Arboreal

Posted on December 19, 2022

After creating my new version of “Class M” last week I knew I wanted to create a new version of “Arboreal“.   My first version of “Arboreal” was created nearly 20 years ago and I tried an update 10 years ago which was OK but, looking back, did not exceed the original.   I feel like this new version, with my traveler taking in the scene, is a much better update and I hope you agree.   

Class M

Posted on December 12, 2022

I created this scene as an exercise to learn shading, lighting and rendering using Cinema4D/Redshift.  It’s my first scene using this new software package.   I initially created the Earth but decided it would be more interesting to create an Earth-like alien world. For the planet texture I used a command-line version of this tool and quite a bit of photoshop to create the other needed maps for the Redshift renderer.

All-in-all it was fun exercise and I learned quite a bit. Looking forward to exploring more with Cinema4D and Redshift.

I hope you enjoy it!

“Misty Mountains (Halo)”

Posted on December 8, 2022

One of my favorite digital artists is a photographer by the name of Reuben Wu.   I first noticed him a few years back when he went viral for using drones to light up nighttime landscapes.   His work has a dreamy, otherworldly quality to it that is hard to describe but easy to recognize.   

I thought it would be fun to create a “Reuben Wu”-esque version of my “Misty Mountains” scene first as a bit of homage but also because I think something of this scale probably wouldn’t work IRL. Only in my world  😄  

Who knows though, maybe he could pull it off.   Either way I thought it would be a fun project and I hope you enjoy the result. 

My next piece should be ready fairly soon. I’m using Cinema4D for the first time!

Merry Christmas To All

Posted on November 30, 2022

Brightly colored Christmas trees are some of my favorite holiday subjects.   At the same time I also love depicting the rainbow spectrum (see “Dispersion“, “Portals“, and “Philomath“) .   This render brings the two themes together.   The title is, of course, a line borrowed from “A Night Before Christmas” and expresses my hope that everyone everywhere have a lovely December regardless of their background (or even if they celebrate the holiday).

I hope you enjoy it and have a wonderful Holiday season!!

Endeavor (Night)

Posted on November 23, 2022

I’m sure many of you know that one of my favorite quotes about art is from Da Vinci, who said “Art is never finished, only abandoned”. I do enjoy circling back to older pieces from time to time.

“Endeavor” from 2019 is one of my favorite planetscapes of the last few years.   Looking at it again recently I realized it deserved a proper night version for the folks who prefer darker wallpapers on their desktop.   

I rendered this on Shadowfax while Rochallor worked on my new Christmas render (coming soon!).