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Posted on 18/12/08 7:09:58 PM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Gruesome ! _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 19/12/08 07:24:49 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7025 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Some fabulous entries this week: once again, I'm amazed at how the (seemingly) most mundane of tasks can spark off such innovation. First to slip the skates on was Lexus, with a polar scene. Interesting use of blur, and the reflection ripples away neatly into the ice. But there's a colour difference between the girl and the scene behind: her shirt is blue enough, yet the skin looks too pink. There seems to be a lot of green in the background, maybe add a little to the skin? A gorgeous photo of a tea cup from The Mad Lep, with a convincing reflection. My problem here, though, is with the surface of the tea. It appears to me as if we're viewing it from too high an angle, compared to the rim of the cup. This is partly due to the direction of the edge at the extreme left and right: shouldn't it be curving in here a little more, to follow the shape of the teacup? A fine reflection from Ben Mills, the distortion helping to conceal the joins in the rearranged legs. A very good quality of translucence to it, and the snow on the surface really helps to add the extra dimension. Love the hockey stick! Her right foot, though, looks as if it's resting on the heel, toe in the air: the reflection heeds to be sheared so it sits straight on the ice. Real ice-rink ice, as mguyer has shown, doesn't have a reflection. But it does have a rather flatter shadow, as the skater in the distance shows: yours is a little too tall. A good touch of blur here, though. And I absolutely love the second entry: your funniest, most accomplished entry this year, Marty. Not just a great idea, but beautifully realised. Nice work! Ingenious work from vibeke, adding a long-sleeved shirt and leggings to the girl. This is the most straightforward way of adding clothing, by simply recolouring the skin: but it works perfectly. A great scene, the added snow in front of the figure blends her in perfectly, and the reflection has a beautiful quality to it. More clothing from maiden - and it's an excellent fit. Is it all hand made? A great reflection, too, the darkness of the legs helping to mask the rearranged limbs. And the scarf is a great touch. The score mark in the ice from Nick Curtain is a great addition. The shape of the boot in the reflection, though, pinpoints a difficulty: we should really be seeing the sole of the boot, which means it should curve the other way. Tricky stuff, this. A fantastic hole in the ice from katew - and a perfect reflection and shadow for the new skater, matching the existing shadows in the scene exactly. And the way you've substituted the heads, making her look back at the hole, is an excellent touch. Good work. Excellent reflections from Hope Leslie Laust: chopping the skater's reflection off there is a perfect cheating approach! Love the penguin, and the scarf is perfectl grasped in the beak. Very nice work. A nice animation from michael sinclair, with added motion blur to add to the sense of movement. Is that Alien Skin's Motion Trail filter, Michael? Or have you gone to town with Image Warp and the Motion Blur filter? Excellent second entry! A beautiful snow globe from Tom - there's a real tangible quality to that glass. Interesting how we always use the standard four-pane window trick to suggest a curved reflective surface: you'll see this everywhere, it's a kind of visual shorthand. My only problem here is with the bright blue of the ice, which seems too artificial and overpowering for the rest of the scene. A great brushed steel base, though, very tasty. A clever bit of integration from brewell - and the dress you've added to our model is a perfect fit. Great, appropriate reflection - a tricky job here, perfectly accomplished. And the ice shavings in the second entry are a fantastic touch. There's something rather forlorn about Jota120's lonely skater: but scenery like that would make me want to take to the ice, too. My only gripe here is the position of the skater in the scene. On the left, or on the right, but never bang in the middle! If you get a chance to glance through a copy of Art & Design in Photoshop in a bookstore, check out the chapter on composition. Especially with relation to the second entry! Like the reference to the Chinese character - translates as 'big', right? Love the third entry, there's some great drama here. It's always harder when we make our additions match existing elements in the scene - and Steve Hill's entry is an excellent example of how to do it right. The surface snow and cracks appear on top of the reflection, giving it added depth: but best of all is the way the reflection has been tapered to give the impression that we're looking up at the figure - very clever stuff. Now, if you can just move that reflected foot a couple of millimetres further to the right, it'll be perfect. Good to see you back, Steve. Great humour from Josephine Harvatt, whose Cinderella really cracked me up. A perfect fit for the clothing, and the position of the broom head neatly masks what could have been an awkward skate reflection - nice workaround. Rather tricky reflections of the pot and grate in the distance - might have been better to add a sleeping dog here to mask them too! And the transformation in the second entry is gorgeous. Josephine, your work this year has been funny and inspirational. Keep it up. A Parisian scene from Eggbox - you know how to press my buttons, Ted. Great added shading, and the shadow of the new skater blends in well with the rest of the scene. Neat work. Funny work from tooquilos - I was sure the skater was going to fall down that crack in the ice. I have to take you to task on the shadow, though: when she leaps over the crack, the shadow appears way behind her, when of course it should remain directly beneath. And I'd recommend adding a lot of blue to it to match the colour of the snow. Talking of which - the falling snow is a beautiful touch, really bringing this scene to life. Every once in a while we see an entry here that really stops us short. And this is the case with Wayne's dazzling ice sculpture: a stunning, perfectly accomplished rendering of the original skater. It would be impressive enough on its own, but by setting it amongst a set of real ice sculptures you've set yourself an additional task here - and realised it superbly. I'm running out of adjectives here, Wayne: fantastic work! Even the shadow is a perfect match. I love the way gaoxiguo has substitute roller skates for blades in his urban scene. A great idea. The caption translates as "The movement health pleasantly surprised hopes everybody joyful joyfully infinite" - which I think I will adopt as my Christmas slogan. I can't even begin to imagine the amount of work that must have gone into james' entry. The multiple rebuilding of the skater is extraordinary - who'd have thought you could get so many poses out of her? Fantastic work, James - and I'm hugely impressed by the added detail, such as the score lines the skater makes in the ice. Wonderful. Great colour blending from Born2Run: the skater is a perfect match for the subdued tones of the background. Now, I can never see a dam without the Dambusters theme popping into my head - it'll be stuck there until Christmas, I expect. A good job from Ellen, matching her skater to the rest of the scene. A good shadow, and the reflection works well: but the skater needs to be desaturated a little to match the blue tones of the background. Is it my imagination, of is that guy checking out her chest? Some impressive aggression from Atomicfog, with a rather beautifully created Terminator bursting through the skin of our skater. And most impressive it is too, the lit-up building in the background providing a good focal point. Neat metalwork in there. Most entertaining work this week. Congratulations all round. |
Posted on 19/12/08 07:52:06 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks for a most challenging and entertaining year. Love the new Christmas background. Have a wonderful Christmas and a well deserved break. _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 19/12/08 08:10:21 AM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Steve, Thanks again for your great feedback (to us all, if I might say, which I love!). Agree with composition, don't normally do that and guess does not look good。Thanks. I wanted a forlorn look and since it was China I was sort of thinking 中 as in 中国 . Middle/centre and yes 大 "da" is big according to my Chinese. Not much excuse 
If I might say again, great work from all, .... Atomicfrog gave me a shock at the end, but I like it!! Trevor |
Posted on 19/12/08 08:50:30 AM |
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Ellen
Fire Queen Posts: 102 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks Steve and joyful joyfully infinite us everyone! |
Posted on 19/12/08 08:52:37 AM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thank you Steve - I admit that I really get flummoxed by reflections - something I shall have to work on I think. Your kind comments are much appreciated  _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 19/12/08 09:12:08 AM |
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The Mad Lep
Four-Leafed Fantasist Posts: 323 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Yes indeed. I kept looking at it trying to figure out exactly what it was that annoyed my anally retentive eye, but I couldn't quite get it!  I'm just pleased I managed to make myself content enough with the actual reflection, I thought it would be much more headachy. Maybe PS is cutting me some slack coming up to Christmas? lol.  Thanks Steve. 
By the way, love the festive forum background, good job! 
Oh and atomic... great work, your entry rocks. |
Posted on 19/12/08 10:05:55 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2898 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thank you Steve..I hadnt noticed the shadow, but now you have pointed it out..it sticks out like a sore thumb |
Posted on 19/12/08 10:36:40 AM |
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katew
Virtual Virtuoso Posts: 681 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thank you Steve. I enjoyed doing this one! Happy Christmas to you and yours! |
Posted on 19/12/08 1:11:13 PM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks Steve I crashed and burned on this one - you're absolutely right! Thanks for your support and inspiration this year. Have a great Christmas and best wishes to your family too. Nick |
Posted on 19/12/08 2:52:53 PM |
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Wayne
Printer’s Devil Posts: 312 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks for the comments Steve. I couldn't have done any of it without the help of your brilliant book. Always the book! Have a great Christmas, see you in the new year |
Posted on 19/12/08 5:47:03 PM |
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mguyer
Incisive Incisor Posts: 799 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks for you uplifting comments Steve. Happy Holidays, Marty |
Posted on 19/12/08 8:35:17 PM |
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steve hill
Brain Basher Posts: 228 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Thanks for the comments Steve I hope to enter more challenges next year. Have a good Christmas all. |
Posted on 20/12/08 01:00:38 AM |
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Tom
Texture Technologist Posts: 401 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
Yes, I like to use that hackneyed effect. To me, it's a little joke as it reminds me of old comic books. Sorry about the blue. |
Posted on 20/12/08 02:57:58 AM |
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Atomicfog
Virtual Visualizer Posts: 238 Reply  |
Re: Contest 228: Skating on thin ice
I appreciate the kind words Steve -- I always love to check back here on the occasions I have time, and I am always amazed to see that you are still dedicating your free time to helping those that come to your forum to learn. I can say for a fact that HtCiP, both the book and the forum, have helped to improve my Photoshop skills more than I would have ever expected. If you ever want testimonials, don't hesitate to ask
Also, thank you for the compliments, Jota and Lep (and josephine? ) |
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