Thunderhead (Night)

Posted on March 24, 2026

It was always the plan to do a night version of my new “Thunderhead” render.     It was a bit tricky figuring out how to illuminate the scene using only lightning bolts and starlight.   I’m sure some folks will say the scene is too dark for their monitors as the colors on my Samsung G9 are pretty bright and vivid.   

My first version of the day scene featured a sailboat in the foreground.  In the end I decided to go with the leaping dolphins.   It seemed like a good idea to add the boat back here with a little lantern light to provide some contrast. 

Which version do you prefer?

Thunderhead

Posted on March 20, 2026

I was born and raised in central Illinois, which is very flat country (flattened by a glacier over 10,000 years ago), and cumulonimbus clouds are our versions of mountains.  When I was a kid spending time on my Dad’s farm I would watch them billow and grow on the horizon to massive heights, sometimes blotting out the sun.  They fascinated me to the point where I once seriously considered becoming a meteorologist.

I first attempted to model a thunderhead back in 1999 using Bryce3D’s texture mapped spheres.  In 2016 I attempted one again using Vue’s “Spectral” clouds.   This latest version uses VDB clouds and Blender’s Cycles renderer.    It builds off of the work I did to create the scene for my new Gazebo render.   Some folks mentioned they missed the dolphins in that render so I’ve added them back here.

Tyche

Posted on March 13, 2026

My updated version of “Gazebo” started out with me learning how to create and render a gas giant planet in Blender.   I’d considered posting this render first and then sharing the Gazebo project as it developed, but decided instead to wait until everything was ready.    I did learn some interesting techniques for creating gas giants that may not be immediately evident when seen from a distance so I hope you all enjoy this close up look at the planet.

Tyche is the Greek goddess of fortune, chance, providence, and fate.

Painted Desert

Posted on March 8, 2026

The goal here was to learn how to use Gaea and Blender together.   Usually I cover up my Gaea terrains with lots of vegetation but here I wanted the landscape itself to be the subject.   The process is quite different from VUE so there was a lot to learn but I like how it turned out.   There are still some things I need to figure out going forward but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Gazebo (Midnight)

Posted on February 27, 2026

I kept the design of the walkway from the 2020 version of “Gazebo” so I could do a similar night scene.    This version is a bit darker but I like how it turned out.   Hope you agree!