04/15/18
Symbiota
There was a lot that I liked about "Oceana" but there was a lot that (I felt) didn't work out. Some of the geometry was broken (due to excessive displacement), it wasn't as colorful as I would like, and it took so long to render that I couldn't really make revisions or a multiscreen version.
Consider this scene to be something of a "do over". For starters it only took less than a tenth of the time to render on Shadowfax so I should be able to create a multiscreen version (maybe even a VR panorama) without difficulty.
BTW, It started as an exercise learning Oculus Medium but most of that geometry is covered up with undersea life :-)
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions upcoming!
04/10/18
Bayou (Night)
You probably suspected something like this was coming. I would have had it finished sooner but the first render attempt crashed near the end and I had to rework a few things. Hope you enjoy it!
The dual and triple-screen version of "Bayou" is finishing up on Bucephalus right now and should be available soon!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions upcoming!
04/03/18
Bayou
Applying some of the techniques from "Stasis" and "Nascence" to a more traditional landscape scene. Can you believe I've never attempted a "bayou" render in all these years?
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions upcoming!
03/26/18
Nascence
Like "Stasis" before it, this render was a learning exercise exploring new shading/modeling techniques using Plant Factory and Vue. I'm specifically interested here in learning Vue's subsurface scattering and getting it to render somewhat economically. Of course, my primary goal is always to create striking and thought-provoking images for your desktop and I hope you feel I've succeeded here :-)
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions upcoming!
03/22/18
Stasis
This one is a 3D doodle of sorts; working on different shaders in Vue and modeling in Plant Factory. The techniques I'm working on here will factor into at least the next two renders that I post. As for this one, it may or may not stay in the gallery long term.
Thought it looked interesting enough to share though:-)
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions coming soon!
03/17/18
Nightshade
I created these blooms using The Plant Factory for an upcoming landscape project. I thought they would make an interesting Lightwave macro render however. When I showed it to Jessie the first thing she said was "oooh Nightshade!" and that sounded like a great title to me. It's not your garden variety that's for certain! Stay tuned for the landscape (rendering now on Shadowfax)!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions coming soon!
03/10/18
Painted Sky (Night)
The original "Painted Sky" from last year sits at #2 on my all-time Top Rated list so it seemed natural to create a night-time scene. My night version dials back some of the clouds which gave the original its title but I think it still works. I hope you enjoy it at least as much as a "day" version!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions coming soon!
03/06/18
Strathwood (Winter)
Since I created "Strathwood" to render relatively quickly I can be a bit more nimble with making variations. I thought it would be fun to create a winter version but also at the same time have it be a little more colorful than the mostly earth-toned original. Let me know what you think!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screen versions available!
03/03/18
Erebus
Glad to finally be able to post this one! The Vue scene took so long to render that I feared that Shadowfax had hung more than once. It actually did crash one time and I had to restart the whole thing. Regardless, I persisted and I'm happy to be able to share it with you. I used Lightwave 2018's new texturing model for the background planet. Hopefully it was worth the wait.
The scene will need a major rework if I am going to be able to produce multiscreen versions however. The whole thing is set up for 360 rendering but we shall see.
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above).
02/26/18
Strathwood
It's been a few months since I've done a "BIG" landscape and some of you have been requesting them. My recent scenes have been more on the intimate side. To be honest I've gotten myself into a bit of trouble using Vue lately in that the scenes I've been dreaming up have been taking far too long to render.
For this scene I wanted to concentrate on keeping the render time manageable (on Bucephalus even) while still keeping the WOW factor. I hope you think I've succeeded with "Strathwood".
EDIT: I've posted a revised version on 2/28. The original will remain in the Pickle Jar if you would like to compare. You will also notice that (by popular demand) I've added wallpapers sized to fit the iPhone X.
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are in the works!
02/19/18
Phyllotaxis
Here's something colorful if you are getting tired of winter greys. This render is the result of my experimenting with Plant Factory to create interesting floral patterns. I rendered the scene using Vue but I think I might try a version with Lightwave so I can have a bit more control over the geometry. Let me know what you think!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are in the works!
02/12/18
Anima (Happy Valentine's Day)
It's been a while (8 years!) since I've attempted a Valentine's Day wallpaper. My rule for them has always been this: Don't make anything that I wouldn't use myself. This project was one of those rare blessed instances where I had the finished image in mind before I started working on it. I hope you enjoy it!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are available!
02/10/18
Dapplewood (Winter)
I'd intended to create a winter version of "Dapplewood" before the Christmas holiday but got a bit sidetracked. I hope people are still in the mood for Winter wallpapers in February :-)
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are in the works!
01/27/18
Organelle
I finally upgraded my Lightwave to the 2018 version (after skipping the 2015 upgrade) earlier this month and a LOT is different. This render is a texturing exercise, inspired by re-rendering the original Organelle from 2002 for VR. The geometry here was modeled using The Plant Factory rather than Xfrog though. I still have a lot to learn but I thought I would share my progress...
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are available!
01/19/18
Oceana
It's been a while since I attempted an underwater render so I felt the time was ripe to dive back in. This time I wanted to use Plant Factory to create my undersea flora and fauna. I wasn't trying to model any real life organisms here, but rather create something fanciful and colorful.
I'm not 100% happy with how everything turned out (after MANY days of rendering at 8K on Bucephalus) but I do think it looks nice enough to share while I consider revisions. Let me know what you think!
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are coming soon!
01/06/18
Passageway
My first render of 2018 was built using trees that evolved from both "The Standing Stones" and "Animus". It also contains plants that foreshadows my next render. I guess it has a foot in the past and a foot in the future. Truly a passageway :-)
Non-watermarked lossless 8K version available to Lifetime Supporters and Plus Level Members (and above). Dual and triple-screens are coming soon!
