My 1000th Gallery Post! Well, here we are! Although I've been a member of Renderosity for quite a long time, I only really started building my gallery here at the end of last year. Of course, I've shared many of my older works along the way, but today marks a little milestone for me: this is my 1000th post in my gallery! And I thought I'd celebrate it with a little trip back to where it all began. More than 30 years ago, long before graphics programs and 3D software became part of my creative life, there was just me, a pencil, some paper, a boring job with plenty of free time, and a drawing talent that was, to put it mildly, less than impressive. Still, I tried drawing all sorts of things that came into my head — which, back then, mostly meant dark fantasy. (Yes, I was a bit of an oddball in those days.) Let's put it this way: for every drawing that turned out reasonably well, there were what felt like 2,000 attempts that ended up in the trash. My wastepaper basket was the only customer for my experiments and my very first gallery — without a single visitor! But you have to start somewhere, right? For this special occasion, I'd like to share twelve of my old pencil drawings that have somehow survived to this day. To avoid torturing you too much, I'll only show three of these masterpieces of questionable artistic merit per post, sparing your eyes and brains from unnecessary suffering. These drawings are more than 30 years old, and looking at them today reminds me just how different things were back then. No computer at work, and the internet was still in its infancy. But eventually, progress came to the rescue — saving both me and the rest of the world — and I discovered digital art. First came Terragen, followed by Bryce and Photoshop. Later, I had a brief adventure with Poser before finally finding my way to DAZ Studio. Looking back, discovering digital tools relatively early was probably a very good thing. They opened up creative possibilities that my pencil and I could only dream of — and probably saved several forests from having to supply the paper mills for my artistic experiments. Failed attempts could simply be corrected or deleted without a trace. Entire recycling businesses may have gone bankrupt because I could no longer supply them with my artistic disasters! So, here they are: the last survivors from my pre-digital era. They may not be masterpieces, but they're part of my journey and a little piece of where it all began. Without those early attempts, I probably wouldn't be creating the scenes I make today. After all, even the longest artistic journey begins with a single pencil stroke. And a very patient wastepaper basket. :D Thank you all for being part of this journey. Here's to the next 1,000 posts! And I promise you — and myself — that I'll never, ever try to draw anything with a pencil again! :D _______________________________________________________________ The First image - a self-Portrait More than 30 years ago, I apparently decided that being myself wasn't quite enough. So I turned myself into an elf instead. Back then, I was absolutely obsessed with fantasy. Knights, elves, swords, cloaks, and all those magical worlds had completely captured my imagination. Naturally, I had to try putting myself into that world, too! Judging by this drawing, I was taking my fantasy career very seriously! The Second image - A Griffon Another creature from my fantasy-obsessed days: a griffin! Back then, I was fascinated by mythical beasts and magical worlds, and naturally, I had to try drawing some of them myself. Looking at all those feathers, claws, and wings today, I think I made life rather difficult for myself. Whether my drawing skills were up to the challenge is another question! The Third Image - A Dragon in a Tree Why did I put a dragon in a tree? Very good question. Perhaps because I had seen an image of a snake on a branch and—naturally—felt compelled to transform it into a fantasy creature. I’m not entirely sure what strange paths my brain was wandering down back then. Well, that should suffice for this post. My thanks to everyone taking a look, and please accept my apologies in advance for any lasting damage! :D