A little burning of the brain on the shaded side would ground it more I think. The all round brightness makes it float off the cup a bit.. it's a great chop and only a suggestion. Just follow the shading on the side of the cup to match on the brain and it will ground the brain so it doesn't pop off the image so much. IMHO GOOD LUCK!

This is my opinion of course, but I would like to say that this gives it a much more "vintage" feel. The brightness of the previous image (and the harsh saturation of the red) really punched you in the face. Not a bad thing for a night club or a bar, but now it can go anywhere... IMHO of course

This is SO vintage Pulling back on the saturation might push it more into the "old film" era, but it's fine just the way it is. I was just thinking of the feel of the overall image, and the bright orange/reds are a bit harsh (not that that is a bad thing) it's your creation. I'm almost waiting for film lines and debris to show up.. hehehe.. great image

Such a subtle change, but it really created a world of difference.. the rubber ducklings retained their plasticity but now are blended into the lighting of the scene.. GREAT JOB!!! (IMHO)

hehehe.. great chop , You could play with the saturation/brightness of the rubber ducks to make it blend more with the outdoor lighting. You can tell the rubber ducks have been studio lit (pretty much).. not necessary to change it, just a nitpick, because you got the message across brilliantly GOOD LUCK!

Congrats Jeff

This was my fave. Good win Fruity.

Nice chop

Mysterious mood...great atmospheric presentation....good shadow light manipulation.

Yes it's emotional. Such a senseless war. Totally unnecessary.

...awe gee.. this makes me tear up a bit... great job! (love the emotional feel)

I had to look twice.... good shadow work too! Thank you

It sounds like double Dutch to me

Or their Japanese subsidiary "Mamasan".

hmm... aren't they delivered by Mamazon?

Nicely done, very seventeenth-century look to it.

I like where you're going with this. I think while you check the size of his head on those shoulders would be a good time to smudge tool the ends of his hair. Right where the hair meets that robe, if you will. Maybe just a little more "crackle" in the paint would add some 17th century look to it... just my 2 cents worth. Great idea!

Fake hair doesn't work. Would suggest reverting to source pic hair. A real frame would help, too. Texture is fine.

Good work fruityfruit... I liked the way this came out.

OMG that looks millions of times better. For the coup d'etat you may want to add the stars reflecting onto the water. And if you would like to do more, do you think the stargate itself would be reflecting and rippling into the water just like the dock is? I like some of the orange highlights coming from the Stargate that you put on the very edges of the soldiers. It makes the backlight look more real.

Nice shop. IMO the guy faces have too much red saturation for a night time scene and also because they are back-lit while casting shadows. Also, why is the dock green-ish? Since the stargate is ornage-ish, shouldn't the light cast on the dock have more orange in it fading away as it gets further away?

Thank you

Please link source no. 4 to where the copyright status and usage can be seen.

I think the gate would have a reflection in the water, or at least have more of an orange glow on the water. Good lighting & shadows on the men.

Take a look at the placement of the arm shadows

Now, why oh why couldn't I have thought of this....it's so funny, simple and strong. Simply lovely.

Those are like the most important stuff. A quick and dirty trick is to try the Nik Collection filters. I'm not really a 3rd party filters person, but these are good and are free. They were $500, however Google gives them away for free now. Better grab them while you can because Google has sold them to DXO. It's easy stuff and may, or may not work.

https://www.google.com/nikcollection/

And thanks for the congrats. Nice meeting you. Feel free to msg any time.

Nice work magicalfruittuts. Deserved higher.

Someone likes doggies. Lots of work put into this one for sure.

You know I got to like the effort you are making here, seeing how your first listed source claims to be from my ancestral part of the world (fix that link.)
Check your shadows and the color of the lighting would be my suggestion.

good effort! the one mosaic in her face is sorta right there... in my face, lol. as busy as it is further back a smaller tile might work for the perspective! good job though!

So cute my favorite.

Congratulations.... good work...!

Nice, but need the piece of spaghetti going from mouth to mouth

Clever fun

Nice image. Well done on the mask and the recolor. Did you apply some "feather texture' to the bird as well? Looks good.
An idea to increase the dynamics a touch - I would apply a small Gaussian blur to the background causing the bird to pop out some. Just a suggestion. Nice piece here, author.

Very Traditional, WELL DONE!!!

Very hard work here (Do you think using the actual Bug as the hood ornament and not a shadow would increase the drama?) I like it the way it is, but I was just seeing if you could make it little more aggressive hehehe Of course some of my family is from Texas and people there actually fasten Taxidermy animals to their cars LOL Nice job and Good Luck

Congrats Jeff

Congrats!

Congrats!

Congrats!!!

great thinking here, I love it

What a wonderful atmosphere feel, good luck author

The scarf is a good touch. IMHO step 3 is better.

Congratulations....!

light a match! eeewww (Good Luck

Congrats!

congrats

Congrats Jeff