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

#461

if you have a PC is easy to see whats under the red X. just right click on the red X and choose
properties, copy the adress/URL and paste it into a new internetwindow. and then go to. or enter. in this case its http://www.caffein8ed.com/fazed_stuff/ani_kitten-zzz.gif :slight_smile:

if you have a mac, I not sure how it works tho…

and I really like the hen beside the big bird, how she looks up in a mix of scare/admire upon him… and for the left corner, the same flowers as by the fence would be nice I think. To tie things together, or maybe 2 little babychickens… that would raise the cutenessfactor even higher… :wink:

#462

This is looking excellent, mate! I love the chickens and birds too. I think to finish it off (other than the sky u have mentioned), some shrubs and flowers would be nice. And I suggest a tree crown casted shadow on the lower left too. That would make the characters seem a little less like standing in full light, since their shadows is at four o’clock but they seem backlit. And personally, can I ask for a windmill in the background or a wind vane on the rooftop of the house? And o yea…a scarecrow too, u gotta have those! :slight_smile:

p.s. sorry I didnt answer your question earlier…yes…the changes look great, even though I still think her jaw and chin can be a little lighter…but that’s just personal taste, so I’m not suggesting anything. Thanks man for even taking my comments into consideration! Cheers !!!

#463

Great! Very good use of warm colour. It gives to the scene an incredible atmosphere. I agree with jeromoo about clouds and flawers.

#464

Man, you are so close to being finished now.

I sure hope you enjoy winning that prize waiting for you…

#465

Thanks for the comments, everyone (even those of you who don’t bother reading any of the notes I type, where I clearly say I haven’t touched the clouds yet. But then, if you didn’t read that then you won’t read this either… :slight_smile: )

I still couldn’t see the kitty, even on a Mac, so Mona sent it to me. All I have to say is “aaawwwwwwww!” (and thanks, mona!)

I like Jeromoo’s suggestions about a rooster and another bucket, but I don’t think they’d fit into the scene compositionally. Can’t get it too crowded. so they’ll go in the back of the house along with the chicken coop and fire pit.

makaron - good, it sounds like you read the expression on that chicken’s face just right, I’m glad! No more chicken, though… like my cuteness factor needs to be any higher! :slight_smile: (Plus, something animate in the lower left would attract the eye, while I need something that the eye will slide right over, or around and back into the picture. Compositionally, I need to round that corner out with something that frames the picture without grabbing the eye.)

Pat - good idea about shadows in the lower left.Flowers on the grass would be nice too. I can put a windmill and scarecrow in, but they’re going somewhere back there… won’t fit any place where they’ll be immediately obvious. Real estate prices are high, y’know…! :slight_smile: Thanks for your notes.

Theresa - yeah, I know, I got so excited about working on this that I paced myself poorly, I didn’t mean to be this finished this soon. Now everyone will ignore me for a month. In the past I’ve tried to go at a speed that gets me to the finish line 1 week before deadline, to avoid the FTP rush. Well, i still do have a bunch of fixes and things to add… slowly!

-mike

#466

I really like this entry mr. walrus sir =) Great colours, atmosphere and design. Great imagination workin on that background :wink: If you were to change anything i’d say make the clouds a bit more defined or detailed. They seem a little too roughed out in comparison to the rest of the pic. I woulda added a bit more bumps and shapes.

But hey, my money is on you :wink: (you and neb)

#467

wow. just magnificent. such vibrant colours, and great theme. Great!!

#468

Great, Great image! Cant wait to see the sky done! I think you have yourself a winner here!

#469

I think, that u can add some more people in the background, my buddy had pointed that out, and I agree. It may add more depth and life to it!:thumbsup:

#470

God-rays! God-rays! On a separate layer, so that you can remove them if you don’t like them!

:smiley:

I know,I know, but it’s applicable here too- I think God-rays would look great!

#471

i agree about putting some flowers around and some people. and im waiting for the sky to be done i think it’ll come very nice and the only problem i figured out in this picture is the shadow of the face of the choconobo; too dark for us to see the expression on her face and the eye of her is too white it looks like its taking light and that also gives a contrast and makes the watcher see her expression harder. and ithink this is a problem becouse i think its the most important character of your piece. and i also think youll be one of the prize winners.

cheers:beer:

#472

individium - good points. showing that expression is an important part of the piece. It’s important that I make the face clearer to read. I’ll work on that, thanks.

theresa - well, of course i’m going to add god rays! just look at post #299 - I’ve got them in there. now i just have to add them back in on a new layer. But they’ll be there, along with a lot of that warm sunshiny glow that that post also has. But fisrt I have to paint the clouds in the sky. Did you know that I haven’t painted them yet? :wink:

bryce - but there are lots of people around in the scene - they’re just so far in the background that they’re really small… barely 2 pixels tall in this shot.

pat (again) - i thought about it more, and there won’t be any scarecrows. People here have a different relationship with birds than we do, and no human would be that insulting to a bird’s intelligence to assume that a stuffed human effigy would work to keep birds from eating crops. I think the come to some sort of mutal agreements instead. (I did add 2 windmills though, but they’re really small.)

-mike

#473

I haven’t had the chance to watch this develop but it’s looking lovely, Mike. Love the little details, and the colours you’ve chosen are great. Looking forward to the finish!

Hope all’s well!

#474

Small, small thingy… Should the middleground houses be a bit bigger, because they appear smaller than the ones further away.
And without cluttering the foreground, you could make a very few patches of dirt in the lower left part of the picture.

Your progress on this is very educationnal. More points for you.

#475

whoa michael~i’ve been away for awhile and here u r overwhelming some fantastic updates in ur entry.very very nice going mike.i’ll just sit back and enjoy the rest of ur progress.keep it coming:thumbsup:

#476

Hey hey, pretty picture!
There is a great depth!
I love the big columns!
Good luck!

#477

Hi again Michael!
Just thought I’d check back on the master’s work! Wow, I really love the details you’ve added like the dirt on the road and also the textures of the huge rock towers! Great stuff man.

#478

Nice work, I like it, hardly to imagine better. Is there any way to improve this ? Good luck Jarouch

#479

Matt! Good to see you! Glad you like how it’s coming. With you gone, I had to take up the mantle of “the cute entry” all by myself. :slight_smile: But we’ve missed all you guys. Cheers to Jonny and Aly too, are you guys on crunch time for something?

Jayday - excellent point about the sizes of the middle houses. I fixed them in this post, how do you think they look now? They’re bigger, but they’re still closer to the village than the farm in the foreground. I’ll add some patches of dirt in the foreground too, but that’ll be a later post. Thanks for your advice!

Michael - Thanks for the post. Hope you’ll be updating yours soon, too.

Riddick - Thanks! Here’s a bit of a close-up on how the columns are looking.

Miah - thank you!

Jarouch - well, I hope so, I’ve still got lots of time! I think it will definitely look better once I finish painting the sky and do the light effects.

Bryce - look - more people in the background now!

Pat-Piper - if you look very carfully in the back left, there are 2 windmills, one on either side of the road (the left one is a less traditional upright whirligig design.)

Individium - I made those changes you suggested on the StriderBird, but it’s not in this capture. But it does look better.

Thanks, everyone, for dropping by!

-mike

#480

Ahahaha! Can barely, even see then, forget what, I said, move along!:smiley: