With the new version of the movie "Dune" coming out soon, I guess I have deserts on the mind a lot more than usual. Here I'm imagining a free soloist climber ascending sheer pillars of rock on an alien exomoon. Fortunately, the low gravity on this world is making her job easier. The terrain on this moon is entirely desert, but some life manages to survive among the rocks and sand (Never one drop of rain on Arrakis). Low on the horizon, a massive ringed gas giant is also ascending in the morning sky, almost as if it's racing the climber to the summit.

I used Vue to render the entire landscape for this image. All objects were made by me. Daz Studio was used to create the female climber (Mei Lin - purchased character) which was inserted into the terrain as an 3D object. Lastly, Photoshop was used to insert the gas giant (my Saturn texture plus modifications) and its rings and moons. I also used two Solar System simulation programs to model how this scene should accurately appear given the suns angle, the tilt of the planet, and its rings. Without the simulations, it's hard to visualize how the ring shadows should realistically fall across the curved surface of the planet. But I can honestly say, this is accurate! If you like this scene, let me know what you think!

https://www.deviantart.com/uxmal750ad/art/Ascent-857665648