| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Contest 191: Shipwreck! |
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Posted on 04/04/08 08:30:04 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
I snapped Bruce (I think that's his name) at Disney in Paris a couple of years back. He's a large plastic model which sits against a painted backdrop. I've added this for a bit of fun. Nick  |
Posted on 04/04/08 08:50:22 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 6938 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
A great variety of entries this week, showing tremendous skill and imagination: I’m constantly amazed at what you people come up with. “Water sure ain’t air,” says Brewell - and he’s absolutely right. One important fact is the way colours desaturate rapidly with distance: after about 20 feet, everything goes blue. First to walk the plank was Nick Curtain, with a wreck neatly submerged in a fish tank. The colouring on the ship is perfect, but of course the real skill here lies in the way it’s been integrated into the background. Tucked behind the plant, with even the tiny bubbles showing in front of it, this one’s fully integrated into its surroundings. Excellent - and I love the second entry! And a beautiful piece of work from Chris Berry: the texture of the water surface and the sea bed are beautiful, and that finely drawn shadow pins the ship firmly onto the bottom. A couple of minor points: with the refracted sunlight on the sea bed so sharp, should the shadow have been sharper too? And shouldn’t the shadow ripple up and down over that corrugated ground? A murky and dangerous undersea scene from Cedarmoon, with a giant octopus cunningly weaving its tentacles around the ship (although should that tentacle be coming through the middle of the funnel?). A great effect, and the layer of bubbles unifies the whole scene nicely. The addition of the diver places a useful human element here, giving us a sense of proportion and scale. Detailed and complex work from vibeke, whose neatly angled ship is reflecting the sunlight in a way that blends it perfectly into the rock bed. That barely glimpsed whale adds a great sense of menace, and the two divers add interest and scale. The far diver, though, is perhaps too far away in the scene: he looks to big to fit through those doorways! An intriguing 3D model from dave.cox - always good to see such a different approach. The reflected light in the tank works very well, but the colours seem too strong altogether. Particularly in the water itself - are you feeding those fish on a diet of copper sulphate? Another 3D render - and GKB is clearly enjoying Cinema 4D. The modelling itself is excellent, and of course the real genius here is in the way the ship has been distorted through the curved bottle neck. I notice we can see faint reflections of both the bottle and the picture behind it: shouldn’t the picture’s reflection be distorted through the neck as well? I like the cork and plaque in the second entry. Congratulations on finding a new picture to hang on your wall! A fantastic water texture from tooquilos, with a great matching of tones and colours: the underside of that floating ship adds greatly to the scene. And the animation tells a great story - but shouldn’t the ray’s wings flap? Interesting underwater textures from Ben Mills: is that surface just a regular sea surface flipped upside down? All is consistent here except for the ship, which really needs to take on the colouring of the surroundings. Good depth of field, though. There’s something very odd going on with the scale in Mick Malkemus’s entry. The ship is perfectly integrated into the rocks, but those plants seem huge in comparison! And where’s all the light on the tops of those dolphins coming from, with so much plant live above them? Still, they do have a happy expression, that’s for sure. These dolphins do have a tendency to look wryly amused. A very funny entry from mariong. The ship has been very tidily slotted into that gaping mouth, with the elements sticking out and breaking off making a lot of sense. As is so often the case, it’s the shadows that really make this work - and the tiny streams of bubbles, of course. Good stuff. I love brewell’s idea of turning the wreck into a lobster motel - even though they don’t seem tempted. The Hockney-like texture of the refracted sunlight is beautiful, and the way it’s been expertly wrapped over the ship ties the whole scene together perfectly. But I think those shadows should be more blue, and less brown. Hard to imagine what the ‘mermaids’ in Ellen’s original image were doing in that craft - but they certainly make an excellent postcard. A good choice of font, and the mermaids are well integrated into the scene. That deckled edge on the postcard needs to be more regular, though: these things are die stamped, not torn! I do like both the ship and the funky basin in the second entry - but how on earth do you feed the fish? A first entry from astral, and it’s a great one: the positioning of the ship over on the right balances the image against the diver coming down from the top left. Amazing how effective these diagonals can be! Placing that piece of plant life in front of the ship adds a good foreground element and makes the ship sit more firmly within the image, and the added bubbles and sea life complete the scene. This is a fantastic first entry, astral - welcome to the forum! You have to look hard to spot the pairs of animals in Josephine Harvatt’s entry: there are the skeletons leaning over the nearside rail, and the pair of fish in the foreground continue the theme. But those out of focus fish behind are enormous in comparison! Great colouring, though, that boat really looks submerged. There’s no doubt that james produces excellent Photoshop work (although I’m not sure about the scale of those skeletons), but his real strength lies in his animation: look at the skill here - waggling tails on the sharks, the flapping wings on the ray, the tour de force as it turns to show us its underside. Truly amazing work, James! And the ray makes a welcome return in the third entry, breaking the image bounds to leap out at us. Fantastic. A great scene from Steve Mac, with all the right elements: the detailed sea bed, the sharks, the ship perfectly nestled in the distance. So why does it feel rather artificial? It could be the colouring - the ship and the sharks need to be brighter, and bluer, at that distance; it could be the fact that everything is pin sharp. I think this is the main issue: the clarity of the scene makes the medium look like air, not water. Less definition, please! The ship in Neil O’s scene is well integrated into the scene, appearing behind all those fish with great skill: so why does it look out of place? I think the problem is with the lack of a shadow: there’s little sense of it lying on a sea bed, and the consistent tones in the background makes it look as if it’s floating. It could just be that adding a lot of blue would fix it. An intriguing studio shot from billz. The lighting on the ship matches the moody, spotlit setting of the original image well. I’d have taken out that table with the two beer cans on it, though, as it suggests a perspective that’s at odds with the position of the ship. A great job from michael sinclair, who’s managed to refloat the ship (although it could still do with some tidying up). Great smoke, surf and some truly extraordinary perspective on that rope, giving a sense of distance to the QM2 behind. But what’s the rope for? Is this a tug? In which case, why is it going in the opposite direction to the ship? A powerful image, nonetheless. And I really like the second entry: ships of the desert, indeed! A gorgeous iceberg image from Eggbox - and the ship slots very neatly into that crevice. Indeed, you might even have created the crevice specially. But given the depth of blue shadow on the iceberg, surely the ship should be casting one of its own? A tropical scene from jwhite, who’s placed the ship just a few yards off shore. Good scale, and a good new sky: but shouldn’t the ship have a reflection, and perhaps a deeper shadow? And that rowing boat looks dangerously overloaded! Mrs mguyer - Sheila, to us - makes a guest appearance behind the camera, for a change. It’s a great shot, and I’m glad to see she managed to climb out of the tank before the whale got her. The ship fits well behind those yellow fish (a lot of masking, there) and the colour is just right for the scene: but an odd perspective, don’t you think? We’re very much looking up at the water surface. Nicely hand drawn subs from RichSchneider - but the scene is so dark overall it’s getting hard to see what’s going on! Those light beams, especially as they’re underwater, need to have volume as well as brightness: more like cones, and less like triangles. Deborah Morley’s ship seems to have come to rest in a large lump of coal - or is that a lava bed? Subtle bubbles in front of it, though. I like the shark, but it’s perhaps too much in the foreground: another lump of coal just in front of it would help to integrate it into the scene, I think. An interesting angle of view from steve hill: that diver’s going horizontally, but the sea bed seems to be sloping. And the ship with it - in danger of sliding away altogether. Great coral, but that far towards the front, we should be able to see far more colour in it. Good to see you back, Steve. A very consistent image from katew, with great texture on the ship and perfect colouring. A bit boring? Certainly not. This one looks like it’s been submerged for a long time! Another new member this week, and jrebnord has given us a rather surreal image with a magically pouring bucket. The perspective and positioning are good on the ship, but you want to watch the fuzziness of the outline: no feathering needed, I’ve have thought. I like the fact that there’s a slight shadow from the ship, but look at the bucket and you’ll see the kind of reflection that’s needed here: much deeper, and rippled. But a good first image - welcome to the forum, Jan. I liked the cheekiness of Eva Roth’s entry - but, as she says, a great homage to all the others. Why are all the images that trapezoid shape, though? And (hate to point this out) I can still see the reflection of the original wall... Very fine work from everyone. Pats on the back all round. |
Posted on 04/04/08 08:59:42 AM |
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chris berry
Overhead Overlord Posts: 724 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
My girlfriend - a huge fan of HTCIP who makes me enter the Challenge even when I haven't really got the time (need to get her trained up I think) - said the same thing about the shadow. I've been very lazy. Interesting observation on the shadow sharpness - will remember next time. |
Posted on 04/04/08 09:03:02 AM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve, I did think about a shadow but thought the reflection of the ice and the sea would have washed it out! For interest here is the original and beautiful image of the iceberg sent to me. Ted  |
Posted on 04/04/08 09:18:31 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Steve, many thanks for the comments. Nick |
Posted on 04/04/08 09:32:27 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 3883 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve. Glad you like the new painting! |
Posted on 04/04/08 09:48:43 AM |
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astral
* Posts: 9 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thank you Steve 
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Posted on 04/04/08 10:40:19 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2857 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thank you Steve I sorta got a bit lazy  with the rays wings lol..but after seeing James's ray I realised I should of done it |
Posted on 04/04/08 10:44:00 AM |
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jrebnord
* Posts: 3 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thank you Steve _________________ Bush? Who's Bush? |
Posted on 04/04/08 10:55:03 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 678 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve! |
Posted on 04/04/08 1:15:39 PM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve - I should really have done something about those fish but like an idiot I flattened the layers early on and then didn't have time to finesse it the long way round. _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 04/04/08 2:00:50 PM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve, not one of my best. |
Posted on 04/04/08 6:23:43 PM |
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mguyer
Incisive Incisor Posts: 799 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
actually I am OK with the perspective since there are certain variables such as the ocean floor influencing the position of the wreck. It would also seem to me that the water and the particular lens would be factors to consider. Thanks for your always helpful comments. Marty |
Posted on 04/04/08 10:09:38 PM |
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brewell
Pixel Pentagrammarian Posts: 752 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
I'll check out a blue shadow. I was happy for the opportunity to use the cloning tool. _________________ The journey of a thousand hours begins with a single layer. |
Posted on 05/04/08 01:41:40 AM |
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Ellen
Fire Queen Posts: 102 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks Steve, your comments always make me go back and look again. Thanks too for the word deckle- I'd forgotten what those edges were called. |
Posted on 06/04/08 11:02:49 PM |
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Eva Roth
Luminous Liberator Posts: 269 Reply  |
Re: Contest 191: Shipwreck!
Thanks a lot for your advice, Steve! Yes, the dredded reflection of the wall, I just didn't have time to redo the floor, though of cropping into the image, but then it lost the spacial element...Will try and cheat better next time! |
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