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 I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP.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.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 (35)
Danny_G
Cool work Mark, excellent sense of scale and depth
ArtistKimberly
Beautiful,
peedy
Beautiful! Love the lighting. Corrie
tiff666
Really a great lightning and wonderful scene!
Domi48
Superb work with a splendid atmo.
Savage_dragon
Just as I remember it. Except without the hurricane... ;)
VEDES
SUPERB!!!!!!!!
celticfire
Wow very nice!
wotan
Beautiful scene and lighting!
choronr
Revisiting older creations and modifying them is something I often do. It allows you to extend your urge for improvement. Mark, this is excellent. I like the light and this composition ...well done buddy.
ia-du-lin
fantastic swamp scene, wonderful composition and atmo
Hubert
A wonderful and very moody scene!!
masonspappy
Oustanding render! Excellent detail and composition!
shingleboot
Outstanding scene
scifibabe
Love the mood here. Fabulous lighting and color.
NefariousDrO
Lovely work, the mood is excellent, especially that golden warm light.
fallen21
Superb scene, awesome work!
pclavett
Very nice work Mark...love the light !
thecytron
AmaZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzing landscaping!
shayhurs
Spectacular render!
SIGMAWORLD
Sehr schön!
artgum
It's a beauty! Like the light through the mist in the right foreground.
faroutsider
I can't believe how much the vegetation has improved in Terragen. Superb lighting and sense of place.
Naoo
cool mystic
claudia02
Sehr schöne Arbeit !
Rich2
Seen a lot of those cypri (plural for cypress) in my home state of Louisiana. It sure does look like some of the bayou regions!
azrabella
Yayyyy! Back on "Earth" at last. Nice stuff Mark.
X-PaX
Cool scene. Well done Mark.
mikeerson
this is nice. I love your work and I knew you would get an artist of the month before you got it, but like musicians, you've got to constantly stay fresh - this is fresh and I think this is your most realistic planet scene to date... I think before you venture off to another world, I think you aught to study this and "feel" the atmosphere, the life that is in this - I think if you can trasfer that feeling to a desert like atmoshpere, you'll be on to som great, even better images.
CatmClyde
Great job! Excellent work with the plant populations...something I'm still struggling with, trying to make the placements more natural.