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Posted on 11/06/26 1:36:42 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 6259 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Magical Mystery indeed Michael! Apparently Oxburgh Hall is capable of being in two places at once. Joking aside this is lovely clean Mariner work. I loved the very disgruntled Yoda watching the gate. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/06/26 1:39:37 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 6259 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
That's good. Seeing the classic Loyd gifs again would be very welcome. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/06/26 1:40:53 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3347 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thank you Loyd. I see you are going for the record number of entries this week. |
Posted on 11/06/26 1:41:51 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 6259 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Another good smile! Thank you Ant. _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 11/06/26 1:50:34 PM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3347 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thanks David. Until you mentioned it I hadn't noticed that I had duplicated Oxburgh Hall. Most entries this week were dark and occult, so of course I wanted to do something different. For a change, I ignored Steve's advice, and headed for the bright lights, as is my wont. It's very difficult to paint something "mysterious", that's like painting a smell, or a sound. Glad you liked it. |
Posted on 12/06/26 08:15:58 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7178 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
First to enter the gateway this week was lwc, with a misty Harry Potter casting a spell over a dragon. Very atmospheric, very mysterious. I like Potter’s pose. I enjoyed the Halloween entry, with its gruesome figure – those birdlike fronds are excellent – and the plle of skeletons. Lighting is perfect. Ahh, clowns. Always terrifying. The spooky house is exactly right for this setting, as are the gnarled trees. Who are the tiny people? And… graffiti with a drop shadow? Really? The elephants are fun, not sure that chain is needed to stop them running through the gateway. What’s the out of focus blob in the background? I’m trying to get the H G Wells entry – are those Molochs? Curiously, although I’ve seen The Time Machine several times, all that sticks in my mind are the Eloi. The vestibule within the gateway works well. I like the Twilight Zone reference – and yes, the animation does work! So does that mean you’ll able to post more of them? Of course I remember both the Twilight Zone episodes mentioned… they do stick in the mind. The animated dragon works perfectly, the dog providing the viewer’s perspective. So good to have these back. Subtle lighting from DavidMac, beautifully illuminating the side of the wall (I really like how it fades around the bend). The woman in the gateway is suitably mysterious, but there’s something rather static about the man. Would it help if he was rotated to face her more? At the moment it looks as if he’s been caught relieving himself against the wall. The crusaders are very fine, I like the way the sun’s rays illuminate Excalibur. Again, though, there’s a slight angle issue with the knight nearest the gateway: he looks as if he’s going to collide with the wall beneath the lantern. Rotate Object to the rescue! 
I was of course a devotee of Myst back in the day, although I was never as captivated by Riven… your entry has maybe spurred me to revisit it. It would great to be able to change the view down the walkway so it’s from a slightly skewed angle, but I recognise that would be a ridiculous amount of work. The Hot Chips entry is fabulous, and must have taken a huge amount of effort to compile – you’ve even got my whole family in there! Splendid work. A labour of love. I was much taken with Ben Boardman’s hugely atmospheric entry, telling a great story. The lighting is outstanding, particularly on the spear and helmet. Have you researched Oxburgh Hall? Only there is indeed a priest hole, and one of the Hall’s prized displays is a large embroidery made by Mary Queen of Scots. A truly terrifying kids’ adventure playground from GKB, with assaults threatened right from the outset. Scary! Very fine bending of the signs around that curved wall – tricky to get this right, but you’ve managed it. And a fine view of Oxburgh Hall in the distance. There’s a real Wow factor to Frank's spectral entry, with its spectacular lighting effects. I like the elongated gateway, and especially that brooding beast glowering over the top of the wall. Interesting how you’ve managed to make him so dominant yet still part hidden. A truly ethereal entry from Vibeke, with great lighting on the diaphanous woman in the foreground. I like the barely discernible towers of Oxburgh in the distance, but for me it’s the half-glimpsed fairies that really make this. Beautifully judged. I thought dwindt might want to rebuild the gateway as a 3D model, and it’s good to see it extended like this. That’s a huge moon! Very interesting shadows, although if it’s the moon that’s casting them could the light really bend around the wall like that? The stone gargoyles add a lot of interest. The cactus entry is interesting, with its fine broken cart – and the extended gate is very well matched. The broken wall does add interest. There’s a Hagrid-like quality to tooquilos's entry. I like the contrast between the grim gatekeeper and the ethereal world glimpsed behind the wall. A very well chosen wooden gate, too. I like how we move into it in the animated version, and you’ve really gone to town on that fairyland scene! So good to see the components, too. Charming. I see Oxburgh has had the gardeners in… Mariner has painstakingly stripped off all the vegetation, rebuilding the walls in the process. Of course, I expected nothing less. The flying horses are a bonus, and I like the view of Oxburgh. Although… have you duplicated the towers at one end and copied them to the other? And that’s a very grumpy goblin. It looks like Ant Snell is keen to avoid the entry charges to Oxburgh – and I don’t remember the security being quite so aggressive! Very nicely put together, and a refreshingly different take on this week’s challenge. Small point: the perspective on that payment box is a little weird… the sides really should be parallel. Subtle lighting from DavidMac, beautifully illuminating the side of the wall (I really like how it fades around the bend). The woman in the gateway is suitably mysterious, but there’s something rather static about the man. Would it help if he was rotated to face her more? At the moment it looks as if he’s been caught relieving himself against the wall. The crusaders are very fine, I like the way the sun’s rays illuminate Excalibur. Again, though, there’s a slight angle issue with the knight nearest the gateway: he looks as if he’s going to collide with the wall beneath the lantern. Rotate Object to the rescue!
I was of course a devotee of Myst back in the day, although I was never as captivated by Riven… your entry as maybe spurred me to revisit it. It would great to be able to change the view down the walkway so it’s from a slightly skewed angle, but I recognise that would be a ridiculous amount of work. The Hot Chips entry is fabulous, and must have taken a huge amount of effort to compile – you’ve even got my whole family in there! Splendid work. A labour of love. I was much taken with Ben Boardman’s hugely atmospheric entry, telling a great story. The lighting is outstanding, particularly on the spear and helmet. Have you researched Oxburgh Hall? Only there is indeed a priest hole, and one of the Hall’s prized displays is a large embroidery made by Mary Queen of Scots. A truly terrifying kids’ adventure playground from GKB, with assaults threatened right from the outset. Scary! Very fine bending of the signs around that curved wall – tricky to get this right, but you’ve managed it. And a fine view of Oxburgh Hall in the distance. There’s a real Wow factor to Frank's spectral entry, with its spectacular lighting effects. I like the elongated gateway, and especially that brooding beast glowering over the top of the wall. Interesting how you’ve managed to make him so dominant yet still part hidden. A truly ethereal entry from Vibeke, with great lighting on the diaphanous woman in the foreground. I like the barely discernible towers of Oxburgh in the distance, but for me it’s the half-glimpsed fairies that really make this. Beautifully judged. I thought dwindt might want to rebuild the gateway as a 3D model, and it’s good to see it extended like this. That’s a huge moon! Very interesting shadows, although if it’s the moon that’s casting them could the light really bend around the wall like that? The stone gargoyles add a lot of interest. The cactus entry is interesting, with its fine broken cart – and the extended gate is very well matched. The broken wall does add interest. There’s a Hagrid-like quality to tooquilos's entry. I like the contrast between the grim gatekeeper and the ethereal world glimpsed behind the wall. A very well chosen wooden gate, too. I like how we move into it in the animated version, and you’ve really gone to town on that fairyland scene! So good to see the components, too. Charming. I see Oxburgh has had the gardeners in… Mariner has painstakingly stripped off all the vegetation, rebuilding the walls in the process. Of course, I expected nothing less. The flying horses are a bonus, and I like the view of Oxburgh. Although… have you duplicated the towers at one end and copied them to the other? And that’s a very grumpy goblin. It looks like Ant Snell is keen to avoid the entry charges to Oxburgh – and I don’t remember the security being quite so aggressive! Very nicely put together, and a refreshingly different take on this week’s challenge. Small point: the perspective on that payment box is a little weird… the sides really should be parallel. |
Posted on 12/06/26 08:23:17 AM |
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Mariner
Renaissance Mariner Posts: 3347 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thanks, Steve. I found this one quite difficult. |
Posted on 12/06/26 09:37:24 AM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 6259 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Yes he does look static. Not sure if turning would help. His eye line and focus of attention is already directly to her.
Yes. Quite right. Much better. Despite all the time I put into testing it, I tend to forget that Rotate Object exists.
I heard somewhere that Riven has been re-released in an updated version. I struggled with that perspective. Something about it didn't ring true but I couldn't put my finger on it. Skewed would tie it better to the slightly asymmetric perspective of the arch sides. Somehow there's something very classically 'Riven' about the rigidly symmetric view.
As I said in the text it's a family run tavern! I had a lot of fun doing that image although getting rid of five different pairs of spectacles was tricky. For some reason AI is really bad at that and doing it by hand seems to be the only way. By the way, as part of the general silliness I snuck a couple of armoured garden gnomes into one corner. Looking at the image again today, the notion has suddenly just popped into my head out of absolutely nowhere that that would make them Gnights. Time to go ................... _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 12/06/26 09:57:42 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4173 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thanks Steve. This was one of those Challenges where I started out with no real idea of where I was going. By the end I was having to tell myself to stop. Great fun and well done everyone for such a great variety of images _________________  |
Posted on 12/06/26 12:53:28 PM |
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lwc
Hole in One Posts: 3559 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Yes, Morlocks. The vestibule was fun to create, had to widen the outer gateway to make it work, this H.G. Wells version was my favorite entry to make. Thanks Steve. |
Posted on 12/06/26 12:56:36 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1878 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thanks Steve, as mentioned I had no real idea on this one and kept changing approaches. I think there was some quite spectacular entries this week with all being good. David, i want to rush out now to acquire such a lovely outfit. Indeed, lots of work. |
Posted on 12/06/26 2:04:45 PM |
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Ben Boardman
Printing Pro Posts: 777 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Have you researched Oxburgh Hall? Yes Steve, read a lot of background material. Really enjoyed this one, thank you. |
Posted on 12/06/26 8:46:50 PM |
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DavidMac
Director of Photoshop Posts: 6259 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
You could be all the rage in Beaver Bank!  _________________ The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it ....... |
Posted on 13/06/26 05:46:51 AM |
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vibeke
Kreative Kiwi Posts: 2204 Reply  |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thank you Steve, I enjoyed this one. I don't think I was the only one, there were so many great entries this week. _________________ Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. |
Posted on 14/06/26 00:01:29 AM |
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dwindt
Realism Realiser Posts: 1093 Reply |
Re: Challenge 1108: The mysterious gateway
Thank you Steve. In the first image, there are 2 light sources. _________________ The grass is greener on the other side of the fence because there is more $hit there. |
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