Just as a blacksmith works with iron to make tools and weapons,

The cloudsmiths works with clouds to make fluffy sculptures for everyone to see.

It's dawn, and a duck cloud is launched on it's maiden voyage across the skies!

Perched atop a tall plateau, the cloudsmiths builds their workshop. Here, they use rope, nets and huge metal rings to capture and dock just the right cumulus cloud for crafting.


With this image I wanted to capture the excitement of a new cloud launch. It's early dawn and all the crafts people have gathered outside on the decks and atop roofs to watch the launch of a new "duck cloud". I wanted to evoke the idea of a ship launching from its bay. Everyone coming out to see the cloud sculpt take off to travel the skies for people to see.

Lighting played a huge role in bringing this piece together. Instead of using a sunlight object, I chose to use multiple area lights in the scene. One main light on the duck to

show the suns position and then some blue and peach lights to illuminate the clouds.

The clouds were basic geometry shapes created in C4D and then imported into Houdini where I used the engine to create thick, fluffy clouds. It was important that they were dense and chunky so the shape was easily readable. Some early shapes like snowflakes and palm trees were not easily recognizable. Finally, in Photoshop they came together.