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.
Ă‚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 I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP.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.Ă‚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 (22)
grafikeer
I like this look,it has a sense of mystery about it...great mood lighting!
midnightmum
I think it looks beautiful with the sun pushing its way through the trees, you have created a wonderful atmosphere.
AidanaWillowRaven
Beautiful ...
choronr
I believe that if you didn't like it, you would not have uploaded it; and, that was a good decision. I like it also, especially the light and point of view. Good work Mark!
Savage_dragon
Waooww........
Rendos007
The image has something mystical and this slight mist in the background ... great light! I like it: o)
ronmolina
Excellent!
shayhurs
Very cool. Nicely done!
Paulienchen
Gefällt mir sehr gut
CornFlake1
Love it m8, good job :D
Danny_G
cool stuff
dldarkeyes
I like it. Doesn't have to look Realistic because Nature looks Digital at Times.
peedy
Beautiful! Gorgeous atmo and lighting. Love this. Corrie
starfire777
Fantastic scene and atmosphere!!!
X-PaX
Nice work Mark.
wholehog
Love how it pulls you in...great shot!
KatesFriend
Beautiful scene. I'll guess this world orbits it's central star once every fifty to hundred years.
ia-du-lin
beautiful forest scene, like the flowers in the foreground and atmo.
Domi48
Superb!
faroutsider
Wow! Just wow!
bobbystahr
looks really good to me and it's nice to see Drew's stuff getting used....Know what it's like losing it all...had my house broken into in 2009 and lost 13 years worth of everything out the kitchen window. Oddly enuff 4 years later sans, the .tgd's that I lost, I now have maybe 4 times as many models and image texturing files...weird how that worked out.
superza
Great Vegs! Looks like a bit Alien Species, me too was trying to paint "vegs" image data to obtain "alien look"