ZBrushCentral

1000 Posts By Ron Harris

Congratulations to Ron Harris for posting his 1,000th message here at ZBrushCentral!

Interview With Ron Harris:

Introduce yourself:

Hello, my name is Ron Harris and I am honored to be receiving this time in the spotlight.

Where do you live?
I am originally from Fort Smith Arkansas, but after meeting my wife while in the U.S. Infantry for 4 years, we settled here, in Clarksville Tennessee…very beautiful area for the most part (40 minutes north of Nashville on the Kentucky border) and we hold the world record for catfish caught on rod and reel right now…See “Man catches record catfish”

What do you do for work?
I do web designs when I can locate the work. I primarily own and operate a small commercial cleaning business…(I clean toilets :)) I hope to be opening up a small internet based business before long.

What do you do for fun? (besides ZBrushing ;))
When I am not ZBrushing, I am normally sketching something on paper, writing on my great horror novel or some other short story, or weather permitting I am out catfishing on the Cumberland river…See my 30+ pounds catch and this famous moment.

How old do you tell people you are?
37, soon to be 38 May 7th…wink wink…(ponder full version of Z)

What would you like to say on this momentous occasion?
As an aspiring artist, art is my main livelihood…and without it I am nothing and would be lost…you might as well put my in a straight jacket and feed me babyfood thru a funnel…it defines me, allows me to constructively protest, it allows me to express my darkest feelings, it (besides my children) will be all that is left of me when I die…art is life… and there is no bad art, cept when there is no art…and ZBrush has given me a new medium to express all that art is to me and the forum is kind enough with all it’s beautiful and most wonderful members to allow me to share it. Thanx ya’ll

Tell us about your work with ZBrush…

What first attracted you to ZBrush?
ZBrush was discovered by accident on a magazine with a poser3 cd…(3d World) They gave a review of ZBrush and after quickly getting bored with poser I installed version 1.0 of Z and worked with it. The free flowing power of a 3d environment was and still is overwhelming…and there is always something new to learn or a new way to improve an old image or idea using ZBrush.

What’s your favorite ZBrush feature or tool?
I would have to say I have two favorites in Z…the snakehook brush has been my most used but the mrgbz tool for turning an image into a brush is very awesome and I have used it alot in my gallery work once EZ and Stonecutter showed me the way.

What’s your favorite thing about working with ZBrush?
ZBrush I think makes even the most novice user feel like a pro once they learn the basics. The ZScripts allow the experts and novices alike to share tips and tricks to create some of the most spectacular images on the internet today. Not to mention the wonderful society of ZBC to help. That is like having 24 hour a day 7 day a week instant professional tech support.

What other software do you use, if any?
I use jasc paintshop pro, micrografx Simply 3d3, poser3, Terragen and of course ZBrush

What other (non-digital) media do you work in, if any?
I am always doing something artistic to some degree if not on the computer. I have carved wood knife handles, crafted a sheet metal knights helmet, paper mache’, clay, some ceramic works, writing, drawing, plaster mold making, simple candle making(I love candles) and on Halloween I love to do special effects style makeups…See :small_orange_diamond: Zombie :small_orange_diamond: Freddy :small_orange_diamond:Gargoyle . I am also putting together a gallery of my stuff including drawings, ZBrush stuff, other digital renderings and other stuff that I do on a video and will burn cd’s of it also…

What’s your favorite genre, theme, or style of artwork?
Well I love horror as a genre, but I love H.R. Giger’s bio mechanical visions, Clive Barkers scrawlings, Keith Birdsong’s Star Trek character rendering not to mention Michael OKuda and his wifes overall Star Trek universe renderings and there are several ZBrushers who have inspired me I would like to take the time to mention as well. Pixolator obviously, EZ’s technical stuff and advice, Stonecutter’s advice and works both on Z and in real life, Glen Southern’s beautiful renderings, Kathy’s works and wisdom in the business world, Robo’s humor of the day, and DeeVee’s beautiful renderings of the Caymans and there is also the works of DOB, and Ceneofotistos and Muvlo and my Austrian buddy the omnipotent Hansl/juandel and if I left someone out my apologies please…

What are your main sources of inspiration?
My inspiration comes most of the time during my noon coffee. I sit and doodle and let my mind just wander. Violence in the world and some of the ZBrush postings also add to my inspirations. I do find myself drawing with ZBrush in mind. I draw with my ZBrush abilities in mind coz I wish to render alot of my sketches in Z.

What artists have influenced you? (ZBrush and/or non-ZBrush)
Answered that above for the most part, but Pixolator’s Gargaman and Gold Egyptian caught my eye and then it was Adam Baude’rs Self Portrait and his Angelina Jolie.

When you create something in ZBrush, how much do you plan in advance, and how much do you let it take shape while you create?
Well like I said, I sketch and draw constantly, however there are times when I just start doodling within ZBrush and the program will mysteriously take control of my mind and actions and something new with spring forth. My underwater scene on my gallery was a prime example. It started out as a small pile of tomatoes and turned into that…

What are the most important elements in creating a really compelling image?
(theme, subject matter, lighting, colors, etc.)

I don’t know that I have created anything I would call compelling…so I must answer these somewhat separately…theme matters to me…but like on my gallery I have noticed that if I work super hard on something it tends to be overlooked. I produce what I like and not what I think you might like. Public consumption of my work is incidental. Though high viewing numbers do make you feel good. I think lighting is super important and I am learning more about that…but it can make a crappy image look fifty percent or more better. But I posted a few images a while back after a conversation I had with a ZBrusher asking how do you get people attracted to your images. Their answer was correct- slap a naked poser chick or monster up, show a breast in a thumbnail or reveal only a fraction of the image in the thumbnail and title it cutely. So as an experiment, I posted my sorriest excuse for a piece of art doing just that intentionally and showed a breast in the thumbnail etc. It is my only piece to break a 100 viewings…did it again and the results have been close…so I produce to please my own eyes unless someone requests something…Color depends on the image and the mood I want to create…I like mixing ZBrush with my scanned drawings…and I will sometimes change it all to gray scale and then run it thru a negative filter to get a kewl effect…it just really depends on my mood and the piece

What do you hope to convey most in your artwork? (message, humor, esthetic balance, etc.)
I most hope to convey bits and pieces of myself, whether is it my position on prolife, the horrible things that happen to youthful gangsters, and sometimes just my own demented little shallow visions.
My work is a good representation of me. That question was brought up in forum one day…if you look deep enough into my pics you will see me in there somewhere…we are the sum of our parts and part of me is my art.

What is/are your favorite tip(s) for ZBrush newbies?
Learn what a script is…and run the Begin Modeling script and play. Do not be afraid to ask questions of the forum and don’t be afraid to post. Get lots of sleep before you ever open the program coz once you do you can forget about sleep. I average four hours a day of sleep. And visit the quicklinks section at the top of the forum daily. You will always learn something new and useful. And try using a higher setting on the h divide sliders…makes the jaggys go away as does the smoothing slider.

Share with us your favorite ZBrush creation so far (Image and/or ZScript):

I have the demo so I can’t make a script yet…but my favorite image would be…hmmmm it would be my first posted pic called The Incubus, Adam Bauder generously advised me on the making of some of the effects in his Angelina Jolie image and I used this info for this pic. I didnt like the nose on my pic but I am still proud of this creature. Also my pic of Icarus…liked that one too…

Tell us about the process of making this ZBrush creation.
well it is just a head modeled from a 3d sphere. Snake hook teeth and the eyes were just color spheres modeled in place (now I use the snapshot and move method) the eyelids were painted on in 2d, the water is paintshop water (which I am notorious for using) but I got the depth of the head by using Adams method. I took in psp and traced the main extruded features of the face and copied that and then put a blur on the rest of the image and then pasted the face back onto the head. I was so / am still very proud of this…Thanx Adman!!!

Where can we see more of your creations (besides ZBrushCentral :wink: )?
This is my newest art gallery: Ron_Harris_Gallery . It is filling up fast. I add three more pieces to the gallery everyday. All images are thumbnailed with links to larger images I have done. All feedback is appreciated

Share with us other facts about yourself…

Married 15 years, daughter is 10 and son is 8.

What’s your favorite band, singer, or style of music?
I am stuck in the 80s…I love Devo, Human League and all that good ole dance pop stuff from back then

What’s your favorite TV show, movie, actor or director?
I watch Buffy the vampire slayer, all things Star Trek, Xfiles, and any zombie movie you can put before me…Dawn of the Dead…drooolies…favorite actor would be Sean Connery and Brent Spiner and my favorite director is George Romero

What’s your favorite book, magazine or author?
Favorite author is Clive Barker, favorite books were the books of blood 1, 2 and 3 by him…and also another trilogy by William W. Johnstone called The Devil’s Kiss, The Devil’s Heart and The Devil’s Touch…(they got me into writing) and my favorite magazines are Fangoria and I occasionally pick up a Heavy Metal mag.

What’s your favorite snack food?
I am 300 pounds right now so it might be easier to say I don’t eat live(only fish with it), I don’t drink buttermilk and I will never let chittlins cross my lips again…everything else is fair game for my jowls…I sit at the computer sucking down 3 packs of cigs a day and four liters of Diet Coke a day/night.

What’s a good motto to live by?
“Who am I to judge, I am but just a grain of sand on a beach and the tide is coming in fast”

What’s your favorite thing about participating in ZBrushCentral?
Very tight nit and supportive and everyone is made to feel like a winner when on ZBC and you will find this out with your first posting.

If the members of ZBrushCentral awarded you a trophy, it would probably Be for “Best / Most _______”
Opinionated or full of hot air :slight_smile:

A question by EZ: What was the Hardest thing in ZBrush for you when you First got started?
Two things…first was realizing that version 1.0 was eating my resources and that I needed the 1.23b and calibrating my monitor so my images werent posted so dang dark looking…a very valuable lesson that I learned and that my friends at Z helped me correct…Thanks guys.

Finally, write a question we haven’t asked. The next 1,000th-message poster will be asked this question…

“If you had the opportunity to change jobs at this point in your life, what would you rather be doing with your life/job at this moment?”

:large_orange_diamond:We would like to thank Ron Harris for his contribution to the ZBrush community and for taking the time to answer the above questions.
To signify 1,000 messages, the dots beneath his name (each represents 100 posts) have been replaced with a star.

Congratulations Ron Harris , and welcome to the 1,000 posts club!

We’d like to express our gratitude to you all in helping to make ZBC such a fun place to share techniques and ideas.

The Pixologic Team

:large_orange_diamond:Previous 1000th posts members: EZ
:white_small_square:Deevee
:white_small_square:Muvlo
:white_small_square:Stonecutter
:white_small_square:Robotalk
:white_small_square:Aurick
:white_small_square:Dr.JJWow
:white_small_square:Juandel
:white_small_square:Kathy
:white_small_square:Digits

Congratulations, CatfishMan ! :cool:
It’s been fun watching your developement, and personally hearing from you…Keep that philosophical outlook, and catch catfish till you’re 104…(Then maybe take a break for a few years… :smiley: :wink: )

Congratulations Ron. :wink:
You are a good friend and a kind soul. Your work speaks volumes to your humanity.

And can you FISH!!! :smiley: :+1:

Rack up 1000 more.

Congratulations my friend. You are an inspiration to all on this forum. I was most impressed when you jumped in and took charge when someone stole one of Southern’s, images. That single act confirmed you as a super guy ( I do not mean 300 lbs) . Looking forward to more of your unique art. :+1: :+1: :+1:

Congratulations Ron! Man of the hour! One star does not do you justice buddy! Bravo!! :+1: :+1:

i think ive known you best as the water man… welcome to the club my friend… and in such short time …

Hi Ron,

I really enjoyed reading your interview, and I can relate so much to what you said. First of all my Mom used to live in Columbia, Ky. I’ve spent some time down there and boy do you folks know how to live. Venison with a “sprinkle”, Makers Mark bourbon, and skeet shooting. Fun stuff! I really liked your comments about life and art. It’s been interesting watching your development here, and I hope you continue to post and progress. Keep up the good work :+1:

lol ive only got like 995 to go or something like that…

Congrats, Ron! The 1000+ circle is growing larger – and somehow it seems like it’s taking people less time to get there, too. Feels like it was only last month or so that we first started seeing you around here. :slight_smile:

You are always a positive force here, and that is very welcome! Keep up the great stuff!

Congratulations Ron! We’ve all enjoyed every post you’ve made. :slight_smile: I look forward to many more! :slight_smile:
(And right on about Star Trek. ;))

Congratulations Ron!!You came a long way in such a short time! Be proud!

1000 posts, and plenty of art shared with us all. Congratulations Ron :+1: :+1: :+1:

congraz, Sir! an overdue star for you, Ron, and a mucho interesting interview! :smiley: thank you for all the inspirations, brought up topics, help, encouragement and great art you keep sharing!

as a thank you here is a local catfish right from one of the bayoux of the danube (no funky z-fish in these muddy waters, though ;)) - look how anxious it looks - having heard of you - the gorey catfishman :slight_smile:

and to give you an idea what sizes the european catfish grow up to - i dug up an url: here is one of those giants and here is the rest of the gallery… come over asap, bud! :smiley:

  • juandel

Well done Ron, your’e a big fish now :smiley:

regards

Arran (Picsas)

Congrats Ron, I enjoyed reading your interview. Thanks for your contributions, comments and enthusiasim, it makes this place what it is.

I hear them catfish up your way are maneaters!

First of all Ron Gave me persimmon to use his Pic here i added some animation Lips.

EZ interview With Ron Harris

(introduce Your Self)
Hi

(What’s Your Favorite TV Show)
Barney

(Where do You Live)
in a House

(What do you do for fun /non ZBrush Related)
smoke 3 packs of cigs a day and four liters of Diet Coke a day/night

(What Do You Do For Work)
What’s That can you Repeat the question

(How old do You Tell People You Are)
a Year Older Then Dirt

(What other Software do you use /if any)
MS Paint and dot to Dot sketching

(What First attracted You To ZBrush)
Seeing EZ Great Pic Wink Wink

(What’s Your Favorite Tip For a ZBrush Newbie)
DON’T sit at the computer sucking down 3 packs of cigs a day and Drink four liters of Diet Coke day/night.

(So Tell us a little about Your Self)
im a ZBrush User and my name is RON giggle giggle

(What is Your Favorite ZBrush Tool?)
Snake hook Brush umm no the 3D Cube no wait the EZ Eye Ball Maker That’s my finial answer umm wait can i Phone a Friend

(Write a Question For The Next person that Reaches 1000th that i haven’t ask would be This)
What is Your Name

WELCOME Ron Harris to The 1000 post Club.
i Would like to express our gratitude To Ron Harris For being a ZBrush User and one Heck of a GOOD Friend…

Congratulations Ron on your 1000 birthday.
Dave

congrats ron, i must say this by FAR the best help area on the internet today! Zbrush is the greatest!

ROTFLMAO

Congratulations Ron :+1: :+1:

stargo