“Alchemist’s Table” Pure Cycles
I was working on this up until the last second and this was the first render I did. I see so many mistakes already, but I was rushing to get this submitted on time. I’m a noobie and still learning, but the more I do, the more I learn! 
I’m saving for a new computer…right now I’m using an old HP all in one computer which is not upgradable as far as video cards go…
Does anyone have any recommendations on the best (medium priced) computer for rendering?
I’ve read a lot about what I believe I need, but would love suggestions from this community.
Thanks! Stephanie 
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You might want to check out https://opendata.blender.org/. They have a lot of benchmarks of different CPUs and GPUs using Blender. You can even easily download the benchmark and run on your machine to give you an idea of how big of a difference an upgrade would make.
With the speed at which computer graphics and Blender evolve, I think even the pros are learning all the time. I’m looking forward to see your entries in the next weeks!
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Thanks for the info, this is great!
That’s completely true, computer graphics is a pretty new type of art after all, no way we could learn more than 30 years of CGI technology and the infinite spectrum of styles possibles!
Programmers, Mathematicians, Physicists, Artits, etc, all in one single place 
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I loved how you made this. It seems a unique artstyle.
I’m learning modeling, can I ask how you positioned the camera this way?
It’s either done by a camera set to orthographic or a perspective one set with a really narrow field of view (think telephoto lens looking at it from far away).
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Thank you @RobertT!
I started out trying to make a PR scene with a old time balance beam scale and gold dust, and it was looking pretty real, but I kept getting the uncanny feel, and decided to go the other way and add more dramatic lighting, and use post to lower the number of values used and push it more painterly. I really liked this piece, I am considering painting it in oil.
Your entry was awesome as well, really has a punch to it, It’s as if cave crystals have been mixed with the philosopher’s stone and heated up. Or perhaps the fire has another darker meaning?
I had big plans for ‘Butterfly’ but a road trip up to the space coast to watch the SpaceX rocket launch took up the weekend. I Hope you are progressing with your grief and feeling well. Oftentimes coming out of a dark time can become a rewarding artistic period.
Thank you, Photox.