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 I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP.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)
DarkStormCrow
Excellent , very well done...
Danny_G
Nice icey space scape. Excellent POV as always and surfacing speaks for itself
geirla
Cool! I mean cold. You should do a triptych.
mikeerson
Cave people discovering fire... a small charlie brown tree growing... some cave art could be displayed on this mountain side on the right... some dinos up on the top of the mountain would be a nice touch. DINO FISH...THIS PICTURE IS EXCELLENT, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! ...Thanks for the name drop, I like sharing Ideas and I encourage others to do the same - we all have imaginations and when we connect, are imagination is even more impowered.
alan42
cool series - this one particularly "cool"!
artgum
Way before...prehistoric creatures and lava. Excellent series Mark.
geoegress
nice :)
shayhurs
Great feel of desolation!
3x3
stunning work mate..I love the details and textures x
Savage_dragon
Pretty cool, man! ")
tigertim
Most excellent render... a fantastic scene... must dust off Terragen and have a serious play!!
scifibabe
Wonderful wintry landscape. Great before and after views. Very cool and creative. Nice work.
Kattey
Unexpected but brilliant idea and realization. "Way before" as I see it, will be the time when the vegetation barely started to grow on the land, so there will be just some minor patches of it among barely stable volcanos.
Frieso
Cool stuff. I like these variations on a landscape.
frogster
Great work on this
ledwolorz
Beautiful landscape.
choronr
Way Before: Maybe a Sabre Tooth Tiger or two. Keep on!
Naoo
Nice Mood and Composition!
edhoover
I like this series!
azrabella
Sorry for not commenting on this series before, but I've been away to Prutz's home country - Holland (er, no mountains there!). Excellent work my friend - and that goes for the earlier renders in the series. As for "Way before", I think you need to fake lots of vegetation - probably using PSP or something - I'm sure you can do it without the need to use TG2. I know you dislike it.
boristen
Excellent render! Breathtaking view. Cold gamma perfectly fit!
X-PaX
Very cool work Mark. Here is another idea for 'Way before'. What about something with fire and lava? But maybe this is something for 'Way before before' ;)
SIGMAWORLD
EXCELLENT!
kftate
Very beautiful image and fantastic work!!
BenBischop
Beautiful.....!!!
efron_241
you make many most beautiful things
Alex_NIKO
Excellent work!
ppetersen
Now this is a beauty Mark, I expect to see some fantastical creature come forth. The 'water' area appears to have frozen with waves, the blues of the strata I adore, as it makes the white of the ice and snow so right. Excellent work once again, love this series and 'hint' how about a totally desert seen in oranges and golds :)