Hiboux: One of my four rescued friends
"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other.
If you do not talk to them you will not know them, and what you do not know you will fear. Â What one fears one destroys."
--Chief Dan George (1899 - 1981)
The avatar I use is a photo of a kitten who adopted me last fall. She came to my door one night, hungry and cold and in need of shelter. I had already adopted a rescued dog and 2 fostered cats (I have a friend who works in animal rescue), but another friend told me that being chosen by a cat was a special thing, so, here she is in her new home. I called her Hiboux (French for owl for those who don't already know), since she reminded me of a snowy owl tapping on my door.
Sorry I need a new digital camera. The one used for this photo was one of the first ones ever made that utilizes a floppy disc. I am attached to it, but thought it was more important to show off my kitty here since this is merely my "home" page and not a display of my digital art. I'll update it as soon as I can.
I live in the US Midwest, have a degree in landscape design, compete nationally (only in the US so far)Â in dancesport, and choreographed contemporary dance for over a decade. I've been writing since childhood--mainly for my own amusement. A few of my poems have been published in obscure places and I used to write many interviews which were published online for years. None of my novels have met the public eye yet and that's OK because for me "the joy is in the journey." Â
I'm hooked on creating digital art. I stumbled upon it when I worked online for 11 years as a content editor and became intrigued watching the medium grow. 3D art feels like a good niche for me combining movement, landscape, my love of nature, history, art, technology, myth and storytelling . . .  I love to experiment with software and hope to continue to grow as an artist. I'm in awe of many of the beautiful works shared on this site. I've also begun a blog here called "A Novelist's Adventures in Digital Art" where I list useful sites and tools I find along the way:
My Blog
Â
I consider myself a beginner at digital art. We all have to start somewhere. I try to encourage other creatives on all skill levels as often as I have time. I learn a lot from the artists I favorite here and even from private emails with tips if you feel so inclined. I dont allow ratings in my gallery anymore, because I don't believe in "grading" art--it doesn't fit into my personal philosophy. That said, I do often admire many of the talented professional artists and am happy when they are showcased on the art charts here and feel the rating system--though it has flaws--is important to honor excellence.  I do appreciate any comments and appreciate constructive criticism and suggestions.
Â
Â
"Every artist was first an amateur."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Thank you for visiting my gallery!
Â
Comments (35)
mgtcs
Amazing image, perfect colors and great lighting, congratulations!
magnus073
Cathy this one is simply fantastic, I love it. what a superb view from this sky walk you've created to share with us.
Annihilator-6
This is great work!
IO4
Wonderful image! I like the POV, quite unusual.
blankfrancine
Like Dave said, this is a fantastic render. Artmatic looks like an amazing program. Too bad it is only for the Mac!
penungu
magical image, wonderfull work ^^
pops
This is fantastic, looks like you have a handle on this
wannes
Great pov, colours and lighting!! Excellent render!
Biffowitz
I'm with magnus on this one, fabulous artwork for sure!
BlackAngel66
Wonderful image!
SIGMAWORLD
EXCELLENT!
jascorpio
this is great.
A_Joker_B
Great Job Novelist!
magichild2
This is fantastic. Eventually this skywalk may be a futuristic part of the plan some day. Beautiful
psyoshida
Fantastic. Great composition it's just perfect.
ragouc
Very good POV and picture.
adrie
Beautiful sci=fi work, excellent done.
Miska7
Very nice sci-fi scene. Great lighting, textures and reflections! Excellent work.
amota99517
This is absolutely fantastic. I love the glass work and reflections.
stevey3d
Excellent Cathy! I should use AV more myself, its a fantastic application.
tulipe
This is beautiful! Great sci-fi!
popeslattz
Really nice POV. It really draws the eye into the picture. Cool scene and colors (pun intended). Not sure what ArtMatic is but you seem to be getting the hang of it. More Sci-Fi!
e-brink
This is really nice, Cathy. What I like about it is the composition and the sense of perspective. There is also something of a dreamscape about it. Well done for experimenting in other programs and pushing your boundaries to the outer limits... do not adjust your television set? My God were they wrong about that - adjust it and live!
Jollyself
this is composed beautifully.. and the lighting ROCKS. I love the linear depth
Zazou
WOW ! Fabulous ! Perfect render and POV !
tofi
I would definitely say go ahead and be the mad Scientist, because it sure does bring superb results! The perspective is most alluring and captivating... seems like I'm seeing it through the eyes of another world entirely.... Each angle, each line gives off a varied view, that is most unique and marvellous for the senses! Exquisite detail and choice of colours and tones..... Brilliant artwork.. I def. want to see more!!! Congratulations, my Friend!
anahata.c
well! After Tofi, I want to say, "ditto"! I know nothing about architectural render software, but as I said in mandi's gallery, I did 'actual' architectural drawing by hand (just as practice, as I never studied to be an architect), and I know what time & thought that took. So I assume scenes like this take thought, coordination, patience and lots of plotting, planning, etc. So yes, be mad and upload as many scenes as you want. It's great to see the results... First, just as a 'photo': it's a wonderfully oblique point of view, that right-side facade really cutting into & ruling the image, and leaving the city & sky to loom out behind it. Dramatic seeing, as they say. Secondly, it's a nice contrast between the sheer wall of the right facade and the complex of buildings, avenues, etc of the left. Third, I see that the glass wall on the right is followed by a taller building which is upright: This shows that the glass facade is purposely tilted back (as opposed to appearing that way because of perspective). Nice choice, sensitive to the varieties of architectural expression. And you have some pretty interesting curves in the buildings on the left, like they have a nice warp in them in the upper floors—an architect's nightmare but our joy. And your walkways are almost glass—something we don't see until we look closely: They have reflections! And speaking of reflections, the moon/orb is reflected in the walkway, and in the right-side facade: What's so thoughtful (and creative) about that is that the right side shows us the sky in reflection & lets us see the orb in full—which we don't see in the actual or 'live' side. And the left side is the contrast, with all its busy city boulevards, etc. Very creative, and for a skywalk, it's probably what we'd see in our dreams. I have only one question for all of you who do these cityscapes: How come there are no trees? Is that a dumb question? I never see them. Are they just not part of the software, or are they too difficult to add, render, etc.? Or are the futuristic scenarios supposed to be devoid of them on the outside, as they're all growing on the inside instead? Big domed terrariums...Just curious... Anyway, it's complex but it's also your humor & visual puns, etc, only instead of doing it with literary characters, you're doing it with architectural structures & skies, etc. And btw, you have a sequence here even if you didn't intend it: The Mystery Boy is definitely 19th C., the Time Traveler has old mixed with new, and this one is all futuristic. It's a joy to come here, I love how you're playing more & more & more. Life's a dance, right? Wonderful work Cathy.
three_grrr
I just adore these futuristic views .. you imagination is leading us into magical cities!! I think you're doing excellent work with Artmatic!!
JNH
Wow! Color, lighting, and reflection is wonderful in this!
Elcet
Really crazy scene, fantastic! I like AM Voyager, I have the 1.2 only, but I'm lacking time to use it because as I want to add people in the scene this adds a lot of work because character import is not allowed, you have to compose the scene in Photoshop.