I began with an idea – a picture of our industrial world. I used both my own concept art and reference images to create the scene, while the idea behind it – in every aspect, was influenced by my constant interest in the contrast between organic and inorganic materials. I saw the exotic form of strange machines whose purpose has been forgotten. I saw cold slabs of concrete, fallen gritty with neglect. I saw the faded patterns of electrical wiring, railing, and piping, becoming nothing more than design without their purpose and function. All of this – overgrown by nature.

And then I made it REAL. I stretched out walls of concrete, painted lovingly with every bump and crack. I lingered about them, turning them this way and that, while I considered the light that played over their forms and textures. I shaped them into floors and roofs, joining their boundaries into a container for my evolving dream world.

I see that this world is sterile. It is abandoned and cold - a tomb for the tools of a society moved on or perhaps even lost. And this bothers me. Where is the hope? Where does this world turn from here? Does it simply grow ever more sterile, more empty, as the last touches of life finally ebb away?

But this world is mine. I sculpt it as I see fit. And though it may be the discarded and forgotten remnants of one form of life, it is not forgotten by the other. Nature claims it as home. So I begin by growing ivy. It spreads across the floor, twisting over itself as it goes. It crawls up the wall, again making use of pipes and wires that stood functionless for so long. It grows and it spreads and it flourishes. It lays the framework for something even greater. It begins small, but grows into something great. A simple sapling that splits and churns the floor as it becomes a massive symbol of natures inevitable victory. I circle around its monumental trunk. I paint upon it, subtle hues of green and brown, shaping its leaves to cast elegant shadows, stretching its boughs up to the sky. It is mine, and here it has found its perfect home where grass springs from its massive feet as if this were some secluded forest glen.

*A lot of people suggested making the image dirtier because of the amount of time required for a tree this large to grow. However, for the purpose of this image, and the last, I did not want to sacrifice the cleanliness of the machines.

Overgrown 01 can be viewed here: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=132&t=690158&highlight=overgrown

Maya, mental ray, and Photoshop.