....well at least for bloodsong and me. We both won a place in the Anton Fantasy Book Cover Design. Vue won! :) Bill

WOOHOO!!! That's GREAT news-- congratulations!

And hey Bill, you failed to mention that you won GRAND Prize! I love the pic, and I'm really happy for you--- now I'm hoping they do it again next year, when I've learned enough Vue-ing to be able to compete too. ;)

Thanks Mike! About the grand prize...with a bit of luck and being a 2d artist helps a lot...not forgetting Vue's rendering engine. The hardest part was getting the title to fit in the composition or vice versa. Yes I am a very happy chap tonite (morning).

And you should be very proud of yourself for this--- not just because of winning the contest, but also for what you may have done for the promotion of Vue. And everyone thought that only the Brycers get the glory! HAH! :)

Yes, that was my own single favorite, Tesign. It was excellent both in composition and in concept...

That's great news Bill!!! Congratulations!!!!! Are you going to post it here for us to see? Congratulations to bloodsong too :) You are both amazing artists and well deserving of the accollades. Beck

Congrats... both of you.

heyas; what'd we tell ya? vue rules! :) congratulations on the grand prize, tesign!

Hey guys!! Great news! Bill I am soooo happy for you ;)! And jealous too...lol...you've got all Anton's goodies. But what a wonderful reward for a great image. Congrats to both of you! Fantastic images :) Laurie

Hello and thanks to all that wrote in to congratulate us..Fox M, Sacred R, Inronbear, bloodsong, Laurie and Mike. Sacred - I will but I have to check with the organizer. I know the copyright is still ours but it is courteous to ask them and just in case. Bloodsong, do you read any restriction on having the image post anywhere else? bloodsong - Thought you might want to say something like..."there, I told you people about Vue..Bryce is good but?"...LOL! Brycer no offense, just kidding :) Laurie - Thanks hunnie :) wish I can share it all without the standard license restriction...anyway, I'll make pretty pictures with them and share it here, there and everywhere :)

I'd love to see what you can do with the Anton's Dragon, Bill. I bought it awhile back, but haven't made anything decent with it yet. But then again, I'm not too good at fantasy scenes. I better get good tho, since I'm blowing 80 bucks on Anton's Victoria Changing suit with Symphony's textures over at DAZ! LOL! I couldn't resist! ;) Laurie

I will do something with his dragon, at least part of it pieces. I am drooping over Anton product at DAZ3d too. I know I will buy it sooner or later. They are really great! Bill

heyas; i was talking to anton about showing my pic. he told me that i could post it at my site after the entries were put up (last week). i finally got around to it, so you can read about it on my gallery page. and yes, silly, you can do whatever you want with your picture now. :)

Oops, I posted in the other thread. This really is an outstanding achievement, for Bill, Bloodsong, and also for the glory of Vue d'Esprit! Has anyone told E-on that a couple Vue images are in the top showers for that contest? Do they give you anything for Honorable Mention, or just the pat on the back and the fame? (Like Bloodsong needs fame -- everyone already knows he's good!) :)

Err...Varian...not sure if you know bloodsong is a "she" and not a "he"...may be its a typo error. I thought she was he for quite a while till I read someone use the world "he" :)

Shhh Bill...we're not supposed to tell! ;) Anyway, how do we REALLY know?! :D Laurie

heyas; in honor of cazcie not being able to get paid as much as a male artist of her stature, i am now a man. now, what were we talking about...? ah! oh yes, for honorable mention, i get to pick ONE anton item to get for a prize. :) hah, betcha thought i was gonna get the dragon! but i need the songbird more. :) in fact, i should post that pic i'm working on. but not here.

Hee!x3...bloodsong, you know something? I have always related the word "bloodsong" to "Rock Ballad"...a song or poem that tells a story in short stanzas and simple words via a wailing electric guitar (all other instrument shall be in the trash except may be for Mike's Ibanez). So you see, when I have the word "Rock" in mind, thought you were one of the "Kiss" rock group 'sidekick'....LOL! If it was "Swansong", I would know that you are missy or mama :-B Btw, what is "Cazcie"? I knew you would go for the birdies..you got a awful lot of your own dragon. Can dragon factory be morph and contructed to look like Anton's dragon? Hmmm.... what's wrong posting your birdie images here huh!?

I knew Bloodsong would go for the songbird rather than the dragon. That's a no-brainer for the maker of Dragon Factory, eh? ;) As for Bloodsong's gender...well, I've called him a "he" as long as I've known him, and he's never corrected me. So...at the very least, I'd guess I'm not offending him? I noticed somewhere awhile ago (in the Vue forum, I think) someone referred to Bloodsong as a "she", but that's the only time I saw that -- until this time here. in honor of cazcie not being able to get paid as much as a male artist of her stature, i am now a man. -- Now that sounds like there's been some kind of surgical event, and apparently my comprehension has been incorrect. So Twin, sorry I've been doing it wrong. Then again, if the surgery went well, maybe I've been right in advance! LOL! ;)

Hello, hello, hello...this is getting interesting. When I hear conversation like sex gender being talk about, then surgery and when it went well or not, the word "transvestite" comes in mind. Am I on wrong medication or what?...LOL Eh Varian...I knew bloodsong would go for the birdies because it more in cost price. He/she can always spend less if he/she wants the dragon. Sorry about the he/she or she/he bloodsong...you confused me after all this time. We have a clothing brand label here call "HeShe" and its unisex ;-D

Bill, change your medication. A transvestite is a person who dresses in the clothing of the opposite sex (commonly referred to simply as a cross-dresser). As Bloodsong has always been appropriately attired, I don't think "transvestite" applies. I think the term your medicated brain was seeking is "transsexual" -- which is a person of one gender who becomes a person of the other gender. Now, a "heshe" or "shemale" is a whole 'nother kind of thing. I don't think this is the place for me to try describing that one. ;)

Congrats to both Bloodsong and Tesign!!! And all the other He/She's too no doubt! LOL Diana

HA!x3....goes to show how bad my vocab is or rather noun. Anyway, I hope bloodsong is nice pretty lady who like to wear man's clothing...LOL! Its okay, the girls here all do that and golly!...you know how they look in jean pants when they have long legs?...elegant is the word :-7 Petunia - Thanks and on she/he behalf too :) You mean to say that there is lots more "He/She" here in this forum? Golly! Okay bloodsong....ket us settle this one and for all...are you a he or a she!? Don't be surprised if I tell you I'm a "She" :) Ask Varian...he knows that I sound like a mama..LOL! Bill is the name but not necessary a guy...LOL!

Hey bloodsong, You made a good choice...the Songbird is a great model :) I bought it a while back. I've been planning on some textures, but haven't gotten around to it. Laurie

Wow, congrats to the both of you. :)

Thanks Rynn :) Laurie - You mean the birdies does not come with textures? Oh no!

Oh Bill, I'm sorry! Sure they come with textures! Didn't mean to confuse ya. I guess I should have said that I was meaning to make some of my OWN textures for it that best suited the passerine species of my area. We don't have any tanagers around here, just mostly song and house sparrows, wrens, juncos and birds like that. Speaking of birds, it's almost time for the 1 week during the entire year for my treat out my front window in my apple tree. A couple years ago when I first moved into this house, I had the windows open on a warm day in early spring. I have a large bay window that looks right out to an ornamental apple tree. It was just starting to bud...no leaves yet, just flowers. I heard a bird call that I NEVER heard before, not here or in any other part of Pennsylvania that I've ever lived in. When I looked out the window there were about 7 Cedar Waxwings all sitting on the same branch in a row passing apple blossoms from one to the other down the row! It was the first time in my life that I had ever seen a Cedar Waxwing. They only stick around for about 1 week (just passing thru I guess) and it's always very early in the morning, around 6:30 am just after it gets light. I don't mean to get soft and mushy, but it's the little special moments like this that make life special for me. The hubby thinks I'm nuts going crazy over a bird, but to me it feels an honor to be able to intrude on such a special and fleeting moment. And I'm an absolute bird nut! I guess I SHOULD say that the hubby WAS impressed that I knew they were cedar waxwings even tho I'd never seen one before, but I read ALOT of books ;). Those waxwings have come back every year like clockwork, sit in my apple tree and are gone in a week. I look forward to it every spring. Am I looney? Well, enough outta me! ;) Laurie

"Looney"...definitely not :) I have not heard such wonderful thing for such a long long time. It never happen here but may be in the very few nature reserve here we have. Its a concrete jungle here. Anyway, we do not have Cedar Waxwings, not even in the early tropical days forest here, but there are some other unusual observation. Your scene description of the Cedar Waxwings on the Apple blossoming ornamantal tree is beautiful, wonderful indeed! I have seen images like that by other artist and definitely they have moments like yours. I really love moments like that but too bad we do not have country side life and teh kind of vast land of America and Europe. Use to do nature photography on birds but this was a long time ago. In fact, you have brought me back memories of the past early morning spend and the time after rain, where you hear all the chirpy chip chip :) Btw, we have only common sparrow, lots of crows (ravens) and minar and occasional magpie left. The rest are in our Bird Park....LOL! Hope to see you bring that slice of time in the Vue gallery someday :) Hope I am not sounding too sissy either...LOL! Peace with Nature and brings tranquillity to one inner soul.

Bill, it's okay to sound "sissy" since you may very well be a woman after all. ;) Count me in there, too, because ... Your scene description of the Cedar Waxwings on the Apple blossoming ornamantal tree is beautiful, wonderful indeed! -- Well said! Laurie, what you described is a very special thing, and I think you're quite lucky to be able to get such a view as that! Closest thing I've got here is a plum tree that bursts into bloom each spring and for about a week, the air is filled with a luscious perfume, but it's rather subtle so you have to deliberately smell the air to catch it -- and only for about a week's time! So that's the spring week I most look forward to. :) We don't have waxwings around here. We do have a few tanagers, but very infrequently. Our typical avians are cardinals, robins, sparrows, grackles, redwing blackbirds, crows, chickadees, and some titmouses (titmice?) and juncos. Occasionally we'll catch sight of a bluebird, redbird, and sometimes a small yellow and black warbler type which I can't remember their name. Birds are way cool, though, and Anton's model is wonderful! I've had it for awhile, but haven't actually used it yet because like Laurie, I wanted to make some textures first for the types around this area. Maybe I'll be able to get to that this summer. :) And Laurie, if you've got a camera around when those cedar waxwings show up, please share! :)

heyas; okay, are you congratulating us on the contest, or on our recent sexual identity crises??? ;) i'll take the former, thank you. :) that sound wonderful, daffy. :) and they pass apple blossoms around?? why?? that sounds so cool. tesign: hmph. i am a 6'8" 300-lb bald blue-eyed black man.

Oh No!...."i am a 6'8" 300-lb bald blue-eyed black man"...I'm only 5'1.5", stumpy and when I was a kid, my classmate use to call me "clumpsy Bill" and when I reach age 17...I maanged 3" to my over all height at 5' 4" with fashsion high clogs...but I was called "Humpty Dumpty" on studs. But one thing we have in common...beside being Chinese, I'm black :)...hiya brother!...put me on your shoulder :D

Yeah, but is he naturally bald, or does he shave his head twice a day? ;)

Monk!....Nun!...Black Monk!?...smoked Nun!...I quit!

Okay, y'know how something gets into your head and you just can't shake it off? Well, I've been thinking about this list of local birds I wrote: We don't have waxwings around here. We do have a few tanagers, but very infrequently. Our typical avians are cardinals, robins, sparrows, grackles, redwing blackbirds, crows, chickadees, and some titmouses (titmice?) and juncos. Occasionally we'll catch sight of a bluebird, redbird, and sometimes a small yellow and black warbler type which I can't remember their name. I left out some major ones, like mourning doves, seagulls, finches, various woodpeckers and blue jays! Blue jays -- my favorite of them all. How did I ever leave them off the list? Sheesh. Okay, now I can sleep better, I'm sure. As you were. :)

Varian...there are lot more tan that. It just that you don't see them. What about heron, pelican, egret and many other migratory birds. Now go to bed...LOL!...and don't dream of "Peaking ducKs".

Heron, pelican, egret -- not around here, nope. But migratory birds, YES! We also get ducks, geese, wild turkeys and swans! Except for the ducks, those sort don't normally land in my yard, though. Duck -- one of my favorite meals indeed! But not Peking style; that takes way too long to make (although some will argue the time is well worth the results)! Okay, and I'm not going to bed now. I only just woke up. But through the night, I kept thinking "that list of birds was wrong, there are others besides those" -- LOL! Terrible, terrible. I will be okay now. :)

Hey Varian! We have all the birds you listed too, you must live back east too ;). We don't as a rule get any tanagers, but I saw 1 Scarlet Tanager back here many many years ago...I think he must have been taking a rest stop on his way south. And I've seen an Eastern Bluebird only 2 or 3 times in my life (my grandmother says they used to be all over the place). It's almost time for the Baltimore Oriole to arrive (the feathered variety) and the Goldfinch too. Maybe Titmouse in a month or so. Heck, they may already be here. ;) The Redwing Blackbirds have been here for awhile...they are one of my favorite birds. Laurie

Ah goldfinch! That's the yellow one I can never remember the name of! I've seen a goldfinch perhaps twice, but we do find their feathers once in awhile, so I know they're still around. :) You're what, Pennsylvania? I'm in Illinois, nearly Wisconsin. Never see the orioles around here, but the blackbirds should be showing up sometime soon, usually in massive throngs making a loud racket to announce their arrival! The geese are funny, though. I've been watching most of them recently flying south or west or east -- only a couple actually flying north! Maybe they need to adjust their compasses. :)

This is a rather interesting and diverting bit of fluffery here, fun reading I must say. I also want to congratulate tesign and bloodson for therr prime artistic efforts. Larry F

Thanks Larry :) Bill