Lost Snowman VII - Lost City
Image description:
Unsure
A lifeless city, empty, gloomy... apparently without a past... and without a future?
In a lifeless city,
devoid of cheer,
Where shadows loom
and hope disappears,
No echoes of past,
no glimpse of the morrow,
Does the future hold
no solace to borrow?
A snowman, lost
and alone, takes a stand,
'Midst tall, dark buildings
that seem to command,
He yearns for escape
from this desolate place,
Down the narrow path,
to a sunny meadow's grace.
Oh, how he longs for
warmth and vibrant light,
To leave the shadows,
bidding them goodnight,
Through the winding path,
his gaze remains fixed,
Seeking solace in the meadow,
beautifully mixed.
With each lonely step,
hope flickers anew,
The snowman dreams
of a life colored in hue,
A future unfrozen,
where joy can abide,
In the sunny meadow,
by destiny's side.
Though the city may seem
lifeless and grim,
The snowman's longing
shall never grow dim,
For beyond the shadows,
a brighter scene gleams,
Where life's forgotten
dreams may yet redeem.
written with ChatGPT
Technology:
Composition, objects, landscapes designed with VUE Infinite, last render by VUE Professional.
Finished (Hue, Lightness, Saturation, Metadata) with GIMP and Adobe Photoshop CS4 / Adobe Bridge
Renderoptions:
Print: Ultra, Format 16:10, 47104px x 29440px (199,4cm x 124,6cm / 78,51" x 49.07"), 600dpi, .tif with LZW, Filesize: 1592 MB
NFT-Collectible: Ultra, Format 16:10 (1920*1200px), .png, Filesize: 754 KB
Web: Ultra, format 16:10 (1920*1200px), 72dpi, .jpg, high compression.
Render time (print): 75 hours (i9-10900K)
Credits:
Dystopia City Blocks 011-020
Distributed by DAZ3 D
Created By:
Ajax
Billy Home
Moebius87
history of creation
In 2015, after putting "Visitors" on hold for some time, I wanted to create the exact opposite of it. Not friendly and not colorful. It should be a city. The opposite of the peaceful "Visitors" scene. It should be dark and oppressive. The necessary 3D objects could be bought (Dystopia Blocks - I'm a lousy 3D designer) and that's how the view through the street to the open world... the outside was created.
There was still one problem: I was able to design the scene and the picture had the expression I wanted, but not the atmosphere I wanted there. The whole interaction between light, shadow, surfaces didn't work... so put it aside for now.
After recognizing the atmosphere as an essential design element for "Visitors", I tried to do the same in "Lost City" ... and finally I got closer to the desired emotions. Balancing flare, atmosphere, and shadows took weeks and endless rendering waits...until I got stuck again. The picture still had to rest.
When "Visitors" was on the wall in 2022, I was able to devote myself fully to "Lost City". It took another 4 weeks and several nights of computer runtime until the result corresponded to my expectations. However, the long rest period may have done the picture too well. When fine-tuning the atmosphere, the entire color space suddenly tilted and I saw...
It is the first and (so far) only picture that exists in two versions. The main work is black and white with a colored sky, the "side work" is ... different. I can't ignore it, there's something about the "other" picture. It touches me every time I look at it, but in a different way than my other works.
Oblique view of the scene from above. Almost in the middle of the picture you can see Lantern Alley down the street. Without post-processing.
