Posted on September 5, 2000

• Thanks everyone for the great feedback on “Hibiscus”!. A lot of the comments I received centered on the stamen structure at the center. You thought, rightly so, that the stamen was just too smooth and regular looking. Yes. It was modeled that way on purpose.

  My original intention was to apply a layer of fuzz to the stamen using my “Shave and a Haircut” software. I worked on it through the weekend, trying to see what was possible. The result is now up for your review on the New Images page. Comments appreciated.

  I also did a little more “hand-painting” on the petals. I can definitely see where UV mapping will come in handy down the road. I learned a lot.

  Depending on your feedback, I see at most one more Hibiscus render. I’m sort of itching to move on now.

  Hope you like it!

Posted on September 2, 2000

• I’ve posted a second revision of “Hibiscus“. The petals looked sort of plain in the original, so I’ve added some texture using Lightwave 6’s UV mapping tools. I drew the bump map “by hand” in Photoshop. Hope you like it. Feedback appreciated.

Posted on September 1, 2000

• My mother flew out to visit this week and we had a wonderful time. Jessie, Mom, and I spent the week “seeing the sights”, capping things off Wednesday night with a hot air balloon ride (my first) over Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe. Aside from a few moments of extreme terror (as I looked down over the side), it was a wonderful experience. We had a great time, but I’m sad that she had to go back to Illinois.

  Anyway, I did manage to push a few pixels around this week and I’ve posted a few new renders today.

  San Diego is filled with flowers all year round, so I guess it was only a matter of time before they crept into my artwork. “Hibiscus” is my first attempt at flower modeling. The blooms were modeled “by hand” in Lightwave and then rendered over a background plate that I put together in World Builder. What do you think?

  “Hibiscus” is dedicated to my Mom so she’ll remember her visit. Then again, this may have been memorable enough 🙂

  I’ve also posted two new revisions of “Pathway“. I got lot of great comments on things to add, and I did spend quite a few hours trying out different things. Given the imaginative (and diverse) responses to my earlier question, I decided it would be best if I left the scene “empty”. I decided to darken the scene somewhat to create a more brooding environment, and I took out the red and orange leaves (I’ll save the fall theme for a later image). There are two new versions in the picklejar, one with red leaves and one with green. I hope you approve.

Posted on August 28, 2000

• A couple of new items today. The first, “Urchin“, is an abstract that I created in Lightwave. I was trying to create a sea anemone, but somewhere along the line I decided it would look cooler if it were bio-luminescent. I don’t think it looks much like a undersea creature anymore, and if it does I think I’ll stay on the beach. You can download an animated version of this image (MPG format, 1.5 MB) from the Picklejar.

  The second new image, “Pathway“, continues my fascination with trees and fog. As you may or may not know, fog is the only interesting weather I get to see here in San Diego (aside from the rare thunderhead over the mountains to the East), so you’ll have to pardon me if it creeps into my artwork from time to time.

  Both of these images are works in proress and you’ll likely see some changes to them before I’m “done”. I’d be interested in hearing what you think I should add (if anything) to “Pathway”. Drop me a line if you have any suggestions.

• My initial run of CD-ROMS finally sold out last week. Rather than run another copy of the same disc, I going to put together a new one containing everything I’ve done up to this point (over 450 images). The new disc should be available sometime next month, and it WILL ship internationally. The price should be the same as the old disc, with members receiving a $10 discount.

Posted on August 21, 2000

• Added “Canopy” to the gallery today, marking another chapter in my long struggle to master lighting in World Builder. This one is sort of a cross between “Misty Grove” and “Morning Light“. Comments appreciated.
• As you can might have noticed, I’ve finally replaced the old “chair” login page with the new Flash animation. Thanks to everyone who sent me feedback.