Who is 'Markal'?
Markal is Mark Edwards who lives in Mississippi – originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. I retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2003 after 23 years and decided to stay here in the warm gulf coast south along with my wife, two daughters and three grandchildren.
How long have you been rendering/doing computer graphics?
My last five years in the Air Force I designed and developed computer-based training. We used PhotoShop, Flash and even wrote code in HTML, so I guess I started in the late 90’s. My terragen work began in 2003.
Do you have traditional art experience?
No real art experience just the standard art classes in high school and college.
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What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a collaboration with a Bryce artist…he is making a ship for one of my space landscape images. Learning Terragen 2 and possibly Vue may be in the works soon.
What software/equipment do you use and why?
Software used is Terragen .9.43, PaintShopPro 7 and LunarCell. I use an outdated Dell Pentium 4, 1.4GHZ, running Windows XP. I was going to upgrade but, this very large screen HDTV deal fell into my lap so I had to upgrade my other love…. watching Blue-Ray movies…first. Hopefully I’ll upgrade to a quad 4 before the end of the year.
What do you think your best piece of work is and why?
One of my latest favorites is Rigel III. The foreground is a stone BMP overlay I applied in Terragen…. the shading and shadows were in-line with the sun angle and it worked very well. The only post work was the LunarCell moons and I think they also add a realistic touch. It still amazes me how computer graphics can make an imaginary place look so real and believable.
Why do you like to work with 3D software?
It’s a fun hobby for me and when I focus on the work it carries me away from the hustle and worries of this world.Â
Who/what inspires you?
All the wonderful artists here at ReRo are great inspirations. National Geographic Magazine, NASA and all the space missions has also influenced and inspired me. Of course our creator….Almighty God….the greatest artist of all.
How has this online community (Renderosity) enhanced your work, relationships, and learning?
Not only comments but also other artists sharing their files have helped me grow artistically by leaps and bounds.
Parting Comments / Advice to other Artists?
I try to focus on what I love. I have a passion for Space Art so 99% of my work is Space art. Some may think I need to branch out and explore other areas but I say branch out to what….something I don’t love? Go with what you love and your rewards will be many.
Comments (29)
MagikUnicorn
Stunning image
NefariousDrO
Beautiful terrain, and the huge view of Neptune there is spectacular!
geirla
Very nicely done! There's still Pluto, dwarf or not.
shayhurs
Nice!
Blitzz-Licht
superb colorconcept and superb great planet and starbackground
Danny_G
proper Markal image
masonspappy
You created several images in this theme, but for whatever reason this grabs me more than the others. Very, very nicely done!
choronr
Are there any actual landforms there? With no atmosphere, one might think how any terrain features could exist ...just speculating Mark. As always, your solar system depictions are entrancing.
katyee
Great image.
Chaosphoto
Such a wonderful viewpoint, the kind I wish I could go and see for real :)
peedy
Fantastic image! Corrie
Domi48
I agree with Chaosphoto!
Lissy
Wow, this is really wunderful, it's on my desktop now ;) Thank you Markal!
X-PaX
Very nice render Mark.
pit224
Super! :-)
KnightWolverine
Stellar Work... Awesome Landscape/Scene/!!
SIGMAWORLD
Beautiful!
artgum
So we must be on Triton here- wow, we get a peek at a close-up parent while experiencing its moon; it's a Markal two-for-one! The blue planets are always my favs.
volcomman1
beautiful :)
corleonis
Another great terrain man! I like the composition too, but i think the planet reflection looks wrong - it should be moved down a bit, and shrunken vertically. I really like the frozen water (methane?) as well .... next you ought to try the Earth from the moon Mark
phfrancke
I have very much enjoyed your planet series!! My vote for next would be a other world space scene, but let it have an atmosphere.
Naoo
Excellent!
claudia02
Sehr Schön !
DreamersWish
This series has been wonderful visions of what these planets and their surrounding might look like. I love the color and reflections. Fantastic work!
gmvgmvgmv
Fine, classic sci-fi scene!
KatesFriend
I think you capture the ambiance of the music particularly well here.
starfire777
Fantastic space art!!!
0rest4wicked
Very cool!
RJS
A gorgeous, professional-grade image! It's impossible for me to imagine how the scene from Triton looking toward Neptune could be any more beautiful or astounding than your depiction. A brilliant piece of work, Mark! P.S. I'm a huge fan of Holst's "The Planets". What a great idea for a theme!