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.
Â
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 I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP.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.Â
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 (20)
azrabella
Nice one, Mark. 5*
geirla
Wow. That looks almost photographic!
jmb007
splendide image!!
shayhurs
Excellent job!
artgum
A striking image- I really like that nebula sky.
grafikeer
I agree with geirla,this is very photographic...great light and mood in this!
Rich2
Image mapping the background - nice effect, Mark. I'll have to do a "large sun" maybe after I learn how to work with TG2...
peedy
WOW, fantastic terrain! Gorgeous sky! Corrie
SIGMAWORLD
Very nice Terragen scene!
X-PaX
Very nice work.
Danny_G
Nice Mark, killer terrain and textures
amapitodd
Great composition, lighting and colors.
volcomman1
excellent!
kasalin
Fabulous, my friend !!
Naoo
Cool Mood!
DreamersWish
A very dramatic looking terrain! Fantastic Sci-fi image!
Kattey
Like an eye of the tired elder god. Seriously nice image.
DukeNukem2005
This is a very beautiful!
KatesFriend
That is quite a spectacular site. The colours are very effective in this.
corleonis
I agree it is spectacular! Love the silhouette and the sky! The texture seems too flat to me though, have you tried changing the projection type of the image map shader (for the rock texture), try changing it to 'plan y - edges xz' instead of using 'camera projection', it will be projected from vertically above onto the terrain....also try side x and side z, and playing with the tiling settings (one side much higher value than the other to squish it into looking correct from the camera) hope that helps :)