Background stories... by faroutsider
Open full image in new tab Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Some of the backgrounds I created for the "Season of Predators" novel.
When she commissioned the work, one of the authors wrote "I think your emphasis on the landscapes makes your art unique and since much of our novel plays out in deep canyons on a far-off planet, it would work really well." I particularly liked the idea of developing the landscapes almost as additional characters in the illustrations.
Vue 11.5 infinite, compositing and signature in Photoshop - no other post-work.
Much more detail in zoom.
Thanks for visiting. Please don't wander off the path - I can't guarantee your safety if you get lost...
Craig
PREVIOUS: Confrontation

Comments (15)
Cool work! ")
Great landscapes! Wish they were real, so that I could wandering around there.
Fantastic creations
Great set of background images...really like the first three on the bottom row!
Awesome landscapes. Very photorealistic.
Stunning in zoom... Beautiful work indeed!
I was going to tell you right off that my favorite is the moody one, bottom right. Then I looked more closely, waffled, and decided ... yup ... that really is my favorite one. Terrific work! I can see why the author liked what you're doing.
Beautiful collage of landscape scenes my friend, excellent work.
Nice work Craig!
your landscape are fabulous, I like especially the two right ones on the bottom !
I said,in my final upload, that, when I came back, I'd start with the artists I'd not gotten to the previous time. Well, I'm not back "formally," I'm just back for a short visit; but you are definitely one of the artists I'd not gotten to last time, so I want leave you one comment now, and I'll leave more when I come back for a long visit---which I hope is in the near future. First, I'm always amazed at the array of visual projects you do, considering the intensity of your work in teaching, in the sciences, and in publishing---if you're still editing/publishing as you once did. Where you find the energy and time to produce all these complex and beautifully finessed images, I don't know. But you do. At first, I was going to pick a single image to comment on now; but after looking at this several times, I decided I'd comment on this because it has so much of what you do in it. The broad photographic visions of landscape, and of space and mysterious shadow...The fantasy element---so different from the purely photographic---that makes these both of this earth but also of the imagination and heart. (I was gonna say "the landscape of the imagination and heart, but that sounds a bit corny, lol.) The intense play of light with shadow---ie, the middle two images on the bottom are perfect examples of that, with highly dramatic light breaking up the shadows. Or the play of clouds in the upper right image, against all that dark. Or your sense of mysterious revelation "just around the corner"---ie, the lower right-most image, with a sun just about to peek into our field of vision; or the sun, in the next image over (from the right), which is blasting but which you only show us in part, because the frame cut it off in dramatic fashion. Or the sense of layers of land beyond the foreground---the upper leftmost image, with its layers of land going back into space, layers we can't make out in detail but which dominate the space behind the front cavern, nevertheless. Worlds behind the foremost one... Then, your love for lit surfaces---the right top image, with those specks of light throughout (I assume) a forested area seen from aerial view. Or sudden revelation---the burst of light on the mountainside of the 2d image from the bottom right. (These "directional" terms are reeeeeallly getting tedious, aren't they? Ie, "the left-most 3d image on the right side of the bottom..." ugh!). Or your silken light, as in the 2 middle images on the bottom...I know 3D software allows for these things; but I also know that creating them takes a lot of time, planning, etc; and with 3D, you have to know how it will look when you're done, because of the difference between pre-rendered and post-rendered art. (Right? That's still a fact of life in 3D, right? I assume it is.) Mystery, process, revelation and ultimately exquisite light predominate in these image...so this montage really does sum up many things about you as an artist, and you as a person. Beautiful work, typical of you, and poetry through and through. I'll be back for a longer comment-visit when I return, Craig; but I watch; and it's always a pleasure. I hope your late winter is treating you well, and I wish you and your loved ones great light and inspiration ahead! (My fav's don't work anymore, but know, this is a fav!)
Wonderful landscapes my friend!!!Bravissimo! :DDD.Hugsxx Whylma
Feine Arbeit!
These are fantastic landscapes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wonderful work. Aloha