Christmas Walk

Posted on December 7, 2021

As soon as I’d made the winter iteration in the “Walk” series I wondered if I Christmas version would be possible. I knew I wouldn’t be able to use actual geometry for any Christmas lights here though, because VUE doesn’t let you use ecosystem instances on objects that are already ecosystem instances (in this case, the forest). I had to do it by modifying the bark textures and that’s something I’d never attempted before on this scale.

It presented many challenges and I’m still not sure I’m totally happy with the result. I am happy ENOUGH however to share this render and perhaps keep tweaking things. I haven’t rendered the multiscreen version yet for this reason. It’s definitely different from my other Christmas scenes. Let me know what you think!

Honestly I had hoped DB 2.0 would be the default by this point but it’s taking longer than I’d hoped. DB 1.0 has served for many years however and will continue to do so until no longer needed.

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.