I actually rendered the background separately, with everything else dropped out of the shot; and I just did it with a deep shadow map, because I knew I was going to blur the heck out of it to simulate DOF:
...therefore, I got the background in less than a minute! Blurred it (a lot; in Irfanview, for quickness) popped it back in as a backdrop, then all I had to raytrace was the figure - wings - hair combination; which made for a five minute render! Then, some work in Photoshop (highlights, body hair, eyes, shadows, bit of digital grading to direct the viewer's eye where I want it to go), and I was done.
So -- more, since I have a long afternoon to amuse myself through! Why not --
--a storybook kind of image. A misty dawn, in Bryce 7 Pro. No, it's not photo-realistic, but it's actually rather pretty, and is exactly the kind of thing you'd see in storybook illustration. Bryce is pretty decent with atmospherics, even if you don't get photographic results. So, why not?
And continuing on the theme of misty mornings, I went on to this:
Well, it's not really a painting, but it's nowhere near the photograph I started with! What do you want to call this kind of image? I mean, take a look at this:
If it's not a painting, what is it? I'm stumped as to what to call it, so I leave it to you!
While I was rummaging through the old file folders, I found a whole bunch of things Id forgotten, including some borders that were made about fifteen years ago. I couldn't resist this recomposition:
That one is well worth seeing at large size --
...by the time I'd done a dozen things to it, and stripped in a canvas texture as well as the old border (added with a Photostop bend), it came up looking like a painting; so I added highlights and shadows to accentuate the effect. Very, very nice.
Okay, that's all from me for today! Another rainy day tomorrow, as far as I know, and I'm pretty much "home alone" all weekend, so ... expect more art, if only to pass the time! Hope you enjoyed these!
