I like this!!

Really well done!

The BG is made with brushes & custom shapes as shown in SBS - guess CMYK commented before seeing it.
I like your work, and I am impressed

This is cool & unexpected.

This looks good, it could look better with eyes, and maybe the other face features made of fire too.

Splendid!

Symmetry never looked this good!

Epic!

Dude, wouldn't the guy in step 2 blend better on the bench ( if flipped?) and maybe some bench adjustment too ? You might have to recreate the bench for him..
If not tempted, here's my crazy idea, you can dress a friend of yours into a beggar take him a pic that would fit the source and blend in. Carefull with the light source Yeah I know, I already said it's crazy :p

Wow dude! Now this looks cooler than in my imagination !
There are some mask probs left corner (better seen in hi-res), but you can fix them quickly.
Nice job!

Yup, josh is right, it's not too dark, high-res is awesome and i like how you made her look wet with those highlights.
Mossy, you should change your screen.

1. In the meadow.
I suggest you make the grass look like it's on top of the horsy- either add a mask to the horse or copy a piece of the tall gras and put it on top of the knight layer.
It would be more interesting if it looks like they already entered the meadow.
2. Darken their back.
The light on the knights armor comes from the back, but in your environnement the sun is setting in front of the characters. So, either try to remove the shining on armor and horse hips with clone stamp or add a new layer and paint over with black & blend after .

In mix manipulations you ussually have made the entry a while ago. so doing a SBS is challenging. I see no reason to vote low cause of this.
D'apres moi without legs she looks strange, If you're not willing to paint her the legs(if you will, put that in SBS) , just make the dress longer.

"I was bored at my job at the bank" Smart!

You need to find some better tutorials for the rain, or experiment until it get's right.
Check the works of ponti55 and fatz8016.
And if it's sunny raining, add shadows, if it's cloudy adjust the mood.

It's a good blend & mood here.
There's a mask prob. left side of the background and imo if there are leaves on the bench there should be on the grass too- it's easier to remove the ones on the bench.

Hhhot! (get it?)

Yeah, this is actually really good! Well done.

Wha...? Quote: "Because of u,..." oh, we're playing that 3 words story game again
-What is it?
-Tell us please!!

You can add some info in the description, and you could also add a high-res. ( my stuff-my contest- edit entry)

Good idea with the light & dark.

This looks nice actually, I esp. like the floor & the light on it.

It looks pretty good.

Awesome render! I also love the SBS, this a really well done job - the window reflection is the cherry on top

This is a really funny Droste ( yup, i learned a new word from jawshoewhah).

I think it would look better with snow flakes on the entire image not just on her, and this would also take eyes off the background.
You know what would be awesome d'apres moi ? To apply the same highlights on the same image and make it look like someone even bigger is holding her.

This is PRO. Awesome entry.

Have you tried to see if a reflection would make this better blended?
You should cause at first glance i thought it was floating.

Awesome landscape.

You can find a matrix font on dafont.com, and try to experiment with warping the matrix like the smoke comes out of it, maybe some blend with the codes, if you want to, and for fun

Font is called: Matrix Code - search it on dafont and not on the big "font.com" ad, they have on front page.

You could have kept the nails, burn those letters into the wood, choose a rough font, and place it like a sign post. on a field or even in the original BG. It would have been easier to recognize the source this way.

This is smart, but next time check the proportions, the ivy leaves have around the same size as the trees in the image, you can ifnd better stock of ivy on sxc.hu.
You also have some masking problems right in the center of the pic, that ivy square on the ladder. And blendding could be better, but you'll get it in time.

A really nice town with a really bad accident. Where is this, author?

I really like the Hi-res you can see those bubbles & reflection of the surroundings. Good one

This is an awesome way to produce nightmares. Good work author!

Erathion's comment is not just an idea, those are clear instructions that should be engraved in stone or something. Too bad I can't add that comment to favorites.. I'll add the pic instead

Nice shot.

Nice play on words.

LOL, merry christmas then!

It's a long way up to the crown.

Pretty cool composition and we can recognize the source.

Uh, oh, Bingbong forgot his/her TACT home.
It might not be very original but it looks good, the only problem I have with this image is that i don't like the warped chain rings that now have a 2D effect, and that the left one is smaller than the right one. But these mistakes could exist cause you ran out of time or something, i guess.

@ Korpora..
The thing is many of us might have the impression of "something's wrong with this pic", and that's cause in real life you can't have an arrow through&through without being dead & having brain/blood spatter on the other side. But there's no need for that realism here, it would ruin everything

Really good work! You could have used some vegetation from the source to cover the bottom edges of the castle (esp left side), but that's barely noticeable. Good luck.

Nice choice of colors.

Pretty cool guide, you should do a tut. after.

High-res is a true inspiration.

Good one.

And pretty nice snail.

This is a nice pic.

Damn! Nice shot! Alone against the vast sea, and those parachute ropes creating the dynamism of this great compositon, water/sky proportion, position of the man, and the simplicity of the B&W. I think it's one of the GREATEST shots on this contest.

Yup, this is hardcore "on theme".