Christmas Glow

Posted on December 20, 2024

My Christmas theme for 2024 has been decorating some of my favorite scenes and here’s one last render before the holidays.   “A Christmas in Paradise” last year opened my eyes to the possibilities of Holiday settings outside the stereotypical snowy north and looking at my “Starglow” scene from September gave me the idea to light up the palm tree in festive multicolored lights.   Sort of a counterpoint to “Christmas Ethereal“.   

It took be a bit longer than I would have liked to get the lights right as I wanted them to be more “multicolored” than I’ve attempted before.    Experimented with many different methods before settling on what you see here. 

I hope you enjoy it wherever in the world you are and that you all have a wonderful holiday!!

Winter Ethereal (Christmas)

Posted on December 13, 2024

Thanks to Ian Warren who suggested that my “Winter Ethereal” render would make a nice Christmas scene with some lights added to the trees.     When I first created the spring version I did so with a mix of “instance” trees (tree objects populated procedurally) and one tree that I placed intentionally.  I certainly wasn’t thinking about the holidays back in April but if they’d been all instances I would have had to add lights to all the trees and that (I feel) would have been a bit overwhelming.   

I think it works better if there’s just one tree lighting up the surrounding darkness. Hope you enjoy it!

The signed calendars and cards have all gone out to my Donors and Patrons.   Thanks so much everyone for going above and beyond to support my work.   This year has been a bit of challenge due to some changes with my credit card merchant bank so your support has been vital.

If you’ve enjoyed my work this year I hope you will consider dropping a little extra support in my Tip Jar!

PS:  Facebook users… Did you know I run a Private Group just for DB Subscribers?   Hit this page on DB for the signup link if you are interested.

A Pioneer Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2024

I like to do at least one Christmas theme every year.      Sometimes it’s 100% holiday inspired but I also enjoy taking my favorite scenes that I’ve made and decorating them for Christmas.     This year I’m starting out with a holiday version of “The Pioneer Spirit” from 2019.   I thought it would be a nice statement on how the Christmas spirit travels wherever we do, even light years away from Earth.   

I only noticed just today that someone back in 2019 commented that it would make a nice Christmas image.   Perhaps that comment stuck in the back of my mind these past five years.   

Either way, I hope you enjoy it! I have one more “adapted” Christmas render coming soon…

Winter Ethereal

Posted on December 7, 2024

When I created “Spring Eternal” back in April ’24 I wasn’t really thinking about a seasonal series but sometimes things just work out that way.   I’ve always loved the seasons (and infamously moved away from San Diego because I missed them).     People definitely have a love/hate relationship with Winter but there is something very special about the time just after a snowfall.   It’s a vibe I’ve often sought to capture in my Winter scenery and I hope I’m closer to perfecting it here.

Going to work on something for Christmas next!

Speaking of Christmas: Did you know that we send out signed Christmas cards and calendars to the top DB supporters every year?

Here’s this year’s batch all set to go out….

Donors receive a signed Christmas card while Patron, Sponsor and Guardian level supporters receive cards and a signed calendar. It’s not too late receive one! Upgrade your Membership here and I will make sure you are added to the mailing list. Thanks so much to the folks who have gone above and beyond to help me keep sharing my work here for the past 25+ years!!

Hypogeum (Violet)

Posted on December 4, 2024

Here’s one last color variation of my “Hypogeum” series.   Trying here to darken the background a bit to focus on the tree more.   

Help me out here: Which version should I feature in my gallery?? One will be featured and the other two will go in the Pickle Jar.

For my part I’m going to move on to a new project now 🙂