King Kong V: On the Run

Agnarr Fast running from a very large predator on Skull Island.

It is obvious in the King Kong movies that humans have lived on Skull Island for a very long time. There are people living there when the protagonists arrive. There is the great wall that is obviously very old, and there are ruins all over the place.

So, I got to thinking about what Skull Island must have looked like a thousand years ago, when the wall was much newer, and still maintained, when an advanced civilization flourished on the Island. From time to time, groups of seafaring people must have found the island.

What if a group of vikings did? What if those vikings included Alice of Sandby and Agnarr Fast, from the Alice: Demon's Gate storyline?

Up until now, most of my King Kong pictures have been closely related to scenes in the movies. While I still have a couple of movie-inspired scenes in my head, this picture is where I start to mix in elements that were not in the movies at all, and that is where creativity begins.

Be seeing you!

King Kong IV: In the Forest

King Kong IV: In the Forest

I wasn't happy with the gorilla model I used for the first two pictures with King Kong. It was based on an first generation Genesis 3D model. That meant it was limited in movement and expressions, and, even worse, it did not have realistic fur! The fur was just a texture map. It worked when I repainted images, and severely reduced the amount of detail, but it was nowhere near a photorealistic gorilla.

Yesterday, I bought a Genesis 2 based gorilla model. The model is designed for use with the 3DLight renderer, which I normally do not use. Initial tests look pretty good though. The hair is Look At My Hair (LAMH) based, and looks pretty good. It is not Hollywood movie quality, but I believe it will suffice for my purposes.

It might become necessary to convert the gorilla model from 3DLight to iRay, but this is usually a simple procedure. I have tried it out on some other models, and I believe it will work for the gorilla too.

Back to work on more pictures. See you!

King Kong III: Showdown

My main focus for this image was the action. I wanted to get close, while at the same time getting a decent view of what is going on, so I went wide angle, and forced perspective.

This is certainly an image that could be tweaked a bit, but I'll leave it for now, and move on to the next idea.

My goal is to have enough King Kong storyboards for a Kong-themed photo shoot.

Why not check out the previous two pictures in the series?

King Kong: A Visit to Skull Island

King Kong I: Sacrifice

I am continuing to build a set of storyboards that I will eventually use to create more photorealistic pictures, with real, live models.

Right now, I am working on two themes: King Kong, and 50's Horror movies.

The picture above is influenced not only by King Kong, but also owes a lot to pictures from the Cavewoman comic by Budd Root.

King Kong II: Hide and Seek

The second picture, Hide and Seek, is inspired by a scene from Peter Jackson's 2005 version of King Kong. King Kong isn't in the picture, but he is nearby, and about to make a truly smashing entrance.

That is all for now. More stuff soon. It'll be interesting to see if I can stick to Kong and 50's horror without making any deviations.

Under an Alien Sun I

When I was in my teens, I read the John Carter books by E. R. Burroughs, The Planet of Adventure series by Jack Vance, and other books about Earth men (rarely women, I am sorry to say,) stranded on alien worlds, and forced to rely on their wit, cunning, and fighting skills, to survive.


I feel like I grew up on those other worlds, among Tschai, Pnume, and Tarks.


This is another one of my intended-as-a-storyboard pictures. I will probably do a couple more iterations before I have a final storyboard. I need to find a way to simplify the composition a bit, while still having a lot of things going on in the picture. In a version with live models, I would also like them to be a little bit more in focus in the picture.


I need to think a bit about how to do that. I have some ideas.


Be seeing you!

Guardian of the Keep

Guardian of the Keep. Kyla faces off with a T-Rex.

Lately, I've had more ideas for pictures than I have time to create. I can't even keep up with making storyboards. As for photo sessions, and making photographic versions...I haven't done anything since February.

The reason is mainly that I have focused on work. I like my day job a lot, and I like the people I work with, so quite naturally, I prioritize it, even over making pictures.

Still, I need to do at least one picture per week, or I'll go bonkers. All those Science-Fiction and Fantasy novels I used to read...they refuse to be quiet. They whisper to each other in the back of my brain, creating new characters, new worlds, and new adventures.

As if working a lot and making pictures wasn't enough, I have started to write again. I am starting up my old management blog, and I have started making research notes on a new book. If I ever get that book done, it'll take a very, very long time, but that does not matter. The important thing is that I get to scratch my writing itch.

Bee seeing you!