I enjoy thinking up clever names for my pictures, but so far one hasn't come 
to me.  Anyway, here is my latest picture.

I've been working on it off and on for the past few months (mostly off). 
Ultimately, I would like to create a series of images based upon this 
foundation.  I have A LOT of ideas, but I'm not sure if it will hold my 
attention for that long.  I don't know about the rest of you, but as soon as 
I stop enjoying working on a picture, it seems to be impossible for me to 
finish it.  Hopefully, this will keep my interest for long enough to create 
a nice series.

Ivy courtesy of the Ivy Generator.
Grass via Gilles make grass (modified a bit).
Bonsai created with POV-Tree.
Girl and Horse from DAZ.

-- 
Jeremy M. Praay

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Attachments:
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Preview of image 'BonsaiGirlA12a.jpg'

> I enjoy thinking up clever names for my pictures, but so far one hasn't come 
> to me.  Anyway, here is my latest picture.

You might want to work on that...When I first saw the subject line, I 
instantly thought of the bonsai kitten hoax. :-P

That aside...

This picture is absolutely fantastic. I love the lighting in it. :-) You 
might need a touch of tweaking on the textures on the tree's bark to 
make it look more alive and less like a plastic plant. Moss also tends 
to grow a tad more bumpy than that.

That said, the image is pretty darn photo-realistic. :-)

 > Ivy courtesy of the Ivy Generator.
 > Grass via Gilles make grass (modified a bit).
 > Bonsai created with POV-Tree.
 > Girl and Horse from DAZ.

The first time I saw the image, I honestly thought that you had cut the 
girl and horse out of a photograph and pasted them into the render. 
Fantastic work.

William

Post a reply to this message

I love it!
This is very well done and the dark background gives a special touch. The 
illumination of the scene is excellent too.
Just one thing maybe. I had trouble to see the horse correctly, mainly 
because of the color contrast between the body and the rest of the animal, 
especially the manes. I even thought there were two horses for a split 
second! So, maybe you could do something about that....

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Beautiful picture, Jeremy.  The command of texture is remarkable. Its 
understated use here compliments a greater sense of beauty through 
simplicity. Conceptually the picture is a sophisticated play on 
miniature, fantasy, and depiction itself.  The introduction of the ivy 
on the bonsai has me puzzled, but that aside, I see a wealth of 
possibilities here.

Post a reply to this message

"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> wrote in message 
news:46132a4a$1@news.povray.org...
>> I enjoy thinking up clever names for my pictures, but so far one hasn't 
>> come to me.  Anyway, here is my latest picture.
>
> You might want to work on that...When I first saw the subject line, I 
> instantly thought of the bonsai kitten hoax. :-P

Hopefully, if I create a series, what may seem like a strange title now 
might make more sense later.  I have a few thoughts around those lines.

>
> That aside...
>
> This picture is absolutely fantastic. I love the lighting in it. :-) You 
> might need a touch of tweaking on the textures on the tree's bark to make 
> it look more alive and less like a plastic plant. Moss also tends to grow 
> a tad more bumpy than that.

Tree bark: I had a difficult time with it.  I might play around with it a 
little more, but it's a major improvement from what I had.
Moss or Grass?  At first, I wanted it to look more like moss, but later, I 
changed my mind, and thought it would be kind of fun to actually have it be 
a grassy set of hills...

>
> That said, the image is pretty darn photo-realistic. :-)
>
> > Ivy courtesy of the Ivy Generator.
> > Grass via Gilles make grass (modified a bit).
> > Bonsai created with POV-Tree.
> > Girl and Horse from DAZ.
>
> The first time I saw the image, I honestly thought that you had cut the 
> girl and horse out of a photograph and pasted them into the render. 
> Fantastic work.
>

Thank you!  :-)

Post a reply to this message

"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> wrote in message 
news:46134c42$1@news.povray.org...
>I love it!
> This is very well done and the dark background gives a special touch. The 
> illumination of the scene is excellent too.

Thanks! :-)

> Just one thing maybe. I had trouble to see the horse correctly, mainly 
> because of the color contrast between the body and the rest of the animal, 
> especially the manes. I even thought there were two horses for a split 
> second! So, maybe you could do something about that....
>

I've had a few people mention that the horse looks odd, for various reasons. 
It may just be that I need to lower the "diffuse" value of the 
lighter/whiter textures.

Post a reply to this message

fantastic grass. *drool*

Not having examined a bonsai tree really close ever before, I do question
the texture. it looks a little too grey and shiney. I'd expect them to be
more brown and without highlights. I could be so wrong though.

Post a reply to this message

"Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote in message 
news:4613d09a$1@news.povray.org...
> Beautiful picture, Jeremy.  The command of texture is remarkable. Its 
> understated use here compliments a greater sense of beauty through 
> simplicity. Conceptually the picture is a sophisticated play on miniature, 
> fantasy, and depiction itself.  The introduction of the ivy on the bonsai 
> has me puzzled, but that aside, I see a wealth of possibilities here.

Thank you!  :-)  For me, it simply represents a lot of 
fantasy/feelings/interests that I have.  If I tap into my own emotions, I 
just have to hope that it works for someone else as well.  What is the girl 
looking at?  It's a simple answer, but it means a lot of work for me.  I 
hope I can pull it off.  No, I'm not telling what it is.  ;-)

Ivy...  Hmmm...  What do you do when you have a part of your picture that 
you want to cover up?  :-)  Like I said in another post, the tree-bark was 
causing me grief.  I finally got it to look pretty good, but I still had 
this large trunk that just seemed too bare.  For real bonsai, I think that's 
often the look that they strive for (bare trunks), but they have real bark, 
and real trees, not TomTree's.  I tried various tree rotations, ways of 
lighting, etc.  Regardless, I decided I liked the ivy, because, at least in 
my mind, it adds a touch of age-old gothic mystery to the tree*, as well as 
adding some shadows to otherwise bland places.  But I have considered 
re-growing it with different parameters, as it really gets bunched-up in the 
middle of the tree.

I'm still considering it a WIP, but I'm also planning to move on to the next 
in the series.  I've often thought of doing a series, but I never had a 
decent concept.  But now, I have at least 3 other images in mind already. 
Wish me luck.

*I may expand on that concept in a subsequent image.

Post a reply to this message

"Ross" <rli### [at] speakeasynet> wrote in message 
news:4613e265$1@news.povray.org...
> fantastic grass. *drool*

Thanks!  I basically took clumps of Gilles' makegrass grass and used "trace" 
to place them on an isosurface.  Then added some random rotation, etc. 
Before the bonsai idea struck me, I was actually planning on making some 
sort of scene with grassy rolling hills.

> Not having examined a bonsai tree really close ever before, I do question
> the texture. it looks a little too grey and shiney. I'd expect them to be
> more brown and without highlights. I could be so wrong though.

Well, any type of tree can be a bonsai.  I have no idea what type of tree 
this would be, but I was thinking of something resembling a fig (ficus). 
http://www.ncarboretum.org/Horticulture/Bonsai/October_2004_pics/lores_4684.jpg

Post a reply to this message

Beautiful. I shall keep coming back to this picture I think.

One thing I notice is that the brightness looks fine on an LCD screen but is
a little too dark on a CRT... when I fired up my laptop for another look
there was so much more visible! Good work indeed. I look forward to the
next in the series!

Bill

Post a reply to this message

Ross wrote:
> fantastic grass. *drool*
> 
> Not having examined a bonsai tree really close ever before, I do question
> the texture. it looks a little too grey and shiney. I'd expect them to be
> more brown and without highlights. I could be so wrong though.
> 
> 
Not surprisingly, it seems to vary from tree to tree:
http://tinyurl.com/yqam3m
http://tinyurl.com/2f5u9n
http://tinyurl.com/yskbj5

Post a reply to this message

Jeremy M. Praay wrote:
> "Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote in message 
> news:4613d09a$1@news.povray.org...
> 
>>Beautiful picture, Jeremy.  The command of texture is remarkable. Its 
>>understated use here compliments a greater sense of beauty through 
>>simplicity. Conceptually the picture is a sophisticated play on miniature, 
>>fantasy, and depiction itself.  The introduction of the ivy on the bonsai 
>>has me puzzled, but that aside, I see a wealth of possibilities here.
> 
> 
> Thank you!  :-)  For me, it simply represents a lot of 
> fantasy/feelings/interests that I have.  If I tap into my own emotions, I 
> just have to hope that it works for someone else as well.  What is the girl 
> looking at?  It's a simple answer, but it means a lot of work for me.  I 
> hope I can pull it off.  No, I'm not telling what it is.  ;-)

Yes, that is what I meant by "depiction itself", to elaborate, I was 
refering to the question of how to "depict" inner life: emotion, 
feelings, thoughts, attention.  There is something reflective, 
contemplative, and possibly *introspective* about miniatures. In 
addition, the implied scope of the miniature's "world" provides a 
theatrical "stage".

> 
> Ivy...  Hmmm...  What do you do when you have a part of your picture that 
> you want to cover up?  :-)  Like I said in another post, the tree-bark was 
> causing me grief.  I finally got it to look pretty good, but I still had 
> this large trunk that just seemed too bare.  For real bonsai, I think that's 
> often the look that they strive for (bare trunks), but they have real bark, 
> and real trees, not TomTree's.  I tried various tree rotations, ways of 
> lighting, etc.  Regardless, I decided I liked the ivy, because, at least in 
> my mind, it adds a touch of age-old gothic mystery to the tree*, as well as 
> adding some shadows to otherwise bland places.  But I have considered 
> re-growing it with different parameters, as it really gets bunched-up in the 
> middle of the tree.

It goes against my principles to say too much, but that I am tempted too 
shows how interesting I find the picture.  The ivy does come off  as 
just that, some sort of muddying of the waters.  Perhaps to cover up not 
quite realized details, or perhaps as an element that once made sense 
but now just confuses.  By climbing up the tree the ivy intermediates 
between the two levels of scale, the real world scale of the miniature 
tree, and the fantasy miniature scale of the figures relative to whom 
the tree is "real scale" not miniature.  The leaves of the ivy seem 
caught in between, just as the ivy is rooted in the miniature grass but 
climbing up the real world tree.  The scale of the leaves is plausible, 
as some sort of grape-type creeper, but not the scale of garden ivy we 
are more familiar with.  Further, there is a sense of "interference" 
with the leaves of the tree.  It does grieve me to expose you to such 
close critique, but then close observation and mincing conception are 
invited by the whole precept of the picture. It is deceptively casual, 
and really quite ambitious.  Please see my critique as enthusiasm.



> 
> I'm still considering it a WIP, but I'm also planning to move on to the next 
> in the series.  I've often thought of doing a series, but I never had a 
> decent concept.  But now, I have at least 3 other images in mind already. 

Yes, move on.



> Wish me luck.

Luck.

Post a reply to this message

"Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> wrote in message 
news:4613fd55$1@news.povray.org...
>
> It goes against my principles to say too much, but that I am tempted too 
> shows how interesting I find the picture.  The ivy does come off  as just 
> that, some sort of muddying of the waters.  Perhaps to cover up not quite 
> realized details, or perhaps as an element that once made sense but now 
> just confuses.  By climbing up the tree the ivy intermediates between the 
> two levels of scale, the real world scale of the miniature tree, and the 
> fantasy miniature scale of the figures relative to whom the tree is "real 
> scale" not miniature.  The leaves of the ivy seem caught in between, just 
> as the ivy is rooted in the miniature grass but climbing up the real world 
> tree.  The scale of the leaves is plausible, as some sort of grape-type 
> creeper, but not the scale of garden ivy we are more familiar with. 
> Further, there is a sense of "interference" with the leaves of the tree. 
> It does grieve me to expose you to such close critique, but then close 
> observation and mincing conception are invited by the whole precept of the 
> picture. It is deceptively casual, and really quite ambitious.  Please see 
> my critique as enthusiasm.

I'm glad to have your critique.  At this point, I believe I can handle 
comments much better than a few years ago, especially as I become more 
comfortable with my skill-level (acknowleding both my strengths and 
weaknesses).  So, always feel free to state your opinion.  It means a lot to 
me.  :-)

I initially tried a much smaller ivy, but it seemed to nearly strangle the 
tree to death.  I spent so much time getting it to look "good" that perhaps 
it's clouding my judgement now.  The Ivy Generator is awsome (like a 
rolex!), but perhaps this isn't the best place for it.  Ok, I have a few 
things to think about.

A couple other technical things that worry me: 1) I need to do something 
about the front-left foot of the bonsai stand to get rid of the "floating" 
appearence.  My radiosity settings are too low, or I need to change the 
spotlight a bit.  2) The twigs of my tree extend beyond the leaves.  But I 
can live with that, as it's not completely "unnatural".  I still have a lot 
of trouble understanding and remembering the POV-Tree parameters.

Your enthusiasm kindles my own, so I hope you'll be around when I post my 
next scene, or set of scenes.  Ultimately, I have a fairly ambitious plan, 
but maintaining my interest that long is going to be difficult.  I'll be 
fairly content if I get 3-4 scenes complete, but it's certainly possible for 
me do about a dozen.  Ideally, the "whole" will be greater than the sum of 
its parts.  I'd explain more about my plans, but I like the element of 
surprise, and the ability to change my plans.  :-)

(On a side note, it sure is difficult for me to discuss my "Art" without 
feeling extremely self-involved.  It's probably a good off-topic 
discussion.)

Post a reply to this message

"Bill Pragnell" <bil### [at] hotmailcom> wrote in message 
news:web.4613f46766d144881b04b8bf0@news.povray.org...
> Beautiful. I shall keep coming back to this picture I think.
>
> One thing I notice is that the brightness looks fine on an LCD screen but 
> is
> a little too dark on a CRT... when I fired up my laptop for another look
> there was so much more visible!

I'm always making dark images (literally dark).  Perhaps I find shadows 
intriguing.  Or perhaps the use of lots of shadows just tricks the mind into 
thinking that you are seeing more than you really are.  I often like using 
them to add detail where there really isn't any.  Anyway, my scenes often 
end up being kind of dark as a result, and printing them only compounds the 
problem.  Sigh.

> Good work indeed. I look forward to the
> next in the series!
>

Thanks!  :-)

Post a reply to this message

I Love this one.  I'm only just beginning, but I wish I could produce images
like this!  I love it!

"Jeremy M. Praay" <jer### [at] questsoftwarecom> wrote:
> I enjoy thinking up clever names for my pictures, but so far one hasn't come
> to me.  Anyway, here is my latest picture.
>
> I've been working on it off and on for the past few months (mostly off).
> Ultimately, I would like to create a series of images based upon this
> foundation.  I have A LOT of ideas, but I'm not sure if it will hold my
> attention for that long.  I don't know about the rest of you, but as soon as
> I stop enjoying working on a picture, it seems to be impossible for me to
> finish it.  Hopefully, this will keep my interest for long enough to create
> a nice series.
>
> Ivy courtesy of the Ivy Generator.
> Grass via Gilles make grass (modified a bit).
> Bonsai created with POV-Tree.
> Girl and Horse from DAZ.
>
> --
> Jeremy M. Praay

Post a reply to this message

"ignominius" <ign### [at] yahoocom> wrote in message 
news:web.4614e39066d14488d4f0306c0@news.povray.org...
>I Love this one.  I'm only just beginning, but I wish I could produce 
>images
> like this!  I love it!
>

Thank you!  :-)

Keep practicing, use radiosity, use area lights, and good anti-aliasing, and 
you can make even a sphere on a checkered plane start to look pretty nice. 
But most of all, have patience.  This took more than a day to render at this 
resolution.

Post a reply to this message

> Tree bark: I had a difficult time with it.  I might play around with it a 
> little more, but it's a major improvement from what I had.

In all honesty, I wouldn't say anything at all about the tree bark, but 
everything else in the picture is executed so perfectly. The image looks 
to me a bit above average even for this group, and is way beyond 
anything I've been able to do. :-)

> Moss or Grass?  At first, I wanted it to look more like moss, but later, I 
> changed my mind, and thought it would be kind of fun to actually have it be 
> a grassy set of hills...

Cool, then. :-)

If it is grass, its been mowed awfully short, though; it looks like a 
hilly putting green.

Once again, this is a beautiful image. ;-)

William

Post a reply to this message

A stunning picture. I was actually most impressed by how well you've done
the minor elements, especially the planter pot. The subtlety of the painted
glaze and the scultpted unevenness of the surface really make it look
handmade.

Congratulations!

Stephen Klebs
http://www.cloudinthesky.com

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Man... I was half expecting to see a girl who looks like a horse that's 
been bonsai'd... o_O

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"Orchid XP v3" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message 
news:4615f5b5$1@news.povray.org...
> Man... I was half expecting to see a girl who looks like a horse that's 
> been bonsai'd... o_O

Yeah, someone mentioned "Bonsai Kitten".  LOL.

I now have "The Bonsai Life" as my current working title for the series. 
"La Vida Bonsai" would also be a cute pop-culture referencing title, but not 
quite suitable for me, since I'm not a native Spanish speaker.

Post a reply to this message

"Stephen Klebs" <skl### [at] gmailcom> wrote in message 
news:web.46158a5766d14488977978930@news.povray.org...
>A stunning picture. I was actually most impressed by how well you've done
> the minor elements, especially the planter pot. The subtlety of the 
> painted
> glaze and the scultpted unevenness of the surface really make it look
> handmade.
>
> Congratulations!
>

Thanks!  The texture pot was one of those things that I got a little lucky 
with.  I tried a bazillian different textures, and nothing looked quite 
right, then "Bingo!"  I guess that's part of what I like about using 
procedural textures; sometimes the effects are better than what I could do 
by hand.

To get the unevenness, I used isosurfaces (iso-csg library) with tiny 
normals stretched in the X-Z directions to give the appearance of brush 
strokes.  I did the same with the varnish on the stand.  I don't even know 
if it makes a difference at this resolution, but I sometimes enjoy working 
on the details that lie at the edge of perception.

Post a reply to this message

"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> wrote in message 
news:461585cc$1@news.povray.org...
>
> If it is grass, its been mowed awfully short, though; it looks like a 
> hilly putting green.
>

"Honey, what's this in the fridge?"
"Meat-cake."
"What's meat-cake?"
"Could be meat.  Could be cake."
(From an old George Carlin routine, as good as I can recall)

Anyway, it's short enough that it doesn't poke through the girl's feet. 
Maybe it's moss.  Maybe it's grass.  Maybe it's both.  It's hard to tell at 
this resolution, but it starts to look more like grass at a higher res.  I 
guess it's grass that looks kind of like moss.  :-)

Post a reply to this message

Just beautiful Jeremy. Nice, nice, work.


      ~Steve~

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"Jim Charter" <jrc### [at] msncom> schreef in bericht 
news:4613fd55$1@news.povray.org...
>
> It goes against my principles to say too much, but that I am tempted too 
> shows how interesting I find the picture.  The ivy does come off  as just 
> that, some sort of muddying of the waters.  Perhaps to cover up not quite 
> realized details, or perhaps as an element that once made sense but now 
> just confuses.  By climbing up the tree the ivy intermediates between the 
> two levels of scale, the real world scale of the miniature tree, and the 
> fantasy miniature scale of the figures relative to whom the tree is "real 
> scale" not miniature.  The leaves of the ivy seem caught in between, just 
> as the ivy is rooted in the miniature grass but climbing up the real world 
> tree.  The scale of the leaves is plausible, as some sort of grape-type 
> creeper, but not the scale of garden ivy we are more familiar with. 
> Further, there is a sense of "interference" with the leaves of the tree. 
> It does grieve me to expose you to such close critique, but then close 
> observation and mincing conception are invited by the whole precept of the 
> picture. It is deceptively casual, and really quite ambitious.  Please see 
> my critique as enthusiasm.
>
>

Reading Jim's comments on the ivy made me look again carefully at the image.
This is a difficult and, somehow, crucial element of the scene. I would like 
to see it really as a 'go-between' linking the two worlds: the real one of 
our experience, and Faerie (note the quaint, antiquated way of spelling 
here! That is important). There is a subtle Celtic undertow here imo, not in 
the sense of Little Folk, which would be too easy and obvious, but in the 
sense of a hidden gate to the Otherworld, which is enhanced by the tree 
itself, standing as it were in the two worlds.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> a écrit dans le message de 
news: 46175208@news.povray.org...
>
>>
>>
>
> Reading Jim's comments on the ivy made me look again carefully at the 
> image.
> This is a difficult and, somehow, crucial element of the scene. I would 
> like to see it really as a 'go-between' linking the two worlds: the real 
> one of our experience, and Faerie (note the quaint, antiquated way of 
> spelling here! That is important). There is a subtle Celtic undertow here 
> imo, not in the sense of Little Folk, which would be too easy and obvious, 
> but in the sense of a hidden gate to the Otherworld, which is enhanced by 
> the tree itself, standing as it were in the two worlds.
>

Oh yes and change the horse into a unicorn


Marc

Post a reply to this message

"Marc" <jac### [at] wanadoofr> wrote in message 
news:461756b0$1@news.povray.org...
>
> "Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlDOTnet> a écrit dans le message de 
> news: 46175208@news.povray.org...
>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Reading Jim's comments on the ivy made me look again carefully at the 
>> image.
>> This is a difficult and, somehow, crucial element of the scene. I would 
>> like to see it really as a 'go-between' linking the two worlds: the real 
>> one of our experience, and Faerie (note the quaint, antiquated way of 
>> spelling here! That is important). There is a subtle Celtic undertow here 
>> imo, not in the sense of Little Folk, which would be too easy and 
>> obvious, but in the sense of a hidden gate to the Otherworld, which is 
>> enhanced by the tree itself, standing as it were in the two worlds.
>>
>
> Oh yes and change the horse into a unicorn
>

The unicorn definitely isn't going to happen.  It's way too cliched for my 
tastes.  :-)

I'm doing a lot of experiments now, with and without the ivy.  But Thomas 
mentioned a couple of things that I'll expand on a little bit.  In my mind, 
this series is not simply going to be about "little people".  This was part 
of the reasoning behind keeping the moss looking somewhat like grass.  I'm 
thinking of it as more like two worlds coexisting simultaneously: the 
miniature and the normal-sized.  In that sense, it's meant to be much more 
surreal.

I'm still not sure what to do about the ivy, if anything.  I've moved-on to 
some of my other ideas for the series, and I can easily see some elements 
from this scene disappearing.  Or not.  But I'm starting to think more in 
terms of the series as a whole, rather than one particular scene.

Sigh.  Perhaps I'm thinking too much.  :-)

Post a reply to this message

"St." <dot### [at] dotcom> wrote in message news:4616ce60@news.povray.org...
>
>   Just beautiful Jeremy. Nice, nice, work.
>

Thanks!  And I'm having a lot of fun, too.  I hope the fun aspect keeps me 
motivated.  LOL

Post a reply to this message

Jeremy M. Praay wrote:

> from this scene disappearing.  Or not.  But I'm starting to think more in 
> terms of the series as a whole, rather than one particular scene.
> 
> Sigh.  Perhaps I'm thinking too much.  :-) 
> 
> 
Perhaps you've gotten us all thinking. (Why is it we do art again?)

This has a real good feel to it.  Seems to combine a lot of things you 
have been doing and saying over the years then steps up to the next level.

Post a reply to this message

"Jeremy M. Praay" <jer### [at] questsoftwarecom> schreef in bericht 
news:4617d9ee$1@news.povray.org...
>
> I'm doing a lot of experiments now, with and without the ivy.  But Thomas 
> mentioned a couple of things that I'll expand on a little bit.  In my 
> mind, this series is not simply going to be about "little people".  This 
> was part of the reasoning behind keeping the moss looking somewhat like 
> grass.  I'm thinking of it as more like two worlds coexisting 
> simultaneously: the miniature and the normal-sized.  In that sense, it's 
> meant to be much more surreal.

Exactly! That is why I mentioned the "little people" as too obvious. The 
Otherworld is coexisting with ours according to myth, and if we forget for a 
while about trolls and leperchauns, it is a world similar to ours (more or 
less)  :-)
But let's not speculate too much! You have a fine series to do, full of 
potentialities. I would hate to interfere in the process.

>
> I'm still not sure what to do about the ivy, if anything.  I've moved-on 
> to some of my other ideas for the series, and I can easily see some 
> elements from this scene disappearing.  Or not.  But I'm starting to think 
> more in terms of the series as a whole, rather than one particular scene.

Concerning the ivy, I think that just decreasing a little bit the size of 
the leaves would be enough. Just to find the right balance between the two 
worlds.

>
> Sigh.  Perhaps I'm thinking too much.  :-)

Well... who isn't???   "-)

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Very cool image.  Is there a story behind this, or is it a case of "Hey,
this looks cool, I'll run with it..."?

--
Dan
GoofyGraffix.com

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"Dan Byers" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message 
news:web.46198de166d144884d3ce1250@news.povray.org...
> Very cool image.  Is there a story behind this, or is it a case of "Hey,
> this looks cool, I'll run with it..."?
>

Hopefully, the picture is telling a story. :-)  But I'm not sure that's what 
you meant.  (Did you?)

I've been fascinated with Bonsai since I was about 16 years old.  More 
recently, I'd been playing around with TomTree (POV-Tree) and thought it 
would be interesting to try to make a bonsai with TomTree.  To make the 
scene more interesting, I wanted to include the idea of a miniature world 
within a world.  As soon as I had that thought, I realized that I really 
wanted to do a series of pictures.  But at this point, you're not seeing the 
whole story.

I expect the series to be somewhat similar to what Gilles did with his 
"Variations" series (http://www.oyonale.com/variations/index.php?lan=en), in 
the sense of re-using the same surroundings.  But there's more to it than 
that (I hope), and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.  I 
want the story to build over time.

Glad you like it.  :-)

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