya: Truly if it were only myself I was making items for the colors would probably be restricted to Blacks and dark colors which is my personal preference but when making a product I try to consider how the end-user might want to use it and I try to include colors and styles that will appeal to a wide audience. I believe more options are always better than less so I try to include a variety of colors and styles in every pack so a user will hopefully find what they need for their artwork.
What sort of projects can we expect from you in the future?
Kaleya: I am always working on something but I don’t do a lot of planning ahead. So I would say expect a lot more clothing, maybe some morphs. I do want to make a fantasy outfit I have had bouncing around in my head for a while but am still working out the details of what I want it to be. Currently I plan to work on some 80s-inspired rock fashion and some other retro clothing. I really enjoy looking back at the fashion of the past and trying to recreate it.
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