This particular "Artist's Pedestal" focus is none other than... NikitaCreed!

We are pleased to present an in-depth interview with NikitaCreed, long-time artist, character modeler and a member of TeamDNA, Runtime DNA's artistic staff.

Have you always been artistically inclined?

Pretty much! I was never really into the visual side of artwork when I was young though. I wrote all the time. I believe I was 7 or 8 when my mother said I brought her my first complete story. It was about a boy in my class I didn't like getting dragged into the sewer and eaten by C.H.U.D. creatures. (C.H.U.D. - Cannibalicording to my mother, I described the sounds of his ribs cracking as they chewed on him. ROFL! She sastic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, a really old cheezy horror movie. LOL!) Acid that it was both disturbing and fantastic to know her little girl could be that imaginative. My mom is a weirdo...but she has always been my biggest fan. Even when I was a rotten, stinking, disobedient teenager that treated her like crap.
She has a passion for all things creative and was always steering me that way. She's the reason I am who I am and why I keep trying to be an artist in as many ways as I can. And I stress...TRYING. I ain't an artist yet in my eyes. LOL!

What do you do in your free non-3D time?

I am pretty boring in that regard actually! LOL! I spend all my free non-3D time with my husband and daughter.
We spend a lot of time (when Michael or I are not working) traveling back and forth between states to family member's houses or just generally taking little road trips. When we aren't working...we are total homebodies. LOL! We would rather sit in our house and just be together rather than running about the town.
I used to take my digital camera on all of those trips and snap tons of photos for textures, for reference, or just for fun.....but I have gotten a little lax in that lately. *heh*

How long have you been in the 3D community?

Ohhhhhh...somewhere around 2 1/2 years now I think. I have the world's worst friggin' memory. I am lucky I can remember yesterday.
LOL! I originally started with Paint Shop Pro. I was all over the PSP forums. I even had a couple PSP forums of my own back in the day. One day though...someone on one of my PSP forums posted an image and mentioned that the wolf figure came from a program named Poser. The rest is history. LOL! I bought Poser and we lived happily ever after.

Has Poser been your only 3D vice or did you dabble with other programs?

Poser was my first. I admit it...I was a 3D virgin until Poser. LOL! I had only used Paint Shop Pro before I bought Poser. That's not at all the case now though. Now I play in as many 3D programs as I can get my hands on (which ain't too many since I ain't made of money. LOL!) I have Bryce and Vue 4 (I got that cool little deal the Vue folks set up for Bryce owners awhile back. YAY! That was nice!)
As for modeling, I like and have learned a lot in Rhinoceros from Traveler and Xurge, but my demo has expired and it's a bit pricey for me at my skill level. Don't want to shell out a chunk of change for something I may never grasp. *heh* I have recently been turned on to Wings 3D through my buds at RDNA. So far it looks pretty cool and intuitive. We shall see. If I can't learn it...then my modeling career ended with my Rhino demo. LOL!

What inspires the majority of your work?

The hardest question that could be asked. LOL!
Now...for my most solid source of inspiration...the mind of my husband, Michael. That man is blessed with more than just an imagination. He has visions. Visions. He speaks...I absorb...and then I try to recreate. I wonder if anyone knows that most of my characters and concepts come from people or things that he and I created in the midst of a role-playing game or just laying in bed talking after Gia is asleep. There are just worlds upon worlds in this man's head. Entire universes that he can weave together with words better than any author I have ever read. He inspires me. He encourages me. He is my all time idol and my most undyingly loyal fan. As hokey as it may sound...I am without a doubt the luckiest woman alive to have such a man. My husband is the only person I know that makes no effort whatsoever to be an artist but still manages to be the greatest artist that ever lived in my very critical eyes.

In general....basically I draw inspiration from just about everywhere. I might have a weird dream and want to try and render it. I may be reading a book and that inspires a texture, model, or render idea. Walking down the street I might see someone whose face I want to morph. Lots of Porn. *heh* A lot of times, one of Team DNA makes something and I go "Heyyyyyy...." Inspiration is a tricky thing to nail down, but it's everywhere if you look hard enough nd in the right places. Even then it can get a little difficult. I have had more than my share of "lack of inspiration" too. Off days are the friggin' worst. *hehehehehe*

Interviewee's note: I had to cull some of this answer from my old RDNA spotlight. It's the best and most honest answer I have ever written to this difficult question. LOL! I promise it will be the only culled response ya get from me. I do shoot off at the mouth. ;o)

Did creating characters and skins come naturally when you started or did it take some serious effort?

Characters came totally naturally. I have, at the very least, 100 people living in my head at any one time from games and talks with my husband. LOL! I can also call up old characters whenever I want for a little palaver. So characters are a snap. Skin textures are a struggle every time I do one. That's why I don't do that many. LOL! For me it's a hair pulling, foul mouthed, nervous breakdown kind of process.
I am overly critical and I never get them as nice as I see them in my head. I take my hat off to Syyd (Syyd Raven, RDNA) because she can do them so freakin awesome and so often. I know it's a similar process for her when working, but she can handle it better than I can. I get really pissy when working on skin textures. ROFL!

Do you use photographs or prefer to hand paint skin textures?

I usually do a blend of both photographs and hand painted. I am not into the ULTRA realistic skin textures personally. If I wanted a photorealistic human model for an image...I would just take a picture of someone. LOL! I prefer the more fantasy type of skin texture. I don't need to see every pore and imperfection in the skin. Some people like that...and they turn out some truly awesome images with them...it's just not my particular thing.

When working on an image, how do you know when it is finished, or is it ever?

It's never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever finished. LOL! I don't like to look at my own artwork. It just makes me annoyed because I see only flaws.

So you are never completely satisfied with an image you've done?

Nope! Never have been....and I doubt I ever will be. LOL! I am very critical of my own work.

Looking through your current marketplace items I see a lot of obj models, did you make those in Poser?

HA! Most of those OBJ models from products in my store were actually made either by Traveler, Chrisjol, or Xurge in their respective program choices. It's good to have such awesome friends. *grin*

What color socks are you wearing?

*hehehehe* I actually don't wear socks if I can help it. I was raised barefoot and I will die barefoot. When I simply must wear them...I go with boring old white cotton or black dresssocks. LOL!

What particular items or characters you've created are you most proud of?

So far...out of characters...I would have to say the Celt Warrior for M2 and The Warrioress for V3. I like my warriors a little grungier than what I had in my Runtime at the time...so I made my own scarred warriors.

As for my favorite of all time work...definitely my ongoing Desolation series. I just love doing those sets more than anything else. I guess I have a thing for destroying stuff. *wink*

How long have you been part of TeamDNA?

I have been involved in RDNA for about 1 1/2 years now I think. See...there goes that sucky memory again. I am gonna have to ask Judith to remind me! ROFL! Anyway...I started as a member at first while I was in a serious "lack of inspiration" mode and Runtime DNA was inspiring.
Their models just sang to me for textures...so I started making freebies again. Next thing I know...Traveler (my FIRST and FOREMOST Poser hero) was inviting me to be a moderator. I said yes...and it went uphill from there. I absolutely LOVE that site and everyone involved in it!

What makes TeamDNA special to you?

The people. No doubt the whole RDNA gang! The Admins, the Brokers, the Mods, the Members. There is just a camaraderie and generally pleasant feeling there. No one makes an ass of themselves in the forums...we don't get into any real fights.....Team DNA and RDNA's members are all helpful and just generally fun to be around. Another reason is support. I have found more support from the people at RDNA than I have from people in my REAL LIFE. They are there whenever or for whatever I need them for, whether it be a site related problem....or just a personal one.
They are my friends all the time. They are my friends when I am at my worst (and I can get hard to handle at times) and when I am at my best. I love them all.

Who are your 3D community heroes?

Oh geez!!! What a tough question! I have been about for awhile now...so it's like asking me who my favorite musician is. LOL!
There are so many fantastic people out there in this community!

Well...of course it's no secret that Traveler will always hold his place as my first and foremost community hero. No one will ever take his spot. He has that attitude that we should all share as much as we could, whether it be knowledge or freestuff or anything. He just inspired me and his freebies, tutorials, and products were and still are ALWAYS awesome. I adore working with him on stuff. He never stops impressing me. I love that. LOL! Do I need to mention sheer ability and work ethic. I have never seen anyone more prolific than Traveler. I am continually trying to play catch-up with him. LOL! It's what makes me work harder. And I love that too! To add even more to his idol status in my eyes...he's a sweetheart! Just a total loveable kind of a guy....but he hates being the subject of mushiness...so I better stop before I embarrass him. I will just say.....I love ya muchly Trav!! ;o)

Oh...and can we talk about TransPond? WOW! I was still relatively a newbie when I first did a review of a Transpond product for 3-D Arena. I was just blown away by their stuff! No one has or will EVER do sets like Judith and Chrisjol do sets. No one was doing anything like that when they first started and I just thought they were both brilliant and innovative. And they still are!! Good grief...they get better EVERY friggin' time! Chris's modeling is just "WAM!" in-my-face awesome and Judith's textures are always just perfection!! Add to that the fact that they are both fantastic people...and I just had to love them. Chris puts me in stitches sometimes with his wry humor. I just adore that man to death. ROFL!

Judith Ward. What can I say about Judith? First off...she is definitely one of the texture queens! LOL! Judith is my rock now. I love her dearly. She listens to my sh*t at all hours of the night on the phone and doesn't even bat an eye. Always there when I need her...an ear I can cry into...someone I can just call up and talk to about anything. She was a total godsend recently when I lost my Granny. I won't go into it because...well...it's my private stuff....but I will just say that Judith was just steadfast and there for me through it all. I was a little messed up about it and she talked me through it. She does that for all of us...probably for everyone she knows. She is generous and kind and honest. She doesn't pull punches with her honestly either. She tells it like it friggin' is...even if you didn't want to hear it. For that...she is my darlin J. She may as well be one of my sisters and I worship my sisters. That's how I think of her. I love ya so much Judith darlin!! You just don't know darlin.

Syyd....OMG...who, from my Heavy Metal head section of my generation, would NOT look up to a raven-haired, sexy whiskey-voiced, rock babe, and stupendous artist named Syyd Raven?? She is so friggin' cool...in attitude...in personality...in everything. I wanted my art to be Syyd's art. I am still trying to get as good as that woman...and I will keep trying 'til I die no doubt. LOL! Getting to know her has only made my admiration deeper. She is a great person and I admire her in a lot of ways. both real life and 3D life. Syyd just keeps it together and keeps on trucking no matter what curve ball's thrown at her. Syyd is definitely my #1 artistic idol. Without a doubt...her art sings to me on all levels. Especially those secret levels I don't share with anyone but my husband. I love you my Squiditha.

Colm Jackson! ROFL! Colm has been around since back before Poser was Poser I think! If not that long...it's still been a long time he's been doing this stuff. He was always kind of quiet...so I never knew just how much he knew until RDNA, but he quickly established himself as a Poser God to me. He has been at this thing longer than most any of us! He knows the ins and outs of a lot of stuff that boggles my friggin' mind. LOL! As bad as it may sound...my favorite thing about Colm is hearing him on the phone. I could listen to him talk all the day long with that accent. He sounds just like Paul McCartney to me on the phone! I am a southern gal through and through...and we don't get many accents like Colm's down here....so it's just like a breath of fresh air. LOL! He also makes me pee myself sometimes in meetings. He's funny as hell when he gets going! ROFL!!!

See why I love RDNA? I got invited to be in a group of my community heroes. Who could ask for better than that? Now...I warned ya this was a toughie question. I am gonna drag on for awhile here. You have been warned.

Renapd! Rena! Rena! Rena! My goddess....my muse...my ORIGINAL TEXTURE IDOL! She was the total sh*t to me when I was a newbie (still is too!) Her clothing textures were just the pinnacle of style and sophistication. She could make a friggin' model of a burlap sack look like a designer dress. And she could do it in 3 seconds flat. THE FLASH! Whoooooooooshhhhhh...... a texture pack is done in 3 minutes flat and it's so good you will be envious that you spent 3 days on a texture pack that isn't half that good. ROFL!! Her work ethic and talent is just amazing. The sheer volume and quality she produces on a continual basis just ASTOUNDS me. Rena...I am glad to know you girl. You ROCK!

Okay...okay...gotta mention the Bear. Ironbear. Oh my god I loved that man. I don't get to chat with him as much as I used to. My fault entirely...I am sucky like that. Ask my family and friends how much I email them. LOL! I miss him all the time. IB never took anyone's sh*t, never gave anyone too much sh*t (unless they asked for it. *heh*), and still mananged to be a loveable kind of guy that we all would listen to when he was passing on his thoughts. I still look forward to every post with IB's name on it. I always know it's gonna be a good one! He made me spit all over my screen SOOOOO many times that I should have named the stains after him. Ironbear Coffee Stain #1....Ironbear Iced Tea Stain #5....Ironbear cigarette burn. Yep...I distinctly remember a post he made back in the old Rosity C&D days that made me laugh so hard I spit out my cigarette and burned the hell out of myself. *hehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehe*
I still have that scar. I would love to look up some of those threads.....but that would be hard since they were all DELETED with the C&D forum. Still a bit sore about that one. ROFL! *shrug*

D'mentia. Oh...she was right with Rena on my texture goddesses list.She just rocked my world with her textures. AND HER ART!! Good gawd...I would give my left arm to be as good now as she was 2 years ago!!! How sad is that?? I remember that she was also always extremely kind to me. I bought a pack of texture resources from her at DAZ and made a texture for one of Steve Shank's Poserworld models. The Shania Suit! That was it! It's still on my Creed 3D site! LOL! Anyway...I sent her an instant message through Rosity to make sure it was okay for me to distribute it. I was a nervous newbie and not really aware of all the rules even though I bought the darn package. She sent me a message back and calmly explained to my dumb butt that it was fine to make textures with the texture resource she was selling. LOL! Then she told me that it was a good texture. I thought I would just melt. To have her say that was a high for me. That may sound odd...but I am a pretty overly critical person when it comes to my work...so it meant a great deal to me. It kept me making textures too! Thank you very much for that D'mentia!

Cooler! Cooler! Cooler! Cooler! That man just always seemed like a saint to me. LOL! I have actually never really had a chat with him, but I don't need to play email tag with him to know he is a great guy. C'mon....we have all seen him on ALL the various sites...just cruising threads...dispensing knowledge on copyright and all things 3D....and someone needs a certain model....and suddenly there is Cooler again...and he is either making it for you....or had it backed up on his hard drive. That just rocks! I so appreciate him...and I wish I could be him...but I just ain't that good or prolific a modeler. *heh*

I could go on with this one....but people might get bored. LOL! So I will list some folks who undoubtedly deserve their props.

Kozaburo - How do I love him? Let me count the ways...
One - fantastic hair models.
Two - fantastic hair models.
Three - fantastic hair models.
Four. Five. Tons! Much gratitude and admiration for Koz. He is definitely a hero of mine.

MayaX - JUST PLAIN 'OL ROCKS! Go Maya! Go Maya! LOL!

SteffyZZ - Even though the ultra realistic skin textures aren't my thing...I was stunned by her skills when she came on the scene with Asia. She is just fantastic at what she does.

Xurge - My bud! My partner now! I love him to death! He works his butt off in real life and 3D life and never a bad day. At least not that I have seen. The nicest guy you could ever meet. He puts up with me doesn't he? LOL! He is so damn talented that I want to just try and grasp some of it from his aura. LOL! He is truly a modeling god!

Sergemarck - THE man when it came to period clothing. Not only does he model....but he is a walking fashion historian. What a combination!

Steve Shanks - Holy frijoles Batman!! Can this guy put out some work or what? He is friggin' AMAZING! Poserworld is the place! Everyone should subscribe! You will get more than you could have hoped for. He turns out such great models at astonishing speed. I think he may be a Marvel mutant or something. LOL!

SkoolDaze - I worship his work. Always have...always will. He was extremely encouraging to me when I was a newbie. He commented on many of my images and I will always be grateful to him for those simple words of encouragement. It was like candy to me. LOL!

LaurieA - What can I say about Laurie? I love this woman! She and I have a lot in common sometimes. She is way too critical of her work....for no good reason though! She is fantastic and she should hear that all the time. Generous and just an all-around nice lady, she is.

LaurieS - Ummmm. Do I have to tell you that she is a texture goddess? Nope...I sure don't. Everybody knows that Laurie is a texture goddess. LOL!

JohnMalis - I was heavy into fantasy when I first came into Poser...and John was THE fantasy character man. I work with this guy now at RDNA! LOL! He makes me jealous. He makes me work harder. He makes me struggle to have a portion of his talent. And I love every friggin' minute of it.

Maveris - He hasn't been around as long as I have....but that changes NOTHING. He is a hero of mine to the very depths of my soul. This guy is so generous and sweet and so all-around great that he defies logic. I love ya Mav darlin! Don't you ever change! ;o)

Oh gosh...I really could keep going here....but this interview is getting kind of long and people are falling asleep here. LOL!

Hmmm? I'm sorry, what question was I on? ; ) Oh, right.
Any particular upcoming projects you want to tease us with

My lips are sealed. If I uttered a word....my pals at RDNA would activate the self destruct chip they had implanted in my skull. *grin*

Can you recommend any one book or online Poser resource for the beginner Poser artist to learn from?

Books! This is awful for a book junkie like myself to say....but I have never picked up one Poser book. LOL! I wish I could say different...but I am one of those gals that likes to dive in and screw around to learn something. I just can't do the manual thing. LOL! I would rather just go to the forums and ask when I get stuck than look it up. So lazy. ;o)

Where else? Runtime DNA of course! ROFLMAO! Everyone there is just as friggin' good as it gets. Our members just amaze me! They are kind and helpful and get to threads faster than we mods and admins can most of the time!! LOL! I am lucky if I get a chance to help someone before they get their help posted. I am always coming in a day late and a dollar short. I spend all this time writing out a response in the damn message form...and when I hit "post"...three of them beat me to it! ROFL! I just delete my response and smile every time. They will take a thread to 300 replies if that is what it takes to get your problem worked out...they never give up on it. That is the kind of atmosphere that people thrive and learn in. Support...support...support. Our members give it all. AND...I never have to worry about watching our members! Nothing ever gets out of hand...they shut that junk down on their own. They friggin' ROCK! I love them all so damn much.

Without a doubt I have to include Renderosity. Okay...so the site ain't perfect (what site is?)...and the whole community bitches at them and about them a lot. I did my share of stabbing at Rosity when I got pissed about something or someone or just had a friggin' bad day. But who friggin' cares? Not me. In one ear and out the other. I will just say......what other site has more knowledge in it's archives than Renderosity? If there is one...I don't know about it...and I actually don't care. I started there...everyone I work with, know, and love started there. It is the place to learn! It has a huge membership to answer any weird or off-the-wall Poser (and a lot of other 3D apps too now) question you have. SOMEONE will figure out what you need and tell you how to do it. I learned so much from forum posts, instant messages, the chat room, the gallery, all at Renderosity. And even though I am an Admin at Runtime DNA...I will always be a member of Renderosity. Until I am dead or the site goes offline...whichever comes first. Probably me dead. LOL! If you are truly a beginner in Poser...join Renderosity. They can get feisty in there...'cause it's a big, big place....but don't let that scare you away. The ones that matter are still there. The quiet folks that take time to instant message you a detailed answer to your questions. The ones that model you something just 'cause you offhandedly mentioned needing it in a post (Ohhh...I mentioned him above!) Join Renderosity my beginning friends. Ignore the politics, the site wars *laugh*, the bitching, the complaining...you are there to learn...and you aren't the only one. Just pick through all the junk and you will find you learned a hell of a lot about Poser in just a little while.

I have to give props to this site for it's fantastic line of free stuff and what seem like very helpful forums. Freebies are a must for any beginner and Planit3D has some of the best freebies in the 3D Community. I haven't been a member here very long...but I have been one long enough to notice that the site staff is very nice and that they love to share whatever they can with the rest of us. I see a long future for them and I think they are quickly becoming one of the community's favorite sites. They are already one of mine! Keep it up guys....your old school "let's share and share and share" attitiude is the best you can have...and you guys got it in spades. I thank you sincerely on behalf of myself and my renders.LOL! ;o)

Oh hell...you should just go to every site there is. They all have something for you to learn. That is the thing about this community. Beyond all the arguing and fighting that can go on....we all share knowledge. We like to do it. That's what makes this such a great community to be a part of. The competition aspect brings me way down a lot of the time....but that has nothing to do with Poser or the learning of Poser. Skip that junk in the forums and just LEARN.

What piece of advice would you give to beginning Poser artists?

Do you walk down the street and think about rendering? Do you have dreams and wake up and have to write that image idea down? Do you feel this little thing inside of you that you want to express? Open Poser. Keep at it. Don't give up. If you want to know how to do it... ask as many people as it takes to learn. It's all about improving yourself baby. Even the very best have room for improvement. Be human...struggle until you have achieved whatever vision was in you. We are all artists...we all have imagination...share yours with me. I want to see what is in your head. Not a piece of fluff you did in 5 minutes (though I appreciate those a lot too sometimes. LOL!)...not what you think everyone else wants to see....just you...your dreams....your nightmares...your humor...your work. That's the art that sings. That is the art that people gawk over. Technical achievement, while important, is not the most important thing about your artwork. YOU are the most important thing about your artwork. Worry about your hair painting later!
ive me expression...give me depth... give me passion...give me pain...give me happiness...and give me rage. I am your audience. Show me your demons. BRING IT ON BABY!

Any particular sites you want to mention?

The One and Only BABY!

RuntimeDNA - Where imagination has no limit.

*surprised look on my face*

Interviewer's note: I'd like to thank NikitaCreed for such a great interview. Thanks for all of your hard work, you certainly are a talented individual and really one of my Poser heroes. Thanks for the work you do for the community and for sharing so much of that with us. I'm sure you're an inspiration to a lot of people and we all appreciate it. You are truly one of the artists that raise the bar of excellence.

Interviewed by Ben_Dover
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