August 20, 2007:

Return to Copperworld - for skydancer (202KB)

One of my earliest and most inspiring friends-in-Bryce passed away suddenly last week. Skydancer (aka Jo Pagliasotti, although she disliked use of her real-world name online) was a multi-faceted artist, not only a brilliant Bryce artist, but equally adept in many other art software apps; as well as the creator of many real-life pieces.

This image recalls one of her most enduring ideas 'Copperworld', an alternate universe where gigantic yet whimsical coppery machines kept the world running, seemingly in the absence of any human control.

Skydancer will be missed.

December 20, 2006:

Revised Site Index

It has become increasingly apparent to me that the 'art' I've posted over the past couple of years has been almost exclusively produced to promote my growing Poser-content business... As such, it is at best disingenuous to present such images as 'art' in a gallery format, when the imagery was really produced with another end in mind...

To address that, I am henceforth 're-purposing' the site. THIS page will only be updated when I am posting a legitimately artistic expression, not just as product placement for my latest figure. In that manner, this page, while not updated nearly so regularly (I have little free time for purely recreational renders these days, as more and more of my time is devoted to promoting the business), I can guarantee that the occasional update to this page will NOT be for commercial intent.

So, please continue to check this page from time to time, but for more current info on my activities, please check the front page of the site! Cheers!

November 27, 2006:
Sky-Manta in Flight (174KB)	Sky-Manta Chase (165KB)	Well, to those who have checked in over the past month, it may look like I've backslid to my old ways! Not So! But I have been busy with the launch of my latest product set over at DAZ... More on that later... To keep this chronological, I have to first upload images of my previous project at RawArt3D My store over there, the Digital Bestiary, was always envisioned as a site for more than just dinosaurs; I also wanted to indulge my desire to make more fantastical or science-fictional beasts available to the Poser market. The Sky-Manta is a creature of the atmosphere of Gas-Giant planets, such as Jupiter. It has long been theorized that, in spite of the lack of a solid surface to these planets, there is no reason life could not evolve and abound there, as basic organic molecules are common in those vast atmospheres. Flocks of these flying filter-feeders add a touch of the exotic to renders of alien worlds...
Fellow Travellers (284KB)	Alien Princess - with Sky-Mantas (235KB)

October 20, 2006:
One Fine Day, at the Bistro (192KB)	See? Only 10 days between updates! Maybe I can break the cycle! Of course, I'm still only averaging about one update per quarter this year, so let's see if I can clear the backlog and bring the average back up over the next few weeks! This image features my 'debut' product over at the RawArt3D store, along with the debut product of another of the new vendors over there, Faveral.

October 10, 2006:
Plateosaurus (215KB)	Plateosaurus Herd (243KB)	Hmmmmm... I have to admit, my apologies for letting things lapse too long between updates are sounding like a broken record! But I have been busy...Honest! I am planning on bringing the site up to date over the next couple of weeks. Most of my time these days is focussed on my Poser content-creation business. Part of that means preparing promotional images featuring these products, and as a result, unfortunately, I have done very little purely recreational rendering this year... So, what will follow (for the next while, at least) are the promotional images I prepped in conjunction with my newer commercially-available items... Here's the first such project: The first large dinosaur herbivore, *Plateosaurus* represented my first product in the newly expanded store at Rawart3d.com Like the Dilophosaurus of a couple of years ago, it comes back to virtual life after an absence of about 200 million years! This Plateosaurus model, which I believe to be the most accurate model I've ever done, and possibly the best dinosaur available for Poser anywhere, was launched a couple of months ago... Kindly indulge me while I show it off in a few of my promo images, rendered in Bryce, and Vue...
Dilophosaur Ambush (97KB)	Ambush Close-up (97KB)

May 7, 2006:
DragonWorld - Castle with Wyvern (66KB)	DragonWorld - All Aboard! (112KB)	Well, DragonWorld Project has come and gone at DAZ, they've moved on to the Next Big Thing. But I'll always try to keep it alive in my small way - here are a couple of residual DragonWorld images. My Dragon of Burden, a huge domesticated critter to help out on the farm, was my most popular figure to date at DAZ, and continues to sell, especially now that I've added the Dragon of Burden Accessory Pack, to give him some tools to work with! This first image depicts a pastoral scene of DragonWorld, with my 'Dobbin' working alongside the more typical Dragons and Wyverns. The other shows a Dobbin outfitted for work in town, like a modern elephant at an amusement park...

March 6, 2006:
Dragon of Burden - Herd Protector (121KB)	Dragon of Burden - Playful Child (175KB)	Well, the project I was working feverishly on over the last couple of months has been 'out there' for over a month now, but I've continued to work on related projects; so much so that I forgot to announce it here... (Sorry 'bout that!) The project is DragonWorld at DAZ 3D. Various new products have been launched for this theme, and my first contribution to life on DragonWorld is the Dragon of Burden, a huge domesticated critter to help out on the farm. This first pair of images, however, show the Dragons (nicknamed 'Dobbins' from the anagram of the name) in their natural state. I've already submitted a set of accessories to put all that sheer strength to work. I'll try to keep updating a little more regularly from here on in...

November 4, 2005:

Not Far From the Edge (79KB)

That project I've been referring to for months now is still not complete, and it's starting to drive me crazy! So, I still haven't had any time for recreational use of my programs...

But, before I left Doc Mojo's Planet Ichthyosaur, there was one more image crying out to be made. Here it is, a slightly more fantastical use of the planet... and I'm sure that my recent viewing of the DVD of the old BBC production of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader had nothing whatsoever to do with it...

October 12, 2005:
Whale Shark Bay (163KB)	Sailing Whale Shark Bay (153KB)	OK, I'm still really busy with this upcoming project, but I had to take time to play with Mojoworld again, courtesy of its creator, Dr. Ken Musgrave (a.k.a. Doc Mojo)... Doc Mojo and his friends at Pandromeda recently worked with the fine folks at National Geographic to illustrate an article about the Mesozoic marine reptiles known as ichthyosaurs. Mo graciously made his 'planet files' available to Mojoworld users. This week's images feature Doc Mojo's 'Ichthyosaur' planet, with some of my own large-sized marine life - my Whale Sharks, launched earlier this year at DAZ 3D

October 3, 2005:

Dragon in Flight (148KB)

With the release of Bryce 5.5 and Vue 5 Infinite this year, I've been neglecting another great app, MojoWorld 3.0 - which has recently been further enhanced with a couple of user-friendly new features in version 3.1.

One of the enhancements in 3.1 is the improvement of import of Poser-content; I finally took time to play with this, and I have to say it's much easier to work with than previous versions! Here's my first output - just a quickie place-holder, as I'm in the middle of that big project that has been occupying my time for the past month or so...

September 17, 2005:
Bryce Challenge - Light Dome... (35KB)	Desolation Earth - the Flock... (131KB)	Alright, I'm trying to make up for my recent lack of attention to this site! Here are another couple of new images... The first image is my contribution to the current Bryce List Challenge - to produce an image illuminated by a 'light dome' - a hemisphere of dim lights which collectively give a nice soft lighting effect, similar to the 'radiosity' found in a natural scene 'globally' illuminated by the sky. Updated 2005.09.19 : DOH! The other image is a scene from the Desolation Earth project over at DAZ. Some people wanted to get a flavour for DE by hearing some stories about the place. Here's mine, of course featuring my own creation/contribution, the Chicken-Raptor!

September 12, 2005:
A Quiet Moment... (103KB)	Out of the Frying Pan... (127KB)	Busy, busy! Well, the project that had me working overtime last month has been released, but it created the opportunity for a few more; so, again, new images may be a little sparse over the next little while... ...and that project was the Desolation Earth project over at DAZ. My first contribution to this post-apocalyptic world was the Chicken-Raptor, a mutated predator that stalks the landscape! This is one of the 'concept' images I prepared while I was working on this whimsical beastie. The other image was first created in Vue d'Esprit 4 several months ago, but never completed - when I upgraded to Vue 5 Infinite, I figured I would be able to finish it easily, given V5I's improved efficiencies... unfortunately, 'it ain't necessarily so', but it all eventually got worked out. Read the gory details in the attached notes...

August 7, 2005:
Awaiting the Arrival... (112KB)	Late Cretaceous, Early Rockies (207KB)	Sigh... another incredibly long hiatus, but this one was mainly due to circumstances beyond my control - my broadband modem died on me, and I had only occasional and very slow access in the month it took for my ISP to make things right again... Add to that, a week with friends in Boston, and a deadline for another project, and whaddaya know... The first image was my first created after receiving Bryce 5.5, and it makes extensive use of the improved integration with DAZ\|Studio as a way of bringing Poser content into Bryce in an easy fashion. The other image is my first created using my other recent upgrade - I upgraded to the new Vue 5 Infinite, but haven't had time to play with it much. It's a very robust program, with some amazing new features; so many that I found some aspects of it a little overwhelming. Fortunately, I found a tutorial that gives a good start, and this image is the result...

June 4, 2005:
Marine Research Facility (141/77KB)	Shark Attack! Pack 1 (Various sizes)	Oh well... I didn't quite make it before the end of the month, but that was due to circumstances somewhat beyond my control... The first pair of images tells the tale of a Marine Research Facility, somewhere in the Tropics, where some intrepid researchers are preparing some specimens for release... The other page announces the release of my latest Poser Product, Shark Attack! Pack 1 at DAZ! This is the first of two (2) packs I'm planning, and I'm very pleased with it! This was the reason my other 'Aquatic' images had been delayed - I didn't want to jinx myself by announcing it too soon! (It also explains my general 'busy-ness' of late, and why site maintenance on this website has been, um, a bit lax lately...)

May 29, 2005:
Reef Dancing (116KB)	The Bryce List Challenge for May is 'underwater' I'm hoping to be able to announce my latest 'big project' within the next couple of days - hopefully before the end of the month... I've been scurrying to complete it - so I hope to have a number of additional images for this month's challenge - but for now, this will have to make do as a 'place-holder'

May 15, 2005:

Dances with Dragons (158KB)

The Bryce List Challenge for April was Up, Up, and Away - an image featuring the sky... I started work on this image, but didn't have the chance to finish it in time, due to the work I alluded to in my previous post (he said, cryptically...)

Now it's half-past May already, but I really wanted to finish this image and get it posted for all to see... I don't feel so bad - my co-moderator on the Bryce List only posted her image a couple of days ago!

So, now I have to start worrying about this month's Challenge... It's an underwater theme, which will tie in very nicely with the 'big project' I've been scurrying to complete - so when I do post an image for this month's challenge - there'll be a whole lot of them! "Watch this space!!!"

April 23, 2005:

Forum Troll (70KB)

Bah! Just shy of a month again... Sorry about that, folks! But once again, I've been busy on a 'big' project that will hopefully see the light of day very soon (within the next couple of weeks, if all goes according to plan!)

In the meantime, here's the image I had worked on a while ago with the then-new DAZ Troll. I wrote that I wasn't able to share it right away, as I had submitted it for consideration to DAZ's monthly gallery, and they 'prefer' that submissions not be published elsewhere while judging is underway. Well, I got the image in the gallery, and here it is for those who don't venture over to DAZ very often...

March 24, 2005:

My Living Space (Various Sizes)

Wow! Only 10 days between updates! Just like old times!

The YahooGroups Bryce List Challenge for this month is "My Living Space"

I had started this project a couple of years ago, intending to keep adding to it over time. This is a 'snapshot' of my living room as it appeared at that time (Well, not exactly as it appeared; apart from the lack of curtains, there's no clutter either! There should be books, magazines and DVDs lying around!) I may update the various images on this page if I do some more work on this project in the next week or so...

March 14, 2005:
Hmmm, another inadvertently long hiatus! I've been busy loading up the new computer with all my 3D assets, as well as working on some new original content... It's not quite ready for unveiling yet, though, so in its place, I'm posting some images using some new toys from DAZ3D. Here is A Trio of Troll Images...
Disarming (172KB)	A Boy and His Troll (192KB)	Troll Family Portrait (133KB)	I'm also happy that my Vue d'Esprit software is useful again! It had stopped working on my old PC, (it didn't like some updated drivers for my videocard) but it works fine on the new one! The new Troll from DAZ has proven a very versatile figure; but the new Preschool figures are also very useful. They feature along with the Troll in a pair of these images. The family portrait is actually a detail from another image, which I can't share just yet, as it has been submitted to an online gallery, and should not be posted elsewhere until anonymous judging has been completed.

January 16, 2005:
Hide'n'Seek (164KB)	Bryce Challenge - Jan 2005 (212KB)	Yikes! This is about the longest I've ever gone between updates! Well, it's a new year now, so let's see about rectifying that! A pair of very different images; the first recreates a scene I had envisioned featuring my Dilophosaurus model, available at DAZ. One of these days, I'm going to make him some appropriately-sized prey dinosaurs for a full meal, but for now, he still has to make do with some of his contemporary little lizards. Besides, I've got a couple of other non-dinosaur creatures in the works! The other is another Bryce Abstract image, for the current YahooGroups Bryce List Challenge. I also just got a new computer today, so I'll probably be using for all sorts of new stuff very soon!

October 9, 2004:
Wow! I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since I posted a new image! Sorry - I'll try to make up for it in part by posting a trio of new ones now...
Mirrored Abstract Challenge (186KB)	On Approach to Ganymede (91KB)	Alien Bounty Hunter (109KB)	The Bryce List at YahooGroups has continued running challenges... I've been too busy to take part, but here's a late entry to the September Challenge - a mirrored/abstract piece... but you know me, I had to put a 'twist' into it! I've been working on some client images; and this next one is an offshoot of one of those projects. And finally, purely for relaxation when I could grab a few minutes here and there, I played with some alien-looking characters and props, rendered for once within Poser 5 instead of Bryce or Vue...

July 20, 2004:
A Reality Dysfunction (147KB)	Hmm, in spite of this being the 35th anniversary of the first moon-landing, I've still been in a fantasy mood lately... Well, mostly fantasy! In this image, 2 very different realities are about to collide... Although the title is based on the Peter F. Hamilton novel, the image has nothing whatsoever to do with his space-opera magnum opus.

June 30, 2004:
Fungus Among Us (219KB)	Back to Bryce, for this month's Bryce List Challenge: "Fungus Among Us" - spurred on (or should that be "spored on"?) by a discussion of Mycorrhiza... Anyway, a chance to do another fantasy image, pulling out a number of cute little fae-folk I've accumulated over the years... with some PhotoPaint post-processing to highlight the 'fantasy' setting

June 26, 2004:
Little Lost Aliens (76KB)	It's ironic that, on the day that DAZ announced its purchase of Bryce from Corel, I was putting finishing touches on a Poser/Vue image that didn't use Bryce at all... Finally, Bryce has a new lease on life! but first, this...

June 15, 2004:
Pastoral Lake - with Swans (155KB)	Something else calming and tranquil before I go wrestle with creating something new for Poser... Prompted by a scene from an English country estate, just a place to kick back for a while, and feel the stresses melt away... Who cares if it's real or not?

May 31, 2004:

En'Tai Cargo Cult (81KB)

After the flurry of work in getting my Dilophosaurus ready for sale at DAZ, it was a pleasure to do something completely non-serious...

The May Challenge for the Bryce List was to create an image featuring a simple chicken model... The seed for this image was planted and germinated immediately, but it was only after putting the Dilophosaurus to bed (and attending to some Real-Life stuff...) that I was able to take the time to create this image (and, hey, as I write this, it's still May only 2 timezones west of here!)

May 25, 2004:
Dilophosaurus (88KB, 60KB, 67KB, 28KB, 103KB, 63KB)	Dilophosaurus Pack at Waterhole (157KB)	At risk of repeating myself: Yikes! It's been WAAAY too long between updates! But I've been busy... I had alluded in my last entry to one last project to finish up before launching my ongoing series. Well, after a lot of last-minute details, here it is, my latest Poser creation! The first dinosaur 'mega-carnivore', *Dilophosaurus wetherilli* roars back to virtual life after an absence of about 200 million years! He's been taking up all my time, but he should launch at DAZ in the next day or so... Kindly indulge me while I show him off in a few images, rendered in Poser, Bryce, and Vue...
Dilophosaurus Pair (121KB)	Arguing Over Lunch (157KB)

April 2, 2004:
The Leaving (112KB)	Tollara - Jungle Freighter Route (90KB)	Yikes! Did I say I'd post again in a few days... Oh well, the best-laid plans, and all that... OK, as promised, here is the other image licensed to the online SF magazine Dawn Sky for the Janary 2004 issue. The other is my first new Bryce scene in a while, but interestingly, it incorporates elements of Vue d'Esprit in it, as well as the ship I built recently in Carrara, Amapi, and Bryce. It also 'reintroduces' the planet Tollara, setting for the opening of that story I've been meaning to start posting for some months now... (although I hadn't named the planet in my earlier image) But there's one more project I need to clear off my plate first (stay posted!)

March 18, 2004:

Vantage Point (116KB)

The first of 2 images licensed for publication in the online SF magazine Dawn Sky in the Janary 2004 issue!

As a courtesy, I held off on posting the image here, so that it was first 'unveiled' on the magazine's site! But, in a sense, and purely by coincidence, the image also fits in with the current Bryce List Challenge, which is to depict a scene viewed from afar...

At time of writing, the other image I licensed is still visible on the front page of the site, although the rest of the site is visible to subscribers only. I'll post the other image here too, in a few days...

March 6, 2004:
Bowhead and Diver (90KB)	Bowhead Whales - Open Seas (191KB)	Nothing particularly 'artistic' today... Just a couple of images depicting my latest Poser creation, a Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus), now available at DAZ!. Created in Cinema 4D, this hopefully the first of a new series of animals I'll be creating for use in Poser. Others are already underway...

February 28, 2004:
Bryce Challenge - Shared World (172KB)	Well, I finally finished this month's Bryce List Challenge - a whole 2 days before the deadline! It was a fair bit of work, but I also included buildings posted by other List members as part of this 'Shared' challenge - a tip of the hat to all of those who offered resources to the group! This was certainly a fun challenge - I hope we do some more shared efforts soon!

January 27, 2004:
Shek - Grem Traders (80KB)	Alien Rocky Shore (118KB)	Two brand new offerings today... My first entry introduces you to the world of Shek, where some of the action of my upcoming story/image series will take place. Here, you will find a scene of everyday life on the desert world, not directly related to the story itself... although you will eventually see the same scene from an alternate viewpoint. The other entry came from some preliminary work towards the Bryce List Challenge for next month: a shared project to bring an alien cityscape to light. While working on some building designs, the attached image started to take shape, and I was intrigued enough to follow it to its conclusion.

January 14, 2004:
Bryce Challenge - Mars Base (67KB)	The current Bryce Challenge is "Mars: What the Rover Missed..." Well, I dragged out one of my earliest-ever Bryce Projects, from back in 1997, which I 'missed' posting to my site! I had forgotten all about this image until the challenge reminded me about it, lurking in the archives of my oldest computer...

January 4, 2004:

Cretaceous Forest (126KB)

This image inspired by some of the latest dino-documentaries produced with the recent developments in CG; Specifically the BBC FrameStore/CFC production: Chased by Dinosaurs, but spurred on also by the more recent Discovery Channel special, Dinosaur Planet. I haven't posted any dinosaur images since my Apatosaurus model went live, due to the subsequent death of my father, and my own serious accident. But it's time I went back...

Specifically, to the forests of ancient South America, where 100 million years ago, two little predators are in for a rude awakening from a slightly larger one...

December 22, 2003:
Bryce Primitives - Destroyer Convoy (99KB)	This ship represents my 'official' entry for the Bryce List 'Primitives' Challenge. It's a rather detailed starship built entirely of various combinations of the mathematical 'primitive' geometric shapes found in Bryce The image is heavily influenced by the work of two artists I admire - see the links in the comments on the main page...

December 9, 2003:
Bryce Metaballs - Decanter (115KB)	Bryce Metaballs - Drifting Ledbullunes (118KB)	OK, so here are my 'formal' entries for the current Bryce List Bi-Weekly challenge - to produce something featuring the Bryce Metaballs feature... My first entry is a blend of metal and glass textures, a 'metal/glass-fusion' thingie I had built long ago, but never completed, filing in the "hey, that's a neat effect!" pile. This was a good opportunity to drag it out and finish it. The other entry came from an idea I got while working on the preliminary 'doodle' entry last week. Perhaps the 'Hello, Dali' construct lurks elsewhere on the same world...

December 5, 2003:
Bryce Primitives - Barad-Dur (47KB)	Bryce Metaballs - Hello, Dali! (114KB)	This month's Bryce List challenge is to produce a construct entirely of Bryce Primitives - sphere, cube, cone, etc... while the Bi-Weekly challenge is to produce something featuring the Bryce Metaballs feature... My first "Quick'n'Dirty" entry in the 'Primitives' challenge is a 10-minute model of the Dark Tower of Barad-Dur, complete with the Eye of Sauron (the movie is due out in under 2 weeks, and the TV commercial gave me the idea... ...and my preliminary entry for the metaballs challenge - a gravity-and-logic defying brick 'sculpture' - it was just a doodle, but I liked it! More serious entries for both challenges will be coming SOON!

November 30, 2003:
Teaser1 - SkyBus in Flight (58KB)	I've been playing with my latest 'Serious Software' purchase, Cinema 4D. This machine is the result of my earliest experimentation. It's also a 'teaser' for a new project I hope to be presenting here over the next little while... The final version may differ somewhat from this, but this will serve to whet your appetite... I hope...

November 25, 2003:
Fractal Terrain Challenge 1 (107KB)	Fractal Terrain Challenge 2 (93KB)	Fractal/Desktop Garden Challenge (53KB)	The Bryce List at YahooGroups has been running monthly and weekly challenges lately... This month's challenge involved using a terrain generated by the fractal program KPT (Kai's Power Tools). I came up with 2 similar compositions, one using KPT3, the other using KPT5. The current weekly challenge involved creating a 'desktop garden' - mine is more of a 'zen garden,' but it also uses a KPT3 terrain, to tie in with the monthly challenge...

November 15, 2003:
You Got Me So Hot, I went to my room and... (50KB)	Lately, there's been a porn-spam problem on the email lists...Ban one and another new member mysteriously joins... Today's message exhorted us to come check out 'her' site, based on how much she enjoyed our conversation last night (As you may have guessed, I'm paraphrasing here, folks!) I decided to distill it down to a single image...

October 31, 2003:
What Rough Beast... (87KB)	...and speaking of the DAZ Freak model, he's been released... Not the Hallowe'en image I've been working on, but this one is nonetheless quite creepy in its own way... besides, I ran out of time on the other one, so it'll have to wait for next year, when completed. Happy Hallowe'en!

October 26, 2003:
None Shall Pass... (163KB)	The DAZ Freak model is coming out next week, so this is the last chance to feature another Big Guy from DAZ, Gorn the Giant, before he gets swept under in the flood of Freak festivities which is sure to ensue. Image inspired by a 'literary giant' in an unorthodox sense of the term - but taken in another direction...

October 18, 2003:

Do You MIND?
(102KB)

Oh my gosh, it's been over two months since I've posted a new image! Well, the Real World has been a really hectic place of late, settling my late parents' estate, prepping their house for sale, and continuing my own physiotherapy rehab...

But all of that is pretty much complete or otherwise under control for now, and my physio is settling into the routine it will follow for the next couple of months.. So here's a brand new image, just completed in the wee hours of this morning!

A bit of whimsy featuring the new DAZ Millennium Cat and the ever-popular DAZ House-mouse; a 'meeting of the minds,' in a manner of speaking...

August 3, 2003:
Bots and the Swarm (137KB)	Finally, a brand new image, just completed today (well, yesterday)! A friend needed a Bryce-friendly mecha-bug - so I built one; then, someone else on the YahooGroups Bryce List suggested a friendly challenge or exercise - to USE my new bug in an image... so here's my entry... Want one for yourself?... It ONLY works in Bryce... Follow the links to my Downloads page...

July 24, 2003:
Moonlight Dive Horror (36KB)	Yet another image created before my recent crises... (we're getting near the end of my backlog, folks...) Who else gets a touch of the heebie-jeebies at the thought of diving into deep dark water in the dead of night? C'mon, be honest...

July 9, 2003:
Can I Keep It? (101KB)	Another image created before my recent crises... Sort of the converse of the 'Tropical Island' image, this time a human woman on an alien world...

July 2, 2003:
Tropical Island - Shore Leave (102KB)	An image I had been working on (well, pretty much completed) just before my recent 'times of troubles...' It started out as a simple realistic Hawai'ian landscape image, but, well, you know me! The accompanying story naturally followed. Updated 2003.07.24: Adjusted placement of character - and also a link to the original landscape-only image.

May 27, 2003:
Hospitalized	It's just one damned thing after another... One month after losing Dad, and just around the time when settling his small estate was becoming a manageable proposition, I suffered a traumatic bicycling accident (ironically, while I was on my way to teach my fitness class at the YMCA!), which left me hospitalized with a broken hip (femur), collarbone, and 4 broken ribs, all on my right side. I'm completing my recovery at home, (thanks to my underlying robust health, the physios say, so I guess there's something to be said for 12 years of fitness classes after all!) but my right leg isn't bearing my weight yet, and my right arm is still immobilized until the clavicle heals, so my overall mobility is severely curtailed... Thank goodness I had access to Dad's assistive-mobility devices!
I had a couple of images in various stages of completion since before Dad took sick, and will post them in the near future... So, this isn't a link, just a notice - bear with me a while longer!.

Apr. 23, 2003:
A Memorial	Victor Robert Swift: August 4, 1919 - April 23, 2003 Mourning the passing of my father, little more than a year after my mother, I have not updated the site for a while. I miss him. I miss them both.

April 10, 2003:
In the Hall of the Mountain Troll (67KB)	Another fantasy-themed image, this one featuring the new Greater Troll from sixus1, at DAZ3D.

March 30, 2003:
The Sea Witch (58KB)	WARNING - Poser Nudity An "NVIATWAS" image with a twist - and an homage to the great Fantasy artist Frank Frazetta Also makes ample use of the new SeaDragon model from DAZ3D.

March 16, 2003:
Vicki Welcomes her New Room-mate! (57KB)	Queen Xaina Dispatches the Fleet (73KB)	Yeeeee-haaa!!!! I am thrilled that my Apatosaurus model has been accepted by DAZ3D, and is now available in the DAZ 'Premiere' store! In respect of which, I did a little celebratory image, of Victoria 3 throwing a little party for her new room-mate! At least Vicki doesn't have to worry about this room-mate raiding her wardrobe! ...and on a wholly different note, I threw this other image together this weekend, featuring some new Vicki 3 products available at another site - and look, not a dinosaur anywhere in sight! (In fact, I wanted a complete break!)

March 1, 2003:

Saber Goes Exploring...
(137KB)

I finally installed the latest version of MojoWorld, and could spend days just exploring the planets included with it! In that vein, I prepped another original Poser critter I had been working on, paired him up with a 'BeastMaster'-type character, and sent them out to explore a strange new world...

Potentially just a 'work-in-progress', but I know it will be some time before I complete the work required to redo this entirely to my liking; so this will do, in the meantime...

February 23, 2003:
A Minbari Romance (89KB)	Featuring the very first 'freebie' I created for limited sharing, the Minbari Morphing Crest for the Millennium adults, Michael, Victoria, and Stephanie. Under an alien sky, love blossoms between two young Minbari rangers...

February 4, 2003:

The Herd - At the LakeShore
(189KB)

Another month has come and gone, the ol' Apatosaurus comments have come back in, been incorporated, and a new beta is just about ready for my beta-testers!

A few new features added to this one, some of which (especially the curviness of the tail) should be visible in this image.

I've also added a few small flitting pterosaurs, to provide a sense of scale (much as my seagull model is intended to do, for non-prehistoric images...)

January 5, 2003:

Seagulls

Well, the ol' Apatosaurus is out for scrutiny by my beta-testers - time to take a quick breather!

But that got me thinking - back last fall, I finally came to grips with Amapi to the extent of putting together my first model for 'Poserizing' and then actually sharing - in this case, a "Simple Seagull" for use as a background figure (Not a 'Hero' figure, heaven forbid!) in my scenes. A friend offered to host the file for me, since he had access to unlimited bandwidth. Unfortunately, just as I was getting set to announce it's availability here, the server had to be taken down permanently, and my gull no longer had a host.

To make a long story short, I've been thinking about hosting it on my own site, as a trial balloon, to see how it affects my own bandwidth quota. Stay tuned for more info...

Updated 2003.07.24: link added to Downloads page...

December 30, 2002:
The Herd - Dry Plains	The Herd - Forest Edge	Well, I never intended to let things go this long between images, and I seemed to miss posting a Christmas image completely! Oops! All I can say is that I've been very busy, carolling every day, working on a couple of freelance graphics projects, which have brought in some money, but kept me from indulging in any projects for pure pleasure... Except this one! I've been building this beastie for a while now, and he's still in the beta process, but he's been kicking at his cage, itching to get out - and when a beastie THIS size wants out, it's best not to argue!
Anyway, now you know what I meant when I said in the previous post that I was working on something 'BIG' - they simply don't get much bigger than this!

November 28, 2002:
Warships of The Army of Light	*Whoops!* It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a new image - how time flies! Well, I'm in the midst of a couple of BIG projects! And I do mean BIG!... Watch this space over the next couple of weeks for a peek at what I mean! In the meantime, I want to celebrate the other big DVD release of November 12, 2002 - the long-awaited release of the first season of Babylon 5 on DVD! With Star Wars Episode II, the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring, as well as Babylon 5 all being released on the same day, it's a wonder I've been able to tear myself away from the TV to do any other work!
So, this image, while not as labour-intensive as some of my recent (and forthcoming) work, is a bit of a place-holder until my new work is ready for viewing; but also a labour of love for one of my favourite TV series of all time!

November 12, 2002:
The Diner on Trantuscant	In honour of the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones on DVD today, I'm posting a scene inspired by the movie... As for the title - well, I couldn't exactly steal the planet from Star Wars, but this planet name blends in another fine old SF tradition... And, by the way, you'll see the point from which my previously-posted image (below) derived...

November 4, 2002:
Flying Dragons...	Another quickie fun image that popped into my head while I was working on something else altogether! Admittedly, a slightly different take on the concept of 'flying dragons...' In all the art that has popped up lately regarding the DAZ Millennium Dragon, I have yet to see anything that interprets it in quite this way...

October 29, 2002:

Anyone for Quidditch?

Just a quickie image for Hallowe'en!

Pure cheesecake! No serious intent, just a bit of fun with Stephanie. I built her a new turbo-charged broom, just for the occasion. No comments about the front of the broomstick, please! (it's not inappropriate, but I'm nonetheless a bit embarrassed about it).

And, oh yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in the next couple of weeks (not that I expect to see a quidditch player like this one any time soon!)

October 25, 2002:
FireDrake	Crunchy on the Outside...	Well, the tradition continues! My Dragon images travel in pairs; I fail to achieve recognition with my contest submissions! These two were recently submitted to the DAZ 'Medieval' contest, images had to feature their new dragon... Again, I failed to attract any attention...
Update 2002.11! I've just been alerted to the fact that, although it didn't place in the contest gallery, Crunchy on the Outside has been selected for inclusion in the brand-new Millennium Dragon gallery at DAZ3D - so I officially retract all my whining!

October 18, 2002:

The Sands of Time

One of the things that kept me busy during that period a month or so ago, was this entry for a contest over at the Runtime DNA site... The contest theme was The Sands of Time, and the images had to be composed and rendered in the Vue d'Esprit package.

I spent a fair bit of time on this image - but entrants were not allowed to display their submissions anywhere else until after the contest was judged and the winners announced.

The contest is now over, I didn't win, place, or show; but at least I can post the image now!

October 8, 2002:





First Exploration of Parametric Hyperspace

My First Venture into Parametric Hyperspace*!

I recently purchased MojoWorld, the new world-modelling program by Dr. Ken "Doc Mojo" Musgrave, one of the creative minds behind earlier versions of Bryce

Mojoworld provides the ability to generate entire fractal planets, ready to create and modify by simply tweaking a few parameters... and these worlds can be explored and shared in simple files...

So, join me as I observe the first expedition into the unexplored realms of Parametric Hyperspace*

(and yes, all 4 thumbnails lead to the same page - the images illustrate the report of that expedition...)

* Parametric Hyperspace is a Registered Trademark of Pandromeda Inc.

September 29, 2002:
Jungle Lordling	I've been busy with a couple of other projects over the past couple of weeks, but have no graphics to show for it - just yet... I actually made this image a couple of months ago, but never had the opportunity to post it to my own site until now... It just goes to show you, there's more to life than dragons!

September 12, 2002:
Monarch of the Blasted Land	WARNING: Objects in the Mirror...	Well, I promised (threatened?) a couple of additional images of the incredible new "Millennium Dragon" from DAZ-3D, so here they are! one shows the Dragon soaring above his realm; the other shows the Dragon in a rather, er, unexpected, scenario! Hope you enjoy them both!

September 9, 2002:
The Better Part of Valour	While Crossing the Pass...	With the release of the incredible new "Millennium Dragon" from DAZ-3D, inspiration is not going to be a problem for quite a while! In fact, the difficult part is going to deciding which images to show first! Ultimately, I opted for these two, but I've got a couple more ready to go, which I'll post in just a few days!

August 31, 2002:
The Air Show	I was watching the Toronto Air Show today, from my 3rd-floor deck - and this image just popped into my head..

August 22, 2002:
Deploying the Fleet	Republic on Manoeuvres	Well, it wasn't supposed to happen this way! My next few images were planned to be further examples of XFrog, with strange new plants I had evolved along the way! A variety of factors 'got in the way' of those plans... For various reasons, I 'needed' to work on a simple Star Wars wallpaper image; I had been toying with the first of these images for a while in my spare time, but the discovery of a whole host of new models accelerated those plans... and, the pleasant discovery that there are already models available from Episode 2: Attack of the Clones available on the web...
So, they allowed me to complete the first image; and provided the inspiration for the second... ...which, come to think of it, are about as far from XFrog images as one can get!

August 16, 2002:
Where There's Smoke...	A whimsical SF image, which nonetheless serves to show off my newest passion - XFrog, the plant generation program...

August 12, 2002:
A Prayer for the Fallen	I just felt the urge to a pure fantasy image - it's been a while since I've made one...

Feb. 15, 2002:
A Memorial	Violet Mary Swift: March 10, 1922 - February 15, 2002 Mourning the passing of my dear mother, I shut the site down for a while; except for this memorial to her life. I miss her.

Once images migrate off this Newest Images page, the following section alerts you to updates to older images...
Note - These links take you to the image where it currently resides in a gallery. Navigation buttons on those pages refer to that gallery. To return to this page, you will have to use your browser's BACK button.

In Valen's Name 2002.08.16

Used different Sharlin model, with more correct textures;
Used updated Nial fighter model, with correct textures.

Minbari Fleet in Orbit 2002.08.12

Used different model, with more correct textures

All Contents Copyright © Colin Swift, except as indicated. All rights reserved.
For more Information, contact Digital I Designs (colin@digitalidesigns.com)
This page (format) last updated: 2003-11-03