Space Rocks is one of my current projects I’m working on.

The Space Rocks project is a synergy of both photography and CGI (computer generated imaging). Space Rocks are virtual objects that are given the shape of ‘space-like’ objects and the surface structures of terrestrial materials—in this case rocks from mother earth.

The Space Rock 3D model in my preferred 3D application

The structures used for my virtual rocks are taken from high-res photographs of rocks and other organic surfaces. I take these photographs in different parts of the world, at different times and under different conditions. The Space Rock displayed in this post i. e., the Zeppeliner Space Rock, has received its structure from rock surfaces I photographed in the southwest of the United Kingdom in 2017.

The surface texture undergoing colour correction in Capture One Pro

The surfaces with their structures and colours which were created in CGI look different than the structures of their original sources This is mainly because additional material characteristics such as reflection and specular highlights have been added to them. Also, the colour correction/manipulation applied to the original photographs before I let them add their magic to the virtual objects in the 3D application has a significant influence on the resulting surface structures and colours of the Space Rocks.

The shapes of the Space Rocks in this project vary from setting to setting. The one main attribute they have in common, however, is the overall smoothness of their shapes. Unlike the objects in my project Leviation (wip – coming soon), Space Rocks don’t have the ragged edges and uneven shapes we know from the chunks of broken rocks that have not been washed and rounded by the sea over centuries.

Each Space Rocks scene requires 3 essential steps:

  • Create the shapes that will become  the Space Rocks.
  • Determine and apply the surface texture for each Space Rock by choosing a texture image previously photographed.
  • Create the Space. No photographs of terrestrial structures from the real-world are used! The Space is nothing but bits and bytes, created entirely in 3D.
The Space Rock 3D model in Blender, my preferred 3D application

Eventually, a long time of computer rendering results in a mystic and fascinating image. Below, the Zeppeliner Space Rock framed and exhibition-ready.

Zeppeliner Space Rock – 2019 (Framed, matted and signed)

The Space Rocks series will be available as prints soon. Please sign up to my email list if you’d like to be notified about the release date. Click here to sign up.