| » Forum Index » The Friday Challenge » Topic: Challenge 425: The big top |
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Posted on 26/10/12 07:07:51 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3126 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thankyou Artwel, you are not so bad yourself! |
Posted on 26/10/12 08:19:14 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7052 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
First into the big top this week was Josephine Harvatt, with a striking nautical scene - there’s Neptune with a couple of mermaids, surrounded by performing sea creatures. I like the way the ground sheet has been tinted to look like water, which is very effective. I’d been going to suggest the water could do with some reflections, but looking at the volume of activity that would be quite a job! I like the differentiated mermaids, and the recolouring. A good choice of people and positioning from Garfield72, with good matching of tone and colour. The levitating magician could really do with a reflection in that shiny platform in front of him, though - look how well it reflects the box behind him. Or is the lack of a reflection another of his tricks? Plenty of activity in the second entry, with a range of performers strutting their stuff. But you do need to watch your eyelines: the conjurer in the front is very low in the scene. A touch of politics from sciteach, lampooning the US Presidental debates. I like the idea of Obama and Romney as clowns, juggling fire; the eagle device works well as a backdrop, and Big Bird being fired out of a cannon is a good topical reference. Good work! A turnaround from Linda Eckert, with an audience of baying lions clearly mightily impressed by an arena of performing people. The exercise poses are just right for matching the poses of performing animals - what a good idea! You do need to look at the people's colours, though, with regard to matching not just the background but each other. A dramatic scene from tooquilos, with a magnificent ringmaster wielding a flaming hoop. A great animated version, with terrific movement from the can can dancer - and the clown does a good parody. Great! A fine selection of clowns from Frank, although the balancing elephant does seem a little short in comparison. Good work getting the reflection of the ball in, but you also need to remove the reflection of the pillar behind it! I like the lit spotlight, and the audience inserted in the distance. I like the fact that tomiloi has photographed a real circus for this - it looks like a good selection of acts! Was the pony really balancing on a plank? Great shadow of the plank, by the way - I like the way it breaks over the edge of the plinth. Perfect angles on all the performers, especially the tightrope walker and the sumo wrestler - although this is the first time I've seen a sumo performance in a circus! A daring feat from brewell, although the performer doesn't seem unduly concerned by the foaming vat of gasoline he's about to plunge into. I don't quite understand how he's hanging on that cord: with his thumb in front of it, how is he gripping it? And is he wearing a single long sock, or is that a shadow effect? I like the fire, the filling station and the vat, and the spotlight is a good idea. But is it ever possible for an object's shadow to be smaller than the object itself? I think that's counter-intuitive. Some good Monty Python references in Jeepy's entry, with the knights peering from behind the curtain at the white rabbit - and of course the giant foot (although Rowan Atkinson seems a little out of place). A good reflection of the clown's foot in that shiny plinth. A simple but very effective entry from Jota120, with a close-up clown throwing the background into perspective. Should the background be more out of focus, though? Plenty of actin in the second entry, with leaping performers seemingly caught in that spider's web of yours. I like the way the doorway now opens to a long distance view - good blending, it merges very neatly into the reflective ground sheet. I like marlcliff's Halloween-themed entry, full of witches, coffins, lanterns and spooky references. The screaming woman in the front is a nice touch, although her position so low in the frame is a little awkward. I'm not sure about all those pink and green blobs, though, mainly because they're all identical: you don't need a custom brush to paint clouds! There are better ways, Phill. Try just a soft-edged brush at very low opacity, and build up a mist effect in stages. A very funny entry from Mariner, with the remains of a circus ("Burnum" - clever!) that has burnt to the ground after the Dragon Man's fire-eating act. A very clever idea, very nicely realised - the burn effect on the entrance is well achieved. A really good piece of work, Michael! A curious couple of characters from Deborah Morley, who turn out to be none other than our Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer - juggling the economic figures, perhaps? That's a remarkably slender body for the tubby Mr Osborne, although I have to say Cameron does look somewhat fetching in lederhosen. Extremely clever work from joeysala, with a troupe of outsize performing fleas. They fit perfectly on their equipment, and the recoloured background throws them into neat relief. What impressed me most (and you'll be glad I said this) is the detailed and accurate reflection in the shiny plinth, in which the new objects neatly mask the original reflections. Good work! A clever and highly detailed scene from Artwel, whose troupe of circus animals - including scarily oversized lion and bear - have imprisoned the circus performer in a cage. Many great extra touches here - the discarded clown shoes, the whip in the lion's mouth, the new eye on the elephant, the top hat on the monkey, the overturned stool... a wealth of detail in a very fine piece. Excellent. |
Posted on 26/10/12 08:46:22 AM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks Steve  _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 26/10/12 09:22:16 AM |
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Jeepy
Modeleur Mystique Posts: 174 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thank you Steve. It was not just a reference to Monty Python, but also to Benny Hill and Mr Bean and his teddy. 
Thank for the week's banner. |
Posted on 26/10/12 09:54:52 AM |
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brewell
Pixel Pentagrammarian Posts: 752 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Quick fixes: I wrapped the red sash around his hand and enlarged his shadow. Thanks. _________________ The journey of a thousand hours begins with a single layer. |
Posted on 26/10/12 09:58:16 AM |
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Artwel
Satire Supremo Posts: 607 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks Steve, (and mariner). Steve I rushed this last night and I'm not happy woth the lion, if I take him out the scene looks better, but You gotta have a lion! Maybe its perspective or the colour? Thanks..  _________________ “Art Is Never Finished, Only Abandoned.” |
Posted on 26/10/12 10:46:22 AM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks again Steve, Re: >Should the background be more out of focus, though?, I was thinking same thing, but could not do it very much as context would be lost/"blurred". With a camera you can get very good depth of field especially if shoot with wide angle lens and/or quite away back and then crop. But more; its perception of vision, where brain takes a big part with our "vision" without us necessarily concious of it e.g. ref http://www.science20.com/news_articles/vision_perception_and_brain , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_perception The licence of Art, perception and with Photoshop
All enjoy weekend, Trevor |
Posted on 26/10/12 2:27:23 PM |
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sciteach
Professor Pixel Posts: 126 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks Steve! appreciate the feedback. |
Posted on 27/10/12 12:11:27 PM |
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joeysala
Perfect Palmist Posts: 604 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thankx Steve. What I'm really glad you DIDN'T say was the eyes/horizon line stuff wasn't working - 'cause I couldn't even guess where their eyes are!  _________________ "Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art........" Joseph Conrad |
Posted on 27/10/12 11:20:25 PM |
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marlcliff
Knight of Intrigue Posts: 171 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks Steve for the feedback  I agree the coloured clouds/mist/spooky colours didnt work. I will try the for the clouds i will try the build up approach . the screaming woman was low to hide the water mark lol |
Posted on 28/10/12 10:18:02 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2905 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thank you Steve _________________ Wicked Witch of the West: I'm melting! I'm melting! |
Posted on 31/10/12 8:06:07 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1770 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 425: The big top
Thanks Steve Missed that one reflection --- the elephant is a baby elephant Frank |
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