I am on the verge of completing my best work yet, however due to a fairly detailed lighting setup I am now exceeding the 23h 59m 59s counter in D|S. It looks awesome, but I am getting rather impatient now. I have been contemplating halting the render and post editing to smooth the few tiles that still need refinement, but I am not sure I could do it witout detracting from the image.
/sigh
I have however had plenty of time to think while my computers CPU is otherwise involved.
I have some ideas on what to do next, involving more refinement of my DJ booth prop, and using the creating a centaur in Daz techniques to try and make a wemic (half man, half lion kick ass tribal warrior)
I have started a pencil drawing of the wemic I plan to use as a reference, although I'm not sure if I should upload it. I am not as happy with it as I had hoped. Due to a long period of neglect my manual art skills have atrophied a little, but with my renders taking longer these days due to increased complexity, I do plan to flex my sketching muscles and get them back in shape.
On the other hand, I may as well upload it as I have far less excellent things already loaded on my page. The reasoning has always been to show my progress as I develop (for those interested in such things).
I am also thinking about developing more as an artist these days, something I put aside for many reasons until recently. Back in High School I was very artistically inclined, I couldn't go more than a few hours without drawing, sketching, painting, sculpting etc. However, I at some point started focusing on things that "mattered" eg. money, work, bills. It wasn't that I didn't think art was important anymore, just that I didn't seem to have the time anymore, no matter how much I wanted it. When I had kids, there seemed even less time. Sadly this period lasted nearly a whole decade.
After some revelations, the relevant importance of living to work (which is what I ended up doing), or lack thereof, was shown to me in some rather brutal life lessons. I also think of my kids and want them to know that regardless of the pressure on them to work hard and make money, they also need to be happy. A large part of me that I had almost forgotten existed is returning and I am finding a large hole being refilled. It happened so gradually that I never realised I had made tiny compromise after tiny compromise until I nearly lost myself.
Anyway, like I said. Lots of time to think!
Happy ending is I am working towards a degree that allows me to be creative and use my brain to solve problems (I am studying a degree in IT - Computer Science, code can be quite elegant!) and I make sure that regardless of other obligations in my life, I find some "me time" to sketch, play around in Daz, learn more about 3d modeling or spend time teaching my kids how to draw... and I have never been happier.
To borrow a great phrase,
Create a nice day!