P.S. there are some really fine artists posting on the galleries. I hasten to say I admire your work. I'm obviously referring to the people who have already announced that they don't post here because they don't want to mingle with those of us at a lower level of ability than they are. I know many of you are generous in mentoring and inspiring those who are at the beginning stages, and my remarks are not directed toward those wonderful artists who have shown great kindness and consideration for other members.

i see your point, but, striving does not hurt, either. to say you are x-age, and therefore it is impossible to learn at the same rate as a younger person is mere poppycock...to say you can't afford the software to do it....modelling and graphics programs to make your pictures special is a wash, too....why....i started modelling with anim8or...just making morphs, and some of the hair in my early renders....FREE...then, i moved on and got amapi 4.15...ALSO 100% free....and, some of our best modellers use that, to this day....Brycetech, and Thip, for starters. Then, for graphics programs...there is GIMP and DOGWAFFLE...both free, and both decent. i think it doesn't hurt to try and inspire folks to reach a little farther...try something new...don't feel shy about posting THAT to the gallery, i am sure it would be appreciated. and, as for the beginners not being able to afford programs, to make their own stuff???? there was the choice made...should i buy poser 5 or perhaps, bryce, or maybe one of the modelling apps....or, or, paintshop pro, or photoimpact. saying that you must struggle with poser 5 is not an excuse not to try and expand. and, then, there are so very many pics that simply focus on what is new in the market...the folks who make them, they can't afford different software??? or, are they simply just comfortable with poser's instant grat? and, yes, i am a member in good standing at poserpros. it is a very nice site...you would like it.

I'm just saying we don't all have your ability or talent. But it doesn't mean we aren't trying. It just means we are taking a different route to get to where we want to go. My goal is not your goal. Clearly you want to do everything from scratch. That's fine. I don't. I don't cook from scratch. I buy clothes from a store. I don't build my own car from the wheels up. I don't have any interest in doing-it-myself to that degree. So shoot me (well, first make your gun, forge your bullets, and then shoot me). I am admitting a failure of ability on my part...a severe lack of interest in spending all my waking hours creating a cup when someone else has done a better job of it. You have an interest in constructing your own house. I don't. I don't think that makes my attempts to do what I can less valid. But at this point all we can agree is that we will never agree. Which is honorable. And that's the end of me in this tedious discussion. Happy weekend everyone.

you're right...i do cook from scratch, and, even though i am a lady, know a good bit about car repair. and, i would love to have a potter's wheel, a kiln, and some good clay and ceramic paints to build my own cups. each drink from them would be infinitely sweeter than drinking from the same ol' walmart ones i have. but, as far as ability, or talent....how do you know that you don't have it, if you haven't searched for it? and, happy weekend??? happy weekend???? how dare you? my saturday nights are as predictable as baby vomit...i sit around with my boyfriend watching cops, and america's most wanted on saturday night, then, whoop, whoop, whoop....we shop on sundays...and he loves to drive all over florida looking for pennies off on the dollar. then, when my hot love life is over for another week, i can come home and upload my model for the rhino challenge. and...THAT...that entry into the challenge, is the absolute highlight of my week. geeze, now you got me feeling sorry for ME, dagnabbit!!!

I think there is just a fundamental disconnect here between two different points of view. Unfortunately, neither side seems to be capable of understanding the other. This site is my first real experience of interacting with artists - if typing here can be considered interacting. I've come to the conclusion that they really are a different, and I don't mean that in a negative way. I think what sometimes comes across as snobbery or arrogance reflects a true (again for lack of a better word) passion about what they do. That's understandable, but I think it is difficult to grasp for those of us who aren't members of that group. Alas, I don't think they understand us either. This idea that people just aren't trying hard enough is frankly, insulting - though not intentional I'm sure. Trying to hold others to one's own standards is not only unrealistic but bound to lead to disappointment. Some people just don't have the same degree of dedication to art to spend days working on an image. They don't have the time or the desire to learn to model and see no need to do it. Some people really don't have a great degree of intrinsic ability and no amount of toil is going to change that. Is the idea that some people use Poser simply for fun so hard to understand? Is it impossible to grasp that they might not feel a deep seated need to create "perfection?" Can you even vaguely understand that perhaps your definition of good simply isn't good or fun for everyone? Or, is it simply a matter of this is our place and you don't belong here? Some artists seem to think that we MUST do better before we have a right to share this space with them and obscure their work. Excuse me, but who appointed them art gods? If you're a member of a sports team or a military unit, you have a right to expect everyone to live up to your lofty expectations. This isn't a team or a platoon, it's a website on the internet with thousands of individual people from all cultures, walks of life and philosophies. Dissing anyone who doesn't meet your standards is naive at best, selfish at worst. I haven't been here since day one so I don't know what this place was like originally. Maybe it was only artists and now they fear the barbarians have stormed the gates as they hold up their shields emblazoned with "ART," trying to fend them off. I'm sorry folks, things have changed and the ivory tower's been breached. Get used to the rabble, they're not going away. That may be a tragedy from your point of view but heck, I thought the world went to hell when Linda Ronstadt did a big band album and started getting fat. Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. --Erma Bombeck

hauksdottir says time time is our most important resource and I believe that this is correct. We all have it in us to be able cook from scratch, become auto mechanics or even artists, some to a greater degree than others, but how you spend your time and how you think of yourself will determine in large how far you can go. If you spend all of your time in the kitchen and think of your self as a cook you won't ever get your car fixed - but you might learn something about art. The idea is to keep getting better at what you do, like what you do and Simply keep at it. BTW,lmckenzie, I used to read Erma Bombeck. It was always encouraging to read her articles. Poppi, You may want to read the first part of "The Phadrus" by Plato or take a vacation or both. be happy, - TJ

We're all just going to have to learn to live with the way things are because there really is no fair way for everyone to have what they want.
I too am getting tired of pictures of the latest texture on a vicki standing in front of the latest backdrop - and nothing more. It does get old, it does seem unimaginitive but for someone just beginning it's their pride and joy and an accomplishment. And as such, they have the right to post it in their gallery.
You can easily find your favorites by keeping their galleries bookmarked in your favorites. I do that and check every so often. And as I find new favorites I add them.