could to see this as a mural,...large!

Interesting concept. I think some black space above the 'head' would better define the jellyfish. Plus the near-perfect left and right halves (especially for the background) is boring. Also, it all seems rather flat to me.

Great idea like the image -- would not the fingers be distorted through the water

very nice construction author...good luck

the idea is very nice ,but .....,good luck

Good idea, a little chop debris either side of the middle arm, the ocean layers are hanging out of the small bubbles a little & the fingers would have much more distortion and blur (as alan rightly points out).

My comment is based on observation & anyone can see that its correct. While I`m not sure why you make reference to Ponti55, I do agree that you are nothing like him....he was very talented indeed & very missed.

^ yet another personal attack unrelated to the entry..... my original comment will remain unless the powers that be see anything untoward contained in it. I`m sorry if you dont like it author but there is an option not to accept public comments on an entry if you feel so strongly.

strange you should continue to attack about "borrowing work"....and going further to mention Ponti55..... subconsciously I guess you must be needing this link to one of ponti`s work ( he had it as his avatar for a very long time as I recall)..... look familiar to anyone?
http://www.pxleyes.com/photoshop-picture/4bb36dca480de/Birth.html

EDIT: Author deleted the attacking comments after this was made public.

The authors link below is reference to my avatar (that is not in judgment here btw) the image is a photograph by Levi van Veluw, and he makes landscapes on human & manequin models & photographs them. I love his work and my avatar uses just one of his amazing images.... here is his site http://www.levivanveluw.nl/ and the video ... http://www.levivanveluw.nl/work/landscapes

hehehehe

http://raphaellowe.com/portal/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/levi_landscape.jpg

Oh.. and Geex.. here's a tissue..

(I know truth SEEMS like an attacking comment.. but you got the message so I figured that was my point anyway.. sorry you feel truth is attacking.. something you should work on (even the avatar is copy paste, sigh)

Great choice of background and a very nice blend -- light on the wing is very nicely done

Good job.....I like it.

very nice blend !

Strong impact and great composition, very nice.

Very impressive and realistic. Perfect!

very very nice work...good luck

Never seen anything like that in Pxleyes. Very gorgeous and dynamic in both the pose and color. Even though the character looks painterly, still works quite well with the background. Lighting effect can be better, tho, if you work a bit more on the character like casting more highlight and shadow on the face (the face and hair are the two most flat parts) and costume. The hair can be more real if you combine brushes with different brightnesses. Very high mark from me!

excellent and beautiful.. as langstrum saidthe body parts ( hands, face and hair.) need more shading and highlighting... (it's all in your reference image). the else is FANTASTIC...... Highest marks and favorite from me ...

Fabulous work ! I must admit that its rather difficult to merge a cartoon with a normal background realistically but this one absolutely goes on very well. High marks from me !

Tried suggestions. Added highlights to hair and shading to face and hands, plus some more on the Kimono.

The hair was hard; it seems when I add highlights it starts to look like she was going gray! But I tried.

The face was a different problem. It is suppose to look like a mild version of Geisha (or Kabuki) make-up. That style of make-up is very flat as the whole face is painted white with cheeks and eyes quite red. It was a struggle with this one, how far to go with the Geisha look and still have her look natural. I did try to give it more depth but could not go too far without killing what little of that look she has.

Lamantine, I am not sure what you mean about the cartoon as the original image of the Geisha is a photo and I did not really do much painting ... mostly warped the fabric of her kimono ... but I sort of see what you mean???

Hope you like the changes! Thanks for the help!

woooo hoooooooo, this is sooo beautiful

I understand your problem with the face, but we can make the shadow even with the white object. You can achieve that by using a layer with multiply blending setting, then pick the color on her face and select the dark color on the color palette by go down to the right (on the curve from top left to the bottom right). You can draw the shadow on her face by soft, low opacity brush on that layer, it won't disturb anything.
Do you notice the light on the grasses, the sunlight is quite yellow, so you can do the same thing to the kimono and the face. If I were you, I will use a layer with Color blending mode and use the bright yellow color to paint the highlight on the parts which mostly expose to the sun light, so the character will pop out more from the scene.
About the hair, just the brighter brushes on the front side of the hair are needed, the hair can be dark behind her.
Great to see the quick update and the image now is much improved.

Nevermind, this work is just FANTASTIC

This is an amazing piece of art...great colors...great chopping....great SBS.....and of-course my favorite......Good luck Author!!

Just a fabulous work!! I really like that it looks 'painterly' - woulld make a gorgeous piece to frame and enjoy in a special room of one's home. I agree - IMO - don't change a thing!

Wow, really, I'm not even gonna enter now, this is simply amazing!!!!

this one becomes a very specially manipulated pic,...it has a master touch on it,.....yes just like langstrum said "never seen anything like that in Pxleyes,.......very very perfectly done,.....and I learned much from this pic,......
> langstrum ( so far I am still wonder why is it that your account name is langstrum hehehe), nice contributions I learned from what you informed on this entry......

Sublime !

WOW, fantastic work. I LOVE it beautifully done.

Jaw-drop...eye pop...SWEET !!

oooooow! love it beautiful work

Really fantastic work, great job

It's funny because I can feel that wind blowing on my face just looking at the image...
Very beautiful compo, moody and magical.

This is great Author leave it as is please.
Welcome to pxl,

2 words: HOLY COW!

I'm not sure what some of the complaints are here. This is just flat-out AMAZING stuff.
(ok those were extra words but I couldn't help myself)

Beautiful work! Love the colors and serenity of the image.

Thank you all for you wonderful comments!

Silver, I really loved the support and in particular those extra words!!!

I did want to say that I did not mind the complaints; I took more as critiques and suggestions. More constructive than negative. It never hurts to see things through other peoples eyes

That is one reason why I like these competition. It gives me feedback that I can't get anywhere else and (hopefully) will make me a better artist!

Not complaining about your comment, it was great. They have all been great!

I didn't have any complain here, the image itself got the high score from me, and more "wow" and compliments are not needed because many people will do that. However, no one's perfect and I just gave my opinion about what can be done better. I'm glad that author received my comments very positively, and if author is the good chopper, he/she will know which part of my comment is reasonable and helpful.
@Dekwid: langstrum came from Pippi Langstrumpf or Pippi Longstocking, a character from the Swedish children's book of Astrid Lindgren. She is very famous with her personality, in many countries. I just like her name when I listened to the song "Hey Pippi Langstrumpf" when I was a child (didn't even know that's girl's name) and I simplified Langstrumpf to Langstrum. I read the book later and in love with this character too, so I keep it as my nickname until now. Thank you for asking

WOW! It is a very beautiful work. Goes to my fav.

“Adversity is like a strong wind…it doesn’t just hold us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward, we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be."
Memoirs of a Geisha

Good Luck author.. great job

Driven - incredible quote, it gave me goose bumps! Not only that but I listened to the music from the movie while creating her. It was a huge part of the inspiration! Thank you for the comment and the beautiful quote. Hug

excellent and beautiful ,good luck

Very classy photomanipulation.

wonderful entry ........ this will go to the top 50 pxl entrys ...........

Simply perfect. Could say a lot more about it but i guess that's how I should simplify it.

Agree with all (positive) comments
GL (not that you really need it or so haha )

Oh my what a stunning peice of art
Amazing talent author, thanks for sharing this beautiful image with us

Mind blowing entry, perfect!!!

the onlything i can say
"WOW"
ure winner

Few days i am thinking what to say about these entry author...Because words like, "these is nice,good work,and similar" are to minimal for work like these...This work author is one of the best that i see in my PXLeyes existing time...I adore all segments of the creation...how u distort the sky,what u did with the kimono,painting her face,hair,color on the grass...Simply amazing...i could go on and on on these for hours...I want to say only one thing...Keep going with creating fabulous entry's like these...

beautiful work, author, love the sweeping lines and colors.

Congrants....beautiful entry

Congratulations!

Congrats Arca this is so beautiful, I'd like framed and hanging in my house

Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats,Congrats, i cannot describe how much i like these entry

Congratulations on your first place. very well deserved!

CONGRATS!! Well deserved

Lovely!! Congrats!!

Congratulations for a well deserved 1st place, really quite fantastic. Keep it up.

Nice work! Congrats.

Congrats... a master piece.. with a good score....

wow! spendid!

simply wao........... amazing....

Looks good.

not bad

Fantastic interpretation...best of luck author

Cool image. I do think a better title -- and an SBS -- would increase its impact, however.

nice