I also want to thank Dylan for taking the time to talk about the images. I think everyone is very grateful.
Thanks again.
ATLANTIS :: WINNERS ::
smurph
#54
Thanks to Jamesvfx and all the judges and congradulations to all the participants, let’s do it again soon.
greekdish
#55
awesome work by all winners. I attempted to enter this contest…and ran into a wall in trying to make all my images matchup colorwise, to look like they all belonged together.
Is it me, or are all the contest winners pretty much the same names over and over?? Gets kinda depressing, doesnt it?? :sad:
cgoz
#57
congrats! every piece is great (my favorite was second priced).
anyway waiting for second challenge and hope i can find piece of time for it.
Kutkin
#58
It’s awesome, to hear comments from someone like Dylan.
Thanks for supporting the community this way. :applause:
Thanks to all the judges and CGSociety for this challenge.
SweD
#61
hey 
my best congratulations to all 3 winners and runner ups ! My best thanks to JamesVFX and CGtalk for this challenge, hope to see the next soon and try to participate again.
vampeta
#62
BREATHTAKING AWESOME!
congratulations to everyone (damm i missed this challenge and the theme was so great)
The first place is simple awesome!!!
GRAT WORKS!
StoskiDigital
#64
My apologies for my late reply! I had the luxury of a very long vacation this summer. I hope you’ll find my comments helpful. Thank-you for having me as a judge for this competition! Congrats to the winners and let’s all thank Jaime for organizing things.
1st Place- Alex Popescu
Very nice painting Alex. Through judging a matte painting competition I looked for strong composition, lighting, mood and photo-reality amongst other things. This piece was the most photographic. Though the forms are of fantasy, Alex was still able to create matte painting that could be cut into a film and the audience would believe it. The color palette, scale and framing would all work in a feature film.
His painting is also very beautiful and interesting. There are alot of details to look at here and many places I wish I could physically go and visit. The Architectural detailing is elegant and other-worldly and helps to create the magical feeling many of us relate to Atlantis.
If there were a few details I would tweak, it would be:
- the black values at the bottom of the frame are a little too dark. Since they are far away AND underwater I think they could be hazed-back more.
- Some of the architecture could be painted a little more consistantly. Some buildings are soft and some too sharp, Others are a bit crooked.
- perhaps the two light canyons in the background could be less similiar. The one on the right could be a bit smaller and different in shape.
Overall, very nice work! Great effort!
2nd PLACE- Pavel Mikhailenko
A fantastic painting! When I first saw this painting I literally studied it for about 15 minutes. I think it has very nice lighting and watery atmosphere. The color palette is great, a bit of green and pink and yellow added to the typical underwater blue makes for a more successful piece. The abundant fish and bubbles help give us a sense of what the final shot might look like if it were moving. Overall one of my favorite concepts of Atlantis that I've ever seen.
I feel that the painting should appear more photo-realistic in order to win a matte painting challenge. Most of the matte painting done in the industry today is of a photo-real nature. Though you have a very strong concept here, I would like to see it painted with more photo-real textures and details.
Great job Pavel, keep working hard!
3rd PLACE- Pavel Cucka
Overall, another great work of art. This matte painting has some qualities in the rocks that I've seen in traditional matte paintings on glass. The rocks are a little bit "brushy", but if you squint or if you saw this on film it would fool most audiences into thinking it was photo-real. I love the simplicity of the composition. However, I feel the composition could be stronger if the path and lights on the left side of frame were alot darker and less noticeable. The idea of the dome and towers at center frame is fantastic and not perfectly centered... good composition.
The color palette works well for underwater. The lighting on the dome and shadows on the cliffs help the dome to stand-out as architecture. Without these and the highlights, the buildings might disappear into the rest of the rock cliff. Very nice work.
Comments on the runner-ups:
Dave Edwards- Perhaps the bright light coming from the top left could be abit brighter. Caustic lights could be hitting the city. Perhaps more distruction to the tall buildings as well. - or if they’re still inhabited, perhaps some lights illuminating them.
Levi Peterfi- A fun concept. The scale is a bit confusing though. Perhaps the supports of this large city could be a bit smaller and bit more human scale.
Adam Richards- Perhaps the light sources could be brighter. Maybe the building with the lights on should have a few more illuminated windows and be set a bit more centered in frame. The black values are good, a bit milky, I think that works for an underwater shot.
Raine Kuusi- The skull is interesting. Overall composition is good. Perhaps the city and skull could be hazed-back more. I’d like to see the green lights of the city turned a bit more orange or pink and contrasty.
Sean Murphy- This painting has a very large scope to it. It feels like something we’d see in a modern sci-film or tv show. Nice work. However, the green color palette isn’t very realistic or inviting. Also, the buildings feel simple, they need more detail. The windows could be a bit smaller too. I love all the bubbles and floating things in the water, it adds movement to the painting. It helps me envision what the final moving matte painting could look like in a film.
Thank-you for involving me, it was a pleasure. Keep up the good work everybody.
Kutkin
#65
Huge thanks for the comments, Chris!
That’s so wonderfull to hear nice words and suggestions from a professional like you.
