The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: Michael Dashow

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146347119_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146347119_large.jpg)

It's a nice sunny day outside and I'm ignoring real like yard work to work on virtual yardwork here on my piece. :-/

But you can see I've done a bunch of work on the yard. Added lots of different kinds of flowers, clover, mad even dirt patches. I also turned that bench in the back left, it was really bugging me that the wall was curved and it was pointing directly at the camera... cheap!

Also, I found a much better space for the birds, don't sweat it.

xeophex - sorry, but I'm not really following you. What do you think would make them "there" more?

Anyhow, back to work (or not, as far as my RL yardwork is concerned. :) )

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146352735_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146352735_large.jpg)

One of the final steps in the illustration is to colorize the line art. This entire time I've just been using the greyscale line art I scanned in at the beginning. But the black and grey lines are a bit unsubtle. So remember that depth-map layer I made way back when? In case you don't, it was a greyscale layer masking out sections based on how deep in the scene they were. I used it to generate the atmospheric hazing in the background. But now I get to use it again, this time to colorize the line art.

Using the Adjust Hue Saturation controls, I colorize the line art to a nice warm red. This works well on the main characters. However, it's too warm for the lines in the distance. So I load up the depth mask and use Hue/Saturation again to make the lines selected bluer and lighter. Now my lines are gradually getting cooler as they recede into the distance.

The above is a detail of what my line art layer looks like. It is still set to multiply, by the way.

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146353833_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146353833_large.jpg)

I still have the sky in a seperate layer from the rest of the painting, so next I select the whole foreground, invert selection, and save as a selection. I go into that channel and blur it so that the selection bleeds over the background columns a bit. I fade out the selection on the left side of the scene but keep it strong on the right. I create a new layer above the line art and load the selection and then fill it with a reddish-orange and set the layer to Color Dodge.

(In truth, it takes a little experimentation to get the exact color, opacity amount, and even Layer Blending Mode exactly correct, but that's what I ended up with.)

So what this does is makes the columns and the sky glow, as if they are lit/backlit by the sun.

On another layer I draw some pale yellow lines perfectly horizontal, blur them, and Transform them into a diagonal direction. These become the god rays / sunbeams. They're in Hard Light mode at 50%, but it took a lot of experimentation to get there too.

Oh, and lastly, you can see in this shot the final solution I came up with for the birds: Took them out of the sky on the left, and but them down there swooping around the right side of the village.

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146354163_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146354163_large.jpg)

And here we go: Final Coloring.
You've got a couple of weeks still to tell me everything I did wrong and can still improve. Get to it! :)

-mike

[Oregano]

I absolutely *LOVE* this one!

[ElectroNico]

Wow ! i've just discovered the new sky, it's really great !! Your pic is getting better end better as time goes by, though it was already great several weeks ago ;) .... I'm still amazed by the deepness of your image, what i also like a lot is the overall design. I sincerely hope that you'll be one of the winners :)

[cixi]

Hello, I wanted to say that your picture is really good and I that enjoyed very much looking through the WIP steps.

I have two critics, though I'm in no way an expert.

First, I think the girl's dress is a bit too somber, the contrast with the very light and softcolored landscape is a bit uncomfortable to look at, especially with her figure at the heart of the composition. Giving her dress a lighter colour could maybe also allow some interesting plays of shadows and highligh, making her figure a bit less muted.

Secondly, maybe you could add some highlight to the grass on the foreground, to match in intensity the reverberated light on the big birdy. The grass is looking a bit flat compared to the depht of the shadows on the principal figures.

Well that's it, and it's my first post too.

Good luck for the contest, I hope you'll win as I really like this picture.

[akahraman]

This is the "journey begins".My favourite. Perfect...

but,i wanted to specify that, there isnt any epic side for this journey. ıt seems a little bit a little journey..:)...As she will come home at the end of the day...Anyway this is just my feeling...:shrug:

Congrats.

[elgrozni]

That's one exelent illustration, man :thumbsup:

[xric7]

so sweet!!i love ur entry Michael.best of luck.:bounce:

[Elrond56]

This is one of my favorites!! Beautiful feeling, strong composition, exquisite detailing . . . Well done *)

[ramy badie]

Since you still have a few weeks, I have a few comments to give. First, the arch in the background seems rather flat at the right side, as if it goes from being round to being paper thin. Second, I feel like maybe you should soften part of the edge of the path at the foreground? It looks to me as though it comes up to a point then dips down, instead of being a hill. The last thing is that the faces and the hair of the two characters seem to be shaded like, in a different style or something from the rest of the painting, maybe because they seem less detailed. I feel like they could maybe use a little more work, and also the lighting on their faces make them look like they have a strange curvature.

Ok well that's everything I could find, I've been staring at it for quite some time now, this image is just spectacular overall (not to say that it isn't a journey of course). You did an incredible job creating depth, the style of the image is great, and the lighting is gorgeous. Lovely work, congratulations on a wonderful piece.

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146439585_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146439585_large.jpg)

Hey, all, thanks for your notes. Looks like we got a large enough critical mass worth of people calling the StriderBird rider a female that he had to go and get a haircut and a slightly more square jawline. I hope he looks a little more masculine now?

Oregano, ElectroNico, ElGrozni, xric7, and Elrond - Thank you for your kind words and encouragement! :)

Cixi - I'm flattered that I'm your first post here. Thank you! I did try a lot of other colors when I was first doing my color comps, but honestly, the dark brown/grey I'm using just worked the best in the composition. Black can be considered somber, but I think it has other interpretations as well, but I'm sorry it makes you uncomfortable to look at it.

Emptyparenthesis - Thanks for your note. Nothing in the rules said it had to be an epic journey, just a journey (or at least the beginning of one.) I happen to think it feels like a larger journey than you do, because of the scale and depth of the environment and all of the gear on the StriderBird (bedroll, pack, etc.) but we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Remy - Thanks for the post, you made some excellent points. It's not in this post above, but I did go in and make a lot of changes to the arch-way. I think it reads a lot better now: more round, a more consistent color throughout... it looks good, I'm glad you pointed that one out.

As for the characters' faces, let's see how they look close-up (and with a bunch of new changes.)

As for the point abount the hill, I just reread your note and realize I misread it earlier. Now I see what you meant, and understand. I'll have to take a look at that too. Thanks for commenting on it!

Thank that's all for now. Keep them notes coming, I still have some time...

-mike

[oceanbluesky]

Hey Michael, really enjoy the details: scratches on the undersides of your character's boot, shading among the feathers of his mount, the light catching the leg of your standing character...um, really don't mean to be a jerk, but, honestly that character on the left (I think) has a guy's face??? Perhaps ankles and hands too, but -- definitely nice legs for a woman. Maybe blush, longer hair, thinner cheeks, and a smaller chin? Anyhow, that's the last I'll comment on that.... Really enjoy the colors and mood of this image. Definitely one of my favorites. Good luck!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146538539_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146538539_large.jpg)

This one's for you, Ramy! You had some excellent points in your last post, thank's so much for pointing all those things out. So now the arch looks more round and continuous from left to right. And the hill in the lower right hopefully looks more like a hill, like it's got some curve to it instead of being the edge of a cliff dropping off there. A definite improvement, I think.

OceanBlueSky - Thanks for your post. I think you've got a good point. There's still more I can do to make her look more feminine, including a lot of changes in her face and hands. I'm not changing the hair - i think it looks cute... and if I get the other parts right it will be clear that she's a girl even though she has short hair. So next post...
By the way, my wife and I had no idea where Christmas Island was so we looked it up... Wow! Sounds like you live in a pretty neat place!

Anyhow, that's all for now... closing in on it...

-mike

[Metro-Digital]

Wow this is totally awesome. The image has such a nice warm feeling about it. I really like your style of drawing. This is definetly my favourite entry so far. I also really like how you showed your method of working with shadow, highlight, etc layers, like using render passes. Really interesting technique, and one I'll definetly try to use on my next painting. Keep up the amazing work. Any chance of making this available as a 1280x1024 wallpaper when the challenge is over?

[BlackDidThis]

Wow Michael: (http://forums.cgsociety.org/member.php?userid=122885)
Would you believe me had I said that it simply took me a few days to be able to go through your thread?
(Not TOO slow a reader.. just was too busy :sad:)


But in it's own it was very rewarding... so no worries there!
Of the best and least shallow reading material I have seen on these challenges for a long time... with additionally rewarding illustrations that came with the deal!


As much as I may strike you as the "Dark One" that has nothing to do with the life unrelated to the Old-ones... I have to confidently admit that I think that this is definitely of the best works I have ever seen you do. It is fantastic!
A pity that like every other activity in my life... I had to put aside browsing through the works of some people that I really had enjoyed earlier. But I was very busy with a lot to loose otherwise :(


About the image itself technically (the good old nagger here) The most obvious things that had screamed out to me were very successfully remarked by Kory (http://<font%20color=/)some few pages back... The beginning in fact I believe. And you seem to have had listened to all that was mentioned (Even if you forgot them first)
The lighting and the new gradation of the arc in the back all looks fantastic.


Actually There is a little something that still does bother me... Definitely not as much as the rest had had. But your StriderBird and as a result the group he dominates (The boy and the girl) looks oddly flat to the background in spite the volume you seem to have given each of them.
I sort of believe it is because of the highlighting you have given his tail. If you dim your eyes and look at him with trancuated enough to be able to view the whole composition... you may notice that he must have a conciderably thin vloume to be able to allow light to skid past him and highlight the tail like that. Because in the state it is now, the tail does not really give the impression that it is coiling or bending towards the girl.
Just a depth issue that I may be wrong. But since I noticed the flatness to compair... I just couldn't get over it.


Well none the less it is a mere trifle to what you have accomplished by now.. and might simply be my own pov. Because the image as it is is definately outsetanding!




Best of luck!



Black

Ps; I had really loved the concept sketch #63 (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=3304121&postcount=63)! I know you already made your choice and proved it worthy... but I think it would be really great if you would store it aside as a project "To-Do" for the futur tence :) I would love to see it if you ever do.

[yoff]

Amazing piece. I think the flowers in the lower left corner are nice, but perhaps too numerous to not appear in more places around the image. I noticed them by the fence posts but somehow it seems too little since there is a whole bunch of them in the corner...

[Zephyri]

Hi Michael, loving how this is all coming together, especially as I've not dropped in here in a while. The background looks amazing, I love how all the lights and shadows mix together in so many lovely shifting tones. The rocks look like something some ancient civilisation once erected and that more recent occupiers of the land would have no clue about, which I love, it gives a whole other level to the story of your characters and what sort of world they inhabit.

Only one minor crit, or suggestion... something about the way the boy is balanced seemed odd to me, then I realised he has no stirrups to put his feet in... they'd make the bird much easier to ride, stop his falling off, and would plant him firmly on the bird in this particular moment, so it does look like she's pulling him, rather than him falling off. It's just a suggestion, you may not want to spoil the lovely composition you have here...

Whatever your decision, this piece rocks muchly already. Great work!

[FIDUCIOSE]

Really love ya piece, very nice environment and coloring especially that cutie mood hee hee

good luck for your last process!

[ramy badie]

Oh wow definitely an improvement, I'm glad my criticism could help. Your chances are looking great now man! Good luck!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146628058_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146628058_large.jpg)

Hi, everyone. I've been working on just these faces (and her hand) for a couple of hours tonight. I think that's about all I can do this evening.
I've made some more revisions to both faces: He's got a more pronounced chin and sideburns, a nose-job, another haircut, some stuff to make it clear he's a he. (and apologies to those of you who "liked it better when the rider was a girl." I can appreciate that, but it wasn't the intent of this piece, and so your comments helped me to realize that I wasn't conveying my artistic intent clearly enough. As for the girl, a smaller chin, a little blush, a refined forhead, changes to the nose, and so many changes to the neck and chin, I've lost track of exactly what all I did. I also smoothed out her hand so it isn't so masculine (serves me right for using my own hand as a model!) and made her feet a little smaller (you'll have to see it later.)

Anyhow, I've been staring at it too long, time for some other eyeballs to take a turn. Let me know anything you can see to help make her face especially even better (except for changing her hairstyle.)

Metro - thanks! I'll be sure to post this as a desktop-sized image, but only when it's done.

Black - It's not that I have you pegged as a dark, creepy person, just a person who was especially tuned in to that one CGTalk Challenge I was doing on Cthulhu. You were one of the most frequent posters in that thread, and were defnitely up on your Lovecraft, so I associate you with that.

Anyhow, I think you're absolutely right about the tail - I'd intended it to curve around behind her, but it doesn't really look like it has the mass to do that right now. You're right, I think refining the shadowing on the tail could help fix that.

As for sketch #63, i love the guy carrying the gas, kind of like the woman, and didn't care for the background at all. It was too much work to force it into this challenge topic. Maybe it will be better when I can work on it freed from a challenge constraint.

Yoff - You're probably right that more Echium (trhat's what those purple flowers are called) qwould make it look more consistent. But not having them isn't killing the piece, so we'll have to see how lazy I am and whether I get around to adding more! ;)

Sam - Oh, if you only knew the whole story for this world, I'm sure you'd see that there si some perfectly rational explanation why he has no stirrups... but in fact I don't really have any world story so there's only a real-life excuse for not having the stirrups, which is that I forgot to put them in. (Actually, though, you pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as the columns are concerned.) Maybe I'll add some stirrps in... We'll again just have to see how lazy I am (and whether they look good.)

Fiduciose - Thanks! Can't wait to see yours further along, too!

Ramy - Yeah, it does look better now - thanks again for the help!

That's about all for now. If anyone sees a way for her to look less like a monkey-face but still keep her kissy-lips, let me know! :banghead:

-mike

[MoonVisionStudio]

Michael,

This is my favorite piece of yours. By far.

My last comments (cause you can nitpick anything to death and I already think this is a masterpiece) are that his chin needs to be longer (distance from top of bottom lip to tip of chin). Look at it in comparison to her chin. And his hand right hand fingers look a little rubbery. If you made it more angular he would seem more masculine.

All the best,

[individium]

well i was away for a week and i knew i was going to miss that much think so this has become perfect really. im sure youre going to be one of the award winners. all problems solved.
i wonder what more will you do

congrats:beer:

[CryingHorn]

Awesome, so cute and warm :scream:

[jeromoo]

Hey Mike! Too bad I'm THE qualified King of the God-Rays Club now! Bwahahaha.

I always enjoy the friendly atmosphere in your piece! I have to point out that the guy's neck look strange. The neck bone/muscle should be straighter not curvy? The environment is the best part of the whole thing because I know how much work went into it!

Now, now..where are the god-rays? :D

[walrus]

What are you talking about? They're in there! Just look at posts #505 and 516. There are "god rays" streaming in from the upper right, you can see them best in front of the far-right column. They're on the subtler side... Not all of us have a lighthouse in our pictures! (which cast lighthouse-rays, not god-rays, sheesh! :rolleyes:

But you are right about the neckbone, I'll check that out.

Jose - You're right about the guy's chin. I won't change the fingers, though. There's a wide range of finger shapes, and these pretty much look like mine.. you saying I have effeminate fingers, huh? Anyhow, I like the hand in the picture, the fingers are expressive.

Individum and Crying Horn - thanks!

[Anarki3000]

Wow.. great work so far. I personally liked the birds in the sky ideea.. maybe between the clouds. Everything else is awesome, especially the far line of sight with the pillars. it gives a sense of a huge fantastic realm.

Can't wait to see the final result.. this is my fav for sure.
Oh yeah.. that bird's killing me

[jeromoo]

Wahahaha, I was expecting something like this:
http://www.puffer.net/media/images/newZealand/seatoun_godray.jpg
But I think you did qualify even on subtler ground!
*sigh* I hereby surrender my "The God-Rays Club" crown to King Walrus!

[FlaminGlow]

walrus, i have lot in mind where words can't describe, i was folowing your work from begining step by step and get lot of knowledge you managed the details perfectly and got a brilliant piece, if i'm doing this i might say ok guys this is my final image may be several pages ago, i don't say i'm good or better than anyone but definately i can't do such this great job.

very nice village i would love to visit it someday, colors are brilliant man, what else ohh yeah amazing amazing great wonderfull job. :thumbsup:

[shambok]

Michael Dashow is entered in the "The Journey Begins Challenge" update: View Challenge Page (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/journey_begins/view_entries.php?challenger=9566)

Latest Update: Coloring WIP: character faces
http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146628058_medium.jpg

hi mr walrus, thanx for the words ... about the vulture. your work is looking great by the way!

[Mikrob]

Nice style, I like it! Good luck :buttrock:

[oceanbluesky]

Lipstick, much more blush, much, much, much thinner cheeks, longer hair (covering her ears) -- some cleavage. It kills me to crit your work -- it is so utterly beautiful, inspired, and gorgeous...but I swear she still doesn't look like a she. Not that she has too, but, since that is your intention...anyhow, I'm a fan of this work regardless. It's steeped in creativity and absolutely one of my favorites.

Good luck!

[yoff]

Yoff - You're probably right that more Echium (trhat's what those purple flowers are called) qwould make it look more consistent. But not having them isn't killing the piece, so we'll have to see how lazy I am and whether I get around to adding more! ;)


Alternatively (and perhaps more lazily) you could remove some of the Echium in the corner and have the remaining ones grow at the base of something...

Her face is definately better now, perhaps rounder cheeks and a less pronounced chin might be desirable?

[cgkrusty]

WOW!

Nice work Mike!!!

This, as many have said, is the best work I've seen from you in these challenges. I'm not the biggest fan of the two main humanoid characters but the mount an the setting, absolutely gorgeous.

I look forward to seeing your name in the winners list!

Great job!!!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146936984_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146936984_large.jpg)

Well, here we go again. I completely redrew the girl's face. I drew some sketches of my wife posing for me, spent an hour or so the other day just filling up a huge page full of faces of girls making kissy-faces, and took the best parts of those to form this face. In the end, I think the face reads as "kissing" better than the old. Is it better overall? Who the heck knows. I'll leave it to you all to comment on, I've been staring at it too long this morning, I need to take a break. I also made her feet slightly smaller and some other subtle changes in her body. I tried a new hairstyle or two but it lost her character for me. The long hair may read better from a distance that it's a female, but I have to stay true to the vision as well. And I don't subscribe to the view that in order to look "feminine" she (or any character) has to have long hair, lots of make up, large breasts, etcetera. I think we can work towards a less narrow view, right?

There are also more changes that I've worked on since the last post: Made lots of subtle adjustments to the boy's face, including a larger chin (thanks, jose!) and some reworking on the neck (thanks, jeromoo!) He now looks more masculine and perhaps more anatomically correct without losing his character. And I added those stirrups, Sam!

Anarki3000 - The birds are still in the sky. I just moved them over to the right hand side by the town. Check out post #516.

Jeromoo - Yeah, those are some nice god-rays you posted. I didn't want to go too hard-edged and obvious in mine, it was too unsubtle.

Yoff - I can't remove the flowers from the lower left. They have to be there compositionally. If you're looking around the picture clockwise, they're what curve the eye back in to the main area rather than letting the eye fall off the page. Plus they add another layer of depth in front of the main characters, which was lacking before.

cgkrusty - Thanks, and good seeing you again! (we'll see you for the next challenge, right? ;) )

And of course thanks to everyone else who posted and added comments and all everything else, it really is appreciated! Anyhow, that's all for now, please let me know what you think about the new changes...
-mike

[ramy badie]

This is looking so great, the only issue I have left with the picture is their lack of foreheads. I guess it could be just the style, but I feel that if their eyes weren't so...tall, then it'd maybe look a little better? Just a suggestion though, either way this looks awesome, and I feel that she looks feminine enough, I think longer hair might actually make her look like a drag queen for some reason.

[oceanbluesky]

"I have to stay true to the vision as well. And I don't subscribe to the view that in order to look "feminine" she (or any character) has to have long hair, lots of make up, large breasts, etcetera."

She looks great! Glad you stuck to your vision! Love those legs!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146953585_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1146953585_large.jpg)

...Then again, there's something to be said for long hair, too...

I kept fooling around with the hair for a long while afterwards, and this is where I ended up. What do folks think? It may even fit the face even more, and I kind of like it (plus it reminds me of my wife's hair, too, only she's a blonde. :) ) It takes care of that short forehead as well...!

-mike

[individium]

wow! i see your last post after i pushed the post reply button and this window opened :)
i liked the new hair, also new faces are much better even though i didnt think it was necessary to fix neck looks better this way too i liked the short hair one but im liking this one too

whichever you choose wont effect the beuty of the picture i think both will be very good.
althoug i sort of like the longer hair a little more than the other, the short hair feels like 'aha that worlds women are short haired and men prefer long' and feels somehow more natural for that scene.

so the better one is... i can say , short hair,no the long one, no maybe the short is better or long one can be better, long, short, long... :surprised

nevermind you have an award waiting piece

[DeeVad]

Hi Walrus,
Firstly I looked at your picture with a surprise, I found 10 time better the design with long hair. It give another aspect to this illustration. Now she is more in harmony with the style of house. Congrats for the hair painting treatment, they are perfect.
What you reserve us as surprise now ?
-Friendly, David

[Sourgrapes]

Hi Walrus ^^

I really love the way the pic is turning out. I especially love the expression on the creature!!

And I have to agree, long hair looks better then the short :D

[Sourgrapes]

Hi again :)

After looking at the far away shot for a little longer, I wanted to make a suggestion. Maybe if you would raise the hollow in the column surrounding the girl just a little higher, it would frame the characters just a little be better. I love your composition and the way it leads the eye, I just felt that the hollow was just a little low. Just a suggestion though ^^

[MrFreeman]

:) fantastic details Mike

I thought you had finished, but this is looking even better and I have to agree that I prefer the long hair.

Great work!! :)

[taste]

really realy really love the it. i just saw the thumbnail in the forums and went AWWWWWWW already.

[walrus]

Hi, all, thanks for the replies! I'm really glad that folks are liking this new hairstyle! (becuase I think I may have accidentally overwritten the old hairstyle's file, oops!) It's okay, it's not like I don't save off new versions of it every day, it wouldn't set me that far back if I wanted to go back to short and spiky. But this one feels more right, i think.

individium - yeah, i know exactly how you feel. I get the same thing: "This new hairstyle really fits her! But I like the statement that short hair makes. But the long hair really looks good. But I've had the short hair for almost 3 months... Ahhrgh!" Good thing I can let some other eyes look it over!

deevad - 10 times better, huh? Wow, that is an improvement! I hope I don't have any more surprises, as I'd really like to call this finished already! :) Until someone points out something major to change that I agree with, it's only small housekeeping items left.

sourgrapes - I'm glad you bothered to make that 2nd post. That's a really good point, I'm surprised no one has spotted that yet. I think you're right, I'll have to see how it looks with a largerr hollow. Thank you!

MrFreeman, and taste - thank you both!

Almost there...

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1147051976_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1147051976_large.jpg)

Well, here we are with all of the recent changes... Plus more purple flowers added on the hillside by the fence and some of the left column shaved off to make the composition circle the main characters more. And that's it for all outstanding comments about this piece. I'm completely caught up. So last call for things to change, or I'm going to pack it in!

-mike

[SideAche]

Nicely done Mike, Bravo!

[jeromoo]

Ohh.. nice nice nice! I think you are considered done here! No more crits, wouldn't want to spoil it! The girl is a vast improvement now! The sense of depth is magnificent! Congratulations!

All hail the King of The God-Rays Club! :D

[adonihs]

awesome job man, this is so great...i really feel inspired by you, that I even tried your style of coloring and line art, and actually had fun..considering im more of a realisim freak.

but this is so great, thanks for the inspiration and your dedication to hard work, i hope you make far in this challenge :)

[EdP-Art]

This is a lovely piece Walrus. The cahracters are great and the landscape is spectacular.

What's this about the 'God Rays' club. I want to apply for memebrship, my piece originates where the God Rays come from :hmm: You are right about Jerome and his faint attempt with his light house rays.

Looks like you and Jerome will be on the winners podium and Theresa to if she gets her act together.

*Ed

[Fahrija]

last call?

one thing could be to fill the surrounding with live by showing some flying birds/creatures in the background/middleground or some people on the road wich is a bit empty currently although it depends....the flying birds maybe give the image an icky touch.

However - it was a pleasure to watch the progress of this artwork. My congratulations for this faboulus thread and have fun adding the finishing touches.

best wishes
Fahrija


btw - I´m a big fan of the clouds. they look very epic.


.

[andreasrocha]

Wow, dude. This must be your best piece yet (at least for me). Fantastic! Very pleasing to the eye and the landscape looks wonderful. (It's great to see how your art improves over the years)

Congrats, Mike!

[anzibon]

somehow, everything in this image draws my eye ecxept the main characters. this may very well be tht my monitor is too dark. but i seams as if, while the layers of depth are nicely separated in value and saturation, the objects whithin these layers are all a relatively simaler value. i.e. not very much contrast in the objects. don't really know how to fix this except to maybe break up the eveness of the shads a bit and maybe give the main characters a bit stronger rim light to make em pop. i'm a huge fan of your work, btw. which is why i expect it to be flawless. :)

good luck man,
~B

[paperclip]

Tis nitpick time!

The perspective of the door seems somehow off....? I also think you should put some little flowers on the ground (buttercups?) around the choconobo and the chicken!

God-Ray King...

http://www.astrologicon.org/theologia/zeusimg/ingres_Jupiter_and_Thetis.jpg
(by ingres, I saw the original in Rome!)

[walrus]

I love when people give me crits by asking for things which are already in the picture, it makes life so much easier for me! :) Theresa, it may not be illediately obvious in this really low-res shot of the image, but there are poppies all over the ground the girls and the birds' feet. (there's clover, too.) And Fahrija, the birds have flown all over the sky and noy they are flying over the right side of the village in the back right. (check some of the earlier posts that zoom into just that area.) I tried having them larger and in the sky but they were just distracting. There's actually not a lot of sky that's not taken up by columns, save for right over our main characters' heads... and boy were birds distracting up there! And there's even a cart full of people being pulled by a StriderBird on the road. Beelow was asking me before for people in the town... didn't realize that there were tons of people there, they are all just drawn to scale, making them very, very small!

Ed - all you have to do to be in the god-rays club is to ut some god-rays (see Jeromoo's earlier post) in your picture. The irony of the thing is that neither Jeromoo nor I are even really members of the club - mine are too faint and his come from a lighthouse. We sit upon a shaky throne indeed!

Anzibon - I appreciate the feedback. But, imho, if anything makes the characters stand out, it's the value contrast of them being dark on a light backdrop. Adding more of a rim-light only helps if they were against a darker backdrop, otherwise, it's just fuzzying the border between them and the nspace behind them. I've already added as much rim light as I dare.

Theresa - So why does the "god-ray" picture you posted have no god-rays in it?! What is this blasphemy? sheesh! As for the door, it looks fine to me. And certainly better than when I had the hinges on the outside but the door swinging inwards. But hey, no one noticed that I redesigned the hardware on the door to look like long birdy-claws! More work wasted, sigh. :(

Andreas, Cliff, Jerome, and Adonihs - thank you all, my friends! I've really appreciatd your support over these past couple of months (okay, well, Andreas, you just got here, but if you had been here earlier I know I would have had your support!) Anyhow, thanks everyone!

-mike

[paperclip]

He's a selfish god and he's keeping all the god-rays in the golden casket that he's sitting on- he only beams them down onto people that he's particularly pleased with (like people who finish the cgchallenge!)...so there's your explanation. Yes, we all do sit on a shaky throne! Is there actually anyone in the challenge with proper god-rays?

[MDN67]

Always a great pic, the atmosphere is really great, one of the best pic of this challenge:cry:

[domclubb]

looking better every day. Infact, it looks completely finished. Great painting and amazingly detailed. Good stuff

[yoff]

Yoff - I can't remove the flowers from the lower left. They have to be there compositionally. If you're looking around the picture clockwise, they're what curve the eye back in to the main area rather than letting the eye fall off the page. Plus they add another layer of depth in front of the main characters, which was lacking before.

Well I did not want you to remove them from the corner completely, just some of them...to make room for something else they could grow on... Anyway, it is a minor thing, and you said that you put more of them elsewhere although I cannot seem to find them :)

The girls face is much better now. The boys jaw is still not quite right for me though, his chin seems very big. Also are her lips touching his cheek, it dos not seem so, and you might want that to be the moment of the picture.

Still, if you decide to stop now, it is really very good...

[calisto-lynn]

omg this looks beautifuul!! i dig the colours and the style is awsome!! great work!!:applause:

[olive2d]

Congratulations Walrus! it's beautiful!
Your color palet is really nice! great work!
:thumbsup:
and many thanks for this interesting WIP.

[rattlesnake]

really beautiful picture man!!.lovely combination on colors and designs...:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[walrus]

Yoff - I did add more flowers between the first and second fencepost, as you has commented that it seemed weird that they were only growing right at the fenceposts, and I agreed. But as for the other things you pointed out, well, as they say, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." I could make changes in those areas, but I don't think anyone but you would notice the chnages... and maybe not even you, given the flowers as an example. I appreciate your feedback, but I;m pretty happy with it right now as is. Thanks, though!

theresa - there's still hope, I saw someone just join the challenge yesterday with some picture of underground creatures starting a trek towards the surface, with light streaming through a hole that they were heading towards. Maybe he'll have god-rays...?

Laurent - Thank you!

domclub - It looks completely finished? Boy, I really hope so! :) Thanks!

calisto - thanks! Now are you going to get back to work on yours?

ilove2d and rattlesnake - thank you both. I'm glad you both like the palette, I'd been dying to do something in these colors for a while, just waiting for the right opportunity.

Guess I'll hang out, wait for any cataclysmic changes to pop up, and either fix 'em or post final later this week. Hope your are all going well!

-mike

[warpy]

fantastic work walrus !

[shambok]

Wow Mr D, the pic is looking really good! The walrus is a talented animal! Thanx again for checking out my entry, much appreciated !!!

[anzibon]

Anzibon - I appreciate the feedback. But, imho, if anything makes the characters stand out, it's the value contrast of them being dark on a light backdrop. Adding more of a rim-light only helps if they were against a darker backdrop, otherwise, it's just fuzzying the border between them and the nspace behind them. I've already added as much rim light as I dare.
-mike


i gave it another viewing on a calibrated monitor and i tihnk i was just too dark before. i guess it's always a toss up having your charaters darker than the bg... you lose some impact of the datails in the characters, but you gain such a beautiful sillouette.

viva la godrays,
~B

[EdP-Art]

It's a lovely piece Walrus but where are they???

...the God Rays!!! :argh:

and your supposed to be the King of God Rays!! :banghead:

If it had God Rays it should get first prize!

*Ed :)

[anzibon]

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=3531942&posted=1#post3531942

off topic... but i think there's a new King of the Godrays in town.
~B

[walrus]

I do have godrays streaming in from the right, but they're so subtle that I kicked myself out of the god-rays club (i forget where, in Jeromoo's thread? Paperclip's?) Anyhow, yeah, I second the nomination for Leda to be the god-ray king... and let's face it, given his subject matter, what could be more appropriate? I should go tell him, i hadn't seen that update. Thanks for the link!

[paperclip]

Adel has his prize now! (I gave him this: http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/7841/godray2ou.jpg)

What he does with it is now up to him! Too bad we can't have it below his avatar or something. :scream:

[jeromoo]

LOL! Leda has the first ever politically correct God-Ray to be present in this cgchallenge! I think the club ranks should go down from the closest representation to the politically-incorrect-but-still-could-qualify. This means Walrus is second in command and I am the club janitor! T_T

[walrus]

There's a new entry by someone names QUILLS (yep, loud name, just like that) who is still more deserving of a place in the club than I. He can be 2nd in command.

And I presented Adel with a more appropriate trophy. If you haven't seen it:

http://www.michaeldashow.com/forum_art/godrayking.jpg
Seemed the right thing to do, as outgoing president an' all...

-mike

oops, looks like my site is down. :( I hope it wasn't all those poeple viewing my improved godrays trophy! If anyone else can host it, it's a small file, I'll send it to you...

[paperclip]

I dunno Mike, QUILLS' beams aren't really God-rays, they're just volumetric light coming through a hole in a cave....not really God-rays...so you get to keep your GRC second-in-command membership!


I'm working on becoming the God-Rays Queen! :D

[BaronImpossible]

God rays or not, it's a fine piece. Sure to come at, or very near, the top. Great work :thumbsup:

[elnady]

Wow

Great colors
wish you good luck :)

[adonihs]

dude walrus, I was thinking of adding god rays to my pic, the final..but ended up scraping them. I figure, you barely see them, and if you do, theyre always in an epic painting so its a tad cliche...i say leave em out. FORGET THE GOD RAYS, become...a...god..king?


great pic though :)

[anticz]

Simple awesome, great story telling. THis has a really unique feel to it. Great job.

[Ramitxon]

Well, God rays or not you have an amazing image Walrus, you made it again massster. There are so many places to look at... Everything is great, except maybe the right hand of the boy, I find it a bit strange, the fingers are too spaced, but it´s only my humble opinion. I hope to see you winning a prize.

[ramy badie]

Ok one little tiny nitpicky comment (sorry!) Ok so the fence goes along the path it seems, but the fence on the part nearest the viewer goes basically straight out to the left, but the curvature of the path hints that it is dipping down but not too far left, so I feel like the closest part of the fence is strangely placed? I might just be misunderstanding the intention of the fence. Regardless, it is just awesome now, I can't find anything else to even comment on, everything just looks great! :D

[individium]

i cant understand how could i have been absent this long in your threads. but your last image is just wow!!!:eek::applause: great job!

god-rays club is in caos as i see these days. i do have god-ray in my picture too but outside the frame:P:P:P

[walrus]

Thanks, everyone, for the notes!

Theresa - It's going to be hard for me to even remain in the mere court of God-Ray kings if half the people who look at this piece can't even tell whether or not I've even put them in! That's okay, the important thing was to make sure the whole piece looked good, not to show off volumetric lighting. I think I achieved the former, if not the latter, and that's all that matters.

Simon - Thanks! Great praise from someone who should be just as likely to show up in the final roster!

Elnady, adonihs, and anticz - Thank you!

Ramitxon - Yes, I know you're not happy with that hand, you've mentioned it already. But as I said before, I'm still very happy with it. i like my hands to be cartoony and expressive, and it does in fact look a lot like one of my hands, pose and all. Glad you like teh rest of the peice, though!

Ramy - If I understand you correctly, you're noticing that the fence doesn't run along-side the path, the way it does in the midground, right? That's okay, it's intentional and I'm not too worried about it. Not everything in real life has to all line up. I just figured there's a sharp drop there, and so the fence is arranged around where the lawn is, not where the road is... But I certainly don't mind the nitpick, I'm just waiting to see if I get any of them that demand repainting before I post a final image.

Individium - Ha, you get to ask Adel about that now. (Shhh, he thinks we were doinging him a favor making him king, but when he has to deal with everyone's god-ray questions... ha ha ha ha ha!) But anyhow, thanks, glad you like the image!



So it's looking like I'll be posting the final image some time in the next couple of days, Saturday at the latest. When I do that, I'll also make sure to post a large version on my site that is scaled to desktop-size, as several people have asked me for that. (I've got one friend who has a version from 2 weeks ago as her desktop, which kind of bugs me because it's the unfinished version of the piece, even though I'm also really flattered!) I was trying to decide between doing the letterbox version of the piece (Full piece with black at top and bottom) and the pan-'n'-scan version, full bleed for the entire screen but the far left and right cut off... any preferences out there?

an' that's all for now. Thanks for dropping by!

[Ramitxon]

Sorry Walrus, I didn´t remember I told you about the hand before, I´ve been out of the challenge for a few weeks busy as hell with my work. I like your image very much and as I think I said before I have learned a lot from your work and I must thank you for that.

[JRBRAZ]

Congratulations!!

The final result is really amazing. I just love it :eek:

[makaron]

I was trying to decide between doing the letterbox version of the piece (Full piece with black at top and bottom) and the pan-'n'-scan version, full bleed for the entire screen but the far left and right cut off... any preferences out there?

Full piece with black at top and bottom... that´s my choice... looking forward to the final :) and the desktopversion of course...

[beelow]

Whoops! I came to give an ass-pat and a half for the image! It turned out great!:thumbsup:

[yoff]

Full piece with black at top and bottom...
Yeah, we want all of it... :)

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1147540807_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/9566/9566_1147540807_large.jpg)

In my entry, 'Farewell Kiss,' I've tried to depict the beginning of two journeys: Both the literal one where the boy is leaving on an adventure, and a more metaphorical one, the start of a romance for the two characters.
The picture should speak for itself, though, so I leave the rest to the your interpretation.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on the journey. Your support, feedback, and help has been invaluable!

Oh, and as promised, I've made both letterbox and fill-screen versions of this image as a desktop available on my site. Check out my downloads page (http://www.michaeldashow.com/downloads.html#farewellkiss) for the files.

-mike

[azazel]

Man, that is a sweet image. The light, colors, ambience... it's like taken out of particularly good dream ;) :thumbsup:

[paperclip]

CONGRATULATIONS! :applause: :buttrock: :bounce: :D :applause: :buttrock: :love:


You've put so much work into this and it's really paid off. Fantastic work- made by another half-michigander, no less. :)

I must say I've loved watching you develop and I've also enjoyed seeing how you work, it's always fun learning how the pros do these things! I'm fervently expecting this to come in very high up in the winners' list....again! :D


You can be the jester of the God-Rays court...I'm the dishwasher of the God-Ray club's canteen. :sad: But we're the founders, so it's OK, right?....right, Mike?

[duddlebug]

BeautiFuL Image Mike!!

I've been a bit distracted with proper work and neglected this challenge more than i'd have liked. So it was lovely to come and have a browse this morning and see such a lovely piece of work. This has lovely lighting, colours and atmospherics and nice character design thrown in for good measure!

Congratulations on getting it done early! And best of luck!!





(i'm trying to decide if i can get mine in on time... hmmm?)

[ahbeejieh]

Congrats are inline man, hope you get placed :) I defintely say you've really nailed the "early-morning-cereals-for-breakfast-sweet-kiss-before-the-long-journey" feeling. I love the expression of that thing he's riding. It keeps the overly happy expressions of the two in balance, and adds a really whimsical mood to the piece. Congrats again man. Goodluck :scream:

[Art2]

Congratulations Mike, excellent image. Nice mood, great clouds, great surroundings, it's a winner.

[Atris]

Hi Michael!
Congratulations! I think it's beyond all praise! Great job! I really like everything in your image! Good luck! :)

[Ramitxon]

Well Mike, all I can say to you is congratulations too. You have made a fantastic piece of art .
Good luck at the judging.

[individium]

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:
congrats mike really beatiful piece of art!

[Slav]

very very clean result! grats on finishing. and best of luck :)

[walrus]

Thanks, everyone, it's been really great having your support throughout the entire process. Now for the fun part: Sitting around for a month and a half twiddling my thumbs! :rolleyes:
Naw, I don't care, I got a nice portfolio piece out of it, that's really all you can expect from these challenges, everything else is just frosting, or icing, or something fattening like that. Plus now i get to see everyone else's cool pieces come together without having to stress over mine. There's already some gret stuff in this competition, and i'm sure there'll even be some of the best pieces from people who haven't even started their threads here yet.

Theresaclip - of course we're still in the club! One of the few tenets of the god-rays club is that we don't kick anyone out, even if they don't have any god-rays at all! (...Unless Adel changes the charter. He's allowed to do that, you know, he is the King.) Jester, though... I like it, it's a good fit!

ahbeejieh - thanks! That's just about what I was going for, but it's nice to have the bird rolling his eyes to keep it from beng too sugarry. Glad you think it worked!

Take care and good luck everyone to finishing up your pieces!

-mike

[Fahrija]

congrats mike,

beautiful artwork finished with an exemplary time management. Good luck for the judgement phase.


fahrija

.

[Alouette]

awesome work mike!
i'm happy to see it finished.
you give us a great lesson of methodology with this challenge.
Thx a lot for your iinterest in other threads and particulary mine.

i hope the best for your piece!

great great great !

[beelow]

Good luck, Mike! Image is lovely!:thumbsup:

[artvandeley]

Mike, it´s flat-out beautiful! I love it!!

[Scob]

Really impressive work , great stuff...
Awesome character design..
I love it ...:applause:

[jeromoo]

Hey there Mike! Sorry for not responding for quite a while. No, its not Animal Crossings that's taking up my time. I feel a little exhausted from all the cg-talking, so I took a much needed break by watching episodes of Smallville, the DVD set I recently bought!! :D

You are welcome anytime for my help, and I want to thank you very much for yours too! You and others have made this challenge a funny and pleasant process and, by george, we created "The God-Rays Club" out of the blue! Let's make this club a very funny version of cgtalk! :D You the Jester, Me the Janitor, Adel the king and Theresa is the Queen?

I wish you all the very best for your entry and no doubt you will make it to the winners list! You always have, my friend!

You are right, regardless of what we have achieved from this challenge, our entries make fine portfolio pieces! Hope to 'God-Ray' with you again next time!

[MDN67]

Very great pic no words good luck mate

[Mythmaker]

Congrats on finishing Mike! - You've made a really good job of this :)

I recon you've got a more than decent chance of making the podium!

Beautiful work! :thumbsup:

[Chupacabra]

I've checked here after a while to see what's going on with you guys. And i find many of you also have finished the Journey.

Mike, i'm not ONLY going to tell you how great your work is. I'll tell you how sharp your senses are and how kind you were in putting feedback and helping me improve my work better.

I really hope to meet you and some of the other folks from this community in person one day.

And besides that, i wish you good luck, brother.

Best,

[RWR²]

very good work!
good luck!

[warpy]

looking good walrus, good luck !

[makaron]

I just :love: your image...

well done Walrus-Michael... you got yourself a winner... in my opinion...

[walrus]

Wow, thanks everyone! I'm really feeling the love. Of course, it's far to early to have any idea how this will place, but I really appreciate the kind sentiments and votes of support from everyone.

Wan to hear something really stupid? Looking through my files last night, I realized that I uploaded my Spectacular entry with one channel accidentally hidden! And it took me this long to realize it... how stupid! :) I just double-checked my Journey Begins entry and everything is looking fine. (This is why you want to finish and upload early!)

jeromoo - yes, thanks again for your help... It's been fun chatting back and forth with you about god rays and everything this challenge.
Let's make this club a very funny version of cgtalk!
What, this place isn't funny already? :)

khan - Oh, a few of us are just finishing a little early to avoid making stupid mistakes in the big final FTP rush (see note above.) Anyhow, you're too kind. I'm always happy to help. It would be great to meet you too someday. I don't have any trips planned for Switzerland any time soon, but if you're ever in the San Francisco area, drop me a line!

Mona - Thanks! I was thinking of you this weekend! My family and I were walking near the lake and little baby goslings were out - they're still young so they look like yellow puffballs. I would have liked to get a photo for you, but my zoom lense isn't all that, and the adult geese are undestandably protective and won't let anyone near the babies... oh well!

Catch you all later, and good luck finishing all yours...!

-mike

[calisto-lynn]

amaziiing!! beautifull work!!

[KOryH]

Fantasic final image. You really worked it out yeah yeah. We gotta hot one here tonight America!

Whoh, I seriously need to stop watching American Idol!

Great job Mike. the details are perfect and the overall feeling is spot on.

Best of luck

[penartist26]

wow chicken joy! amazing characters man ilike it the color is also nice keep it up yo

[Cyberone]

just wanted to drop in and say what a fantastic image you have made...
of course ive been watching all the way and im really in love with this one...
the landscape is what gets me the most...i would lone to explore a land like that...
looks sorta like a fansasy game world...
anyway yeah...i just wanted so say that this was a job very well done :)
hope to also see more of your work in the future...ill be looking :)

CYB

[jeromoo]

jeromoo - yes, thanks again for your help... It's been fun chatting back and forth with you about god rays and everything this challenge.

What, this place isn't funny already? :)
-mike

Ok, I admit it, its funny! But God-Rays Club can help to spread the humor! :D Theresa and I have discussed about the club details. I will PM you to tell you more.

[medunecer]

Absolutely amazing. Flawless illustration and style. Congrats!

[InTerceptoV]

Fantastic image. The colors and the forms are so great ... I hope to learn something from your skills. ;)

BTW expression on the animals face is so funny and cute :thumbsup:

Good luck with voting.

[Neubius]

excelent!

i want some of those patterned stones in my garden! :)

good luck

[Neubius]

excellent !

i want some of those pattened stones in my garden !

[walrus]

Thanks, everyone, for the nice posts. Nice to see this piece still gets a modicum of attention now that I've stopped updating it. :) (But if you want to see some new stuff I'm working on, I posted a layout for a new illustration in the Work In Progress section and am getting no feedback at all! So if anyone feels like critting more work, check it out in this thread (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=3557794#post3557794). Thanks!
Okay, anough with the plugs...

cyb - thanks, you're piece is looking nice too... but I can't return the favor and say yours is a land that I'd like to explore. I was never very good at mazes. :)

Kory - sorry it didn't look like you had time to work on your 2D entry but hope the 3D one is coming out okay! (Now that I'm done here, i should really head over into the other forum and look at things!)

anyhow, catch you all later, and thanks again for the kind words!

-mike

[FlaminGlow]

Congratulations Walrus, fantastic image man...

:thumbsup:

[Muttonhead]

Kudos to you! Your piece is a juggernaut of awesomeness! Good luck!

[Tyranx]

wow so awesome!

[beelow]

Congrats, again Micheal! YOur work always have great narrative, mixed with compo, and superb use of color, that is at your command! Your shows your knowledge and understanding in how to develop a great image, again good luck!:thumbsup:

[Smik]

It is pleasant to look when so much a positive in a composition, very beautifully!!!

[Nickillus]

Love it, loveit, love it.
Is that clear enough?

Nick

[MichaelCTY]

Hey Michael, sorry I am late, Congratz on finishing this. I love the background design the most, nice detail and wonderful colours, the characters looks so sweet with rich facial expressions, well done dude. best luck for you in the next stage! cheers:bounce:

[MichaelZHsee]

gosh i missed ur finals~very welldone mike,i echoed entirely what michael chang mentioned above,the background especially,great sense of deign and finely composited:)i wanna thank u for all the precious comments and the support u have fed in my entry,its very much appreciated and i hope we'll meet again in the next challenge.good luck and god speed to u in the final judging.:thumbsup:

[walrus]

Hi, everyone! I'm out of town right now, actually visiting my college for a reunion, which is why my comments on others' threads have been scant in the past day or so. But we had a few minutes downtime, so I logged on to see that this thread has floated back up again, surprise! I also see that there are, as of this writing, four hours left in the Challenge - I suspect that they will be a very interesting four hours. How many people do you think will join the challenge between now and then?

Sean - your post tickled me the most, for the expression "a juggernaut of awesomeness." That is a great turn of phrase, and I am very flattered and honored to have it bestowed upon my work. Thank you!

I don't actually have time right now to individually thank everyone who posted all these nice comments but thank you, everyone. Sorry I don't have time to post congratulations to everyone as they finish, but to all of you who have worked so hard and come so far - congratulations and rest easy! Catch you all soon...

-mike

[Slav]

i prolly wished you best of luck and congrats on finishing but just in case i did here it is again! grats and best of luck mike :thumbsup:

[SideAche]

Congrats on another great entry Mike, Best of luck. see you in the next one.

Cheers

[TheFirstAngel]

congrats on another great piece :) solid work from the first to the last stroke, as usual. keep on rocking Mike, always! best of luck on the finals ....weeeeeeeee

[iamawizard]

had been watching this from the beginning.

not just bcos this is beautiful, but also bcos you were 1 of those who make excellent artwork at blizzard

i am a fan of blizzard entertainment

and also bcos u were the only person who posted to my spectacular challenge(if u remember)

this piece is really original art
excellent mood
nice environment design
cool concept

regards and goodluck for the judging

Sivaprasad Velayudhan

[tuck]

awesome image, the style is really sweet! Good luck!:thumbsup:

[individium]

hi michael,

now we're waiting to see which award you'll win:)

watching all the progress of your work and god-rays club was fun:)
and also thanx for sharing the way you work with us, i learned some really useful tips.

see you later and nice knowing you

[vader]

I followed its I work since the beginning! really an excellent work walrus! :bounce:
the colors and the composition are incredible!

congrats and good luck :thumbsup:

[Dalton-Muniz]

Walrus! The colors are Fantastic!! The little details on your piece is so good to see! The style you used is amazing! Congratulations and Good Luck!!

[kornel]

Absolutely respect! You are my favorite! :thumbsup:

best regards: Kornél

[walrus]

Back from vacation...

Hi, everyone! Thanks for the notes!

Slav - Thank you!

Cliff - Good seeing you around for another one, too, and definitely see you around for more...!

Angel- Glad to have you around for support for this one, too. Thanks!

iamawizard - thanks, but i think you got the tense wrong: I don't make artwork at Blizzard, I made artwork at Blizzard. I'm not there any longer, just spent too long spinning my wheels on many projects that never saw the light of day, which got a bit tiresome. But glad you liked what I did while I was there. (As well as this piece, of course!)

Tuck - Thank you very much!

individium - Great, I'm glad to hear that you got something out of my thread, that's really whe whole point. Thanks!

Vader - Thank you, glad you like it.

Dalton - Thank you!

Kornel - That's really kind of you to say, thank you very much.

catch you all later... don't go too crazy waiting for the judging results, there were a lot of good entries and it'll surely take a while. Go do some more art while you're waiting to take your mind off it all! :D

-mike

[iamawizard]

I'll be honoured if u spare some of your time to make some comment on my entry

this is my second challenge
and my second complete digital painting

thanks in advance if u manage to find time for my entry

regards and goodluck
Sivaprasad Velayudhan

[duddlebug]

*CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!!*

And you've won a copy of Painter IX! You've got no excuse not to learn it now...

This is a wonderful image with beautiful lighting and atmosphere. You deserve it!

I'd just sent you a pm wishing you luck (and some links to your IFX article) and then noticed the winners had been announced! What a dunce i am!? See you next time....

:bounce:

[omer-n]

CONGRATS! :thumbsup: i hoped i'll be the first one to post

anyways you deserve the win and i hope to see you next contest, and thanks for the comments on my journey thread

Omer


-----------------------

my journey: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?threadid=339627

[MichaelZHsee]

congrates michael~u've made it again bro!:thumbsup: see ya in the next challenge

[Mythmaker]

Well done Michael! - It a beautiful piece of work - congratulations! :thumbsup:

[Scob]

Congratulations!...:applause:
With such a beautiful work , the opposite was impossible ..:thumbsup:
cheers

[paperclip]

:applause:

What did I tell ya, mike? huh? huh? hey? What'd I tell ya?

YOu owe me a hug, mister!! Congratulations on the great work... :D

:bounce: :applause: :beer:

[JTD]

Congratulations, walrus! Your entry is, and was always, awesome. Thanks for being an essential part of this community!

[Fahrija]

Hi Mike,

my congratulations! The second award-winner artwork and it brought you a 4th place in the challenge. :thumbsup:


best wishes
fahrija

.

[walrus]

Thanks, everyone!!!
This is so cool! I just got my latest issue of ImagineFX in the mail yesterday, and got to soak up Jonny's great article about going from Photoshop to Painter IX... who'd have thunk that I'd need it so soon? But now I have a copy of Painter on the way... Like Jonny said, guess I have no excuse not to learn it.

Anyhow, this is quite an honor. Thanks to everyone again for all of your input and help on this picture along the way.

(and I just started updating my Brain-bots thread again and coloring that piece last night, for those who have been wondering... like Theresa! ;) Congrats and a big hug to you too for your well-deserved award, my dear!)

-mike

[SideAche]

Congrats Michael! Wonderful image

[GonzaloGolpe]

Michael, congratulations!!:D :D A great and funny work!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Dalton-Muniz]

Walrus! The colors are Fantastic!! The little details on your piece is so good to see! The style you used is amazing! Congratulations and Good Luck!!

Walrus
I would like to congratulate you for the winning, your work trully deserved the prize!! :)

[MoonVisionStudio]

Congrats Michael, This one has such a great Epic feel and fun too.

[SuperXCM]

Congrats!! :bounce:


I love the style, and the sky is amazing, nice choice for colors!!
Great Work!:thumbsup:

[artvandeley]

Congratulations on this wonderful image, Michael. It certainly was among my personal Top5-List.

I must say that your nice attitude and your helpful advice along with your professional way to work is one of the main reasons i decided to sign in this community.

Have fun with your Painter-Copy!!

[douglas442]

Well, for whatever it's worth... I must add my two-cents. A beautifully and brilliantly imaginative work... full of everything-that's-good goodness! Humor and humanity, wonder and... ancient ruins so vast they are frequently mistaken for mountains ( who built them? what were they for? and do they or their builders have anything to do with the boy's journey, his past, or his future? )!

Any chance for organizing all the collected wisdom in this thread into another tutorial ( I'm still on dial-up... no, really! I am. )? ...or perhaps another book from Ballistic?

[walrus]

Funny you should ask, Douglas - I am right now in the process or working on a tutorial for CGSociety for "Farewell Kiss." I should have it done this week, but there's no telling when it might appear on the site. Although I must confess, I keep editing it down and down and down, and it's still not at the target length yet. I'm worried I'm losing all of the meat - if you really want to get everything, read through this thread in its entirety! :)

Torsten - Thanks so much! Enjoy your copy of Painter too - although I don't suspect you need another. I enjoyed watching your process and getting your input on my piece as well... and always thought your piece would come in ahead of mine in any fair contest. Glad you placed so high!

Everyone else - thank you so much for your kind words and congratulations. It's all greatly appreciated!

-mike

[hdhcg]

Congratulations~!,Michae
It's very beautiful image.

[hdhcg]

Congratulations~!,Michae
It's very beautiful image.I like it

[Zork]

Congratulations ! Fantastic pic...:]

[douglas442]

I am right now in the process or working on a tutorial for CGSociety for "Farewell Kiss." I should have it done this week, but there's no telling when it might appear on the site.


That's good to hear! I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Although I must confess, I keep editing it down and down and down, and it's still not at the target length yet. I'm worried I'm losing all of the meat - if you really want to get everything, read through this thread in its entirety! :)


Hmm. You may just have to do the book. First part could be the story... second part, how all the ideas evolved that led to it and the final image.

[eilidh]

Congratulations! This has been my personal favourite from the challenge. I think you have absolutely captured the feel, the sense of adventure, along with a touch of humour and a light-hearted hint at sentiment. The execution is simply put fantastic -- and then there are all those small details I kept staring at for many many minutes.

Kudos!

[NinjaA55N]

Congratulations buddy! I hoped for u to win some of these prizes and u did. well deserved for sure! Sorry for not having a large speach prepeared, but the result says it all :) I hope to see u in next challenge as well (if they dont invite u among the jury, hehe) Best regards!

[beaux]

great work Michael. no crits, just kudos - b

[ChrisNoeth]

Fantastic Image! I love it.

How do you blend your colors like this in photoshop? They are looking so smooth and ps has no blend tool like painter... so how do you do it?

Keep up the great work.

Best,

Chris

[walrus]

How do you blend your colors like this in photoshop? They are looking so smooth and ps has no blend tool like painter... so how do you do it?

oops, kinda late on the reply, sorry!
Anyhow - I just use a lot of low-opacity brushes in Photoshop and build up the colors that way. Not a lot of blur or airbrush or smudge, I just paint really smoothly.

douglass and others - by now you've likely seen teh Farewell kiss tutorial. See, I told you I couldn't edit it down, but I expected CGSociety to do more choping than they did. So: An extra-long tutorial. Of course, anyone who has been following this thread along doesn't really need the abbreviated version.
Anyhow, thanks for all the notes. Hope to see you all soon in another challenge (any month now! :) )

-mike

[Spc]

Now that's a master piece.
Congrats walrus for an exceptional work.

:D

[RuanJIAJIA]

this is good work

[-NG-]

It gives me goosebumps, so i geuss it speaks for itself. :) Lovely!

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