Preserved Topic: Take my art - Please! (reviews wanted)

I've done two large (1024 X 768) photoshop pieces that I hope can stir up a review or two.
For the first one, I can't decide what to use for a background. The current background is a bit distracting.
As for the second one, again the background is an issue. It is done using Bryce 4 - I like the water a lot, but the sky is not so good. Unfortunately, finding quality stock images of the day sky in this size is rather difficult (I love the sky images on your site, Doc!).
1. http://enharmonic.net/metahedron/metatrans.jpg
2. http://enharmonic.net/metahedron/nike.jpg


I am the set of neural firings taking place in your brain as you read the set of letters in this sentence and think about me.

[This message has been edited by Metahedron (edited 11-09-2000).]

Well...that Metatrans one, your right, the background doesn't suit it, not quite sure what would, but you could also try centering that pharoah thingy more to the middle of the image, to achieve a bit of symmetry.

The nike one...ummm...aaaahhh...not quite sure what to make of that. For that fact, not quite sure what it is actaully supposed to be. As far as I can see, it is supposed to be a spire of rock coming pu out of the water, and turning into a wing? Is that it?




Don't make me come down there! - God

nike is one of the greek goddesses. i cant remember which one she was, though. i think she *might* have been one for either the arts or for speed (yes, this is where nike shoes stole the name).

You put king Tut's head on the boddy of...Buddah? is it? and put those so that some of the arms from that painting of the naked dude show...what the hell? I'm all for tut but I don't think you should mix those all

I dont know what you think but I think that kicks ass. I like the texturing and the globe in the first image...I dont think thats buddah? And the arms on the side look like ...christ? on a cross? ..thats what i got out of it from looking at it first. I dont know dont as me im a newbie. :-)

Okay, lemme preface: Nicely done. The end result is definately a good start.

That being said, allow me to continue: metatrans.jpg -- this image has some issues we must go through. First and foremost (though I know you said this), the background sucks. Lose it. Quickly. Next, the bits you've brought together do not fit together, and I'm not talking image-wise. Ie, the pharoahs head has different lighting than the body or the arms behind it. Airbrush that in with dodge/burn or lighting fx. I like what you're doing in the globe behind it, but the forty-eight lens flares have gotta go. Too much. You might also notice that the body itself has a few jagged edges that need to be cleaned up. Finally, the OM symbol over the Pharoah's head has GOT to have clean edges, or it sticks out like a sore thumb that has been hit with a hammer seventy times then painted white and set on a pitch-black background. You get my drift.

nike.jpg : Good god, over-poserization up the yin-yang. Drop that down before you burns someones retinas out. Love the color scheme. The ruins in the background do not appear to be in the background. With 3D images, there's a touch of haze to differentiate the foreground from the background, or it's all on one sheet of paper--get my drift? The figure on the left doesn't cast any kind of reflection in the water...might be intentional, not sure.

I look forward to seeing the next versions.

Thanks for the advice! I hope I have been able to take it. I really need practice (and more tutorials) on using paintbrush/airbrush to create realistic 3-D shadows and lighting. I've experimented with color dodge/burn, and it works to a degree, but there is a great deal more that can be done. Ok, so here are the two images, revised, after doing my best to adhere to your advice. To answer your question, yes, this is an image of Christ and Buddha, with a King Tut head and symbols for Allah and Om. I'm into comparative mythology. <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">
1. http://enharmonic.net/metahedron/metatrans.jpg
2. http://enharmonic.net/metahedron/nike.jpg


I am the set of neural firings taking place in your brain as you read the set of letters in this sentence and think about me.

Not to be too critical, but......

It looks like you grabbed some photos from a text book and cut body parts out and pasted them together......


Ask for opinions At Your Own Risk!

Hm. Ok - they are stock images. Textbook-like. But there are a lot of good images in textbooks. Right? Apparently you don't get the meaning of the art - but that's fine. What I am hearing is that it just looks pieced together instead of being cohesive or unified. You are pretty right... but I was hoping to evoke an idea with a pieced together God. Well, never mind that. Maybe it WOULD look better if the image was all one style, like the stone skin of the buddha.


I am the set of neural firings taking place in your brain as you read the set of letters in this sentence and think about me.

What, no replies? OOoooh, my topic doesn't read "New Sig"! Doh!


I am the set of neural firings taking place in your brain as you read the set of letters in this sentence and think about me.

your sig? it is very unique! although it dosent blend... um.. hold on... you didnt want to know about your sig! hmm... i gotta go now...
i will get back to ya later...

I agree with eye...I bet it would look better if you lost the frame, turned it from blue to orange, and made it transperent....but seeing as you didn't ask I'm gonna shuttup now.

The first 'quick-fixes' that came to mind (limiting my comments to the backgrounds):

nike: Change the bright fluffy clouds to thunderheads. Try to match the brightness level with the blue sky, to reduce contrast and bring out the statuary. You'd probably want to darken the water to make it realistic (dark sky = dark sea).

metatrans: Drop the background entirely. You might want to put in a crushed red velvet background, to give the impression that the object is on display, as in a museum.

Nike is the goddess of justice. She's the statue you see at court houses. You know, the one with a book, a scale, and a blindfold.

If you are going for an amalgom-type parody religious thing with metatrans.jpg, I don't think you've done it. It doesn't seem "religiously exaggerated" enough.

It does look like a rock in growing wings in nike.jpg. I like the thunderhead idea.

I understand the "meaning" so to speak, but it's just isn't anything very original.........I mean no disrespect, it just doesn't evoke anything in me....it would look much better and have more effect if it were original work done by yourself, and yes -- if it were more cohesive <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">


Ask for opinions At Your Own Risk!

(sigh)

I need another pack of smokes.

People, people, have you no culture? <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/wink.gif">

When I first saw that nike.jpg, I wondered if you got a really high-detail model and skin from somewhere, or just really reworked a photo of that statue of Nike (you know, one of those things from ancient Greece and Rome; except with this one, the head was broken off rather than the arms). But then I looked at everything else -- it looked very fake. I know that's what some people shoot for, but it doesn't suit my tastes. A collage, using the statue as one element, could be rather interesting, but this looks flat while looking like it was supposed to suggest depth.

Oh, and I kind of like metatrans.jpg (aside from the background, as you said).

And good job in attempting some relatively ambitious things... that's more than I've done in a while... <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/smile.gif">

I hope this helps, and good luck with it!

--SCarab
(the one with no sig)

culture? I think most of us are aware of what the subject matter is <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/wink.gif">

excpet jestah...it's already been covered: Jestah needs help!!


Ask for opinions At Your Own Risk!

i like the idea for the nike one... it is pretty cool... it is just that the water and stuff isent very realistic...


We see what we want to see, according to what we believe to be the truth.