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Posted on 22/04/10 11:18:32 AM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
I think this has been one of the most fiddly challenges I have done. I nearly gave up, really picked an awkward start image. Lonnie, love your image. Steve, can we have a fun Challenge next!  |
Posted on 22/04/10 12:25:53 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4033 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
James, Is this your way of saying that you have come to a full stop this week? _________________ If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you ever tried. |
Posted on 22/04/10 12:54:13 PM |
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Jono
** Posts: 112 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
I was thinking that.  |
Posted on 22/04/10 3:42:13 PM |
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laddition
femme fatale Posts: 585 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Hello everybody!!! Here's mine!  _________________ Mais je me connais, je lâcherais pas l'affaire.... Je vais piquer de grève comme on pique une colère... Plus têtue que tous les vieil homme et la mer... Pour que continue le combat ordinaire! |
Posted on 22/04/10 10:57:46 PM |
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james
Surreal Spoofer Posts: 1194 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Not quite Gordon, But the ladies refused an invitation to the dance. |
Posted on 23/04/10 08:52:04 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
This was a tricky Challenge, and I'm glad to see so man f you have attempted it - and with such impressive results. First to don the frock was GKB, with an immaculate cutout, very neatly filled. The Piazza San Marco is, of course, the ideal location, and I like the way the tourist in the background is looking at her. The shadow is a neat touch, as well! Interesting object in the second entry - a shield made of feathers? Wouldn't offer much protection, would it. Rather than taking the dress out of the window, Jono has put Michael Jackson in the window - interesting notion. Surely a trademark white glove would help here? The reflection of the horizontal bar needs to go in front of his face as well - but I like the big reflection in the foreground. Beautiful work from vibeke, with a recoloured dress and a charming model. The pose is perfect, and the decolletage wholly appropriate for the costume; and, of course, the ballroom background is spot on. I like the way the bracelet and ring have been coloured to match the dress. A brave attempt from Jonvee Leo, with Helen Mirren filling the dress - and another very good background. The hat seems angled away from her head, though, and you need to use the Dodge and Burn tools to make her a little less flat-chested. And her hands are far too small! But I do like the expression - she clearly isn't enjoying this. "Women's frocks are not really my area of expertise", says Ben Mills - although I imagine you have seen a woman before, Ben? Thing is, their heads are usually smaller then their bodies, and their hands tend to be larger than their ears. Still, her colouring does at least match the rather splendid dress - and I really like the way you've built the bottom half. Excellent work from Carlo Alessandro Della Valle, with a perfect fit on the model (although she does seem to have an extraordinarily long neck). A fabulous top of the hat, and I like the way she's holding her mask. And her hair cascades beautifully over those shoulders. A truly magnificent background from nerdtron - and an immaculate cutout on the dress and, especially, on the mask and hat. Her head is perhaps a little too small, but everything else here works well. A slight shadow needed under the arms, perhaps? A splendid effort from Eggbox, with a darkened dress and a very interesting background. I really like the two figures behind her - although those costumes do look seriously uncomfortable. And is that a splash of blood on her mask? Must have happened at the same time she ripped her sleeve. There have been many interesting backgrounds this week, but the symmetry and alignment in tooquilos' entry adds an extra dimension entirely: coupled with the subtly tilted-away head, it really brings an air of mystery to the image. And I love the courtly dancing in the animated version - but who is that masked man??? Good to see Batman knows all the right moves! A hugely compelling entry from brewell, who has taken a fairly routine original image and turned it into something truly magnificent. The symbolism, the burning desolation in the sword path, the basket of apples, the hill of houses sloping away... coupled with the woman glancing over her shoulder, her palms open in supplication, it all makes for a beautiful, powerful and highly entertaining image. Bruce, you know know I love a picture that tells a story, and this one is full of mystery. Exceptional work! It's all in the eyes... Nick Curtain's Elizabeth Taylor has a powerful gaze, and she fills out the dress perfectly. I really like the way the sleeves have been reworked to allow her to hold the parasol (assuming it is a parasol, of course, and not a squid with rigor mortis). Beautiful work. Appropriate, perhaps, that Liz Taylor should be followed by Keira Knightley in Jota120's Velazquez-based entry. You've captured the lighting of the scene exceptionally well here, Trevor, and that's what really blends the images together - plus, of course, the remodelled arms. This is the best we've seen from you in a long time - detailed, immaculate work. Excellent! I really like the way Eva Roth's headgear matches the background - it has the same sort of sparkle. Tucking one arm behind adds movement to the pose, matching the hair only falling on one shoulder: and there's a real intrigue behind that mask. The dress itself seems a little lacklustre, though: see below for a quick solution. A beautifully spooky ice queen from Hope Leslie Laust, whose pallid skin perfectly matches the pale tones of the new dress. I like the sable and gossamer cloak, and the magic wand in her hand; not so sure about the stuffed moose behind, which looks like it's fallen off a baronial wall. Just one more thing: there's very strong side lighting on the face, and this really needs to be carried through to the rest of the body as well. A startling image from LonnieK , with a huge head atop a surprisingly long neck. But I love the way the hair falls, the strengthened texture of the dress, and the subtle shadow beneath the hands: and there's a real power in that gaze. Very fine work. (I'd have thought such a magnificent frock would benefit from a more showy bracelet, though.) It seems Josephine Harvatt can find a gag in any situation - and the answer of course is: yes, vast. Using last week's background is a great choice - it is Venice, after all - but why such tiny hands? and perhaps a touch of cleavage needed on that dress? Perfect choice of font, though. A static image from james, unusually - and I really like the way three versions of the dress have been coloured and posed independently, the differing positions of the arms really helping to make this look like three different dresses. Given the perspective of the room, though, the woman at the back seems to tower over the other two: follow the vanishing point lines! A demure pose from Deborah Morley, with perfectly added hands (love the fan) and a head that slots immaculately into that body. The only thing that jumps out at me here is the hair, which is by far the darkest thing in the picture. The simple solution here, as with several images this week, is to duplicate the dress layer, desaturate and set its mode to Hard Light. This brings the strength back into the frock, enough to compete with that hair. Compare this before and after: 
I might have expected laddition's entry to be set in a graveyard... a moody, dark and moving entry. Her arms seem a little disjointed from the body, though - but I do like that mask. Excellent work this week - a uniformly extremely high standard. |
Posted on 23/04/10 08:58:54 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4033 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks Steve, Yes, I also have no idea what that is supposed to be but it was hanging on the wall behind the dummy so I thought I should take it down and let her carry it! Incidentally, I have been wondering how others extracted the dress. i found that the green channel gave me an excellent starting point for using a channel mask. Some really excellent work from everyone this week. Gordon _________________ Why is there only one word for ‘Thesaurus’? |
Posted on 23/04/10 08:59:09 AM |
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laddition
femme fatale Posts: 585 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thank you, Steve! It looks like I become too predictable!!!   _________________ Mais je me connais, je lâcherais pas l'affaire.... Je vais piquer de grève comme on pique une colère... Plus têtue que tous les vieil homme et la mer... Pour que continue le combat ordinaire! |
Posted on 23/04/10 09:10:50 AM |
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Nick Curtain
Model Master Posts: 1768 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks Steve Time was short last weekend and I nearly didn't attempt this. Much to my wife's displeasure, I did spend a couple of hours trying various methods including clipping masks etc to build the dress in sections. The original dress was not the same shape though, so some improvisation was needed. There was some colourful language in the process! Nick |
Posted on 23/04/10 09:41:35 AM |
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josephine harvatt
Gag Gadgeteer Posts: 2603 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thank you Steve - I was surprised how much I undersized the arms on the first pass so what you see is an improvement if not quite enough ... but I do have quite dainty mitts anyway. I admit I ran out of puff when it came to the bust _________________ I'm not really bad - I just draw that way |
Posted on 23/04/10 09:52:49 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2166 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks Steve, and it wasn't so much coloring the jewelery, as finding bits to match the dress. Luckily Jewelery is one the things you can find lots of photos of on the net. Gordon, I used the pen tool to extract the dress. _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 23/04/10 11:24:28 AM |
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Jonvee Leo
Construction Chief Posts: 38 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks Steve |
Posted on 23/04/10 11:53:21 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2904 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thank you Steve. Not sure which masked man you refer to..but order of appearance Phantom of the Opera (by the window) V from V for Vendetta played by Hugo Weaving (to the left of the girl) Mr Bean as the Easter Bunny
_________________ Wicked Witch of the West: I'm melting! I'm melting! |
Posted on 23/04/10 11:53:55 AM |
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Eggbox
Ovoid Opportunist Posts: 797 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Ermm.... hello!!! Ted |
Posted on 23/04/10 12:02:04 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Oops! I referred to you as Ben Mills by accident. Fixed now! |
Posted on 23/04/10 12:21:26 PM |
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Eva Roth
Luminous Liberator Posts: 269 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks for the excellent tip with the hard light layer, Steve. Now the dress sparkles too. Gordon, I used the pen tool to extract the dress with separate cut outs for the see-through lace on the sleeves so I could lower layer transparency on them.  |
Posted on 23/04/10 12:49:35 PM |
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nerdtron
Neutron Neth Posts: 76 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks sir Steve! The chest, hands and head came from three separate models so i havn't noticed that its a bit small. But still, i really enjoyed this week's body match making. =) _________________ Brain Blast!!!! |
Posted on 23/04/10 1:23:44 PM |
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Jono
** Posts: 112 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Haha the white glove is a great idea, will remember that next time I decide to bring ol' Michael into the Friday Challenge.  |
Posted on 23/04/10 1:59:19 PM |
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Hope Leslie Laust
* Posts: 32 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
The reindeer was actually alive in the source image. But you're right: he does look stuffed in my picture. |
Posted on 23/04/10 3:58:27 PM |
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Deborah Morley
Makeover Magician Posts: 1319 Reply |
Re: Challenge 296: Carnival
Thanks Steve, I will try that. Spent so long trying to get all the parts of the body to match.... Gordon, I extracted the dress with the eraser! Seemed the easiest way. |
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