Although respectful of traditional art, Haraszti finds that the digital medium is well suited to his needs. "My love for drawing will never change," he says. "But I can produce works on the computer in no time, as opposed to on the canvas—I cannot paint! That reason alone tells why I chose the computer over the canvas." To generate his projects, the part-time artist uses a variety of software, including Discreet's 3ds max and Corel's Bryce 5.
A dedicated enthusiast, Haraszti says he has no plans to pursue a career in digital art. "If it were my job," he says, "I'm not sure I would still enjoy it." Currently, Haraszti is taking a break from graphics and is spending more time with photography. "After all, it takes some experienced eyes to get the lights and shadows right in graphics," he adds. "And what would be a better way to deal with light, if not through photography?"
A sampling of Haraszti's art appears on these pages. More of his work can be found on the Renderosity Web site under the name of nitro115 at www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez? ByArtist=Y&Artist=nitro115 and at www.unc.edu/~haraszti. —Karen Moltenbrey
Old Dish Haraszti generated this image "just for fun." The piece was modeled in 3ds max, and its lighting was produced with max's native scanline renderer. Corel's Painter was used to achieve the detailed textures and the depth-of-field blur effect.
Szent Istvan Bazilika Side Tower This virtual look at the side tower of an existing cathedral in Budapest could be mistaken for a photograph. It was done in 3ds max and Cebas Computer's finalRender raytracing system.
Placa del Rei The artist fell in love with this building after seeing a photograph of it on the Internet. He re-created the image in 3ds max, finalRender, and Photoshop.
Country Morning II In Haraszti's opinion, old barns can be portals to untold pasts. In this image, which was done in 3ds max, final Render, and Painter, he sets the stage for one such story.
An Old Kitchen Inspired by the individual personalities projected by old stoves, Haraszti created this antique kitchen in 3ds max, finalRender, and Photoshop.
Vorosmarty Square This re-creation of a bustling location in Budapest was modeled in 3ds max and Onyx Tree, and textured in Bryce. Because of all the atmospheric effects, the artist decided to render it in Bryce as well, taking advantage of the software's atmospheric capabilities.