Saturday, November 6, 2010

Darkover Idyll



Darkover is the world made up by Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which fantasy and science fiction co-exist under a red sun. There is magic and psychic powers, but also an interstellar empire and space ships and colonists from Earth. There are alien races, some of them sentient, and there is medieval-style warfare fought with ancient weapons and psychic magic. There's something for everyone on Darkover. This is a scene of a peaceful place on Darkover, where the old castle has not been used for warfare in many years. It's my first "authentic official" matte painting. Matte paintings are big open scenes that can be used as background for close-up action in films or videogames.

Even though the size is only 10" x 7", the pixel size (resolution) of this piece is high: 3000 x 2100. It can be blown up to a larger size for printing or publication. In this post I've used it at a larger size than I usually do, so if you click on the image you can get a big view and see the details. There may not be any pin-up fantasy babes in it, but it's a legitimate matte painting.

"Darkover Idyll" was done in Photoshop CS4. This was not a "speedpainting." It took quite a while, perhaps about 8 hours over 2 days: November 4 and 5, 2010. If all goes well, I'll have prints of this available at DarkoverCon.

4 comments:

Mike (Altus) said...

Wow wow WOW! Absolutely stunning, and it's so inviting.
Why isn't this in your "Quality Art Product" blog?

Rae Trigg said...

This is gorgeous! So what if it doesn't have "fantasy pin-up babes"? Your work is just as legitimate and this painting is a perfect example.

Pyracantha said...

Michael: I put it in my "Quality Art Product" blog with the appropriate disclaimers and references to "fine art."

Barbarella said...

Hi! I', writing about Darkover on my blog. Can I post your picture with a link to your site? It would make a gorgeous illustration.
www.barbarellaswantitall.blogspot.com