Digital Blasphemy: Ryan's Blog

MS Bing vs My Default Search Provider

Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:17:00 GMT

Perhaps you have noticed the ads for "Bing" showing up lately. It's a new web search service from Microsoft. While they do have a nice homepage (I like the background images) I find their search results to be lacking a little in comparison to my everyday search engine (name begins with a "G").

Rather than go into a lengthy dissertation over the merits of each, I thought I would just post a couple of my searches and have you judge for yourself. An image search for "Ryan Bliss" on Bing returns this (a bunch of head shots of various Ryan Bliss's around the world) while a search on my old standby returns this (a page filled mostly with examples of my work. Perhaps it is my artist's vanity but I prefer the latter.

You may prefer Bing's results and that is your prerogative. Competition is a wonderful thing. It also could be that G* knows who I am when I am searching (quite likely) and is returning images to stroke my ego.

Just thought I would mention it. What do you guys think?

Concerning Planetscapes and Birthday Cake

Tue, 26 May 2009 11:17:00 GMT

I've found myself coming to the same crossroads while putting together my space images. I create this planet/nebula/phenomenon and then have to decision to make.

Do I want it to be "by itself" or do I want to show the feature as in the sky from ground level. For my latest piece, "Beginning of the End", I took the ground level approach.

The other option would be to simply feature the space object by itself. For some reason this route always seems a little like cheating to me. What do you guys think? Does it matter?

I also wanted to mention that we celebrated Jason's third birthday over the weekend. He was very explicit when we asked him what he wanted on his cake. Here's a pic.

Lifetime or Yearly?

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:17:00 GMT

As you may or may not know, I've recently lowered the price for my Lifetime Memberships. Members can now purchase a Lifetime Renewal for $49 and Non-Members can purchase a Lifetime Membership for $59. I'm still deciding on whether the prices will stay at this level.

A lot of folks have asked me whether it is more advantageous for me if people renew yearly or if they pay up front. Which will better ensure that I can continue making wallpaper for a long time to come? First off, I'm thrilled that people want to support my work. Words cannot express how thankful I am to be doing what I do.

So my answer is: Please do whatever is best for you. I lowered the price so everyone can have an affordable option to enjoy my work. If there's someone out there who wants to use my wallpaper, but doesn't want to pay a yearly fee, then I would rather have that person as a Member then have them feel locked out because my Lifetime option is too expensive.

A lot of folks have mentioned that the $99 fee was a good price and the lower price is too cheap. My renewal form has a field where you can add an amount over and above the renewal fee. If someone wants to show extra support I have other ways as well.

I still haven't decided if the price will stay at this level though. I am going to watch it over a little longer span to see if it works out.

For my part, I am just happy to have your support and keep doing what I do. Thanks everyone!!

Temple Inspiration

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:55:00 GMT

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that no one has placed the inspiration for me "Temple of the Leaf". I had to search pretty hard for the line which planted the seed...

"I must have this city," she told them, sitting crosslegged on a pile of cushions, her dragons all about her. Irri and Jhiqui poured wine. "Her granaries are full to bursting. There are figs and dates and olives growing on the terraces of her pyramids, and casks of salt fish and smoked meat buried in her cellars."

Those lines were spoken by Daenerys Targaryen in reference to the city of Meereen in George R. R. Martin's "A Storm of Swords" (the third novel in his famously unfinished "Song of Ice and Fire"). I've been re-reading the series for a while now and am enjoying the books almost as much as the first time.

I read the paragraph above and thought that a pyramid with gardens growing on its terraces would form the basis of a cool scene. I didn't take much else from Meereen (there are no harpies on my pyramid and no slaves to be seen) so the rest is my own creation.

I get asked all the time where I get my ideas so hopefully this will provide some insight

Quadro for Sale

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:26:00 GMT

After careful consideration, I've decided that I do not need two video cards in my workstation. I only run one monitor (and will most likely do so for the time being) and I am not impressed with SLI on one monitor.

Therefore I have an extra Nvidia Quadro FX5500 video card sitting around. Before I head over to eBay I thought I would put out the word here and see if I could swing an "informal" sale. It's a very powerful video card and it has performed flawlessly for me. I just don't need two of them.

You can read tech details on the card (and see its retail price) here. I will leave this post up for a week or so and see if there are any serious offers before I put it up on eBay. Send me an email if you have questions or wish to make an offer (Members can post their comments below).

Serious offers only please. PayPal and most major credit cards accepted. Thanks!

Tablet Workstation?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:26:00 GMT

I've been away from my desk a lot in the past few months. For health reasons I haven't been able to sit in my office chair like I used to. I don't know what the future will hold and I would prefer to work at my desk (I have a pretty nice setup) but if I can't I want to start thinking about alternatives.

I have a small laptop but it is only really for web surfing. I'd like to pick up a tablet model with some muscle that I can use to work on Zbrush and Vue scenes "on the go".

My question: Are any of you out there using this sort of setup? I'm really looking for a machine with a sensitive enough touch-screen/stylus that I can do brushwork in Zbrush (pressure sensitivity would be nice).

I'd love to hear what some of you fellow artists out there are using!

The Blog

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:26:00 GMT

It's been quite a while since I've posted in this blog. Sorry about that. It's probably not good "blogger etiquette" to not post for two months. It's not that I didn't have anything to say, it's just that my world has been dominated by health issues for the past couple of months and I didn't want to expound upon it any more than I already had.

Those issues are fading now and as I get back to work I wanted folks to know that I haven't abandoned the idea of writing a blog. I hope to make more posts now that I am getting back into the saddle

Little People

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:45:00 GMT

If you've been following my work for a while you probably know that tend not to make "people pictures". See my latest post, "A New Dawn", for an example of this. I prefer my wallpapers to be environments, and I think it's a little unsettling to have a wallpaper where someone else is staring back at you (unless it's a picture of my kids).

The exception to this rule is that there are times that I think it's important to give the scene a sense of scale. That's when I like to add a small figure somewhere in the scene.

This never fails to be polarizing. Immediately I hear the calls of folks who think that the scale figure completely spoils the scene and that I should provide a version without it (him/her).

It is usually a simple process to render a version without the figure, but the prideful artist in me always feels a twinge when I am requested to do so. Consider Friedrich's "Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog". I'm sure this would be a pleasant scene of a foggy valley if the "Wanderer" were removed, but would we still be talking about the image today? The foreground figure is vital to the image and removing him renders a classic image simply above average.

Will I continue to provide versions without the little people? Probably, but I just wanted you all to know my feelings on the subject.

Winter Tree?

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:45:00 GMT

A lot of folks have asked if I plan to do a winter version of my "Red/Green and Gold" image. I would have loved to make something like that, but unfortunately I don't think it is going to be possible (at least not now).

You see, when I created the tree model I wasn't planning on showing just the branches without any leaves. The model was created using around 20 or so separate Vue "Solidgrowth" trees placed around a central trunk and, to be honest, not all of the trees actually connect to the trunk. This is, of course, hidden by the leaves in the current renders. The tree would look somewhat silly without leaves though.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone the extra step and made sure all of the parts were connected. I wasn't thinking that there would be a call for a leafless version. I've done some work with it over the past couple of days and have come to the conclusion that it would be nearly impossible to connect the branches and have it look like the same tree from the other images. So, I don't think I will be doing a winter version of this image. I'm already working on that space image I mentioned in my previous post and I hope to have it done sometime in the next few days.

Thanks again for the all the great feedback!!

Inspiration

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:45:00 GMT

One of the questions I get all the time from people is "Where do you get your ideas?". It's also one of the toughest questions to answer. Just where do ideas come from after all? They pop into your head seemingly out of nowhere and can be abundant one day and elusive the next.

The idea for my recent "Green and Gold" wallpaper came to me when I was taking a walk. I had been working on a space image which was going nowhere and needed a breath of fresh air.

I was walking through my neighborhood looking at the trees and trying to think of how I could work out this space picture when all of a sudden I thought back to a movie Jessie and I had watched a few nights previous.

The movie was Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro". It's a wonderful film that I can wholeheartedly recommend to anyone. I can recall being very impressed with the huge tree that Totoro called home and, as I was walking, I wondered if I could achieve something similar.

I shelved the space image when I got back home and set to work on a "Totoro Tree" of my own. It was obvious from the start that I wouldn't be able to replicate the height of the tree, since the film panned up to show it and I was creating a still (and a widescreen still at that).

I put the tree together first (going more for width and complexity than height) then decided that it would look best by itself in a wheatfield.

The end result doesn't really evoke "My Neighbor Totoro" at all, but I wouldn't have had the idea if I hadn't watched the movie.

Such is the strange nature of inspiration I guess. I'm sure I will still get more questions on where I get my ideas, but at least now I have a link to respond with ;-)

Birthday Baseball

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:45:00 GMT

As I mentioned in my last post, I celebrated my 37th birthday on Thursday. This year I was fortunate to get my hands on some great tickets to see my Cubs play their arch rivals: the Cardinals. We purchased the tickets months ago and had been counting down the days until my birthday like a little kid waiting for Christmas.

My original idea had been to go to a game in Wrigley, but I found that excellent seats could be had much cheaper in St Louis. These were definitely the best seats I've ever had for a sporting event. They were in the first row from the field, right next to the Cubs on-deck area.

The players were so close we could talk to them. In fact when we congratulated Alfonso Soriano on his excellent catch in the 8th inning he gave us a little nod. There were a number of incredible plays made and no lack of cheering from both sides.

Here's a photo I took at the game. Note the stadium sign. Glad I could get a picture of that!

I was a little worried about being surrounded by Cardinal fans but I must say that they were a classy bunch and I never once felt uncomfortable. We had a great time in Busch Stadium.

Anyway, it was the best birthday I had had in quite a long time. Of course it helped that the Cubs squeaked out a 3-2 victory. Great game, great night, great birthday.

Hope to have the new render up sometime this weekend. Stay tuned!

Political Ads

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:45:00 GMT

I've been busy the past couple of days putting the finishing touches on a new wallpaper. I hope to have it ready sometime this weekend.

I received a couple of interesting emails this week from from visitors to my website. Both of them mentioned to me that they were long time fans and that they would no longer be using my artwork or visiting my site.

Why? It turns out that I've been running some banner ads with an anti-McCain message.

I use the Burst Network to handle the advertising on DB, a quick check of the Ad Manager showed a set of banners paid for by "Obama for America".

These ads are what are called "Run of Network" ads and they were purchased not just to run on DB but on the entire Burst Network (or at least the part of it with sites like mine).

I didn't see any ads purchased by the McCain campaign. Anyway, here's what I told both of both of the emailers and my response to future comments of that ilk:

DB is not a partisan political site and I have no desire to turn it into one. I have my own political views but I don't see any benefit in airing them here. That's just not why people come here.

That being said, I have no problem showing ads which are purchased by either campaign. I don't turn the TV channel when I see an ad against my candidate, why should my web site be any different?

I would happily run competing John McCain ads if here were to decide to purchase them. It hasn't been the best year business-wise and I can use all the help I can get.

Hopefully I won't lose too many of you guys running political banners. It's just business.

What do you guys think? Should a site like mine get to benefit from political advertising dollars, or should I shut them all off and not risk offending anyone?

***

One last note, Happy Birthday to me! I turn 37 on Thursday. I'll be celebrating in St. Louis watching my Cubs take on the Cardinals.

The Unicorn

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:45:00 GMT

I received some really great feedback regarding my latest wallpaper, "Lord of the Forest". No surprise. Ever since I've added comments to the Members Gallery I've had no shortage of people sharing their opinions. I get a really big kick out of reading the comments.

A number of people suggested that my latest piece could be improved if I highlighted the unicorn more. Indeed, a number of folks thought that the animal was a deer or just a regular horse and that it wasn't clear enough.

This was exactly the effect I was going for.

I could have easily put in a white unicorn, glowing in the sunlight, rearing up with a glistening horn as if to say "Look at my wonderful unicorn self!". I thought it would be more interesting and mysterious if the animal was only half-glimpsed. Sort of like you have just walked into a forest glade and spied a shape across the way. You look closer and see that it's a horse. You squint your eyes and finally see the horn. OMG it's a unicorn!

That was the effect that I was going for in this piece. From the comments I've read it seems that some people had just that same revelation while looking closer at the wallpaper. Great! It probably would have been fine if I had gone the more direct route, but I this is why I put it together like I did.

One last note, the RSS feed for the blog is now available.

First Post

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:45:00 GMT

Welcome to the first post in my new blog. So why am I starting a blog when I already have a section of my site where I post updates? Good question! The inspiration came from visiting the web sites of some of the authors I have been reading this year. Talented folks like Pat Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, and Joe Abercrombie have opened my eyes to a different way of communicating with an audience. Quite simply, it's been a blast for me to read their posts covering everything from the struggles of writing professionally to the latest PS3 games.

What do I hope to accomplish here? Hopefully those of you who are interested will get a better sense of who I am and, maybe, gain a deeper understanding of where I'm coming from with my artwork. I'd like this to be a place where I can talk a little more in depth about my work and what goes into making it. Hopefully I can make it interesting! I may also deviate from graphics from time to time to talk about some of my other interests.

Will I be spending time blogging at the expense of making new artwork? No, there are quite a few moments in my line of work where I am stuck waiting for something to render so I don't think time will be an issue.

I plan to keep these posts separate from the updates I make in my gallery. That space will remain strictly about my work and I'd like to keep it that way. If you are interested in digging a little deeper though I hope you will stop by the blog from time to time.

I will have a dedicated RSS feed up shortly once I have a few posts going. For now only Members will be able to leave comments (the blog will be readable on both the free and Members sites) as I think this is the easiest way to keep out the spambots (and I hate captchas!)

So that's the introduction. First post out of the way. Off we go...