This render has really grown on me since it was first posted. It's now one of my favorite planetscapes.

http://digitalblasphemy.com/content/picklejar/horizons2/horizons31080x1920.jpg possible corrupted ((

I'm one of the folks who told you how swell V3 would look. Sorry about that, Ryan. Everyone is right -- too busy and draws focus away from the galaxy. V2 is the best.

v.3 is too busy and colors clash. v.2 is perfect and should be the go-forward render. You can always have v.3 in the pickle jar but to not see a multi of v.2 would be a crying shame. Thank you Mr Bliss.

The bioluminescence takes your focus away from the central image and makes for a scene that is a too busy. Preferred the versions with the darker plants.

I think the orangey plants are more harmonious with the overall color scheme of the image. Just my opinion.

Really like this one!

I really like the new render. It doesn't look cluttered any more with the clouds less bright and the foreground lighting more subtle. Now I can't wait for the dualscreen!

...admittedly, it's already night.

I like the planets, too. The clouds are greatly improved. And, I agree with Alec -- a night version with bioluminescent plants would be nifty keen. :)

I like this lighting a LOT better! The color and intensity matches the galaxy much better now. Great work! Thanks for updating it. :)

I do agree it would look better w/o the moons.

This is neat as a planetscape but I'm not sure I like the moons. They distract from the beauty of the galaxy-thing in the sky and make the seen a little bit cluttered.

O_O



Holy shit.

Good stuff. I think this would make Carl Sagan smile.

Wow, just WOW!

I really like how the colors in this piece pop so much! The framing around the outside of the galaxy and mellow tones contrast the galaxy, which when rendered alone in your previous piece, I thought was a little bit garish. I really like how these complement each other to produce a breathtaking and varied landscape!



Something I find is a little off-putting is the white lighting on the planets and clouds. I thought it was a little odd in the WIP, so I waited to see how it turned out at the end. I really like how it highlights areas of the scene that would be very dark otherwise, but I'm having a hard time seeing where the light is coming from. The clouds make it look as though the source is above and behind the clouds, while the planets hint the source is far below. The galaxy doesn't really seem to fit this terribly well, and the light is so bright and so white it doesn't really match the galaxy anyways. The only improvement I can really suggest is to tone down the white light so it seems more consistent and less jarring. It kind of distracts from the gorgeous maelstrom of color in the middle. :)

I like this piece of work, I really do, but I'm struggling to rate it higher. The framing of the rock around the galaxy is so perfect that it looks extremely artificial, and that bothers me. I love to suspend my disbelief with the planetary scenes you've been producing, but this scene takes just one step too much liberty with the 'framing' for my like.



I could believe the framing if it were possible that we were looking at the reflection of the stars in a still body of water or even if the archway just didn't connect. The probability of everything working out:the archway forming like this, the timing of the rotation of the planets around their sun, the weatehr... It's just one journey of the imagination I can't take with you.

Wow. This is easily one of your top 20 works ever. I'd love to see a "night" version with the bio-luminescent plants from 2013's Asunder.