The Artwork of W. M. Bagley

 

Walt Bagley has been working with 3D graphics for several years now, beginning with the first good graphics computer, the Amiga.  A dream had come true for him when he saw the bouncing beach ball, because he knew something had started that could only get better and better as the technology, and the software, evolved.

          But his beginnings were with pen and ink.  Strangely, his choice in this medium was not the traditional fountain pen with the India ink most artists used, but was the lowly, quite inexpensive Bic ballpoint pen.  That was his axe, so to speak.  And with that pen he could sketch all sorts of things, creating fair realism, and all without looking at models or scenes.  That was his forte, doing artwork from memory, even creating fair representations of people in his family and those with whom he worked.  He could draw animals, too, adding the musculature and proper form, doing this also from memory. 

          From there he got into oils and acrylics.  His idols were Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Maxfield Parrish and others who did fantasy artwork.  But even as he was inspired by the work of the greats, to include the realist Italian and Dutch painters of more ancient times, he developed a style of his own, rarely attempting to imitate the style of others.

          But once he got involved in computer graphics, all other media dropped by the wayside.  The dream of stark realism was becoming reality.  It wasn’t long before the sort of power enjoyed by the professionals, such as the folks at Industrial Light & Magic, was becoming more and more common, less and less pricey, and moving out into the realm of the struggling masses of artists rich in talent and poor in finances.

          Bagley’s style of 3D art is uniquely his own.  Similarities exist because of the nature of the media and the particular genre he prefers, which tends to be fantasy primarily.  He uses two main 3D programs---Poser, which provides fairly realistic characters and a host of outfits and props, both provided with the program and found as either freebies or quality purchases elsewhere, and Bryce, one of the best scenery generation programs on the market, especially for the price.  Many artists utilize one or both of these programs, posting them at various on-line galleries.  Each has his or her own style, and Walt Bagley has one that has gained him considerable prestige among many of his peers as well as the many fans who visit his site and look forward to each new piece of work he posts, which come fairly rapidly.  Not only does he produce quality work, developing methods for texturing in Bryce and creating very realistic poses in Poser, but he is also very prolific.  It’s not unusual to see a new picture each day posted by Mr. Bagley.

          In these prints you will find his illustrative style, as though they’ve been plucked from the center of an illustrated novel, taking the reader off into distant lands with distant laws and rules, as well as a host of strange and interesting characters living throughout his imaginary realm.  We hope you’ll find his artwork as enjoyable as his peers, where they notice the concern for details in casual posing, often requiring much more concentration than still portrayals of action scenes.  Hopefully you’ll see why his artwork has found itself in guest galleries in several countries as well as the States, and why Curious Labs, the maker of Poser, added some of his images for a tape shown at a 3D graphics fair, Siggraph 2001.  You’ll probably see why several writers have expressed interest in his illustrative style, too.

          The limited prints will have value in the fact that W. M. Bagley is widely known, either in his true name or as Mike Arizma, a screen name he uses at some galleries.  Collect them as a set, or simply select one that catches your eye and appeals to your sense of art appreciation.  Own a piece of a gigantic gallery of varied images, already numbered in the hundreds, each one quite different from the next.  But in all you will find the Bagley touch, his particular style, the Arizma effect, recognized by his choice of colors and overall composition.

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