RedBeard

FIXED! http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/Multiplicity-3.png

Good eye, Yellowman! Yes, the spot on the carpet next to the man on the left is indeed the path of the lasso and not the shadow. Seems I'll have to go back and fix that now. I appreciate you pointing that out. The camera is an older Fujifilm S5000 on default settings, mounted on a tripod, with my fiance at the trigger. The thought occurred to me that a cloning picture could have so much life to it with a little effort and forethought. I hope that doesn't come off the wrong way. I'm not impugning anyone else's clone pics, but I wanted to do something a little different. Thank you so much for your kind words. By the way, I'm digging your sig.

Thank you, delpart! There are a couple of things I spotted after the fact, but they're pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I'll do better in future renderings. As for the wall art, that was an acrylic piece done by my fiance. She has a wonderful sense of color in her art. EDIT: After looking at it some more, I noticed some pretty glaring issues. http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/Multiplicity-2.png So, I fixed them. http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/Multiplicityfixed.png

Thank you, HELEN! That's exactly the effect I was going for! By the way, I love your Foliage tut! One thing, though: my Mandelbrot Fractal leaves A LOT of white space when rendered, whereas in your tut, it's mostly black. Is there something I should be doing?

Thank you so much, BBQ! It was a lot of fun to make. Even though they're all the same guy (me), I wanted to give some character variation to each one. I like to think I pulled it off.

Yes, a little shadowing would really set it off. I'm digging the composition, though. Nicely done, Jim!

I was inspired by Dug's "clone" pics and decided to do one of my own. http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/Multiplicity.png

Heh heh heh. That's funny, delpart! Awesome image, Jim. I love your imagination!

Thank you! That means a lot coming from you!

Thank you, Dug! I've been inspired by a couple of the works in your gallery. Should have some new stuff up soon.

I'm really digging your work, particularly the photo manips. I think my favorite conceptually are the clone pictures. Clone II is masterfully done and I like how whimsical it is. The first Clone pic is great, too. The only suggestion I would make there is to add a little soft shadow beneath the left knee of the one sitting on the floor, as well as the foot of the one on the right side of the couch. I love the concept and I'm inspired to do one of my own! All in all, I love the surrealist nature of your work. You've got a great style, Dug. Keep 'em coming. I look forward to seeing more.

I suppose "flawless" could be subjective. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoy Lonely Valentine as is. Love the new photo manip. It helps to have a good source photo. I'm totally digging the way the flames jump from the screaming chicken. I love the way you've isolated the back panel and made it the focus of attention. Also, I'm jealous. I would love to have an awesome muscle car in my garage. Oh, well. Congratulations on a worthy acquisition!

Dude, I can totally see the potential here for creating awesome techno-heavy planets, like Coruscant. Nicely done!

Barbieq, HELEN and Jim: Thank you for your kind words, guys. I'm glad you enjoyed the new works.

Thank you, delpart. I've always been a bit of a stickler for details, although I have to admit, my details are not always the most accurate. I'm not a schooled artist, and as such, I still have a lot to learn concerning light and shadow placement. It's a discipline that I simply haven't taken the time to thoroughly learn and I think some of my work suffers because of it. This is one of the reasons I rely so heavily on feedback from people on this site, because the critiques offered here give me food for thought and make me a better artist. As for your remarks concerning muscle cars: you're probably right. A lot of those cars in their original form were more show than go. MOPARs seemed to be pretty much the exception, though, as most everything Chrysler produced emphasized function over form, at least in terms of traveling in a straight line (they certainly weren't canyon carvers by any stretch of the imagination). Consequently, a lot of MOPARs were not so pretty to look at, but were absolute monsters on the street and the strip. There were exceptions in aesthetics, of course, with my obvious bias being toward the Charger, but the Challenger was another good-looking car that was also a monster in terms of performance.

"A Nice Morning...Flight" http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/ANiceMorningFlight.png I was inspired by Back To The Future II and decided to have a little fun with my favorite muscle car. And yes, I put Dean Winchester behind the wheel.

Nice! Do you have any photos of your Charger? I've been in love with those cars ever since I was a little kid watching "The Dukes of Hazzard". While I have a deep love for all classic American muscle cars, to me, the '68-70 Dodge Chargers are quite simply the sexiest cars ever built. I'm absolutely bent on owning one someday.

Thank you, HELEN! This one was actually composed of three different photographs. The Charger was a stock internet photo with just a white background (which eliminated a lot of work for me). The hardest part was cutting out the window spaces inside the car without sacrificing the white "haze" of the light hitting the front windshield. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result.

New work. Pretty basic, but I'm digging the outcome. I think I'll call it, "Call of the Open Road". http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/3DCharger.png

http://i582.photobucket.com/albums/ss265/barbieq25/Abstract/LonelyValentine.png This one is my favorite. I love the lighting and the mood. Again, your execution is flawless.

Nice work on the jet ski, Jim! I'm digging your style!

Thanks for the critique, delpart. I agree, the red border on the Rush pic probably wasn't the best choice, but it was an exercise in experimentation. At any rate, that's why I value critiques from people such as yourself. The lunar surface reflection in the paint on the Charger is really just the actual reflection in the source picture, but it's obscured enough that it blended really well. The only thing I really went out of my way on was to erase the tree reflections from the front windshield. I'm not entirely happy with the way the windshield looks, but it's hard to determine what the reflection would be on the surface of the moon. Are you just unfamiliar with Muse as a band, or are you referring to the background? If that's the case, the background is cover art from their album, "Resistance" (hence, the name of the piece). The Barbarian thing was just me messing around, seeing how well I can blend. The more I look at it, the more I see could be improved. I may try it again in the near future.

Thank you, Welsh! The lunar rover was a lot of fun to make. Of course, the fact that it came out so well only fuels the conspiracy theories of one of my good friends that we never actually went to the moon. Go figure.

I have to agree. Your entire body of work is impressive, Barbieq. You've got a phenomenal style and your execution is flawless.

Heh heh heh. Sometimes things just pop into my brain! I have no control over them! http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/1stBass/RedBeardtheBarbarian.jpg