juju vs. zacaboo :: First Battle of 2009

[Jujumon]

i registered in MarchMadness but the way im going at the moment i'd be toasted . so anyone up for the good old PS fight??

rule: use previous image
size: 700x400
volley: 3 each
time: game over by the end of Feb. ( or when all volleys are submitted)
winner: all entries are judged/critiqued by peers but Arena moderator(s) have final decision and declare the winner

*my first image coming soon*

[Zacaboo288]

I'll accept! Although I did have the fortunate opportunity to see this thread only 10 minutes after you posted it so if anyone else is really aching to get in on this I'll humbly pass it on. It's your call, Jujumon.

[Jujumon]

the game is on!. ill try not to be a walked-over for you Zacaboo!

unfortunately, i plan to submitt my first image tmr. if that's ok with u.

or you can start the game first if you wish.

[gerbick]

Nice. I've christened thee the "First Battle of 2009"... of many I hope.

[Jujumon]

[Zacaboo288]

First of all, I'm excited to get the year started and can't wait to see what comes out of this battle.

Now, I really like how you've treated the woman in this image. A ton of movement and fantastic depth in the dark hair but it is somewhat lost as my eye moves lower towards "AGONY." It becomes flatter and I haven't quite decided if this works in the piece's favor or not. On one had, it allows the gentleman in the foreground to stand out from the woman as if he has just painted a masterpiece on a seperate plane. Yet I think it would be even more interesting if the man was greatly involved with her compositionally, and maybe even conceptually for that matter. What if her long painted tendrills wrapped around his waste or arm? Or even just seemed to come close enough to grab him. Just a thought.

There seems to be a story here, and I don't think that I like "AGONY" placed on the scene to sum it all up for me. I'd like to imagine that there are all kinds of emotions that could be attributed to this piece, or else even a greater theme that is more complex than just that emotion. But I digress, as you are clearly the artist and the creator and can proclaim whatever you'd like. Just some ideas to consider.

Techincally speaking, your masking is pretty tight. The edge of his hair seems a bit too smooth to me, and I'm not sure that I'm convinced about the countour underneath his arm, from the inside of his bicep all the way down to his wrist. Masking a dark edge against a light background is tough though and the rest looks good. "AGONY" seems like an afterthought to fill empty space, but then I'm just becoming pretentious.

Overall good work and interesting textures! I don't see too many people attempting to experiment freehandedly with the paintbrush. Kudos

[Jujumon]

...A ton of movement and fantastic depth in the dark hair but it is somewhat lost as my eye moves lower towards "AGONY." It becomes flatter...

i thought the hair is kinda flat, i'd like to add more texture into it

What if her long painted tendrills wrapped around his waste or arm? Or even just seemed to come close enough to grab him.

Yes i thought of the same thing! ...only after i have submitted ... oh well,

There seems to be a story here, and I don't think that I like "AGONY" placed on the scene to sum it all up for me. I'd like to imagine that there are all kinds of emotions that could be attributed to this piece, or else even a greater theme that is more complex than just that emotion..

that's alright. for the arena, more often i find myself creating visuals first then sit back , look at it and put down any word that first come to my head... maby that's the reason i sux at text

Techincally speaking, your masking is pretty tight..

agree wth everything here, especially the elbow now that i see it

cant wait to see what u come up next

[Zacaboo288]

[Jujumon]

nice textures and layering... but i must say that at the moment it looks too subtle. The colors and tones that u used just make everything look very flat, it kinda blends your white striking aura thing with the textures on the lotus in the background, the eyes, as well as the hands, therefore loses any depth. If the pic was more colorful those textures and objects would really pop out and it would have been more striking to look at.

I also must admit that i do not like the way u layout your design mainly because you've used repetitive objects where everything is a perfect copy of one side to the other. i would be cautious against using those flip command. and if i really have to then i would retouch it so both side would not look the same.

on a side note:: if u do not understand my writings or find my comment too harsh or rude or whatever , i apologize in advance as i may have choose the word to use to explain wrongly::

[Zacaboo288]

if u do not understand my writings or find my comment too harsh or rude or whatever , i apologize in advance as i may have choose the word to use to explain wrongly::

No worries, you explained yourself very well. They're all good things to consider and I appreciate you observing these details with a critical eye. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[Jujumon]

[gerbick]

First image, mask around the elbow and arm and top of the head (man) doesn't live up to the rest of the image. Normally, I don't mix soft detail (feathers) with strong detail (dress and man) but it works here. Nice job and your deviation on type worked damn well here. Best image I've ever seen from you in the Arena.

Second image... the hands fall behind the feathers and the fact that it's exactly symmetrical bothers me. You could have hidden the middle line of symmetry easily with overlays from one side to the other to create an illusion of natural symmetry, not digital symmetry - nature is alike, digital is perfect. It was an interesting take and you took parts of the prior image that I totally thought you'd avoid, so you did take the harder road imho. But places should have been overlaid - like the feathers should have been "behind" the hands. Abstract done well.

Third image... damn funny... you could have moved that type and left the envelope/arc effect off. In fact, this could have been more movie poster-ish, like a very bad 50's movie poster. The edge of the road is a bit rough - and the extra blur on the leaf wasn't even necessary - it at least it should have been only behind the leaf, not in front of it as well to simulate motion to the left. Interesting usage of the prior image though. You can do better.

My take

[Zacaboo288]

Thanks for the tip, gerbick. Both what you say about the hands needing to pop out more and also the difference between digital and natural symmetry make a lot of sense. I appreciate the thoughtful critique.

[thedarkness]

Hey Is it too late to get in on this?

[Jujumon]

^ meaning?

[Zacaboo288]

[Jujumon]

like alien looking at paint on a wooden cabin it'd be better too if u make the girl looks like it's printed to the panels ( like you did with the textures) now it's kinda like she's floating on everything, or maybe u intended that way?

[Zacaboo288]

Na, it's just supposed to appear to be very opaque paint, not allowing the grain-like texture to come through. Moreover, I wasn't going for complete realism in general; I was sort of trying to get her face to pop out more than what might be considered realistically to emphasize a surreal environment. Maybe it didn't work. Anyways, can't wait to see what you've got comin'.

[Zacaboo288]

oops

[Jujumon]

my site is down at the moment, will try upload with flashkit when i get home, sorry about that