How to do it right, in my not-so-humble (not to mention completely unprofessional) opinion

Say you've got some pretty good graphics software, a smidge of talent, and a great big MC/robo kink. How do you turn out the kind of images you and others like you really want to see? After all, anyone can make a bug-eyed manga girl or a stiff-limbed Barbie doll. How do you come up with stuff like the images at left and below (which I hope you enjoy as much as I do)?

As you know, I spend a lot of time on Deviant Art and Model Mayhem; and I've seen a lot of good digital art and a hell of a lot of bad digital art. Here are a few observations I've made in the process.

First, if possible (and I realize it might not be), you should get a really good, versatile graphics program - or more than one. The image above and the first two rows below are by Valentina Kallias. As you can see, she makes enough money with her art to afford programs that can produce rust and crumbling stone effects - important for realism, especially since we all know how computer graphics tend to look too smooth and regular.

BTW, doesn't the second image below remind you of a certain Tabico story? ;-)



Of course, Kallias is a professional, and not everyone has the money to afford top-shelf graphics software. So what else can you do? Well, how about working with the "smooth and regular" effect, rather than against it? After all, we're talking about MC/robo fetishism here. You want your subjects to look depersonalized. So hide their faces and/or make it look like they've had all their humanity and individualism stripped away. That works so much better better than trying to give a Barbie doll realistic expressions.



If you explore Kallias' whole gallery on Deviant Art, you'll see plenty of cases where she did try the Barbie doll approach...and IMO failed miserably. So if you're determined to show your subjects' faces, the best route is to start with a live, expressive model rather than a computerized one. Michael O, another professional digital artist who has galleries on both Deviant Art and Model Mayhem, has been fortunate enough to work with some very talented models, including the spectacular Mosh. Even roboticized as they are, there's nothing Barbie-ish about any of these women.