Wow...kinda creepy, but Super Cool....nicely done author. Super image.

this is a gorgeous entry!!

Thanks

Very Sweet!

Lookin' good, but SBS could be better.

Thanks bob....i never do a over detailed SBS
I

Kind of terrifying in an 'oh god make it die' sort of way, but very good...

Nahhhh Fredex....its cute...hahahahahahaha

I love it ! Good luck author

I think you could have done better merging of the image parts.
Still, its super great idea.
You have my vote

Yoguy
Please clarify what you mean....what parts could i have merged better ?
I cleaned it up a bit more and fixed a few edges anyhow .

Author, you know I like your work, but being lazy on your SBS doesn't get you anywhere. In this case I'll give you a break because it's kinda obvious what you did, but members need to learn, too.

light is coming from the right. see that the front side of the barrel is in the shadow. the fingers should be darkened, all so there is shadow missing beneath them. all so i would try to darken a bit the left side the shoulder, ear, and cheek.

see that the front side of the barrel is a bit out of focus and the left back side, is sharp. the baby depth of field is opposite. the back shoulder is out of focus and the front fingers are in focus.

all so i would add some adjustment layers on top of all to unify more the image

Thanks for your opinion Yoguy, but i have to disagree....Its obviously not alot of light in the pic, and the barrel is on a sloping angle while the fingers point straight down, It makes perfect sense to me that the shadows are right, especially if you compare them to the shadows on the babys face. Also, it seems the barrel is also weathered and more darker on the outside,

As for the focus, you may be right but its such a slight difference its hardly noticeable.

Thanks for your input, but it would be much more appreciated if you had given it before the deadline had finished.

sorry for the late reply, it was immediately after i so your response
nevertheless i think your post is the most creative and in spite of my perfectionist opinion i think it is well done
you still have my vote

Thanks yoguy and the others fr the nice comments

Super work and even though she is kinda creepy she is kinda cute too! It's a two for one elf!

Excellent transformation author.

Thanks Solkee and Arca )

Surely the best entry on this contest...

congrats

Congrats Freejay it is cute too

Thanks guys and gals

Congratulations on a wonderful creation!

Congrats on your win, and thanks for your comment on my entry.

Thanks Arca and CMYK

cute child......

nice edit though....

Great idea.....looks beautiful.

the hair is a wonderful crack up.. adds motion and humor

That's toooo cute author.

Beautifully conceived and very well done!

Very creative idea. The barrel would have a little more wake behind to show the movement that matches the splash in the front. And the reflection, I think, would be wavier. Nice tones.

congrats

Congratulations Jaskier....beautiful work.

Congrats!

Thanks for Your comments and votes.

Really nice work with the mottled lighting and the skin painting.

Playful and sweet

thank you!

if only the frog can be as "painterly",.... as well as background.. good one

thank you. i thought about it, retouching the frog, but i just wanted the girl to be "painterly" i will think about it some more... :P

Lovely entry

congrats

Congratulations....very nice work

Congrats!

thank you!

Great job with a difficult source image. well done!

Awesome creation, well done!!

Very subrealistic, maybe a little blured but I love it, GL!

The imagery and color add the depth to your idea author. Good Job.

Ballon & basket are out of proportion. Too many white edges on child & balloon.

The white edges were done using the Glowing Edges filter set to screen, they were intentional. As for the proportion i'm very aware of it but it would've made for a boring image if they were.

Might have been easier to make a SBS explaining that, then...??

The lighting is too inconsistent and wonky, from the intentional glow edges, which just look like a bad extraction, to the totally black balloon, showing no light refraction/reflection from the strong light source of the sun.

The "shadows" from the totally black balloon lines also look very unrealistic, and not in a good fantasy way.

While an SBS would help the view recognize which poor chopping effects are deliberate, this is still an image that needs work, either to look more realistic, or more fantasy. At present, it just looks very novice, especially for a photoshop competition, IMHO.

Glowing edges overlay removed, black lines made thinner, more light added to the balloon and scaled down the child slightly. Thank you.

Maybe it's just me but the balloon feels a little low compared to the water... I can foresee an imminent and dramatic crash on the horizon...

Oh and on the subject of the balloon and basket being 'out of proportion' I think it probably looks better this way than if they were not scaled down to the baby. Now do feel free to ignore this if it becomes pretentious but a full size basket would give the idea that it was being seen by an adult and that the baby was out of place or intruding for comic effect. Whereas a smaller basket kind of gives the impression that it is being seen by the child, in its own world, and that the basket is specifically for it, not adults. I warned you it would become pretentious...

balloon color to change to match overall color scheme
strings not strong enough to hold balloon, change to ropes?

nice idea