Posted on September 17, 2000

• First of all, I would like to thank everyone who wrote to wish me a happy birthday. It was wonderful. Jessie and I had a nice sunset dinner at Qwiig’s in Ocean Beach and then we had some ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins. What more could one ask for? She got me some spiffy shirts too 🙂

  After my “big day” I immediately got back to work on “Subterranean”. I liked the underwater effect (as did a lot of you, from the notes you sent me), but I didn’t think it worked for the scene that I had created. I decided to start again from scratch and make a “dedicated” underwater pic (rather than a “converted” one). I’ve been working on it all week.

  Now the bad part. You know how the experts always recommend you backup your hard disk? Usually I’m pretty good about it, but lately I’ve haven’t been doing it as much as I should. Now it appears I’m going to pay for my laziness. My “data” disk, where I keep all my Lightwave meshes, textures, and scenes, has failed. It refuses to start up with the rest of my system and I cannot get at any of my data. Needless to say, I’m distressed. The only thing I can think of to do now is send the disc out to Ontrack to retrieve my lost data.

  Fortunately, one render survived of the project I was working on all week. I rendered it on Friday, but I wanted to tweak a few things before I posted it. Looks like I won’t get to…

  The image is called “Rays from Above” and you’ll find it on the New Images page. Hope you like it as is. I plan to finish it when I get my data situation straightened out.

  Remember — always back up your hard disk!

Posted on September 11, 2000

• A few items to report today.

  I’ve been working on Subterranean for a few days now. There are a few versions available. The one on the New Images page was rendered back on Friday, but I wanted to try a few different things before I posted it. Saturday and Sunday I experimented with making it an underwater scene, and I’ve posted a couple of those renders in the Picklejar. Let me know if you have an opinions on this matter.

  I also rendered one more version of my Hibiscus. I’m fairly certain this variety doesn’t exist in nature (at least where I live).

  Lastly, I’m celebrating my 29th birthday today. Feel free to drop me a line if you’d like to say “Happy Birthday”. I’d love to hear from you.

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.