| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 196: The little mermaid |
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Posted on 09/05/08 06:50:05 AM |
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Ellen
Fire Queen Posts: 102 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Now she hides from the scrap yard guys.  |
Posted on 09/05/08 08:31:33 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6938 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
This was a trick challenge: so it’s especially good to see so many varied entries, coming at this one from all directions. First to wear the fish tail was Nick Curtain, who has built a magnificent mushroom base for the mermaid. Very good use of the textures, and the reflection in the cap is a great idea - although I’d imagine the reflection in such a convex surface would be rather more distorted than this. And one thing does jump out, and that’s the sharpness of the edge of the pale rock in the foreground: some softening needed here to match the low depth of field of the original photo. Some Lighting Effects texturing from Ben Mills, at a guess: can’t quite make out the wording, but it looks like the end of ‘vinegar’. I like the situation and the idea, but there’s something odd going on inside the tub. It should be darker, certainly, and the rim needs to be distinguished from the wall at the back. And why does she fade away like that? Surely a crisp edge is needed here? Maja has retextured the mermaid to match the garden ornaments - and it’s very effective. I like the way the shading now matches the rest of the scene, and the grass texture has been brought up over the legs well. There’s a shadow behind her, though, that appears to be a copy of her softened and filled with black, at a low opacity: but that isn’t a wall! Paint a new shadow on the grass instead. Another garden setting from james, this time with movement: we’ve got fish, a heron, a tortoise and a rather tiny bird in here. And of course, there’s the mermaid, fitting perfectly into the scene - complete with reflection for both her and the leaping dolphin sculpture. A very tranquil scene - I especially like the head movements on the heron. And good to see the sculpture reappearing in the introductory image, too, which shows off the mermaid/dolphin assembly better. Curious desk, though - particularly the cupboard with no side on the left. An interesting approach from brewell: can we make haute couture from sheets of bronze? Or even furniture? It’s certainly worth a try, and the strength required to wear them would certainly explain the ‘super’ in ‘supermodel’. A great application of the textures: I think the sofa works best for me. Beautiful and engaging work from Mick Malkemus, who’s assembled a bevy of sirens (shipwreck of sirens? devastation of sirens) to serenade Ulysses. There he is, strapped to his foremast: and as well as a new view of the mermaid, the sirens are joined by another woman entirely who, fortunately, seems to have grown a fish tail as well. The improvements in the second entry are certainly good. But I have my usual problem with the viewing angle: we’ve looking down on the sirens (the horizon is above them) but up at Ulysses. It’s always good when someone pushes their work in a new direction, and mariong has done that by experimenting with a relief style. It works perfectly on the mermaid and the ship, and the figure of Poseidon is pretty good - but why is he behind the horizon, rather than coming out of the waves? I think this would unify the scene better. And wasn’t there something about horizons and eyelines... I really like mguyer’s idea of the mermaid admiring a sculpture of herself by Henry Moore: a well thought-out piece, that’s been well executed. Great matching of textures, Marty. But no Sheila in sight this week? I like the monkey in the second entry - but the mermaid could have been rather better integrated into it, perhaps. I’ve been trying to work out what Neil O’s mermaid is sitting on, and I’m having real trouble identifying that base. It looks like a device from the computer game Myst - have you been raiding old CDs for this one? A great view, though, and the legs give it a great sense of perspective. A beautiful entry from Steve Mac, whose mermaid sits on top of a bronze globe. Beautiful shine on both, Steve, with a fantastic reflection in the globe’s surface. Thoroughly consistent - a great job! A bronze bath from Ellen, perfectly built from the bronze texture - and a rather splendid alpine setting to go with it. Or, indeed, this could well be Denmark, judging by the wooden chalet. Somehow I feel this sculpture needs a fountain. Love the second entry though! A neatly moved location for the mermaid from vibeke - and a great attempt at adding the texture to the two new dancers. This must have been really tricky to do: the texture has clearly been copied separately to the heads, arms and legs. The only thing I’m not sure of here is the shadow from the tree, which looks rather too crisp and well defined: look at the blur on the shadow on the ground behind for comparison. Clever stuff from michael sinclair, who’s turned the mermaid to silver. Not sure about her leg hanging over the front, which seems a little awkward; but the reflection is splendid - did you find a different mermaid picture to work with here? Or distort the existing one? A very consistent, convincing image. Good work, Michael. The pose of Eva Roth’s mermaid matches her activity perfectly, and the new swimsuit does cover her modesty (although I think more defined edges would have helped a little here). I love the marble texture on the laptop, and the stone texture has been cunningly extended. Only the brown background bothers me. When in doubt, stick in a sky! A touch of genius from nwag: the original statue of Liberty has been expertly removed, and the crown on the mermaid - as well as the recolouring - work perfectly. A really enjoyable, well executed piece. Great work, Maksim! A new member this week: Majavis has shrunk our mermaid to fit on the edge of a drinking fountain. It’s a great fit, with the tones of the mermaid matching the copper bowl well. From a purely practical point, though, doesn’t this make the fountain rather difficult to drink out of? But an excellent first entry - welcome to the forum, Alec! Excellent scene from tooquilos, with a bronze bath beautifully built around the mermaid. I’d like to have seen her reaching for something with that stray hand, though - perhaps a bar of soap on the floor would have done it? Very sorry to hear about your neck pain, Anna. Hope it clears up in time for next week’s Challenge. Great work from gaoxiguo, with a different view of a different mermaid - and a captive in a lamp. There are clearly many layers of meaning in this one, which I can only guess at! But it’s a strong and emotional image. One thing: I would place the man’s foot inside the lamp, as it’s breaking through the glass. (The text, by the way, translates as “Shijiazhuang aquatic park mermaid ha ha own pat a while ago did under synthesized processing to have the time makes your chart to feel now the time too has been intense ha-ha.” Anyone here speak Chinese? Other than gaoxiguo, of course. A fine job from Deborah Morley, placing the mermaid onto a bronze plinth: has this plinth been built entirely in Photoshop? It works really well; the only slightly awkward places are the sharpness of the curves (some softening there would help it to look more rounded, as it does on the flat edges) and the texture on the curve on the right, which doesn’t appear to bend around the surface. A great idea, though, and the mermaid fits beautifully onto the top. Great work from katew, with a mermaid who fits precisely into the fish tank environment. She’s neatly tucked behind those stones, and makes a great addition to the tank. Perhaps the air tube could have run through her, sticking out of the top of her head? There’s something overwhelmingly silly about Brian Ruddock’s ‘mermaid with altitude’ that makes me smile. It’s not just the absurdity of the situation, but the fact that she’s being used to tie climbing ropes to... great sense of scale, too! Subtle work from MISH, who’s worked the mermaid rather cunningly into a relief on a coin surface. It’s a good construction, and the lighting angles work well: but shouldn’t she go rather larger on the coin? And what’s the meaning of the stray ‘s’ on the right? A new member this week - and a fine sense of balance from swalkr, whose diminutive mermaid is clearly outweighed by the bronze girl on the other side of the see saw. Why so small, though? Did you not find the link to the high res picture of the mermaid? I edited your post to make the image show up: you need to write (img) then your image address, then (/img) at the end, substituting square brackets for my rounded ones. Welcome to the forum, Suzanne. |
Posted on 09/05/08 09:14:29 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve The Mushroom is a creamy white concrete piece we bought for the garden to sit in front of our daughters playhouse. The texture was overlayed from three sources from the larger image and I made the reflection from 5 selections of the mermaid, which were then transformed. I'm not sure how these should be distorted though. Nick |
Posted on 09/05/08 10:56:47 AM |
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Brian Ruddock
Detail Devil Posts: 31 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks, Steve. The most overwhelmingly silly part was my climbing the In Pin with my son a week last tuesday. Ours is the pink rope. And so, as they say, to cap it all..., the mermaid was just a 'belayed' reaction to the vertigo. I was very impressed with the standard of some of the entries this week and entertained by all of them. As usual I learn a lot from the comments. Best wishes, Brian |
Posted on 09/05/08 11:04:53 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve. I never thought of putting the air tube through her head! I had to flip it, though, as the reflection was on the wrong side. |
Posted on 09/05/08 11:17:04 AM |
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Eva Roth
Luminous Liberator Posts: 269 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Hi Steve, thanks as always for your comments! Sorry you don't like the brown background. I'm afraid I prefer it to a sky (tried out a few skies too). Off to Sicily to teach a drawing course and nowhere near the internet, so probably won't be able to do the next challange or two. |
Posted on 09/05/08 11:18:47 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3883 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Great idea of Steve's to work the image in this manner. I never cease to be amazed at the various interpretations that can be put on a simple brief like that. It has provided some excellent work from everyone. Just sorry I couldn't join in myself. Well done everyone. Gordon |
Posted on 09/05/08 11:45:45 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2857 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thank you Steve for you comments 
Im feeling better in one respect but a few other problems have arisen also now. Just in time for my birthday tomorrow. Happy Days LOL |
Posted on 09/05/08 12:10:56 PM |
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Steve Mac
Grunge Genie Posts: 539 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve. A challenge it was! |
Posted on 09/05/08 2:44:27 PM |
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swalkr
* Posts: 6 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks for the kudos, Steve. I went back in and made the mermaid a little bigger, but then it covered up the see-saw handle and any bigger would have put her out of the picture. Yes, she is a little small, I agree. I liked the way the girl on the other end seemed to be looking at her. Fun challenge! |
Posted on 09/05/08 2:50:00 PM |
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swalkr
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Happy birthday tooquilos. Happens to be mine also.
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Posted on 09/05/08 5:57:40 PM |
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Ellen
Fire Queen Posts: 102 Reply |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve, the hot tub was in Alaska. Happy Birthday Anna and Suzanne! |
Posted on 09/05/08 6:35:41 PM |
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Majavis
* Posts: 3 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thank you, Steve. I thought the same thing about the mermaid making it hard to drink from the fountain, but it turned out to be the easiest place to put her; at least in terms of showing her off. I just assumed the mermaid placed herself there, so it was less of an engineering problem and more of a migrating mermaid problem (problematic mystical creatures that they are).
Happy Birthday to the ladies! |
Posted on 09/05/08 7:48:27 PM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve. Yes the plinth was all Photoshop, I don't know how to do anything else! It is still work in progress so I will take your comments on board. Wishing you a Happy Birthday Anna. |
Posted on 09/05/08 8:11:28 PM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2157 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thanks Steve, You are quite right about the tree shadows, I had blurred them some, but once I saw your comments it was so obvious that they needed to be much softer. The dancers were hard, mostly done with lots of layers and blends, and a little bit of cloning at the end.  |
Posted on 09/05/08 11:43:53 PM |
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Maja
Dewey Decimator Posts: 66 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thank you Steve! Wow Eva, "off to Sicily" -  That must be wonderful. You do it often? |
Posted on 10/05/08 02:11:31 AM |
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mariong
Bayern Brushsmith Posts: 36 Reply  |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thank you Steve for your comments! It was quite a tough one for me and trying to get the texture right and everything the whole composition suffered a bit obviously. The Poseidon was a last minute addition, before the ship was bigger and on the left hand side. Sometimes less is more. Anyway, I will be working on it! Mick, thanks for your comment , too! And Happy Birthday to you girls!  |
Posted on 10/05/08 02:57:45 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2857 Reply |
Re: Contest 196: The little mermaid
Thank you all for your birthday wishes!!! Suzanne, have a happy birthday also!!! Anna |
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