hey peeps, another outdoors scene from me just finished, enjoy!
720HD @ http://www.folkmagick.com/art/completed/Mountain_Meadow-1280x720.png
thanks for sharing! nice.
Very nice.
Just a couple small things. A lot of the grass looks like a wave, like perhaps you just ran the comb brush through it quickly. And even though it is rather a dark rock, the texture seems a bit off.
But other than that, I love it! Is that a real backdrop?
wow thats very good. but Bigfoot i think its supposed to look like a wave,if you have ever seen wind blow through tall grass it looks like a wave also the rock does look a little off. but great work.
It could use better lighting and AO to better match the background, otherwise nice work.
Nice work but I think some DOF might help it 
nice work , great work
Cyborg Dragon:It could use better lighting and AO to better match the background,
+1
its my new desktop background;)
edit:congrats it makes a nice forum header as well
Even though this render has potential, and is good to some extent… I don’t think that it is very deserving of the BA banner.
The picture in the background looks “Glue-on”, the rocks are very dark, and I can’t make out what kind of grass that is. The spec. in the grass is also slightly problematic.
Lets reserve the BA banner for more complex, error-free images to better represent the Blender communty?
I am sorry for being so harsh.
Nik
i agree with above, no offence but you did not model the mountains etc. and the grass does not look all that realistic.
it looks like the beginning of something great, but not there yet
I like it. The background seems a little out of place, but I think it’s good. As for the grass, I think the waves were a nice addition but I think they should be wider and longer. When wind blows the grass it doesn’t blow it in small waves and in different directions. It normally blows in one directions at a time and in nice long sweeping gusts. Good stuff!
On a different subject, who chooses the banner?
Don’t meadows have flowers? Some other plant types would be nice. I like the overall look!
This doesn’t make a very good banner i’m afraid.
Why was this made as featured art? Some grass brushed unrealisticly over with the Brush tool. Two rocks with an OK texture, and a backdrop image of some mountains…
thats reall, nice keep it up!!
wow…tell people how you really feel…give the guy a break…it may not be studio quality, but it does have some merit.
thanks peeps, i know there’s alot that could have been improved on, but i felt it was good how it was. i did add some small poppy like flowers at first, but they ended up not looking so hot in the grass. i’m shocked also to be featured like this, but i am extremely appreciative. it really made my day!
thanks again BA!
wow! looks great
have you thought about perhaps making the .blend file available… perhaps under a free license? (cc-by-sa?) 
great work… really shows off what can be done with grass in blender… congrats on the banner also
and for the rest of you complaining… does EVERY banner image have to be ‘perfect’… i dont think so… thats no representing the Blender Community… the ‘Community’ is from the lowest to highest… and includes everything… not just the best bits… so save your moaning… just 'cos some of your works didnt make the banner…
For future reference I would suggest that you follow this grass tutorial:
http://www.blenderguru.com/the-secret-to-creating-realistic-grass/
It’s just that your image isn’t anything special… I have seen quite a few grass/meadow images surfing the forums. Just last week someone uploaded a nice meadow scene using a grass tutorial from BBB.
Sorry for the large image size: http://image57.webshots.com/457/5/63/2/2252563020037576164WyrKSl_fs.jpg
If your render had the detail that the photograph above has, I would love to see it featured.
Your last render was MUCH more deserving of the banner than this one.
thanks yep i know that tutorial very well. i learned the basics off of it a while ago. the grass i made for this render was specifically made as tall as it was on purpose to relay an untouched aspect to the hill. grass this tall with updrafts i’ve seen blow in many different directions all at once and clump like that.
initially i did have DoF on it, but it seemed to detract from the detail i wanted up close. but! another stepping block on the road to progression! oh and the darkness from the rocks are attributed from the long shadow cast across the field from clouds seen with the sun reflecting brighter on the grass closer to the camera on the left hand side.
thanks nikolaus re:ups to my last render 