Threshold

Posted on November 19, 2021

It’s no secret that I’ve earned quite a bit of Ethereum over the past couple of months selling NFTs but I haven’t really gone crazy buying myself things. Most of the funds are earmarked for Ian and Jason’s college fund and some long delayed home improvements. The main gifts I’ve gotten for myself so far are a collection of animet-shirts, a PS5 and some sports tickets.

The majority of my spending has been re-investing in my DB and artwork. I’ve bought myself an RTX3090, an iPad Pro with Pencil, and Maxon Cinema 4D (with Octane). My most exciting purchase, however, is a software package called “Houdini” that I’ve been wanting for many years but could never quite afford due to their strange licensing scheme. I made too much for the indie licence but not nearly enough for the full license.

It’s an extremely powerful program, responsible for many of high-end visual effects you see in major motion pictures and TV shows. It’s also extremely complicated, so I am very proud of the fact that I’ve managed to learn enough this week to post a new render for you all to check out.

Houdini’s procedural modeling workflow really makes a lot of sense to me in a way that traditional modeling does not. I feel like I will be able to use this program to take my artwork to new heights in 2022 and beyond.

That’s why I titled this piece “Threshold”. Things are about to get very interesting 🙂

Reflected Autumn

Posted on November 12, 2021

Between launching my NFT sales, launching DB 2.0, and aquiring some exciting new 3D software I haven’t been adding as many wallpapers to the gallery recently as in years past. This week I decided I wanted to add more one autumn render to my gallery this year and fired up VUE. I’d wanted to do an update of “Muted Autumn” but the result wasn’t very muted 🙂

Multiscreen versions coming soon!

DB 2.0 is almost ready!! Some things will be shut down here on 1.0 soon to prepare 🙂 For now the new images will appear here first but once my new system for adding work is ready 2.0 will be the new default. Members can migrate their user data here.

All Hallows Eve (Happy Halloween!)

Posted on October 27, 2021

Since 2003 I’ve managed to create a new (or revisited) Halloween render every year for the season. It’s really one of my favorite holidays to create wallpapers for because the iconography is so darkly delicious. This year I chose to revisit an old favorite from 2007. I decided to simplify the background a bit, add some fog and some splashes of color here and there.

I hope you guys enjoy it.

I also wanted to mention that I’ve put some of my NFT earnings to use purchasing some new software. I’ve purchased Cinema4D and Houdini. Stay tuned!!

DB 2.0 BETA is Live!

Posted on October 19, 2021

The preview edition of DB 2.0 is now up and available for your review. Head to the Account Page, login and scroll to the bottom for the “Migration” link.

Please keep in mind that once you’ve logged into DB 2.0 it will be a lot more complicated to do account upgrades and such. If you are a basic Member and would like to be Plus and have access to my lossless and non-watermarked files (these are coming soon) please upgrade BEFORE migrating your data to DB 2.0.

How?? If you are an auto-expiring Member (meaning your account will expire if you do not renew it) you can purchase an automatic upgrade here.

If you are already on an auto-renewing subscription it’s a bit more complicated. Enter your CC at on the Account Modification page and I will make the change in my database (the first payment will happen today though). You can also specify an upgrade to Donor, Patron, Sponsor or Guardian.

Lifetime Members can upgrade to Lifetime Supporters here and get access to the Plus files.

The signup functionality isn’t yet in place on the new site so if you want to become a Member please sign up here and activate your login before migrating. Please let me know if you have any questions!! Cris and I have been working on this for a long time but it’s still a work-in-progress. Expect a gremlin or two in the first few weeks but remember that DB 1.0 will still be around for a while.

New Lifetime Memberships

Posted on October 18, 2021

With the emminent approach of DB 2.0 and my recent entry into the NFT market, I’ve been thinking of other ways to change things up in take DB into the 20s and beyond. I’ve always tried to have options available for folks at all levels and I know the most popular has always been my Lifetime Membership. I get it. It’s great to pay once and forget about.

EDIT: 11:20pm — I have removed the option from my signup pages now that the migration link to DB 2.0 is now live. I hope you will log-in and migrate your data to the new site (scroll to the bottom of the account page for the link. Look around and share your thoughts with Cris on my Discord server.

Unfortunately I didn’t really forsee still making art 20 years later and still needing support to keep it all going. I love my Lifetime Members. Most of them paid a premium for it and I don’t begrudge them their foresight. I will always honor my Lifetime Memberships!

That said, I’ve decided I can no longer offer new ones as freely as I have been. Once DB 2.0 debuts, which is very soon (subscribe to my Discord for more info), I will remove that option from the signup and renewal page.

I’ve decided that the only way to purchase a new Lifetime Membership going forward will be to collect one of my 1/1 NFTs. I want as many collectors as possible so this is a reasonable perk that I can offer. I’m only planning on minting a few hundred of my work (tops) so that will put a final hard limit on how many Lifetime Members I will have.

I don’t want to sound ungrateful to the folks who signed up as Lifetime Members (some for only $50) years and years ago. I really needed the money at the time and you guys stepped up. You will always have a home here. If you would like to pitch in and give a little extra though at any time I have a Tip Jar and a special class of yearly Member called a “Lifetime Supporter” which grants you access to my Lossless Masters.

If you aren’t yet a Member and want to sign up for a Lifetime Membership before the deadline please keep in mind that you will need a Lifetime Plus Membership to have access to those Masters. If you are current Member you can still log in and purchase a Lifetime renewal here.

I will continue to offer my affordable Membership options and I hope to add more and more free wallpapers to the gallery in the future. Thank you all for your amazing support these past 20+ years and I hope you will stick with me for the next 20!!

(Not into NFTs? Want something you can hold? My entire Zazzle collection is 30% off today)