Encountering
Petra
The entrance to the ancient Nabataean city of
Petra (in present-day Jordan) is approached
through a deep, narrow canyon. The impressive
temples where carved from the solid
rock cliff-faces as were the tombs, theaters
and living areas. Water sustained this desert
city through an intricate system of aqueducts
and cisterns, shaded from the scorching heat.
Truely a place of inspiring images!
Technical Notes: The
majority of the objects in this image are terrains created from grayscale-to-height
maps drawn in Photoshop. This includes not only the canyon walls
and sand floor, but also the friezes, lintels, dome and statues.
The lack of definition of the statues is deliberate, intending to demonstrate
erosion. Other areas of erosion are accomplished by either selectively
editing the G2H maps or by using terrains as negative cutting objects.
The column and bases are primitives, while the capitals are dxf models
I created with sPatch.
The effect of the sedimentary striations on the far wall was accomplished
with a second terrain protruding through the main wall, the remaining striations
were accomplished with Photoshop.
Back
to Bryce Gallery
Back
to Axe's Home Page