As an artist, I do four things; Oils on Canvas (Social Commentary), Drawings of National Parks, Photography of Birds and California Native Plants and 2D/3D Digital.
Since most here will be interest in digital work, I'll talk about that. I started in the digital world with a TI-99/4a computer in the early 1980's and immediately started creating art and animation with a very limited graphic range in hexadecimal code (16 colors, 256 shapes). I eventually became a published artist for Asgard Software and a year later when out on my own to form “Notung Software” which became on of the most popular TI Software companies. In 2010, I was inducted in the TI-99/4a Hall of Fame.
After making my switch to the PC, I started with Sketcher (the precursor to Painter) and even owned Fractal Design's "Poser 1". I didn't start seriously playing with Poser until Version 3 came around. With the advent of Poser 4, I began by creating textures and started a career as a digital artist, selling my work through Zygote, Vista, DAZ3D, Hivewire3D and Renderosity.
I really didn’t find my nitch in the 3D world until I partnered with BL Render to do the Songbird ReMix Series in 2003. The following year, I came into my own blending my love and knowledge of birds with a strong environmental theme "Threatened, Endangered, Extinct". That set, designed specifically to raise awareness about threatened species and why they're going extinct, became a template for all my work.
Since then I’ve steadily worked on improving my skills with Painter and Modo, and of course, producing more 3D birds and other flora and fauna with a strong environmental message. Today, the Songbird Remix birds have appeared in films such as ”I am Legend”, in Audubon literature and advertising, Duncraft (bird product & seed) advertising, in the museum presentations (such as the National Wildlife Research Center of Saudi Arabia) and even billboards and bus benches for the Omaha Reads promotions.
Besides being a Renderosity Vendor, I work at home as a freelance artist/photographer and also volunteer/lecture at the Theodore Payne Foundation (a Foundation that focuses a native plant awareness) and at Audubon California.
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Comments (13)
Sacred Rose
Ken....this image is beautiful!!! Your sparrows are superb too :)
jas1746
Excellent pic! Wonderful detail.
Rynn
This looks so real. Top class picture!
Armands
All is very real, except sand texture - looks like dirt ice or something like that (flat). Very simmilar to Bryce textures :( Can Vue do something better?
guigui
Nice landscape
MikeJ
Very good job Ken, on both the picture and the sparrows. Do you sell those sparrows somewhere?
Ken _Gilliland
Sparrows and Lizards (used in Calico Gulch) will be available soon. My site will have the details
dukduk
ken, this is great!!!
AzChip
Amazing. I've never worked with Vue; maybe I should give it a try. This looks like an Arizona arroyo after a rain; your foliage is excellent, the sparrows are excellent. I can't find anything to critique. (The sand texture is actually very accurate for an arroyo a few days after a rain.)
RimRunner
Ken, having grown up in Tujunga, I have to say, you got the wash down pat :) Memories of home and wasted days in the canyons. Thought by the mountain/hill size, looks closer to Sunland then Tujunga :)
Varian
Harsh rugged realism offset gently by the songbirds. Beautiful! :)
dolly
ken you the man when it comes to harsh rugged landscapes exellent work
Ken _Gilliland
Thanks everyone! ...and yes, Rimrunner, this part of the wash is in Sunland :)