Who is 'Markal'?
Markal is Mark Edwards who lives in Mississippi – originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. I retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2003 after 23 years and decided to stay here in the warm gulf coast south along with my wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.
How long have you been rendering/doing computer graphics?
My last five years in the Air Force I designed and developed computer-based training. We used PhotoShop, Flash and even wrote code in HTML, so I guess I started in the late 90’s. My terragen work began in 2003.
Do you have traditional art experience?
No real art experience just the standard art classes in high school and college.
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What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a collaboration with a Bryce artist…he is making a ship for one of my space landscape images. Learning Terragen 2 and possibly Vue may be in the works soon.
What software/equipment do you use and why?
Software used is Terragen .9.43, PaintShopPro 7 and LunarCell. I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP. I was going to upgrade but, this very large screen HDTV deal fell into my lap so I had to upgrade my other love…. watching Blue-Ray movies…first. Hopefully I’ll upgrade to a quad 4 before the end of the year.
What do you think your best piece of work is and why?
One of my latest favorites is Rigel III. The foreground is a stone BMP overlay I applied in Terragen…. the shading and shadows were in-line with the sun angle and it worked very well. The only post work was the LunarCell moons and I think they also add a realistic touch. It still amazes me how computer graphics can make an imaginary place look so real and believable.
Why do you like to work with 3D software?
It’s a fun hobby for me and when I focus on the work it carries me away from the hustle and worries of this world.ÂÂ
Who/what inspires you?
All the wonderful artists here at ReRo are great inspirations. National Geographic Magazine, NASA and all the space missions has also influenced and inspired me. Of course our creator….Almighty God….the greatest artist of all.
How has this online community (Renderosity) enhanced your work, relationships, and learning?
Not only comments but also other artists sharing their files have helped me grow artistically by leaps and bounds.
Parting Comments / Advice to other Artists?
I try to focus on what I love. I have a passion for Space Art so 99% of my work is Space art. Some may think I need to branch out and explore other areas but I say branch out to what….something I don’t love? Go with what you love and your rewards will be many.
Comments (28)
PSDuck
Holy crow! This just blows me away! Wow!
Tanglimara
Fantastic Terragen space image, this is really wonderful. Love the terrain materials. Tony:-)
DarkStormCrow
Excellent!
Darkwish
WOW!!! I like this one! EXT work!
Panka
Fantastic atmosphere!:)
Porthos
Stellar image!
tetsu-pino
Excellent!! Very beautiful and atmospheric image!!
kasalin
Wonderful mood - excellent POV, surface and postwork !!! 1++++++ !!
mikeerson
looks great... you know where I can get a free 3d model of the earth? Was going to make it look like a hologram as a map in my story... You're the artist I think of when it comes to planets.
scifibabe
This is really lovely. Beautiful lighting and mood to this piece. Love the great textures and colors. A fav from me.
Chaos911
Thats a quite very nice work!!!! Have a nice day! Adrian
www.Foto-ka.de
OrphanedSoul
Beutiful scene!
Kattey
Beautiful :)
thecytron
Great render!
Savage_dragon
Your surface with is amazing, as always! ")
faroutsider
I just want to go to all these exotic locations you create. Another wonderful piece.
Maori
Absolutely beautiful!!!
1402dandoy
Gorgeous! Great work on textures
fractalinda
Dreamy perspective and scene; love the atmosphere, mood and colors. Excellent and exciting work, Mark. Beautiful!
capitanpescanova
Excellent light and colours. Magnificient view!!!
artgum
Superb!
Rich2
I no longer ask how, but how many more great concepts you come up with - eh - that moint is poot.
shingleboot
Awesome image!
didi_mc
Oh this is fantastic, a fav for sure.
Art_Ramos
Another great image!
wholehog
Great color balance and wonderful surface textures! Great job!
gerberc
Fantastic colors and mood!
Naoo
Again: Fantastic work! Very well done!