Hmmmm. Interesting.

 yes, could be talking through my hat

I've been doing illustration renders and finally found a great style after a year or two of experimenting. and it was all in front of me all the time!!

gah :)  the beauty is you can just use one light to render out the shadows, it makes lighting so much easier and the renders super fast.

ahh the drop bears, yes they are very dangerous, most australians have scars on the back of their necks from the little devils - of course they are not so prevalent these days and most have moved away from the cities ..... (the drop bears not the australians)  

 yes, could be talking through my hat

I was wondering. You did sound kind of muffled there for a bit. Heh, heh

ha ha :) those hats come in hamby er handy

here is an example. c an c so far is the shadow needs to bleed more :) and the hand looks out of contact with the dog. Any other clues that it is not traditional hand done are welcome - eg the hard line on the boy's jaw? I just introduced filter forge into the work flow

@headwax – that image is awesome! I'm not sure that you want much of a bleed on the shadow. If anything, an irregular increase in density near the edges of the shadow would look like a traditional wet-on-dry painting technique. It would be visually cohesive with the rest of the look that easy and free, but has precise detail too. 

When I got into this business, I used to work in airbrush and watercolor...I really miss the watercolor.

Thanks Mark :) that's a good point about the density at the edge thank you. It's so long since I've done water colours I'd forgotten about that, the way the pigment builds up at the edge must be meniscus related ?  Water colour gives so many accidents ... I guess that's why it's hard to emulate, happy accidents sometimes, not so happy other times, thank you for the positive response!  :) 

I believe the edge is darker when using that technique because the edge dries first and then the surface tension of the water pulls the pigment that direction as it dries faster on the edge.

BTW, I don't know if you use Photoshop, but there are some fantastic natural media brushes from Kyle Webster. You can check out his work and brushes: http://www.kyletwebster.com

I do a bunch of visual chameleon work so I'm always keeping my tool set varied.

Thanks Mark, that makes sense.  Those brushes look pretty handy, I'll check them out, so thanks for  that link too.

cheers!

Thanks for this fascinating thread and for the wonderful images shown.  For me as a Scot, it's impossible to imagine Christmas celebrations in the sunshine!  (Actually, this summer in particular it's almost impossible to remember what sunshine is!).

In spending your time creating art, you're living what was almost always my dream.  Except I could never handle the concept of bringing my visions to life and then letting someone else take them away!  Even if they did pay!  So I worked at other things, never really finding the time (or, in truth, the tranquillity) to get anything much done. But I could never pass an art shop without buying something.  I would tell myself: 'if I buy that fifteen-page pad of acrylic/oil/watercolour paper, I can make a quick painting every night for a fortnight.  Then I'll have done something.  Guess what?  I have enough art material in all mediums to supply a school and I spend my free time on the computer trying to master 3d stuff.

Strangely, I don't feel too driven to make 'works of art' in 3d.  Rather, working in 3d is an inexhaustible visual stimulus whether it results in a clay render or an animation in full colour.  I sometimes wonder whether some income from 3d is possible.  In that regard I ponder over the possibilities of 3d printing. 

 Pleasure Grimhilda,.....

ah we only dream of a white Christmas here :) My family is of Scottish and Irish descent (via Scotland) so we are displaced in Oz, strangers in a strange land, even after a few generations ;) But we don't tell the locals that!

My day job is boring and almost well paid, so I only work three days a week. I always wanted to do books, and to tell stories, so using my 'art' in the process gives me a chance to tell them with the tools at hand. The money part is an epiphenomenon , in that if the 'art' makes money, then you have more money/time to make art.

My house is also full of art materials. You can never have too many tubes of paint, pads of paper, canvases! ;) Even if they are still unused when you shuffle off the coil.

The problem I find is that modern architects put too many windows in houses. If there were more walls then there would be more space for paintings. !

3d Printing is pretty exciting. Making kinematic sculptures would be somewhere I would like to go with the process. 

Another use for Carrara - a few years ago made some kids blocks for a charity, you combined them to make silly characters ;)

 this was the packaging :)

just more images of the blocks themselves

This is to cool!

 thanks Mark! A mispent adulthood is something I aspire to. ;)

Heh, heh. Fun stuff.

giving children nightmares :)

One for daz challenge ! 

Make that two....

I think I like the top pic better. I mean the one on the bottom is just not as vivid. It's lacking emotion. The bottom pic is just boring, but that top one...Wow!! Amazing. I'd chuck the bottom one and go with the top image.

Heh, heh. :)

Make that two....

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our four... "

Good render, can we see the final animation?  I tried my hand at biplane dogfights in this one (starts ~4:00):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK39GLUGwWg

Fun video, Steve K. :)

And you're right...No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. Bwahahahahaha!

I think I like the top pic better. I mean the one on the bottom is just not as vivid. It's lacking emotion. The bottom pic is just boring, but that top one...Wow!! Amazing. I'd chuck the bottom one and go with the top image.

Heh, heh. :)

hah yes I agree!! and none does expect the spanish inquisition ;)

Make that two....

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our four... "

Good render, can we see the final animation?  I tried my hand at biplane dogfights in this one (starts ~4:00):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK39GLUGwWg

great job on the dog fight! and some of those cloud effects are superb. An animation from me? Ah, I used to do them but they took so loooooooooooooooooong to do! :) My wife hardly talks to me as it is, so doing them would 'cure' my marriage....

 An animation from me? Ah, I used to do them but they took so loooooooooooooooooong to do! :) My wife hardly talks to me as it is, so doing them would 'cure' my marriage....

Your still images are head and shoulders above almost everybody else, so I understand.  Still, if you enter the 48 Hour Film contest, you only have ... lemme check the rules, here ... 48 hours!  So then it doesn't take so long, problem solved.   That animation with the dogfight was done in 48 hours, although I admit I used a bunch of "pieces" I had worked up earlier.  Its hard to tell what's fair when the live action teams have the real world, including pre-approved locations (signed permits required), actors who have signed releases, props and costumes ready and waiting, etc. I was on one live action team, we did an entire practice video with the same actors, location, props, etc.  I don't lose a lot of sleep over it since there are always a handful of live action teams, with dozens of team members each, who are way better than the other several dozen teams.  They get the prizes, we are in the several dozen "other" teams.  But a good time is had by all.

 Here's my very first fractal (all done in C).  Made this a about five years ago.  It's random!

 Here's another one.

 Here's my latest Tie Fighter model.

 Here's a render of my Viper model I made during development.

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! 

And "NOBODY" expects a parakeet to say "NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNavxvvN9QI

 Here's another development render for my Star Destroyer Model.

Cool images, Kixum. :) Love the Viper. Always loved that show.

great job on the dog fight! and some of those cloud effects are superb. 

Thanks.  I think you're seeing the very nice Terra Sphere 1 by coflek-gnorg (I also have Terra sphere III which is a 360 cityscape).  Both are much easier than creating the surrounding "world" from scratch.:

http://renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?ViewProduct=98766

 Here's my latest Tie Fighter model.

Very nice.  Are you selling this model?  I don't see it here at Renderosity.

I haven't put my Star Wars models up for sale.  Lucasarts copyright issues.

Nicely done modeling on the ships Kixum.

great job on the dog fight! and some of those cloud effects are superb. 

Thanks.  I think you're seeing the very nice Terra Sphere 1 by coflek-gnorg (I also have Terra sphere III which is a 360 cityscape).  Both are much easier than creating the surrounding "world" from scratch.:

http://renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?ViewProduct=98766

 

thanks for that Link, it may come in handy, I always to forget to look around the shop here!

:)

 Kixum they are some amazing models, never realised there were so many talented people lurking here !

Now to throw some dirt on them ;)  

 Here's a random render (just a weird concept study I did yesterday).

nice work, the cones add a lot of substance - that model is pretty amazing btw

Sweet, Kix. 

 Another test render.

Looks surreal, very stealth ! ;)