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.
ÂÂ
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 I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP.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 (26)
jclP
very good,good job
geirla
Nicely done! Looks like you're getting the hang of TG2.
Danny_G
Foreground is amazing as is the image as a whole
WeeLaddie
Looking good, Mark. Don't know if you meant the plants to be black (could be an alien thing). Make sure you have the material files loaded with the objects. If they are loaded properly your object multishader > default shader should have the texture image files. Also you can colour the objects without the material files by applying a colour to the Diffuse colour of the object's Default shader, and a greyscale to the Translucency of same.
mikeerson
cool shot.
Savage_dragon
Plants look green to me. Cool work! ")
SIGMAWORLD
Excellent.
scifibabe
Excellent terrain. Love the beautiful work in this. Great tuffs of grass and fabulous composition.
Chaosphoto
most impressive, especially the watery touch
5391151
cool
choronr
You're coming on great here Mark. Working with plants can be done a number of ways as you'll discover. In all, you've done exceptionally well for just only a few creations with TG2. The tips John has given above work well as I have tried these methods. Plant models come in a variety of configurations; and, require different techniques for application.
artgum
Super work! I like this one alot.
LindaMcC
Wow, I'm blown away! This is terrific, Mark. Excellent TG2 work!
gerberc
Impressive!
amapitodd
Excellent render.
Dotthy
congratulation an fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!
9841007
awesome work!!!
bloodnok
Great piece of work Mark. Somewhere near the source I'd guess
stbc
Not bad, Mark! Finally over to the dark side, eh? I predict that you will be killing with TG2 pretty soon. Cheers.
lumi
Wow! excellent! Fantastic 5+++++
BenBischop
Amazing...!!!
prutzworks
agreed wirh Angel
shantay
Your style is very recognizable also in your TG2 works. I adore the ultramundane light!
inkydigit
nice scene, though the veg seems to have lost its surfaces?...apart from that, I love this view!
faroutsider
This is superb!
ISSE
Good done