One of the stories I didn't get a chance to post about last year was Kevin Bayliss (Lead Artist on Star Fox Adventures) doing a traditional painting of Krystal from Dinosaur Planet, holding a leash to a CloudRunner. He would later go on to sell prints of this painting, one of which I have purchased.

But long before he finished the painting, a 3D artist, Daniel B., had recreated the scene in 3D using 3D Studio Max, ZBrush, and Substance Painter. I'm pretty sure he did this based off the initial illustration, rather than the painting, since this was posted long before the painting was finished. I just love the detailed fur texturing. This looks like it was a lot of work. Nice work, Daniel! Check out the original post for high resolution renders.

Here's what the painting by Kevin Bayliss looked like. I believe this is a work in progress shot, and Kevin removed the photos of the finished work after having made the prints. At least, I can't seem to find those posts.

Update
Updated text to reflect the fact that this 3D rendering predated the finished painting. I initially got the timeline wrong when looking at the posts.