Catharina was doing some stunning portraits in Poser years ago, though I'm not sure they would hold up to this.  Even my blotchy Opera Turbo compressed image shows something here that is beyond pushing photons - no disrespect to MentalRay's vaunted FastSkin vodoo. For lack of a better term, there is a hint of a "soul" there that is missing in 99% of 3D images, no matter how technically superior or photometrically correct they may be. Artists were achieving this with paint and canvas long before computers and I doubt that all the high tech in the world is going to produce it - in and of itself. In the hands of a master like Mr./Ms. Vikiyeo here, realism can produce magical results. For mortals, I almost wonder if less might be more - less questing for some mystical Poser advancement and more emphasis on the basics of what gives an image a life of its own. That's my non-artist take anyway.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken