Posted on January 29, 2012

I just learned this morning that my father, Thurman Bliss, had an accident at his house last night and is gone. He was 66 years old. I am thankful that my last words to him (a few days ago over the phone) was “I Love You Dad”.

My Dad was a farmer, a musician, an artist, and a great friend to his grown children. I know he was extremely proud of DB and the fact that so many people around the world enjoy my work.

I know he wouldn’t have wanted anyone to be sad at his untimely passing, but then he doesn’t get to make that call.

 

 

Posted on January 25, 2012

I’ve added “The Unveiling” to the Members Gallery this morning. This is a sequel of sorts to Enshrouded which I have put together to test out Vue d’Esprit 10’s “Advanced Cloud Modulation” techniques.

Basically it allows me to contour the cloud layer to the curve of the terrain, so they appear to drape naturally over the landscape. It’s a tricky procedure which I hope will be made simpler in future versions of Vue (so I don’t have to edit height maps in Photoshop hopefully). To be honest I’m not even sure the effect is all that noticable in this render.

It is a powerful tool however, and one which I hope will bear more fruit in the future.

Your thoughts?

Posted on January 17, 2012

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in Lifehacker’s “Top 5 Wallpaper Sites” poll! The poll closed late last night with DB leading Wallbase by 544 votes. You are now reading the web’s “Most Popular Wallpaper Site“, according to the readers of Lifehacker.

It’s pretty amazing that a site with only 12 free wallpapers and a creaky interface can win out over over ones with the latest designs and millions of free files.

As a token of my appreciation please enjoy “The Fisherman”, my first release from 2011 in the Free Gallery. If you would like to become a Member then please use the coupon code “lifehacker” to save 25% off all Memberships and Renewals until midnight tomorrow!

As a show of support my friends at DecalGirl are offering 38% (my the percentage of the vote) off my entire skin collection. Use coupon code “LIFEHACKER” to get the discount.

Thanks again for all the support!

Posted on January 15, 2012

The readers of Lifehacker have selected DB as one of the top 5 wallpaper sites online. It now comes down to a simple poll question to decide “the best”.

I’m in some pretty good company so I hope you will have a look at the competition and then vote for your favorite!

As for me, I’m just thrilled to be in the top 5 given that my site is Member supported and I am the only “single artist” on the list.

Thanks for all the nominations!

Posted on January 11, 2012

Last week I added a set of free images sized for use as “cover images” in the new Facebook “Timeline” profile layout. In the process I was going through some of my older work and came across “Moonlit Oasis” from 2009.

I remember it was a bit controversial when I posted it because quite a few of my Members said it was too dark. I stuck to my guns at the time, but now I can really see their point.

I opened up the scene file (in Vue 10 this time) and tweaked the lighting and atmosphere just a bit and re-rendered it. The new version is now available in my 2009 gallery (I’ll have to put an asterisk or something) and Members are welcome to download it.

Dual and triple-screen versions are available along with a free version for use as a Facebook profile cover image.

You can also find it in poster form on Zazzle.

I will let you be the judge as to whether or not it is better than the original.

Art is never finished, only abandoned. . .