Ryan Bliss -- Artwork

Early Works

"H20 Weave": Created in the mid 90s using Aldus PhotoStyler and KPT Tools

"Citadel": Created in the mid 90s using KPT Bryce

My first digital artwork was created using Aldus Photostyler and KPT Tools. They were pretty rudimentary in the beginning, using a lot of built in functions. It was more button pushing than art. Still, I was astounded at the time to be creating something that I had no hope of ever being able to draw by hand.

My first introduction to 3D was a program called "KPT Bryce". It allowed me to create my first digital landscapes and used raytracing to render them. It was all still pretty basic (since I had no formal art training) but I learned quickly.

Vue d'Esprit and World Builder

"Harbinger": Created in 2000 using World Builder

"Tropic of Capricorn": Created in 1999 using Vue d'Esprit 2

One of the limitations of Bryce was that it had no vegetation. This mean't I was pretty much limited to desert landscapes and mountains. In 1999 I came across a couple of new pieces of software called "Vue d'Esprit" and "World Builder".

Vue allowed you to load a tree or other plant of your choice into your scene. You then dragged the object around to place it. Click a button and you would get another tree of the same type, but grown randomly so that no two were exactly alike. It had a great raytracing renderer and produced very realistic results.

World Builder, by contrast, did not use a ray-tracing renderer so it's results were more "painterly" than photoreal. One unique feature it had was the ability to define an area in your landscape and grow a forest (or patch) of vegetatation there. This allowed me to create grand forests without having to manually place each object.

Lightwave

"Fluorescence": Created in 1999 using Lightwave. This is probably my most famous image.

"Haiku": Created in 2000 using Lightwave

The funds from my members gallery allowed me to purchase some professional level 3D software. I chose Newtek's Lightwave package because I had seen some great work done with it and I thought it would be easy to learn.

It was not easy to learn however. It's a very dense and powerful program, designed for serious artists, whereas Vue/Bryce were more for hobbists. It wasn't easy but I think I managed to get some good results out of it.

I use Lightwave primarily for "macro" shots, space scenes, and creating architectural/plant elements to populate my landscapes.

Improving Technology

"Harbinger": Reworked in 2009 using Vue d'Esprit 7.5

"Haiku": Reworking of "Haiku" done in 2007

"Moonlit Citidel": Reworking of "Citidel" done in 2008

I have stuck with Vue d'Esprit and Lightwave as my "go-to" tools. The programs have improved dramatically over the years. The company that created "World Builder" has gone out of business, but fortunately Vue d'Esprit offers "Ecosystems" which take the place of World Builder's forest creation features quite nicely.

While I am always thinking of new scenes, sometimes it is fun to go back and rework an earlier image using all of the new features of modern software. I've included a couple of examples to the right.

You can always see my latest works at digitalblasphemy.com.

Desktops of all Shapes and Sizes

"Temple of the Leaf": Rendered for 3 Widescreen Monitors

One of the big challenges of providing wallpapers to a broad audience is the wide array of devices and configurations that people use. When I started making desktops back in the mid '90s, I designed in one resolution (800 x 600). Now, along with 4:3 and 5:4 aspect monitors there are 16:10 widescrens and 16:9 HDTVs. Some people run multiple monitors together so I now offer images at 7680 x 1600.

People also like to use my work on their handheld devices so I have begun to offer those sizes as well. As of 2009 I offer 26 different resolutions when I post a new project online. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Wallpaper Art

Good wallpapers are art, but not all art makes a good wallpaper. Wallpapers must allow the user to see their icons and not be too demanding on the eyes. Unlike some art that is seen from far away, wallpapers are usually viewed very closely. It is, therefore, important to make sure the image is put together with great care for accuracy.

A good wallpaper should make the user want to leave their monitor on to decorate the room. It should make the user hesitate to open a new program. My work is (and really has always been) designed for the desktop first.

You can always see my latest works at digitalblasphemy.com.