I just wanted to say that there is not nearly enough nudity in your images and if there was more they'd spend a lot more time wallpapering my desktop. (just kidding...or am I...???)

It simply reminds me of the temple of the sun in Mexico. I loved visiting the pyramids near Mexico City whenever we went to visit my father's family. I always ate too many popsicles and ended up sick. But I so loved it regardless. Ryan, I am making this my FB cover! Great image.

Because "he" is the default gender in English when true gender is unknown. Especially online.

Boy, am I late with this comment, and it's a very minor point particularly at this late date, but it bothered me from the beginning. Why did everyone assume "Logical" was male? I assumed Logical was female; women are logical, too, or can be. :) (And my face will be very red if I discover I'm wrong.)

Can you make an iPad version of this image?

The daytime version of this has the usual 3 members-only higher res mobile versions (Droid, Evo, iPhone 4) but this one lacks those. Were they rendered and simply not linked here? Can haz?

But can you please make a Droid version so I can have it on all my devices? :)

I simply love this image, and together with the daylight one it's a nice setup for my dual screen setup. Keep up the good work.

I think I like this one even better than your day version although its a close compare. Good job.

I really love the colors and the lighting, but I feel the edges are too sharp for an evening picture.

Ryan,



I absolutely love this piece. One of my favorites of all time. Could you add this to your Zazzle store please? I NEED to have it on my wall. :)

Nude statues? I did not even notice that before reading comments about it here. Neither did my coworkers when I twice did a presentation using my laptop and a multi-media projector. That means it is not anything noticeable.

What? I'm a Christian and I have no problem with the statues. Actually that's probably not a wise thing to say, considering the church's (deserved) reputation these days :/



Please don't let any of the negative comments here affect your future work, Ryan :)

First of all, I really like both the day and night versions of the this image. Regarding the shockingly nude statues, I hadn't really noticed them until the prurient minded among us pointed them out. Everyone's entitled to their own beliefs, but this complaint does seem a little overdone.



My one negative comment would be the decoration on the pyramid causes it to look a little like wedding cake, but that's just me I guess.

Just wanted to say the dual screens for Temple Of The Leaf are both simply fantastic, though if pressed I have to say that day wins out over night (just). Thanks for all your work Ryan.

I wish there was a RSS feed for the dual screen images. I seem to get an item in my Google reader for the new images which is great but not the dual screen images.



Love both the Temple of the Leaf images. Brilliant as usual. :D

Family Orientation....

Obviously one would not want to take their children to an art museum, or a country in Europe like Italy or Greece... especially Greece! Oh, and let's not forget India, where they have so very many ancient temples replete with the naked human body... in sexual positions, no less.

And one would want to discourage a child from any desire to be a doctor, since so much of the anotomy involves nudity...

Perhaps we should try to perform minor surgery on pregnant mothers to place blinds on the unborn.. lest the little children, ah so young, should look back from whence they came... and of course breast feeding needs to be banned outright. Such child abuse should never be allowed. Seeing is one thing, but actually pushing a young child's face right INTO the obscene body part...

anyway, I rant.... I was rather dissapointed about the statues... way too small. I can't even tell the gender.

dubu sez: "by Ryan's apparent indifference over the matter, we could all agree that he could care less about this squabble."



I don't think we can assume that Ryan has no interest in this issue just because he has not commented. I suspect he's wisely keeping his opinions to himself, to avoid being drawn into a no-win discussion. No matter what side he takes, he ends up offending some of his paying members.

There is a broken link on the Tripple Night Split Files.



Ta

Dave

That's a quote of me being lost for words.

Have to agree with Hunter, these are beautifully composed for the dual screen layout. 10 votes for both from me. Love it when you include figures to give the proportion and wish I could be walking there just like them. Now which do I use, day or night? Guess I'll just have to use them both and switch in the evening when it gets dark :-)

Easily the best multi-screens you have ever done Ryan.



And I know exactly why: both screens look equally good. Most of your multi-screen versions have a beautiful image on one screen, but a not-so beautiful image on the other - it's usually just "filler", with a bushy, leafy undergrowth, or something similar.



Temple of the leaf is panned out, it looks amazing, I can stare at one screen, and be gobsmacked, and I can stare at the other screen - and still be gobsmacked.



Ryan, please... make more multi-screens that look good on both screens!

These Temple of the Leaf images are among a select few that have recieved a 10/10 from me. Truly phenomenal work!



As for this discussion of the statues, I would have to ask logical if he would support censoring such art as Michelangelo's David?

First off i think its amazing. My only complaint being that i dont have 3 wide screens to see the huge landscape you have crafted.



Again were back to this whole nudity issue. I personally hadnt even noticed until it was mention i even downloaded the 1600x1200 to check and it still not that obvious zooming in just reveals that the pixel depth isn't low enough for any real detail to be shown. honestly I've seen moms wearing clothes more revealing at playgrounds. While I respect ones right to express opinion, (ie logical)

I don't like people telling the artist what to do. You purchased a membership because you like what HE does. Don't spoil it because you decide you didn't like one of his pieces. Express your concerns, if he sees that a large number of people are expressing the same concern he will probably take it into consideration(By my view he did so on Desert Dawn when he realized that people were leaning more towards the "light" version and stuck the original in the pickle jar)

If you don't like a piece the artist had made just wait on the the next one, after all, not ALL of The Beatles songs were hits, and they seem to have done alright ;)

Oh man... the new triple screen version makes me want to go out and buy two more Sceptre 46" screens!!

Loving this wallpaper. Honestly I think the talk about the statues being too revealing is a bit hysterical. It's hardly noticeable. I'm using it on my desktop at work and nobody has complained.

if you have a problem with it,

don't use it.



just because you paid for membership, it doesn't condone anybody giving artistic direction let alone censoring the man's art.



by purchasing his membership, you may



1. USE THE ART.



thats it. Honestly there are only a few pictures here that I like, but that's just my preference and I am aware of it. I do not try to force my own opinions upon the artist. cut the nonsense.



by Ryan's apparent indifference over the matter, we could all agree that he could care less about this squabble. But please, be respectful anyway.

After reading all the previous comments about those shockingly naked statues, I felt compelled to add my humble opinion, too. Asking Ryan to censor his future work is truly obnoxious, and so is Photoshopping his images to eliminate elements you don't like and offering to pass copies around. While most of Ryan's images could be called "family-friendly," I can't find a statement from Ryan committing to make his images family-friendly. Therefore, I suggest if an image offends you, don't look at it. Don't ask the rest of us to live by your narrow standards.

We've got a broken link for Temple of the Leaf (Night) 3840 x 1200 dual widescreen. Thanks!

The link is broken

What a lovely nightscape!



Nightfall in that part of the world falls pretty damn quick. It seems that solitary figure has not moved a inch from the Dayscape. ;>)

Thanks again for another wonderful wallpaper!



Although, I have one...comment, not related to this wallpaper or anything... lol, but when I opened your website... I was greeted with a banner ad at the top of the page for "Beautiful Russian Ladies" -- making dreams into reality... lol?



Kind of funny that there are Russian-wife services now. ;)

Primo



This one is well done. Much better than the daytime version (IMHO)

Multiscreen Versions

Dear Ryan,

Respecting your vision as an artist, I acknowledge that your version of a piece is the final word. But looking at your night version of this piece, I wanted to share my viewpoint as a landscape designer.



When we light a night landscape, we don't want to lose those dramatic sculptural forms that we took the trouble to envision and place, so we would light them to be seen and enjoyed at night. Your four large planters in the foreground, and the others of the same type elsewhere, would be softly uplighted to showcase their beautiful forms and entice visitors into the night garden. Same goes for the geometric paths you have created--we would subtly light them to invite exploration. It's a shame to lose all that mystery and detail at night by leaving it in the dark.



Lastly, the 'runway' lighting effect on paths or driveways is avoided by landscape designers. We try to stagger path lighting and use other light sources besides the downlighting on the path to guide the feet without the runway effect. Of course, if the paired lighting is what you're going for, that's valid, too. We are just taught to avoid it if we can.



I hope I haven't ticked you off by my comments. I am a faithful life member and check your site regularly for new goodies. You do amazing and inspiring work, and get better with each passing year. I was just moved to write after I saw your exciting landscape disappear into the dark, which certainly may have been your intention.



Faithfully yours,

Patsy

William and Logical:



Truly, you have got to be kidding. Unless you exmined those statues with a microscope, how did you ever figure out the details of their so-called nakedness?? Yes, by their silhouettes, they are clearly "naked", though of course you can't see them clearly at all.



I can only imagine a personal set of values where the beautiful and bare human body is seen as immoral.



We are born naked and most of us will die naked. We also conceive of our children - the inheritors of our earth - when we are naked. We are sexual, like all species, for our survival.



The chilren in my life have no problem at all with the naked human body. What's your's?

First, I really like the day version of this scene, and I like the evening one just as much (maybe more so). Great job on it. I am glad it seems you have gotten back to the swing of things.



Responding to the other comments about the statues, I honestly did not even really notice the statues until others pointed them out. I also did not notice they were "naked" until it was pointed out. Maybe there is something wrong with my own values or whatever, but I hardly call anything about this scene not family friendly. I have seen more nudity in a PG movie than either of the statues show on this image.



But, who I am I to judge the feelings or beliefs of others.



If I might make a suggestion, your objection to this kind of content might be best made privately to Ryan directly as to avoid such a fire storm of comments.

While I disagree with Logical's take on the statues, I find all the people attacking him rather sickening. He quite clearly stated that he took issue with them because of family (ie children) related issues, not because of his own personal tastes, so insulting his personal life is not only rather low, it's completely unwarranted. Also, he is warranted to his opinion which he expressed quite civilly and politely, and disagreeing with that opinion does not give you the right to belittle him.

Well, of course I would never "distribute" any of Ryan's art, edited or unedited; I was only offering to personally give my edited copy to someone else who in fact has already purchased the original. And of course, if Ryan objected to such a thing, I wouldn't even do that. I agree that an artist has the right to preserve his own works; and it's very rare that I edit something like this for my own use.

While I respect anyone's right to an opinion, an indeed support both William and Logical's right to express their own...I do find myself completely at odds with anyone taking Ryan's art and modifying it and offering to distribute it. I'm fairly sure that this is just as 'immoral' as the nudity in the original work since Ryan has copyrighted his work...thus making changing and distributing it illegal.

I actually share your feelings about the statues, though I was able to resolve my complaint. In Photoshop, it's quite easy to delete out something like that. We could probably find a way for me to email you my edited images (that is, only if Ryan doesn't mind).

I was eagerly awaiting the night version, and I'm not disappointed in the least - awesome work!



Logical - If you're offended by something this harmless, I have no idea how you make your way through the real world. After all, it must be hard to get where you're going when you have to shield your eyes every other second. I'm pretty sure I see much more risque things when I walk through my own neighborhood.

AMAZING...........

Always like your night scenery Ryan, the darker colours are better for icons and they always seem more atmospheric. As for the comment about nudity that is seriously laughable. Keep up the good work!



T.

Very nice Ryan. Looks beautiful on my HDTV.



As to the poster below. Don't worry about offending anyone my friend. Comments, as long as they are constructive and not ridiculous, are always welcome.



I had to use my zoom feature to look closely at the statues, but from my screen they look good.



Peace.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my comments, but I'm not sorry I said them. I understand that the statues are small, but the way the lighting is set up, they are very prominent in the picture.



I don't want to anger anyone, but as a member I am allowed to post my opinion. If no one else feels the way I do, that's fine. I was able to edit the statues out of my saved copy, so I'm okay.



Ryan, like I said before, aside from the statues I love the wallpaper. Even with the statues it is an amazing picture, and I don't want you to think I'm dwelling on the negatives.

This one really captures why I love your work. Great Job!

This is a spectacular picture, very well done. Have you considered doing a mid-morning autumn version, a sort of "Red and Gold" version of the Temple? I think it would be well-received.

This one is absolutely gorgeous. I thought the daytime version was large, but this one appears to be even larger. It's unfortunate we have a self-appointed censor among us, though. How ILlogical can one be? I measured the statues, and on my 25.5" monitor they were all of 11/16 of an inch tall. Oh. My. How. Terrible. Just awful that we're subjected to such filth and sin. Ryan, you just keep up the beautiful work that makes this website live. Your heart and mind put your talent to work in a wonderful way. Kudos, Man. Kudos.

This is, quite possibly, the best piece of art you have made for quite some time. The night sky is perfect and the lighting is sublime.



Marvellous!

Simply stunning, thanks for this excellent piece of art Ryan!

As Always You've created another beautiful wallpaper. You do amazing work Ryan, keep up the good work. I didn't even notice the statues were nude. I only found that out from reading other peoples comments. Don't let it get to you, your work is stunning



Cathy

Utter nonsense. I even zoomed in and could see what this poster was complaining about!

Ryan,



Like all of your work this is amazing. The day and night versions are both among my favorite images. The statues are integral to the feel of the piece they make me think that the people who constructed the marvel were really enlightened and peaceful. I can really picture the vaulted sanctuary from your 2005 piece "Obsidia" being in the temple. Keep up the great work.

Beautiful work, Ryan! :) I find Logical's quest to be bizarre. Even in the night version, these statues are so tiny. I never would have imagined anyone finding them the slightest bit objectionable. There's definitely nothing about this picture that is NOT "family friendly". You'd see more nakedness taking the clothes off a Barbie doll.

I was hoping you would do a night version of this :) Fantastic!

I love this version just as much as the day version! I work overnight shift so this will look great on my work computer at night! Keep up the awesome work!

Great work with the lights, great image overall but not as striking as the day version. About a previous commenter's post, what's the big deal about the statues? the statues seem fairly normal to me even if these are indeed naked, the detail in the statues is too low to be a cause of raising eyebrows.

night is a cool addition; but i enjoyed the day version more

Awesome work ryan. I've been admiring your work for about 4 years now. I love how it keeps getting better, each work trying to reinspire or surpass the beauty of the last.



As far as the statues go, I'd say its utter nonsense. I personally didn't notice anything wrong. It doesn't even look like they're naked. Regardless, keep doing your thing. We all love your art.



~Theo

Logical..... Are you serious ? You can hardly see a thing ! Ryan, you keep doing exactly as you see fit. Great picture.

Ryan,



Apparently you worked out the night version.

Wow, what an amazing night scene. I had not event noticed the statues at the gate in the Day scene.

Makes you wish a place like this was real. Great detail!

That's pretty sweet!

All your stuff is so amazing, hard to choose favorites, but I really love these both. Cannot wait for dual screens of both!

All your stuff is so amazing, hard to choose favoriates, but I really llove these both. Cannot wait for dual screens of both!

Ryan - this is great work!

The lighting effects are stunning!

I love your night version of the Temple of the Leaf, Ryan. I usually enjoy your night versions, but this is really spectacular. Thanks!

I love this night render. As good as the day image is (and it's really good), I like this so much more. Awesome job, Ryan, you never fail to impress.



PS Hope you're continuing to feel better!

i guess that is just the lighting effect on the building from the trees

other than a night version is this different in all respects to the day? Are those stairs going up the front of the temple? b/c they were not there in the day version lol. maybe those should have been lit up too.



Other wise i do love the picture. As everyone else has commented the clouds are magnificent. Great job!! :)

You've outdone yourself.

I like both so much, it is hard to decide which one. I have two screens, so maybe I'll put both up until you get the multi screens rendered. Again nice work.

I was very glad to see a night time version of this wallpaper, especially since the day version was one of my all-time favorites. However, given your commitment to being family-friendly, I was a bit surprised and also disappointed by the increased prominence of the statues by the doorway. I don't know whether this was intentional or not, but I would request that nudity in future projects be toned down a bit more. In the day rendering it was fine, since the statues are small and further concealed by the fog. However, in this scene the lighting makes them much more noticeable.



You're doing a great job with these wallpapers, and I don't want to insult your ability, Ryan. Aside from the statues, this is one of the best wallpapers I have ever seen.

your skies and clouds continue to amaze me!

I concur with Glenn, the clouds keep getting better and better!

This looks really good. But here are my two cents. I like the dark, but wonder if it couldn't be lightened just a tad so as to keep a bit more of the AWESOME detail that is shown in the day version.



Love your work. Thanks a ton for what you do!

Excellent job, again. The night versions give the same image a different feel. Can't wait for the multiple monitor versions of day and night. Need them for my home system.

Love this version! Great job and well worth the wait!!!

I am a sucker for your night works. I love it. Keep up the good work!

Once again, a great job! I love the night images!

This is really great! Any idea when the triple widescreen version will be out?

Ryan:



Wow. This version (for me) is even better than the day; much more mood and awe. Super job. And yes, your clouds continue to be very natural and really well done.



Great job!

Wow, that sky is awesome!! The shadows look great on the statutes at the entry gate.



Another great day/night version.