Personally I have always been an insomniac and the only way I was able to get some sleep was to entertain myself to sleepp so I created several 1000's stories through the years. Some ripoffs of other stories, other completely original, some funny and some really weird. I also could came up with awsome imagery by listening to music but for the last 4 years I havent been able to create good stuff. I received 4 surgeries and the doctors prescribed sleeping pills so now I have no need for creating stories. Even when I dont take the pills and cant sleep I still cant come up with a decent pic. My question is, HOW THE HELL DO YOU COME UP WITH THIS INCREDIBLY AWSOME PICS YOU BASTARDS????....JK. PLease any ideas would be really apreciated. :)

Acedrake.. I don't know about others.. everyone has a style.. me i just play around.. enjoy what i do.. and don't pay attention. If i like something it gets put up if I don't.. well it doesn't . I just don't pay attention to my outer insecurities. but i am in most ways a pinup artist.. soo that may not help S

actually it does, one of the most things I did were Pinups. Tons of them. All by pen and paper though. Maybe I should visit some of those and poserize them.

They are always a good place to start S Take a look at my gallery. Most of my work is pinups. The one thing about them is.. No one gets tired of them. Everythings different. Magazines use pinups. Soryama is a pinup artist. Thanks to people like him it is considered art S besides there is nothing wrong with a pinup. They all show the beauty/ugliness of the world in just the facial aspects.

I have been looking at your gallery and all I can say is....damn you...:_ actually outstanding work. You are really really good.

My work is ok.. But i always learn something new with them S call it being modest but for me.. my work is not up to where i want it to be. I have a lot of ideas but not yet ready to do.

yep- same here Stormrage It's hard not to do the same thing over and over. I do a lot of pinups too.

Eyelock with the Camera. Having the eyes look straight forward at the viewer can be powerful.

yep but not a dead look either. Give life to the eyes. To the face.. the blank staring look doesn't give the idea of life or reality S

agreeing w/Anton and Storm Also, there are some nice postwork tutorials in the store by Ra Graphics and ToxicAngel. Also, you can check out my gallery, and if you wanna know how I did any of it, just shoot me an IM ;)

I agree with Anton , I look at lots of gallery renders and do not like them because the models are stareing off somewere else . The eyes draw you in and make you feel more conected to the render. Another important thing is focal point or the spot in the render that first draws your eyes attention. You can build a render from that point outwards or crop a render to get a better spot. I call it the sweet spot. Try to start your renders with just one model and move it around getting it just right , then work your way out and add stuff to it . Move it around till it feels / looks right. Stop thinking to much when you do it, get a general idea of what you want and have fun like Stormrage said .

Are you asking where we come up with our subject matter? Or how the stuff is technically created? Try making a mistake on purpose. And see if anything neat happens.

Marijuanna. Lots and lots and lots of marijuanna. Nah. I just think differently... a lot of my stuff tends to be message oriented... usually satires or social-commentaries that most people don't get, which is, ok - but proves my point :)

I don't know if mine is all that good or not, but I get a lot of ideas from props. A person and then a prop, throw the camera around, see if there's a connection. If not add another prop. LOL! Early last year, a guy did a bunch of incrediably intriguing nudes with a woman and gas mask from Free stuff. Very surreal. Emily

I like viewing and producing images that interact with the viewer in some way.

A lot of mine are inspired by music. Some inspired by Royo. I'm into fantasy art more than anything, and I do my own share of pinups as well as portraits. I like to get that dreamy sort of feel to my images.

I've been where you are, trying to come up with something unique. You scramble through your prop and clothing folders wondering if you have enough material to actually make up your mind to do something. In the end, I just find myself experimenting. Poser is very adept at producing images that can depict everyday life or fantasy. A lot of your work is going to have to reflect your personality or the mood your in. I'm a grad student in a forensic science program so I often attempt new ways to kill off Mike and Vicki. (Yes I know I'm morbid.) You said you're grappling with insomnia. Take that on in your work. Does the world look distorted with a lack of sleep? Is there something psychological going on that keeps your characters awake? Real life experiences make greater fodder for art. BTW, I am no expert so keep in mind that I am also still trying to spread my wings a bit and try new things. I am going to take a stab at noir next... something kind of dark and classy like "Sunset Boulevard."

Recently I've been doing images for friends on another board, and I think it's really been expanding my work. They ask for things I would probably not try otherwise. And the fact that they're thrilled by just about anything is a great ego-boost when my self-esteem (and with it, my inspiration) is lagging.

I, for the most part, just open Poser, load Vicki or Steph.. & wnatever happens, happens. I have only fully planned 3 of the images in My gallery. The rest are errrr... spur of the moment. I also tend towards Pin-Ups & Fantasy Style renders. Thats My secret :o) Thomas

Do any of you listen to music while poseing?and what music you listen to? Take a few beers, sniff glue or maybe you like to pluck the hairs of your nose to help you with your art

For me it depends. I am always listening to music depends on my mood. Sometimes my best art comes from just listening to the normal household noises. Other times, my art can come from song lyrics. or the music they are put to. Depends on what inspires me i guess.