[tayete]

Well, I shot some photos and I was trying to convert them with Photoshop and Painter.
I've failed miserabily at achieving anything, but I am so blind right now, that I don't know where are the main flaws, or where to start.
May someone tell me what's wrong?: composition, shooting, lights, layers, etc...
Thanks a lot, I'd really like to improve.

P.S.: Jezebel, where were you when I needed you with your camera?




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[Anthony]

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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem
http://www.anthonyfransella.com

[tayete]

�Disturbing?�clothes?
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[Frost]

Tayete:
I think the idea is nice, but, needs more work. (I also think this should have been in WIP, but that's ok).

I think the composition is nice enough, and the child pointing at that fallen feather is a very cute idea that came out nicely. However, the skin tones look very dead and unlively, where the hair is the same unsaturated color as the skin, etc. Overall, the addition of color probably did more harm than good. The edges of the cutout are very choppy which is pretty bad, sorry, you really needed to spend more time on the edges and making them clean and smooth.

The background picture in black and white doesn't help at all with the mood of the image. Value wise on the top it looks nice, but doesn't make sense where the angel stands on the ground (lit vs unlit). There is also a very very big difference in focus between the cutout and the background. Cameras and our view focus on subjects, which is your angels here, but the focus level where the feet touch the ground is very very blurred in comparison... so they don't fit at all.

I just think it needs a little extra work to iron out the things I mentionned. It's a nice image, but it fell a little short on pulling it all together, which is only based on the technicalities above. (there are probably more things people can critique on, but those are the main ones I think do the most damage right now.).

Work some more at it, and I think it may end up being as good as you intended!

(a tiny paintover .. I cropped it a little also to "fix" the framing which is perhaps an oppinion more than anything esle)

[Ragnarok]

I agree with Frost in all his critics, and I like his paintover too.

The composition right now goes from the mother's eyes to the children's and to the feather, which is a really nice composition. You should take advatage of that and focus the frame on them, leaving much less background. Also, I recommend you to avoid using the magic wand to cutout the figure (it looks like you did so) and instead use the polygon selection tool to, slowly and zoomed in, select the figure and then make a Layer copy.

The wings are quite well implemented, but it could use some more work too, looks like you just "smudged" it.

Oh, and from a personal point of view, the background would look nicer if it was an open space, giving sense of freedom.

Hope it helped.
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Seigetsu

[TDK]

[tayete]

Well, after some days abroad I am back.

Thanks a lot for your answers, as I was a bit confused with the first one. In fact I was so confused that I showed it to my art teacher and some friends, who thought (as Frost does) that it was a good idea but pretty badly rendered. Well, everybody seemed a bit confused too about the idea of adding clothes and the disturbiness (does this word exist?) of the theme.
My art teacher smiled and told me too show some cheesy-topic sunset pictures I had taken from the plane, as that seemed to fit with the mentality of the forum. I assured him it wasn't the case, as there were hard-core defenders of abstract art, naked bodies and such in it...
So, I guess it is just some kind of cultural border the one I've crossed. Here, at Spain (old Europe) naked body isn't something shameful. Nobody thinks it is disturbing, and less if it is just a butt of a mother...nothing too erotic I think.

Anyways, thanks a lot Frost, as that is the kind of critic I was looking for. Your render is much better than mine, so maybe I was going in the wrong direction... Your notes about the blurring of the bg and the situation of the angels has been really helpful.

Ragnarok: thanks as always. I'm gad you like the eye-hand-feather composition, as I am really bad at composing and I appreciate this kind of comments. And yes, the cutout of the figure ("MagicWand" is really bad). I had thought of the open space, but I believe it is harder to put the figures in it...

TDK: you seem to be as confused as I am. No offense Anthony, but I really thought you were kidding when you posted that. I remembered that I saw long ago (maybe it is still there) at your web a WIP of yours about some kind of robot-girl in SM-mistress dress that could get pregnant and her breasts would fill with Idontrememberwhat that seemed quite weird, but that only made me think: "Wow, that's original". Frankly, I still don't know if you posted that seriously as it wasn't erotic, pornographic, gore...it is just an idea about maternity...
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[Rubber Duck]

actually spain would be "new europe" according to some ... minister of defense =)

I like the picture in general but the wings are really really cheap.