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! 
The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: Michael Dashow
ramy_badie
#581
individium
#582
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
#583
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
#584
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.
makaron
#586
Full piece with black at top and bottom… that´s my choice… looking forward to the final 
and the desktopversion of course…
walrus
#589
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 for the files.
-mike
azazel
#590
Man, that is a sweet image. The light, colors, ambience… it’s like taken out of particularly good dream 
paperclip
#591
CONGRATULATIONS! :applause: :buttrock: :bounce: :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!
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
#592
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?)
jbballaran
#593
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 
Art2
#594
Congratulations Mike, excellent image. Nice mood, great clouds, great surroundings, it’s a winner.
Atris
#595
Hi Michael!
Congratulations! I think it’s beyond all praise! Great job! I really like everything in your image! Good luck!
Ramitxon
#596
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
#597
:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:
congrats mike really beatiful piece of art!
walrus
#599
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
#600
congrats mike,
beautiful artwork finished with an exemplary time management. Good luck for the judgement phase.
fahrija
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