OOOOOH my goodness.

this is fabulous. i really think you could have pulled out a bit on your crop to include the arms fully, as its a tiny bit close on the sides.
but...this is definitely great. i love the contrast, the shadowing, the fact you did it in black and white...and oh lord...well...the subject. *drool*

nicely done author. thanks for the eye candy.

technically...thats a fried egg. looks about over-easy to me... cook it a bit longer and throw some salt on it before you bring it to my table please.

if you took the photograph that you used to start with, then put the uncut photo in your sbs.

this is awesome. i love the dof on it, and the feeling..did you slightly desaturate the colors?

i agree with all of the above. amazing design and concept, and the reflections are top notch. i'm impressed.

ITS YOU!!! whoa. author, super surprise. i love this one.

ooooh my god. AWESOME!

and now that you've put it in color..and you've put it in hi res...i have some nit picks.
one of your people (the jeans) is missing part of her leg. and there is color from the background seeping through the image.
part of the castle is sharp, and most of it is blurry. the castle was left monotone, yet..there is a part of it colored.
half your horse is overly blurry...adn the front half is overly sharp. same with parts of the background meshing. and then the girl in the white isn't blended in well at all.
there are a few things you can work on for future manipulations, as i think you are quite ambitious but you need to pay more attention to detail for hi res viewing.

Good Luck

i was about to say the same thing as friiskiwi... cropping this and giving it some extra oomph with some contrast adjustments would be better than what you've got here.. put more emphasis on the woman you've captured.

i have to agree with MnM...seriously a great shot though. i love the off set of the peppers, and the picture in the background. its... so...implied.

2nd painting ever? seriously??
dang.
i'm thinking ya got a little bob ross training on ya. well done!

whoa!
i didn't expect this to be from this author.
i'm amazed. however, with your eye, i don't know why i am. :P i mean, you truly know how to capture things.
and i do love the colors. wishing you luck!

YOU are so brave.
like i said on another comment, i tried...i tried with a valiant effort, and wasnt' happy with any of my results in this one...so i give you high commendations on givin it your all.
honestly, a landscape is one thing i didn't think to be so difficult til i set out doing it..and i realized, i really had no idea what to do with it. ..
Good luck on this, and all your future ones. i look forward to seeing you grow as an artist!!!

it is awesome! (although, i do agree with marina...get something done about that camera!!!)
Your work is so good, it needs to be showcased in that way.
....that being said...i love how you placed things in this one. yes, bones of some sort, but..dinosaurs? i dunno... some spare space craft parts half burried in the surface would be kinda cool... Your shading and highlighting blow me away!

I think you need to try taking your photos in natural light...so people can see your work better.
did you do alot of this with knife?
another thing, edges aren't very visable...it would be good to add just a bit of dimension there, perhaps by a lighter line around some of them... i realize it might not be what you were going for in terms of style..but it would benifit the viewer immensely.

the colors are FABULOUS.
one suggestion for getting your bright pinks to show up better...put a white base in before painting the pink over it..especially since you are going over blacks.
this is outstanding. i think i like the circular view out... makes me think of Alice in Wonderland!!!

i'm jealous.
purely jealous.
i tried at least 3 different landscapes and gave up on all of them. this is all from imagination?? bah. and watercolor?? author, you are amazing. and yet another fav from me. well done!!!

well now..isn't this a little warhol. Nicely done. i love the choice of picture, and your thoughts in color. its fun.

Reminds me of the zebra from the old chewing gum commercials... "Yikes, Stripes! Fruit Stripes Gum!"
:lol:

one thing about the older images, yes..they are hard to colorize..but!!! you could really bring out some more bits of the veil by changing the opacity of your brush when you are painting it in. color the background the color you want it, then paint over the veil with the low opacity and then blur your color in so it softens it.
You picked awesome colors in this one..i love how it really modernizes her look. maybe play with the skin tones a tiny bit because they are a bit yellow here... but..otherwise.. Good Luck!

...and...her fingernails.
they are still grey. as is the middle finger on the image. its all very well done, and i agree with CMYK about the choice of photo...its awesome.

to help the white spots in her skin (mostly because of exposure in the original source) try pulling down the exposure and gamma in the settings. see if that helps a little. if you did you colorization on the source, then i don't quite know how to fix that..but...i usually use seperate layers set to "color" blend mode, so i can do adjusting to the main b/w source to help with the shadowing and color adjustments.

you still have a few spots to catch on the shoulders...also, it seems that the (viewers) left hand side shoulder by the hair line is slightly discolored from color-over from the hair... it gives a strange orange glow to the skin tones, and since there are some noticeable grey spots right by it...it stands out alot. (same with a bit on the toenail polish areas, but thats getting pretty picky)

otherwise, you did a great job, and i like that the white sheet has that bluish cast that alot of people don't seem to get when doing a recolor on a photo...there really isn't a pure white to anything.

you managed to keep the softness of the original photo and really update it with colors. imagine what the woman in the picture would say to see that now??
and interesting choice of hair indeed. I just love how her eyes really pop in this though. Good Luck author!

OH yeah. the color of the sky is a definite improvement.
i love how it compliments the color of red you chose.
nicely done!

*sigh* what an awesome photo.
i love when i look through the old photo albums and find pictures like this. completely captures the essence of the time. and what a heartfelt choice of pictures to use.
the way the photo looks, it kinda reminds me of old school polaroid pictures. i can almost feel the crinkle of the aged white backing on the print. Good Luck to you!

its lovely, and a great shot to start with...however, i do think your flesh tone is a bit orange. (could just be me, but i think it should be a tiny bit pinkish)
and another way of colorizing photos, use blank layers overlayed on the original image with the blend mode set to "color" and then put different colors on individual layers.

i'm speechless with this one. the tapestry, the girl..the color tones. its all so breathtaking. Well done, and hats off to you. Thanks for the history lesson as well!

aww. what a nice thing to use to color ! it has alot of value sentimentally.
i think if i were you, i would have considered playing with the exposure of the original shot. the light is so bright it kinda blows out the detail of the baby, and makes the blanket/cap look odd because its such a dramatic change in color from the over exposed area to the shadowed area.

and something else, for future thought, perhaps you could look into tutorials on photo restoration,take out some of the age and wear spots on the photo, yet keep the old time feel and nostalgia. GOOD LUCK!

first off, i love the picture..and the tones you chose to use..however, there are some small nitpicks...there are a few spots by her arm that the flesh color bled over...and when you colored the leaves, it shows a discoloration in those spots...one of the main places you can see that is the vine in her hand. right below her hand is some stray flesh tone, and the color you colored over it is changed by that.

its a great job otherwise, and i wish you luck

Ahhhhhhhmazing panorama. I am blown away...seamless. how many frames?

flickr has a ton of great useable images...in their creative commons. be sure to tick the box in the advanced search to include only those that allow manipulations and changes to the image.
also, you can find SOME on deviant art, not all of them are creative commons, but...there are some great stocks that can be used off deviant art if you just do a little poking around.
also, there are members here that have stock galleries as well. up on the bar there is a tab that says "pictures" and a drop down menu comes up saying "art" and "stock"... pick the "stock" one and you'll find a ton.

well then you managed it! i wasn't meaning to offend of course, just offering suggestions.

and i'm sure EVERYONE researches the time period of each piece of furniture before taking a photo.
honestly, not every picture is staged to perfection. half mine aren't. they are shot as is.
I personally like the feel of this. the strange "mad scientist" look to the guy in the chair. the fact that the photo is set at a tilt. its all quite interesting. i think i might have played with the levels just a bit more though, but..really..its good.

you know what would have been really cool with this one?? to change the color of the "dirt" to a blueish tone, and then use an overlay so it looked like it was all ice. but..definitely an original idea

your source 3 doesn't work.
i don't really see how you used source 2.
and i think perhaps a higher res version of source one would work out better. You've got a good start to something with the way you've done this, i just think that the portrait you chose to start with should have been something of higher quality so that you could have better results.

i think you might be happier with your results if you played with the blending mode of the source layer over the eye. Also, filters are fun for some effects, but alot of times they come out heavy handed. i do like your concept, but think you could get a more interesting effect with less filter and a different blending mode (such as "overlay" ) on the dry earth layer.

good luck!!!

i agree with erathion. the consistancy of focus isn't working for me. but, you've got time to work on that a bit.

meeeep!!!! reminds me of hitch hikers guide to the galaxy!!!! SUPER FUN. i love the blue stained tongue.
the only nitpick...i think i'd blur the two other orbs just a bit more...so they give more dimension to the piece.
otherwise.. awesome work !!!!!!

i really wish there were a high res of this..i'd like to see the details in the blendings of your sources. I think i'll hold my vote to see if you come up with a high res.

i find it interesting that you went monotone with it... is there a reason why??

WOW.
congrats. this is a great photo. and i love the slightly desaturated look to it.

i don't think the why of the photo is all that important. i love shots of urban decay, and even though this isn't a full on "decay" it does show alot of age. i like the color tones you chose to go with.. and most of all, i find the conduit paths to be really quite pleasing to the eye. it makes you follow it around the entire image.

after the contest, for future processing where photoshop filters and stuff are allowed, i'd consider doing a dramatic vignette and some heavy contrast on it. it would give it a really creepy feel.

COngrats on your third place. very well done

Congratulations on your first place.
your painting skills are amazing. i really need to take notes.

CONGRATS!
hands down to you, especially doing this with a mouse. its AMAZING.
even with a tablet, i don't do that well. :lol:

HEY! congrats on 3rd. i think if you'd posted a better picture of your wonderful painting, you'd have taken the cake.
it really is my favorite.

Ooook. . . Now that I'm done laughing...might I say your artistic comments were over the top. Nothing like a luke warm shower.... ewww! That's just wrong. :lol:

Indeed very funny author. I like the expressions on their faces.
It amazes me what people can do with a source like this. good luck!

I love this one. Her dress and her standings...she's just lovely well done. Definitely a fav from me.

And suddenly, I learned so much about you author. Just your choice of shrine. I really would never have guessed.

Its all about the articles right? I mean...those magazines are so informative. :lol: I should have known it was your entry. well done, love his facial expression. If that's what he looks like just cruising the pages, imagine his look with the centerfold! :lol:

Author, you do amaze me. Honestly, first thought is that this was yours, then I fought and said...no...someone elses....but I was right the first time. I love the imagination you put into it, the wild background, and the color scheme!
I know its awful, but makes me think of a show on some animal planet or something where they are showing a species that eats their young.
The faces ...if you call them that...on the little ones are so expressive. Some of them with the "oh noooooo" D: look going on. Well done. and good luck.