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Posted on 23/07/25 00:08:46 AM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3297 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
What an interesting take David... I would never have made that connection.  |
Posted on 23/07/25 00:10:53 AM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3297 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
This one serves no useful purpose other than to satisfy my own curiosity about the other side of the statue. 
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Posted on 23/07/25 08:46:51 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5748 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
It's called so completely out of ideas I couldn't think of anything else. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 23/07/25 08:46:53 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5748 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
It's called so completely out of ideas I couldn't think of anything else. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 23/07/25 1:21:55 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1761 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
I was going to bow out of this one given the almost impossible task of working with the original.David's entry inspired me to carry on , good job on both your entries David.  |
Posted on 23/07/25 8:53:27 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5748 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Thank you Frank. What I love is that yours is so similar in idea and yet so utterly different in style and execution. It's much more myth and legend where mine was simply a highly improbable reality. I really like this Frank! _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 23/07/25 10:31:57 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3297 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Good one Frank, very nice indeed...! |
Posted on 24/07/25 01:29:51 AM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1761 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Thanks David and Loyd. |
Posted on 24/07/25 05:14:59 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Well done David and Frank. A gruesome twosome. |
Posted on 24/07/25 07:42:02 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Bendigeidfran (Wikipedia: Brân the Blessed) Statue in Harlech castle grounds. Year of creation:1984 Rider: Bendigeidfran Sculptor: Ivor Robert-Jones (1913 –1996) This is a very poor sculpture. I can only assume that Ivor Robert-Jones was, at 71, well past his best when he stopped work on it. The only notable thing about it is the king’s face, which could well be that of Robert-Jones, trying to make himself immortal. But perhaps I am being unkind. Wikipedia tells a detailed story of the giant Brân‘s legendary exploits. He supposedly had his own head cut off and buried where the Tower of London now stands, facing France to fight off a possible invasion. That obviously didn’t work. I could find no reports of damage to this sculpture, either deliberate of accidental, and it surely wouldn’t have aged that much since 1984. It looks very unfinished to me. Nonetheless I have done my best to bring a legend to life, and have even resurrected the body of his murdered nephew, Gwern. He is the son of Matholwch, king of Ireland, and Branwen, sister to the king of Britain. 
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Posted on 24/07/25 09:02:46 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5748 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
I take it you are not a fan of Mr Robert-Jones ........  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 24/07/25 09:46:12 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
David, I had never heard of him until this week. I checked out some of his work on Wikipedia - Winston Churchill, Rupert Brooke, The Borderland Farmer, and was less than impressed by any of them. |
Posted on 24/07/25 10:35:00 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Late nights after long days on the roof, patching and painting, (going on 50 hours and still a long way to go  doesn't do much for inspiration. I had no idea what to do with the statue, so I just started playing with all the digital tools I have in my artist's kitbag.
Some really lovely images. Well done everybody.  _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 24/07/25 10:35:31 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
 _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 24/07/25 10:38:02 PM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 948 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
 _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
Posted on 25/07/25 06:47:52 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Dennis I like your third entry. The horse and riders are convincing. Did you use AI? Your picture is a little blurred, but at 105 kb in size that's to be expected. |
Posted on 25/07/25 07:05:56 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7044 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
First to mount the horse this week was lwc, with a suitably rainy scene. I like the blurring of the background. The sunset image is pretty, with a different view of the same sculpture. A much better setting. And I enjoyed the animated crow version, with its cast of onlookers. Is that a vicar in the foreground? The bucking animation is very nicely achieved, with what must have been a lot of work. I’d like to think you built the other side of the statue, but seeing as you sourced a different image earlier I suspect not. A splendid work of fantasy from Mariner, with a Regency king clearly enjoying his ride. The expression says it all – Tally Ho! And peasants be damned. The lake entry is very neatly composed, with perfect reflections in the water. Two small points: is the rider too far forward in the saddle? And is the boy wearing cutoff jeans? Glad to see Ant Snell has entered his own Challenge, if only to see how difficulty it is. The man on the back is looking decidedly worse for wear, but why has the rider turned into a doner kebab? A neat Medusa homage from GKB, with a coy Perseus putting an end to the monster. The reflective shield is historically accurate; not sure why Medusa’s body seems to have been liberated from Goldfinger. Self-deprecating as always, but DavidMac's excellent reconstruction is a true masterpiece. I particularly like the aged rider, reminiscent of a cross between John Gielgud and his old sparring partner Ralph Richardson. The corpse on the back is gruesome, as is the rider’s chopped-off leg. The armless version is, er, interesting! Very Pythonesque. The bronze kings are perfectly arranged – Transform Again? Classic michael sinclair, but as it’s bang on topic it scores a hit from me. Just watch the shadow of the rider’s legs. Beautiful work from Frank, a perfect reconstruction of the original. Really, this is outstanding. So attractive but so gruesome! A remarkable rebuild from dwindt: finally, that horseman looks like he could ride a horse. I particularly like seeing him out in the meadow, with Harlech Castle making an appropriate backdrop. The pose of the rider in the realistic entry is very well judged: of course, he’d be holding him in place with the missing hand. Great work, everyone, in a particularly difficult Challenge – and thanks, Ant, for bringing it to us. |
Posted on 25/07/25 07:50:20 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4029 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Thanks Steve. Some really excellent work from everyone considering the difficulty of the subject 👏👏👏 _________________ Have you ever noticed that all the instruments designed to detect intelligent life are pointing away from the Earth? |
Posted on 25/07/25 07:52:35 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3117 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Yes, and yes. I didn't think anyone would notice! |
Posted on 25/07/25 07:59:27 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 5748 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1063: Two kings
Thank you for your compliments Steve. The second one is a bit Pythonesque - the shoulder is more Osso Bucco than anatomy! I never thought of Transform Again. Never found a use for it. But a progressive reduction with an offset? Yes that might indeed work. I simply drew vanishing point lines through top of head and hooves and reduced by hand using these. The really important thing is to remember that the offset changes radically with distance. The nearest two riders have quite a large space between their bodies but deeply overlap in the distance. Thanks Ant for a very difficult and, in the end, quite rewarding challenge. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
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