an excellentissimost update, Mentat! i love that soft flare and the flowing movements… gorgeous! 
and so on
- juandel
Beautiful update mentat. this is what fantasy/sci-fi art is all about: imagination!
I love it mentat!
The aspect ratio you chose suites it perfectly.
That is gorgeous work. LOVE the perspective and view implemented!
GREAT colors and atmosphere.
Just plain WOW! :eek:
Wonderful! I was hoping this project wasn’t forgotten
:)Great image,well done too!
W A W ! that is so tranquil, and creative, you have a varied range of styles, thats cool. I imagin this as a large image that you walk pas in a gallery, and then stand back and study it for a while. mmm I can hear whale sounds!
This is simply awesome the way that you’ve fleshed it out. It’s also really cool to see the non-standard dimensions. Very dramatic – both in content and presentation.
Very, very impressive. and gracefull.
IW
A small herd of Alzhor can be seen migrating during mating season. One of the females still tows a fetal egg sack as she makes her way to the propagation site- one of the millions of small asteroids that are trapped in low orbit around Beta Gammus. The fetal sack will hatch soon just before the female mates again. Hovering about are the ever present Zymbith- small predators that feed exclusively on the giant Coleesym that ride the currents of Beta Gammus. the Zymbith pose no real threat to the large and mobile Alzohr but the placid and nearly immobile Coleesym are sitting ducks for the “sharks” of Beta Gammus. The Colleesym are nothing more than gaseous bags of methane and hydrogen. They float throughout Beta Gammus at the whims of the gas currents. In the distance looms one of Gammus’ small moons Xanady Elipsor. Beta Gammus has a diameter equal to over 10000 times that of Xanady Elipsor but the mass of Gammus is only 10 times as great.
That’s looking very good Mentat! Great modeling, and an original feel to it. Arthur C. Clarke (perhaps who Digits is thinking of?) would like these I’m sure.
Great conception and execution, Lonnie!
This reminds me of an old Science Fiction story as well…Since I have a voluminous SciFi classics library in my studio, I’ll do some research… 
Nice biological back-story also!
This is going to be epic Mentat. I can only image the sounds they must emit while mating! In such a dense atmosphere they may be heard for hundreds of miles!
I am going to post a more in-depth treatise on the biology of these inhabitants as well as close up pictures of each in a future post. I may even continue with a series of images covering the various flora/fauna of Beta Gammus as well as several of it’s moons. I want to keep this story-line alive. What do yall think of that? Anyone have any special requests?
ALZOHR (al’-zor)
The Alzohr are a species of migratory creatures native to Beta Gammus. Reaching a length of nearly 12 meters at adulthood they have a mass of only 45 kilograms. Their bodies are composed mainly of a lightweight but durable spun silica skeleton covered by a relatively thin elastic layer of fibrous muscle tissue. The hide is also of an elastic nature and can stretch to nearly twice its normal surface area. The Alzohr feed on various silica plankton and spores of which the later is produced in great supply by the floating Coleesym colonies. Wherever there are Coleesym the Alzohr are not far behind. Through a bio-chemical process the Alzohr create methane and store it in their bodies. They can expand their abdominal cavities immensely to store extra methane when the need arises. This allows them to sustain altitude and through a simple process of gas expulsion they can adjust altitude quickly and efficiently. The Alzohr have an average life span of just three years during which the females may reproduce up to three times per year. After conception the fetus develops a fetal sack, which is ejected from the female and carried via an umbilical tether. The fetal sack will hatch within five to six weeks at which time the infant Alzohr will emerge. The infants resemble the adult Alzohr in all properties save color. At birth they are a bright iridescent turquoise green. As they mature they take on the colorings of the adults. The Alzohr have been noted to roost on asteroids caught in orbit around Beta Gammus. It is an unusual behavior and only occurs during mating season. Scientists speculate that at one time there may have been larger predators inhabiting Beta Gammus thus necessitating the need for the protection the asteroids may have provided during copulation.
What a terrific story and creature. Keep going, I can’t wait for more!
IW
Very nice images Mentat
stargo
COLEESYM (ko-lee’-sim)
The Coleesym are the floating fauna of Beta Gammus. It reaches nearly 20 meters in diameter and over 45 meters in length. Consisting of nothing more than an elastic skin, minimal silica skeletal structure and a small amount of muscular tissue concentrated in the base and prehensile tentacles of the creature the Coleesym appears to be a large floating balloon. The large gasbag that predominates the upper part of the somber giant is filled with methane produced from its digestion of silica plankton and hydrogen, which it scoops from the atmosphere as it floats along. It is incapable of any independent movement other than latching on to the occasional asteroid with its tentacles. The Coleesym reproduces through spores. It will produce a steady stream of spores for it’s entire life, which averages 18 to 20 months. From time to time Coleesym will grapple one another with their tentacles and form large colonies. Scientists speculate this behavior allows them to better navigate the flows and eddies of the currents of Beta Gammus much like a ship’s sail thus enabling them to migrate to currents rich in silica plankton.
More fasinating stuff, all this would be great background for a book or short story. I do know one thing for sure, these guys got to smell very very very bad :rolleyes:
great additions, Mentat! cant wait to see makro-lens displays of that ominous silica plankton
- juandel