1. Your catalog covers several different areas of character creation, from Merchant Resource morphs to complete characters, character add-ons, and poses. What initially drew you toward creating content for Daz Studio, and how did that develop into the particular mix of products you create today?

A lot of my creativity is tied to those close to me. Motivation to create content for Daz studio is no exception. I already had a desire to create my own models, but I had no idea where to start. Not to mention I had fear that plagues many artists. A lot of doubt. It sounds corny, but it’s true. Sometimes it takes one person. For me it took only one loved one to change the course. Her patient approach to teaching, her input and encouragement was what pushed me toward making first few products and the rest is history.

2. Your Merchant Resource morphs make up a significant part of your catalog. What do you think makes a good morph resource genuinely useful to other artists, rather than simply being another shape added to a collection of sliders?

I’ve dealt with a lot of morphs since the age of Victoria 4 and I figured that it’s not always about a lot of sliders. There is value in giving fellow daz artists shapes that they can use and combine with the other morph merchant resources on the markeplaces.

3. You create morph resources for both Genesis 8 and Genesis 9, while your character catalog also spans male and female figures. How does working across different generations and figure types affect the way you approach creating a character or morph?

Working across Genesis 8 and 9 and doing both female and male figures certainly does change how I approach things. Each generation has it’s own base shape and quirks, so a morph that looks good on one doesn’t always translate well to the other. It keeps me on my toes.

4. You have both standalone morph resources and characters built around your own combinations of shapes. When you're creating a character, how much of the process is about finding a particular facial identity or personality, and how much is about building a distinctive overall body shape?

I think the process is very much about personality and facial identity more than the body. I spend a lot of time sculpting until the face feels like a real person with an identity. Once that sort of clicks I proceed to sculpt the body to support it. I want the body that feels like it belongs to the same person.

5. Your catalog includes characters such as Amina, Morana, Devana, Niko, and Jarilo, giving you a pretty broad range of appearances and personalities to work with. When you start developing a new character, does the face usually come first, or do you tend to begin with a concept, body shape, styling, or overall visual idea and build the character from there?

For me, it’s more overall concept that comes to mind. Not the face. I draw a lot of inspiration from the mythology, stories, people around me so I tend to ask myself who the character is and what they represent. Devana, for example, was developed with the concept of goddess of war in Slavic mythology, while Jarilo draws from a figure associated with spring and renewal. Once I have this foundation, I start to work on the face and dive into the rabbit whole that internet in search of reference because I want to create as accurate looking character as I can.

6. You also have character add-ons in your catalog, which opens up a different way of working with an existing character. What do you enjoy about creating add-ons, and what do you look for when deciding what would make a worthwhile expansion to an existing character?

What I quite enjoy about making add-ons is that I can expand a character without starting over. It’s providing more options that open up more scenes or mood. When I am trying to figure out what to make I look at the things that add useful variety. Night hunter for Devana is one such add-on. The best add-ons are the one that make character more flexible.

7. One particularly interesting part of your catalog is that you also offer a character that is specifically a morph-only product. What made you want to explore that format, and what do you think artists can get from a morph-only character that they might approach differently from a full character package?

I explored the morph only format because a lot of artists prefer to use their own textures. It gives the shape without locking them into a full package. I know when I started out as Daz studio user I treated them as flexible building block I could mix and match.
 

8. Your products cover everything from very specific body-shape resources, such as Petite Bodies, Petite Breasts, Bombshell Legs, and Bombastic Breasts, to complete character creations. What do you enjoy most about working on highly focused morph products compared with creating a complete character with a much broader visual identity?
 

What I enjoy most about focused morph is how precise and controlled the work feels. You pay attention to one specific thing- a certain body type, a breast shape or a leg style and refining it until it works well on it’s own and plays nice with other.

Creating a full character is a completely different experience. Very time consuming for one even if more broader and creative. You are building a whole identity, personality and overall look. Both can be rewarding, but the focused morphs let me go deep on one element while full characters bring everything together.

9. Your pose sets add another dimension to the catalog, including more specialized sets such as Greek Goddess Poses and Kneel and Ascend Poses. When you're creating poses, do you tend to approach them from a particular character, theme, or scene in your head first, or does the pose itself usually become the starting point for the idea?

When I created those poses I knew I had in mind a theme for a scene, then it navigated from there. I keep changing, saving until I end up with a lot more then I initially set out to do. Then I step back from the computer for some time, come back and see what I’ve and what kind of pack I developed.

10. Looking across your renders, there’s quite a range in the kinds of characters and settings you can create, from fantasy and historical-inspired imagery to modern fashion, lingerie, and everyday scenes. How important is it to you that your characters and morphs can be taken into very different kinds of scenes rather than being tied to one particular aesthetic?

It’s important to me. I don’t want a character to feel locked into just one style or setting. If something I made works only in fantasy scene or only looks right in modern fashion it’s a limitation for the artists. I do love medieval, fantasy and science fiction, but I think being flexible is very important thing to have with your character. In general it’s an important skill as an artist too.

11. With morph resources, characters, add-ons, and poses all forming different pieces of the same creative toolbox, what are you most interested in exploring next? Is there a particular type of content, character, or idea you haven't tackled yet that you'd really like to bring to life?

I’ve been interested in putting my degree in clothing design degree to good use and create outfits. As for what kind-ancient, medieval or modern- that depends on what happens to catch my interest. It’s such a broad scope. Right now, my focus in on the environmental work. I’ve done small projects and currently am working on one I hope will hit the market soon. It’s a lot of work I can say. Life keeps throwing challenges, but I persist. Kind of like the creature on my logo.

Quick Fire Round:

1. Genesis 8 or Genesis 9?

Both.

2. Male characters or female characters?

Both

3. Morphs or full characters?

Full characters

4. Fantasy scene or modern-day scene?

Fantasy scene always

5. One giant character project or several smaller projects?

Several smaller projects.

6. If you could drop one of your characters into any fictional world, who gets the ticket and where are they going?

I’m pretty sure Devana would love to visit A song of Ice and Fire world, but before the doom of Valyria.