flip horizontal ?

[possessed]

k, just finished my entry for this week's C.O.W topic: Swamp Beast
After I submitted it I played around with it some more and one of the things I did was reverse the image. I rather liked the reversed effect but I would like to hear from others which one works better or why one or the other does not work.
Thnx for any input.
Greetz,
possessed

Original
http://images5.theimagehosting.com/swamp beast.1.jpg (http://www.theimagehosting.com)

Reversed
http://images5.theimagehosting.com/swamp beast reversed.jpg (http://www.theimagehosting.com)

[Mike Frank]

There is not a huge difference, but I agree that it looks better reversed. I think the reason why is the contrast the skull on the back is drawing us in. It wants us to look there first.. and then move onto the face. Since we typically read from left -> right, it is more natural to have our attention draw from left to right.

The creature looks pretty cool and so does the environment. Something about the whole image seems a little stale, but I can't put my finger on what. There isn't a very wide range of values.. or it could be the positioning of that skull focal point on his back. But yeah, not sure, maybe you can figure it out.

[emily g]

Since we typically read from left -> right, it is more natural to have our attention draw from left to right.
Yes, I agree with Some_Guy here.

Also, I like the interesting marks you have put on your creature. I think it would help if you made the creature stand out from the background a little more. Right now because it is a similar value and color to the background, it got lost to me the first time I viewed it.

best,
emily

[jfwalls]

I agree with making the creature stand out more, and there are a couple of ways you can go about it. I would personally darken up alot of the area around the creature, and leave its upper body and head a little and warmer in color. I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick paintover to try and show you what I'm talking about. Don't take it personally or anything, but I just wanted to illustrate what I was saying. Also, this image is a little too dark, but it will give you somehting to think about hopefully.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/jfwalls/swampbeastreversed.jpg

[possessed]

thnx for all input guys. Mike, that's a great compliment!
Jfwalls, I really like what you did with the background, it feels very dirty and swampy.