"...but brick and mortar museums have no such filters. Children go to the Louvre everyday, and I have never heard of a child being harmed by viewing the breasts of the Venus de Milo."

"teaching them that nudity is NOT a dirty thing that one has to HIDE in a closet in order to stay "respectable", but something to live honestly and openly,helps them grow up to become well balanced and mature adult individuals"

I wonder what makes some of you people think you have a God-given right to tell others how to raise their children? Who died and appointed you the official authority for all parenting information? Are ya'll banding together to become a composite 'Doctor Benjamin Spock for the new generation' or some such? If anyone chooses to let their children view or not view nudity, artistic, porongraphic or otherwise, what right is it of yours to same a damn thing about it? Until I see a Doctorate in Child Psychology, Pediatrics, Early Developmental Behaviour or a related field from the "Here's-how-to-raise-your-kids" chorus, their advice is going straight into the oval file in the corner of my studio...exactly where it belongs.

I guess any excuse is a good excuse to get up on the old soapbox, eh? A concerned parent and employer mentions that she wishes more people would use the nudity flag, which according to this site's rules is supposed to be used anyway, and for her concern gets the privilage of having her parenting choices questioned and getting figuatively tarred-and-feathered for her views. Sweet.

WOW! This discussion/rant ended up taking some very odd and interesting twists and turns. Fan-freakin'-tastic! Almost like being back in college (many years ago, remember I'm old). I have always loved a good, long conversation among a diverse group of people...one that stretches, twists, turns, rolls on, changes direction and focus and takes on an identity of it's own as the evening progresses and the liquor flows.

If ya'll were all local, I'd buy the next round and then we could start up a drunken discussion about the relative penile sizes of Michelangelo, Van Gogh and Pollack and how that effected the quality and content of their work. The evening would almost certainly wrap up with the Jettboy hugging one or more of you and shouting, "Ya see 'dis guy?! 'Dis guy's wunnerful! I love 'dis guy!" I might also cry or puke, but I doubt I'd pee in my pants. I'm sure someone would take a swing at me, or possibly vice-versa.

Thanks to all who posted. This was a blast, let's do it again sometime.

I'm sorry if you disagreed with my personal observation about the quantity of mouse pics. Honestly, you have every right to disagree with my opinion. You don't, however, have the right to tell me my opinion isn't valid or that I'm an asshole for having it.

Drinking whiskey...wife annoyed...going to bed. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Wonderful Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Sacrifice to Odin or whatever it is ya'll celebrate (or not)!

Unofficial personal opinion...Legume. Coming from a gallery background originally, I think his work would be just as shocking, just as thought-provoking, just as intelligent/ridiculous in ANY medium. Legume could, and most likely would, actually still be an artist if Poser had never been released...there's a huge amount of people 'round here I couldn't say the same for.

JohnRender, your definition of 'professional' is certainly one of the more interesting, albeit confusing, ones I've heard. A 'professional' at ANYTHING is usually defined as someone who makes money, ideally their sole source of income, from a specific activity.

I am a 'professional' graphic designer/illustrator, as are several of the others who chimed in here. My ONLY source of income is through designing items for print (paper systems, flyers, brochures, logos, promotional materials, etc.) and through illustration (childrens books, instructional manuals, CDs, tattoo flash, signed 'fine art' prints, whatever). In addition to traditional media, I have used several digital applications such as Poser, Bryce, Truespace, Illustrator, Photoshop and Quark Express as tools to generate the art and design which earns me my greenbacks. I love my career and have no ambition whatsoever to work in the film industry doing CGI. Fortunately, art is a big enough field to encompass many different disciplines.

I hate to sound like a jerk, but is it possible you misunderstood the question?

mboncher, oh man is that true! I've lost track of the number of times that I'm talking to a client, nodding at their sage suggestions and aesthetic insights as they effectively ruin my beautiful work, and thinking to myself "where did you get your art degree from, assface?! I've been doing this twelve years and won four Addys, how 'bout you?! Piss off and let me do my job!"

lsstrout & Aldaron,
I am an illustrator/graphic designer working primarily in the print industry, and I say 'look into it!". It's a fact that you end up doing mountains of grunt work that isn't the least bit satisfying from an artistic point of view, but every once in a while you get carte blanche from a client to "use your own creativity, you're the artist not me" and create something fantastic...and you get paid for it! When I come home 'artistically unfulfilled' I can always be self-indulgent and create whatever my imagination dictates. There are few greater joys for a creative person than getting paid to create, and it sure beats the hell out of working in a plastics factory, selling furniture, telemarketing, hanging sheetrock or working as a restaurant cook (all jobs my Art Degree helped me obtain).

I kind of wonder about the overwhelming amount of fantasy & sci-fi based imagery 'round here, whether it's "naked Vicki in a Temple' or 'fantasy landscape w/ futuristic spacecraft'. Just because an artist works with a computer rather than traditional media, does that necessarily pigeonhole him/her as some lonely, Dungeons & Dragons playin', Star Trek watchin', overweight, Cheetos-munchin', pathetic loser who can only get laid by his/her own hand (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that...)? Personally, I love the occasional creative piece with a sci-fi or fantasy theme and I realize that good art, whatever your personal definition of GOOD is, is rarely dependant upon subject matter, but... I for one would love to see some realistic cityscapes, character studies of 'real' people (gang-bangers, office drones, hookers, cops, soldiers, whatever) historical-themed art, etc. I've noticed that artists who go against the grain, content-wise, are few and far between in the realm of CG art.

I'm helping a buddy of mine, a musician, do a CD to give out as his combo Christmas card/Christmas gift. It has renditions of his favorite holiday songs and a cover, rendered in Poser, of a hot babe in a bright red bikini & Santa hat playing a red 'Strat. The title is "Bitchin' Christmas".

Thanks for all of the tips, guys and gals. I have found several free things for this scene and links to purchase everything else. Once I squeeze some money out of my client, the JettBoy will be doing some serious shopping. Special thanks to SAMS3D for the link and their own selection of awesome models. I'll post some of this work once it's all complete, should be interesting. Gracias mi amigos! JettBoy

This whole discussion shakes me to the root of my Native American/ Hibernian Catholic soul. I promise I won't get offended if someone names a new hairstyle the "Paddy O'Sullivan" or the "Boy-Who-Chases-Mighty-Buffalo".

Wow Mac, your credentials are very impressive... makes my sad lil' BFA seem pretty puny by comparison! I think you might have misunderstood my initial post, possibly construeing it as a challenge to get into an academic pissing match. Never did I say that anyone COULD NOT be an artist based on the content of their work. If one's intent is to express some portion of themselves, they are quite probably artists (maybe not very good artists...but hey, taste is subjective). At one point in your chastising of the JettBoy, you mention, I'm paraphrasing, "if it comes from the heart, it's art." I agree. I just find it hard to believe that every single image of a large-breasted, masterbatory fantasy girl is actually "from the heart". Perhaps another segment of the anatomy...

Hey Mac, if those faux romance novel covers are yours I'd have to say I'm impressed! You may be an artist and not actually know it...don't panic, it's OK, they have a lot of different treatment options these days.

Hmmmmm, wait a sec; maybe I should take my staid, boring illustrations of streetcorner tough guys, punk rockers, junkies, hippies and propaganda comic book heroes, put them in a vague "fantasy" setting and slap on a gigantic pair o' mega-hooters that would make Dolly Parton seem like a pre-pubescent boy. Maybe then I should get crazy with Photoshop's airbrush tool, as if I were painting an Aztec sun maiden mural on the side of a 70's chicano love van. I'd get in the Top 20 for sure then, Buckaroo!!