Boundaries Of Heaven 2.0

A co-worker recently introduced me to a neat little landscape generating program called Terragen, and only now have I had a chance to play around with it. Looking back on any of my older pictures, creating digital landscapes has always been a problem for me. So I thought it would be appropriate to have my first go with this program at re-creating an older picture where the landscape was a large part of it: Boundaries of Heaven (hence this one now being called version 2.0).

For the first few tries, I think the resulting landscape turned-out alright. I've also taken several liberties recreating the top half of the picture as well. Because this was only an experimentation, I didn't want to spend too much time on the picture, so I used several images from my stockpile to complete it. In combination with Terragen, it only took the space of an afternoon to complete the above. To be honest, it felt like a bit of a shortcut.

I was first thinking about how such tools might be considered cheap in that they make it easier for anybody to be a self-proclaimed artist, but isn't it true of every other tool out there? Without such tools I don't think I'd even be here; my own Paint Shop Pro X helps me to achieve what I couldn't normally do through traditional means.

So I don't think it's really about cheapening the art scene, I think it's about making expression through art more accessible, which isn't such a bad thing after all. Sure it may take less 'skill' to create something nice, but since when should self-expression be confined to the elite few?