Posted on January 18, 2021

Fabrica

For a while now folks have been asking that I rework one of my earliest abstracts. That one is particularly tough to recreate though because it’s actually not a 3D render at all. It was one of my first attempts at visual artwork on the computer and I used a set of 2D filters in an early version of Photoshop. This was before I had a copy of Bryce and knew anything about 3D rendering.

The first step creating a new 3D version was for me to learn how to create a convincing “woven” mesh. Fortunately I found a method using Blender that produces pretty excellent results. This particular render is my practice with that method.

Obviously I need a lot more practice but I’m sure this method can be used to create lots of other interesting effects 🙂

Posted on January 14, 2021

Siblings

This is a bit of a warm-up exercise after a week or so away from rendering. I noticed recently that my son Ian has been using other wallpapers on his machine. He told me my work was “too high-res”, which I took to mean he’s looking for something more minimal. I certainly can caught up sometimes in adding too much detail so consider this render to be a study in restraint 🙂

In a normal year Jessie would have dragged me away from the computer for a trip or two. That didn’t happen last year and if I was home chances were I was rendering. I told myself after posting my last render that it was time for a break. This will be my 24th year running this gallery so I’ve learned how to monitor and maintain my creative batteries.

I may linger with this scene for a bit so stay tuned 🙂

Posted on January 4, 2021

Shinrin Yoku (Night)

When I added lanterns to the pathside in my bamboo forest I’m sure you all knew that I was going to attempt a night version. I didn’t actually know if it would work or not but I like how it turned out. I hope you agree!

Posted on December 29, 2020

Shinrin Yoku

My mother sent me an article earlier this year about how being in nature can boost your immune system and mood. The Japanese even have a term for seeking this benefit…”Shinrin Yoku” or “Forest Bathing”. It isn’t news that being in nature can be good for your health, but I like that there’s a word for it.

Everything is very brown and dormant in my part of the world right now so I wanted to create something inexorably green and (hopefully) peaceful to close out the crazy year that was 2020. If you can’t get to a forest I will bring one to you 🙂

Posted on December 29, 2020

Shinrin Yoku

Multi-Screen Render

My mother sent me an article earlier this year about how being in nature can boost your immune system and mood. The Japanese even have a term for seeking this benefit…”Shinrin Yoku” or “Forest Bathing”. It isn’t news that being in nature can be good for your health, but I like that there’s a word for it.

Everything is very brown and dormant in my part of the world right now so I wanted to create something inexorably green and (hopefully) peaceful to close out the crazy year that was 2020. If you can’t get to a forest I will bring one to you 🙂