The Making of Winter Snowscape

This week, I thought I'd share something I had previously shared on my personal website -- a step-by-step progression of an artwork I created in Bryce several years ago.

During the Christmas season, 2007, I spent a lot of time listening to Jethro Tull's Christmas Album (long story short - Eric, my new husband, couldn't be with me and that album was the first Christmas present he ever bought me, so it brought him nearer to listen to it).

As I was listening to it, I thought how much I liked the cover art. It would be really interesting, I thought, to see if I could recreate it, or at least evoke the feel of it, in Bryce.

 The first challenge - finding a Bryce building that looked similar to the one in the inspiration piece. This one needed work, but I felt it had potential. It was a freebie at the now-defunct 3D Commune, I think.

 
I even found a decent texture that simulated the brickwork - another freebie.

Next I had to add some scenery and make it wintery.

 
Ah, those lovely Bryce trees.... can't have a landscape without trees. (This was before I got Vue  and it's wonderful ecosystem feature)

The next step was to play around with the atmosphere and find the right lighting for the scene. I was getting close in here, but hadn't quite captured the feel I wanted.

Since this is a village, more buildings to add - all freebies from various websites around the 'Net.

 
More wintery trees to fill out the scene. (I think I even paid for a package of winter trees and textures, from Renderosity)

 
By this point,  I think I had the right lighting - it sort of looks like the album cover in the first picture doesn't it? (Humor me, please)  Now it was time to add more detail -- figures and buildings -- to fill out the scene.

Spot the difference... (one of the figures is pulling a sled, if you're wondering)

More figures, including a horse and sleigh created in DAZ|Studio complete the scene.

So there we have the final Bryce render. I called the scene Winter Snowscape.  I know these thumbnails make it hard to see the details, so you can click on the image above to see a larger version.

"Winter Snowscape" (see below) was one of the first cards I created for my Zazzle store, 3D Designs by Jayne - quite an advance from the Christmas of 2007, when I originally created the artwork and I printed it out myself on card stock and mailed it out as that year's personal Christmas cards!

Winter Snowscape Christmas Card by 3DDesignsByJayne
Browse other Greetings Cards

Can you spot the little added detail on the front of the card in my store? Look closely at the bottom left hand corner and you'll see Ian Anderson, playing his flute.

So now tell me, did I capture the essence of the album cover of my inspiration?

You be the judge....