Portals: Shadesmar

One of a few renders in my collection inspired by books that I've read. I created it in 2018 while I was reading Brandon Sanderson's "Stormlight Archive" series to my boys at bedtime.
His descriptions of the otherworldly "Cognitive Realm", otherwise known as "Shadesmar", really stuck in my circuits. Without giving away too much, it's a dark land of black obsidian with colorful crystal trees (and lots of spirits). I thought it would make an interesting challenge to render.

Beyond the artistic challenge, this piece is a keepsake from a cherished time in my life when I was able to read aloud to my boys every night at bedtime. It's something I did religiously from the time they were babies until their early teens. Over the years we moved from Dr. Suess and Margaret Wise Brown to L Frank Baum and Brandon Mull, from Lloyd Alexander to Neil Gaiman. Sanderson's excellent books were some of the last we read and made an excellent capstone to a cherished time in my life.