This stark, monochromatic image makes a strong impact. The steam engine,
nose down at the end of the line, shows an abandoned technology left to
rust, yet the rear wheels are still precariously balanced in the air.
Excellent composition.

The setting is great, particularly the small birds, the curved rails, and
the tall grass. Very natural.

The train itself is simple, probably on purpose, but it does seem to be a
collection of parts that don't quite come together, possibly to illustrate
the fact that it is, indeed, falling apart. I could suggest more variation
in the textures, but I don't think that was the artist's intent. The ground
where the rail curves down could use a little depression/mound to show how
the rail has been buried.

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I liked this picture a lot because of its iconic relation to the topic.
By this I mean there is a close correspondence between the image and the 
very idea of old technology.  It is symbolic, like a road sign.

The pictorial means are spare. The stricken engine is shown in profile. 
Its shape fills the frame. The embalming desert is suggested with a 
realistic but understated texture and a few sihouetted tuffs of grass. 
The distant hills are flatly toned, mounds of grey.  The hazy grey of 
the sky offers no relief from the drab malaise of the scene, the sense 
of isolation, and abandonment.

The distances of the landscape seem to mock the tilted engine. One set 
of antiquated, spoked wheels dangles uselessly in the air. The nose is 
pushed into the harsh desert terrain.

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"Renderdog" <slo### [at] hiwaaynet> wrote in message
news:web.3e9fe889130414f77ba9929f0@news.povray.org...

This is a nice looking render. There is sort of a 70's disco record
cover look to it.

 -Shay

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> "Renderdog" <slo### [at] hiwaaynet> wrote in message
> news:web.3e9fe889130414f77ba9929f0@news.povray.org...
>
>This stark, monochromatic image makes a strong impact. The steam engine,
>nose down at the end of the line, shows an abandoned technology left to
>rust, yet the rear wheels are still precariously balanced in the air.
>Excellent composition.
>
>The setting is great, particularly the small birds, the curved rails, and
>the tall grass. Very natural.
>
>The train itself is simple, probably on purpose, but it does seem to be a
>collection of parts that don't quite come together, possibly to illustrate
>the fact that it is, indeed, falling apart. I could suggest more variation
>in the textures, but I don't think that was the artist's intent. The ground
>where the rail curves down could use a little depression/mound to show how
>the rail has been buried.

This was another one that I thought would have finished higher.  The
starkness is dramatic, the engine's nose in the sand leaves a sense of
abandonment and obsolescence that I thought really nailed the theme. The
little details, particularly the birds and weeds, all reinforce the idea of
expired technology being reclaimed by nature, a subject that I always find
fascinating. (I know a few shipwrecks that I dive annually just to see how
much the ocean has claimed since last year!)

Really liked this one.

RG

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