Risen from burning ashes

Look who's growing up! Mr. Lava McSharkdragon here is one of the few projects I managed to finish recently. The dragon was by far the most time-consuming part. I am still not 100% satisfied but I think it's a step in the right direction. I hope I don't come of as too cocky when I say that I'm a little bit proud of the background because the lava-like structure is entirely computer-generated. I only did a few tweaks afterwards in PS to make it more atmospheric, adjusted lighting and added minor details + the dragon. In case you were wondering what it needs to create such a structure, I'll gladly tell you that "Mandelbulb 3D" is a fine and highly underestimated piece of freeware that lets you create 3D fractals. I've been using it since march this year and wow, it just enriched my work flow so much! So after playing around with some random formulas I
eventually stumbled across these really awesome parameters. (If you want to check them out, feel free to send me a note.)

TL;DR Go and get Mandelbulb 3D on fractalforums.com, it's free and in combination with Photoshop the most awesome creativity boost for digital artists!

More to come!

Tiny little baby dragons: