Excellently! GL

Very nice effects with the snow! Looks pretty windy
The building in the back has a strong light coming from the left, the wizard has light coming from the right top (flipping the wizard would take care of that).
The light of the staff looks unrealistic, the glow is on the snow that is far behind him. There should only be a glow on the snowflakes surrounding the staff. Hard to explain Gl!

Thanks Ressiv.

I have changed the lighting on the wizard (darkened the right side a bit) and softened the glow of the staff (not too much as it is a Magic staff). I do not want to flip him as it would change the composition.

I am not too sure that the lighting is off that much as the castle is quite high and there are a lot of clouds. The lighting can be quite different on both subject because of that .

very nice work author

yes.....! finally .....here it is ...the great pic manips ....just perfect...! my fave for sure,.....and......moreover I learned something from your skill,.....now I am just guessing the winner of this contest,.....must be this one.....

Fantastic work author...I love it...well done

The foreground figure is pretty indistinct. Otherwise this is a lovely moody image.

Hey Bob ...thank for the comment/critique ...I sort of wanted him like that but after looking at the image on my work computer (darker screen) I lightened him a bit. Hopefully he stands out a little more now.
Thanks!

i like the dramatic story of this piece of art...

very nice good work

Awesomely done! I shouldn't have underestimated brushes
I now realize: you're a LOTR fan, righ?

The attention to detail is just incredible! Fantastic work author.

Author...you astound me. Truely great talent you have. I'm starting to recognize your work, and i am always impressed. This one is goin to my favs. Beautiful work!

Thanks so much for the wonderful comments and favs. This was a troublesome manip ... your thoughts make it worth the effort.

@greymval LOTR - what's that

(I have only read the books 10 times or more) but then I like that genre of fiction. Only thing that comes close is SF.

Love the story, sounds like a great beginning, also great art work, my fave in this contest =)

Very good image.

What a lot of work - fantastic image! Love the eagle's eye.

Well deserved first place - congrats!

Congrats Arca, a beautiful piece, love the story too

Good job Arca!

Congrats for the first place.. great mood and result..

nice idea -- masking needs work as there are parts of the background of the loader image showing through and the edge of the bucket should have a defined line

Tender! I think in Heaven there's a room for every soul!

i like the concept but the rainbow is strangely shaped. you also might wanna look at some photos of rainbows and match the color order.

I like the concept !

Nice work author and good luck with the contest !!!

I do agree with elficho though

Thanks for the comments!.... @elfico and Nickk, I created a new rainbow... Thanks for the suggestions!

Wow,wow,wow,totally different approach,i like it very much...rain effect is very nice,and usage of the dog makes this creation fabulous...well done author i like it so much

Very sweet. It looks like your favorite earth companion is there to greet you at the gates.

this is very nice I agree. Good luck on Sunday Author.

very nice

it is verey new and nice good luck

very very nice work author!

cooollllll..... maybe u can giv some splash of water on bridge.. i think it will be great... n some blur on tower..
i like this...

Nice job...like the mood.

Agree with CMYK...very nice work here.

great!!!

WOW awesome feel author great enty!

Nice work, great use of the sources. How did you make the rain?

Thanks for the comments! : ) ... @erikuri, the rain was made with new layer (filled black) then added Fibers filter, small angle change, strechted out some, little motion blur... finished with blending mode "soft light" reduced to about 80% opacity.

very nice work author...gl

the image would look pretty good without the rain. there are too many rain drops which make the image look like a strange filter was applied to it. plus, nothing is actually wet so i agree with nonotkrov about water puddles and splashes. it would give the image more life

@elficho, there is rain splashes on the wood rails and there is water puddles on the walkway, which can be seen in full res... thanks for the comments!

welldone

Congratulations! And thanx for the tip about the rain, it helps a lot! Living and learning...

Congrats! for 2nd

Thanks everybody!!

Congrats...

Congrats!!