An icy pond.Ive really gone for an almost "blown-out" effect with the lighting,in order to try and suggest a very bright,stark day.

The file was rendered out with a physical sky,just with an alpha channel.This allows me to add different skies to see different moods.The background trees were part of the sky I photoshopped in and were considerably larger and slightly deformed in maxwell as this was a hdri spherically mapped.
As you can see from the original render,the ground plane was not reflected in the scene .This was to do with the viewpoint taken but If I had taken a view closer to the building,slightly looking down you would have seen it.The trees reflected in the window are the same trees as in the original background sky previously mentioned and would in fact be close to what is visible off camera.
So,there is always method in the madness,and sometimes madness in the method!

Attached is a step by step for a snowscape/winter image,Main tip - make sure the ground colour is white,this ensures all bounced light reflects the ground and ensures the lighting works with the image

2 more snow images based on an old model.The first is a bright winters day,the second is a night shot and has a more christmas card look to it.The light in the second image is not exactly right so I will probably revisit this one.

Having been a user from full version 1.0, I think Maxwell is an amazing program.For my renders I use vray,maxwell,twilight and artlantis.(I still use all 4 and will continue to do so)

When I first started working for myself 5 years ago it was relatively easy to purchase a few programs.Now things are economically different and I know that,if purchasing a render at this time,I wouldnt be able to shell out for all 4.

There are merits in all of them,the main benefit of maxwell being not having to set up the lighting,which is a huge part in my images.

Most of my images rendered in maxwell are straight from the box i.e. either physical sky based on sketchup export or a hdri,keeping it as simple as I can,(post processing is another matter entirely)and this plugin makes it simpler.

I think what you really need here is some shadowing.It can help break up large areas of colour into different tones of the same colour.For instance,some foreground shadows on the road cast from trees behind the camera.This will also result in the foreground being darker than the middle ground where you want people to focus(in this case on the building) Remember shadows are not simply ‘black’. Use darker tones of the colors in the objects, or dark complementary colours.

I would also add some texture to some of the materials,maybe a bump map or even some paving slabs to the pavement.This will also help break up areas of continuous colour.

Finally,and this is just my preference, I would increase contrast and saturation in order to get the image to stand out.Dont be afraid of having dark areas in the image,thats the only way for the light areas to really work

here is a tutorial I did last year on post processing
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=31369

A version with a frozen pond and a fotbridge,to try and bring more light into the scene.
Bob,I use maxwell normally but add all entourage such as trees and backgrounds in photoshop.

Its getting to that time of the year again,time to start the snowscapes.
oops...image attached and a second with foreground trees

Attached is a NPR image.This is unique in that there is no sketchup involved.In fact there is no 3d involved.Its a collection of different images arranged in photoshop.As this is the "corner bar" and consequently anything goes,I thought I would upload to here.

I have uploaded many images over the last few years but I find myself erring towards more NPR than before.The main reason is that,from my own personal background of oil,acrylic and watercolour, the fun is to be had in post processing.

Recently a forum contributor,Tinanne,has "come back into the fold,"for want of better words.She definetly set the standard for NPR images.
In this image,I am looking,as always, for composition and light.I had originally completed this image with no trees - all horizon and reflection.As I edited it I decided to add the ripples and foreground.That's when I started to ask questions-whats behind the trees,who's watching, Curiosity for want of a better word.

And that's when I thought that's what an image should be about- not what it shows,but what it suggests.Most of us work in a "when can you do it?"When do you need it?" world.But,sometimes, Its nice to be able to create something that's different.

That's all I'm sayin'.
.

I remember seeing some of your images a couple of years ago and being amazed.I really love this style.Ive previously uploaded a few images in a NPR style and find them more enjoyable to do than straightforward realistic rendering.

A compendium of some of these images

lots of colour in this one

And the final tweak to this image,some clouds across the moon and a spectral figure at bottom left.I think I'll leave this image as is now.

Ive added the gravestones to the foreground.Normally the photoshop post processing would take anywhere from 20 mins to a few hours.These were about an hour each.

24 hours late with this one,maybe it needs some gravestones to add to the atmosphere.Similar to the other images,this is based from the same raw render previously uploaded.

and a warmer,soft evening version

Peter
Its getting quite cold in this neck of the woods at the moment so heres a colder version of the last image with the lake frozen and a couple of small tweaks.

A second lakeside image.The building is the same raw render from the first image I uploaded in this set and the sky and trees are the same from the last lakeside image,with a few additional tweaks.The reflection was done by flipping a copy of the lake side and using motion blur to create the streaky reflection, and then darkening the bottom of the image.There are a few areas where elements seem to bleed into each other but I wanted quite a loose feel to this image so I wasn't that concerned

This was the original raw render before photoshopping.
Pete,all entourage and sky and effects are photoshop.Often I would take an image through fotosketcher but in these images everything is done in photoshop.Its really all about layering and layering elements in order to build up a sense of depth.

and a moonlit version of the same image