Very good, except that the smoothness of her skin suggests a studio shot while he looks more natural--or am I just too cynical.

To me, this looks more like a mildly edgy pose than a couple. Better matching of the skin tones/textures would not change that fundamental fact.

Looks cool and screams 'industrial revolution,' but I think steampunk is about applying technology to make life better (from a Victorian perspective and perhaps naively). Steampunk strikes me as inherently optimistic while this has the apocalyptic feel that shadowpwner noticed. Translation: not quite on theme.

Cute and maybe a bit cartoony--but I'm not sure that's quite the steampunk style. I think lighting is the problem. Light from above (not the side) would be more realistic and then adjust the shadows on the subs accordingly. (BTW the shadows on the subs don't even match the apparent light direction here.) [Some fish brushes to add fish in the background might increase the feeling of depth.]

Cool, but as you admit, this is modern and not particularly steampunk because of material and background (as others have pointed out).

Like the mood. Don't get the three-blade-propeller-whirl thing. More fundamentally, 'steampunk' would suggest moving beyond the old-fashioned technology of sailing ships into the brave new world of mechanical steam-powered ships. And that's an awfully big dolphin in that bag. I would call it a whale.

Bottom line: I would simplify by ditching the hat but keeping a free-flying mechanical rooster. The gramophone horn is cool but may seem weird without some sort of horn coming out of his other ear.

I'm with CMYK46: it's hard to know what to make of this. I think the mish-mash of the hat is particularly to blame. The three clock faces make this look like a collage as they cast no shadows on each other, face flat on to the viewer despite the three-quarter pose of the hat wearer, and are not constrained by the hatband's left edge. The far wing is too far back to match the three-quarter pose. The upholstered hat itself is flat and doesn't match the three-quarter pose either. I see from the SBS that the rooster is part of the hat, but then it, too, is heading off in the wrong direction.

I don't understand the black bars across the top and bottom Step 3 looks much better. This looks like she's posing in front of a poster Sinclair.

Like the image, but not so sure this is much of a caricature. To be blunt, shrinking the noticeable nose seems counter to the whole notion of caricature.

The body is great, but I think the scruffy beard would be more prominent in a caricature. The background is OK but doesn't add any commentary.

Amusing image albeit with an inexplicable border BUT giallo's wide mouth should be emphasized, not diminished, in a caricature of him. I'm afraid I don't know giallo. If shades are his trademark, then exaggerating them is appropriate, but otherwise that doesn't make any sense. And does the pink cheek mean he deserves a good slap?

I really like the image, although the corsage blob looks like it could be a pocket handkerchief instead. The caricature aspect falls a bit short, however. Good ears and overall face shape, but the shape of the eyes and eye brows don't match the subject. The hairdo doesn't match that well, either.

So how does one tell the time with this?

Creative, but I agree with pixelkid that this really needs a background like a cargo dock, for example (and for a different title), to be compelling.

Kind of amusing, but I don't get it overall, especially when the skater is headless.

I really like that this is more than just a head but an environment/context as well.

This is much better. I guess now I'll have to abort my plan for a "Vlad the Emailer" entry.

Very amusing! More pursed and disapproving lips would be even more threatening and scary.

Very cute with a charming (albeit blurry) cartoon look. I'm not so sure about the pointy chin, however. I think mistermonty has more of a square chin suggesting a block-shaped head for the caricature which would also be more Hulk-like. And then inflate the chest more (keep the narrow waist) to better match the pumped-up arms.

The crossbow in Step 1 is great, but after that I don't get the point. What does all the purple mean? Why is the display plaque that odd shape? I also think a less shiny, eye-catching plaque would display the crossbow better (which should be the center of attention). Actually, I think a plaque is unnecessary when mounting directly onto an interesting wall would be sufficient.

Cool, but narumara is correct that the substantially raised top no longer conforms to the original image's vanishing point.

As usual, I'm clueless about what this is supposed to mean even with the hint of the title. The fact that the hand and forearm seem to be parallel to the background is disconcerting when that intrusion does not seem to have distorted that flat background (as opposed to bursting out of the background into the viewer's face).

Liquifying a face can be amusing. But caricatures are supposed to exaggerate the subject's features, not create new ones. The enhanced chin is right on, but you completely destroyed Vlad's strong, square jaw line which should have been emphasized. His big eyes are probably his most striking feature, yet you seem to have shrunk them. Well maybe his nose is pretty noticeable, too, but not because it's pointy as you've depicted it. Vlad's strong features are ripe for caricature, but I think this is merely distortion; Vlad looks dramatic, but this looks goofy.

This falls into the realm of caricatures if magicsteve has a snout-like nose and funny ears (which does not seem to be the case) or if some aspect of his personality or habits is thought to be 'piggish' (something I know nothing about, but perhaps the author is better informed).

Cool that the skewer is made from the source. The horizontal black line on the top of the middle loaf is weird. Love the background you added (replacing the boring white). But I confess I don't understand why skewered breads are a useful new product.

Very creative idea. Cuckoo looks flat. More shadow agains the wall would be good. I would have only two weights (with more burning/dodging to convey their cylindrical nature) and then position the pendulum so it can be seen. Traditionally cuckoo clocks are symmetrical so the upper half is disconcerting. The left-side eaves have a different vanishing point than the (correct) base. (The right eave could tilt down just a tad.)

Like the head and arms, but the legs are not bread and this is not a man (not a bad thing, just counter to the title). I think the back wall is too busy and thus distracts. The fire floor is just a blur and inconsistent with its sharp straight edge against the wall. With some more work, there might be a Bread Devil, for example, in here.

Very cool -- subtle and unexpected! I would add a little shadow under the 'foreleg fin' (I don't know my fish anatomy terms) to make it stand out more. I would also delete the ugly and distracting background you added which doesn't explain the floor shadow you retained.

Like the concept but not the blurriness. I don't think I would realize he was made of bread if it weren't for your title. Also, he looks like he's floating above the background, not standing on the red swirls (need dark shadow where feet touch ground).

Very creepy, unsettling, and Tim-Burton-like. I like the strong light and shadow contrast on the figures, but the light and shadows of the background don't match that well. In hi-res the girl's dress seems to cast a shadow on the painted backdrop when I would like this to be a 3-D environment. A side light appears to be illuminating the figures yet their ground shadows are from a back light which is consistent with the background. I would shift the ground shadows and tone down the background to give the impression it's illuminated by the same side light shining on the figures.

Very creative and amusing. Not sure why the guy is worried when the dino looks like he's just hamming it up for the camera and is not threatening at all (thanks to his big eye and cheery red tongue). I do wish his right foreleg were a bit more delineated -- maybe a little darker chest and belly shadow (see around his eye, for example).

This looks much more chrome-like now. What's great about this entry is that the particular reflection in the chrome is as important to telling the story as the chrome work itself.

The light looks like it's inside the chrome grapes themselves and radiating outward, which does not compute. Cool, but not chrome which only reflects its exterior. (Source link does not work.)

Interesting idea, but while the color is different, it does not look shiny like chrome.

Concept has potential, but I wouldn't realize the car was chrome if your title hadn't told me. All the white should look like the chrome wheel rims.

Very cool, but it does look more like glass than chrome. I share Jim's confusion; maybe if only the arm and hand were chrome and the guy's head stayed natural. I would expect the photographer's reflection to be stronger if the hand were chrome. Similarly, all the white portions in the hand seem like they're just the bright background passing through glass. I would expect the reflection of the room's interior to be more off-white/beige.

Very creative. The Rule of Thirds might suggest that moving the elephant and castle to the left and doubling the length of the chain would enhance the compostional impact. A slightly smaller castle riding a real elephant would also be more effective IMO. The elephant's foot shadows (or lack thereof) make it look like it's floating slightly above the earth, not standing firmly on it.

While the 'after' makeup and hair highlights are more glamorous, her skin tones are too yellow for me (although better than the red of the source).

Nice touch up. (Irrelevant observation, perhaps: I sort of feel like her shoulder is more of the focus than her face.)

Classy. Your artful touch-ups capture exactly how they think they look -- they're gonna want a lot of reprints!

Great job with a very instructive SBS. In hi-res, the rug looks like it's floating above, rather than resting on, the floor. The corner on the right especially conveys that impression.

I don't get the black bars across the top and bottom -- or really much else, for that matter.

Interesting. The title (Spanish for 'gravity') offers no insight into how this fits the theme; the image looks like it could just be some sort of ordinary splash event. I don't see a connection between the water level in the bowl and the (not so realiistic) water supposedly spewing out of the bowl.

I don't get the 'maybe' in your title; standing on one's head is not at all 'gravity distorted' to my mind, especially as that phrase is defined in the contest description. I will give you that the reflection appears distorted. The reflection has a bright lambda-like shape that does not appear on the actual ball, for example.

Cool. His feet look fake, but I'm willing to imagine that his body is floating (defying gravity) but his clothes (including tie and coattail) are still subject to gravitational forces.

Love the viewing angle and the sprinkling watering can. Not sure where the hat segment by her left eye is coming from; I wouldn't expect to be able to see anything below the brim edge.

Very nice! Kudos for avoiding the perfect-symmetry trap and recognizing that every feather is different. (The non-perfectly-symmetrical background is good, too.) I must admit that I don't get what is holding the feathers over her ears in place, plus I think those fluffy feathers make it look like she has a purple Bozo-type hairdo to go with her bald head.

Obviously, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Very clever concept (image+title) well executed.