Gazebo (Midnight)

Posted on February 27, 2026

I kept the design of the walkway from the 2020 version of “Gazebo” so I could do a similar night scene.    This version is a bit darker but I like how it turned out.   Hope you agree!

Gazebo (2026)

Posted on February 25, 2026

Sorry for the long delay! Was away from the computer for a few days recharging the batteries.

Continuing my theme of recreating some of my old favorites using Blender.   This time I am attempting to recreate the “Gazebo” scene that I first imagined in 1998 using Bryce.   I attempted another version in 2003 using Lightwave and then again in 2013 (best forgotten IMO) and 2020 using VUE.   The last VUE version was ok but I feel like the scene peaked in ’03.   

My goal here was to take what worked from the ’98, ’03 and ’20 versions, combine them, and hopefully elevate them a bit.   I wanted it sunny like ’98, clean like ’03, and with upgraded geometry like ’20.    I added some clouds on the horizon because Blender is a lot better at rendering cumulus clouds than VUE.   

Hope you guys like the new version!

PS: There’s an extra version in the Pickle Jar where I’d added some palm trees on the last day before posting. This is something that the other versions did not have.  In the end I decided to go with the “open horizon” version for the gallery because it more closely matched the original.  I thought it looked more “otherworldly” and the open sky dwarfed the figure in the middle.   I like the palms because it gives the scene some depth and adds some shadows.   I’ve added to the Pickle Jar so you can decide for yourself. Let me know which version you like best!

Containment (Green)

Posted on February 9, 2026

As with my first color variation of the new “Containment” render, I didn’t want to be a simple hue shift.  Here I’ve changed the luminous bits to green along with the central glow, but and I’ve changed the environment light to a subtle orange to provide a bit of contrast.   

Which version is your favorite?? I’ll feature the winner in the gallery keep the rest in the Pickle Jar.

Containment (Red)

Posted on February 7, 2026

I knew I wanted to do at least one color variation of my new “Containment” render, but I didn’t want to be a simple hue shift.  Here I’ve changed the luminous bits to red along with the central glow, but I’ve kept the blue environment light to provide a bit of contrast. 

Thinking about doing one more variation before moving on. Stay tuned!

Containment (2026)

Posted on February 3, 2026

Lately I’ve been interested to see how I could use Blender to revisit some of my earlier scenes.   I recently created a new version of “The Gardener” and now I wanted to attempt a new version of one of my favorite abstracts from the mid ’00s:  “Containment“.    I did try an updated version of “Containment” a few years ago but it went a very different direction.   Here I wanted the new version to more strictly follow the original’s design.   

I used Blender to model the privatives and Plant Factory to create the arrangement.   I also changed things up a bit so the scene would work better on multimonitor systems.

Hope you enjoy it!