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I finished it up, and I have to agree, it's not terribly practical.  I'm going to redo it with a different approach.

well, it may not be the best way to make grass, but it's not too bad, and more importantly, it's easy, and doesn't require an art background to pull off.   besides, i think you will like it better once the scene is filled out with some bushes and dirt and stuff.  maybe a tree.

same deal, just more complicated.

i made a beginner tutorial just now, based of this general type of background.  give it a try, perhaps you'll find it useful. http://home.att.net/~zolgnar/neutback1.htm

I thought I'd make a very basic, easy to follow BG tut.Ã,  This is part 1, covering the making of: sky, distant mountains, and grassy plane.Ã,  It is not the final version though, so let me know what could be improved.
<edit> i just realized i left out the text about the dodge and burn stage.Ã,  i'll correct that in the actual tut.
<edit again> ok, here's the updated tut. feel free to kick the tires. >>Ã,  http://home.att.net/~zolgnar/grassyplane2.htm

i added some brush in the background.  i think it looks better now, but i don't want to get too carried away. 

ok, i'll fool with it a bit tommorow.  i don't want it to get too claustrophobic though.

ok i added some stuff,...how's this,...

no worries, i've done highly vegetated scenes before.  the trick to not having a sluggish scene that is full of tons of vertices is to render the background in layers, and then, instead of having 50 high poly plants in your scene you have just a few in the foreground.  those sunflowers alone are packed with polys.

you're right, the camera is slightly tilted to one side, but straightening it won't cause the horizon to become straight, since it is not a plane but a displaced grid, and is higher on the left than it is on the right.Ã,  you're right though, it needs more twigs on the ground, and possibly a couple of bare branches hanging down.Ã,  I guess i might as well sink some more time into it, since it is a scene that the character will come back to again and again.Ã, 
<edit> oh, and good call on the pipe.  i think i'll work that in later when they go in the house.

rigged him and rendered his normal view>>

i don't think he'll need to walk yet, so i'm going to make a gardening anim

use blender or wings.  both free, both good modelling programs.  3dsMax and lightwave are good, but expensive.  z-brush is good too, but is also expensive.  it has a unique approach to making models though, which some people find more suitable, and is especially good for high poly stuff and bump mapping.

I see alot of people quoting and including the image in the quote, which is bad for 2 reasons:
1) it causes the page to load slower, which is a hassle for people on dial-up, and,...
2) it sucks the bandwidth of whoever is hosting the image.
Is there a way to disable this feature, and if so, would anyone miss it if it was disabled?

thanks.  here's another update.  i guess i will finish him today.  still i need to rig/animate him.  i think i will portray him gardening in the herb patch.

here's my sketch for foghat finebean.  he will probably take a couple days to make, but with luck i'll finish him today.

i left them smooth on purpose.  note that not all trees have defined roots at the base.  especially coniferous trees tend not to.  lots of things i could do to this pic, really, but the real beauty of this pic, is that i did it in less than a day, and i can move on to the next thing.  in this case making the character for foghat finebean.  btw, there will be exits off all sides in this screen.

ok, i think this bark works ok,... i gave it a stronger suggestion of a lightbulb as well.  changed the levels slightly too.

hm, i think you're right.  i'll make a new bark texture.

this is the potion makers house.Ã,  i know it's kind of dark, but it's supposed to be a bit dark.

removed evil black line, added gravel, lightened sky, sharpened some outlines, etc.