The modern Computer witch TD, results in

[chaosrocks]

Topic: A modern Computer Witch
Judges

Zapradon
Seedling
Masque

Ladies and gentlemen please PM me your choices and Iwill post them all to here when all votes are in
thanks. We appreciate you taking the time to do this

[MoonVisionStudio]

Well, here she is. I would have liked to spend more time refining the image but I have too many other things going on. It was a lot of fun. I didnt want her to be a glam queen, but I didnt want to make her completely unfortunate looking either. Thanks for looking, Good Luck to everyone!

http://www.moonvisionstudio.com/pictures/Modern%20Computer%20Witch%20CA.jpg

[deadred]

JLAlfaro: cool ideas going, definitely worth finishing, her lower legs seem slightly too short tho

Ferdinand Venter: looking good, are you working on it further?

MoonVisionStudio: kickass entry! :}

Chuck,mate: interesting idea with the hair, looking forward to what you come up with :D

i'm short on ideas on mine, but here's a wip pic for now, will add body and stuff later on


edit: added 3 more WIP images (including ref i used for the face lighting. no ref used for rest of her body), and final image attached

extra edit: uploaded final to imageshack too
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1817/moderncompwitchtdfinalaw0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[squidmonk3j]

nice entries!

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/3253/160507v2zi3.jpg

[sve]

My entry...http://home.roadrunner.com/~elazutkin/Images/ModernWitch.jpg

[Grendel Grack]

Here is my final:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i242/GrendelGrack/GrendelGrack_ComputerW.jpg

Close up:

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i242/GrendelGrack/CLOSEUP.jpg

[Ferdinand Venter]

Since the time for this was kind of extended I figured I could make some changes before it officially closed.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/Ferdinand_Venter/Girl1.gif

[JL.Alfaro]

I had some time to work on it this morning, if its late of well, gave it my best shot. I scratched the idea I had previously and reworked almost the whole thing today.
Great entries everyone, waiting on chuck now :P

mine, I know theres a few details missing, but I gotta get my ass back to work.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/725/modernwitchbyjlalfarofw9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Seedling]

Can I judge yet? Chaosrocks, I’ll send you my top three picks. And here are my critiques. . .


Ferdinand Venter – “Demure Witch” – I like the reversal of the usual witch colors to white. It looks like perhaps you have taken this opportunity to learn new features of the tools you are using? The strongest part of the image is definitely the witch. She has good body language, and her skin color stands out nicely in the composition. The other elements are compositionally not as solid as they could be – they are interesting shapes on their own but they aren’t working together as a whole.

MoonVisionStudio – “Punk Witch” – Perfect character! I think I went to college with her, in fact. The cat doesn’t sit as well with me – the anatomy is just a bit too caricatured. I think the lighting would be better if it were coming solely from the candles and screen. Nice use of props and costume details; though the skull has anatomy issues. I love the apple pentagram design, but it would be clearer if the star’s arms were properly crossed. But finding that symbol again on the floor after looking at it on her shoulder is a fun touch.

Deadred – “Softly-Lit Witch” – The coke can is just plain funny. I love how you have handled her features and the light glowing on them, and her soft personality; I don’t like the hard line between light and dark elements behind her. There seems to be a good opportunity missed to use that background space for a strong composition of simple shapes. I love the floaty holographic elements. The less-finished elements could use a little more refinement.

Squidmonk3j – “Leaping Witch” – That’s a powerful image. It’s unexpectedly simple for the subject, and it works well. The computer needs a tad more detail so that it doesn’t just read as a rectangle. Also, her feet and calves could be more shapely. I love what you’ve done with the lighting.

Grendel Grack – “Floaty-Hair Witch” – Eye candy! I’m having a tough time thinking of anything that could be improved. Maybe that floaty mouse would be better off over the cloud somewhere, so that it would be more visible. I also find myself wanting there to be some bit of space between the cat and the hair. Ooh – since we are looking down on her, we should also be looking down on the candles. Those colors are yummy, and I want to take those curly shapes home with me and cuddle up with them.

Sve – “Darling Witch” – Cute! Such a light and sunny image – it’s a nice twist on what can so easily be made into dark subject matter. I’m curious as to what all the “don’t” post-it notes are about. The girl’s arms and legs are out of proportion to her head. I love the cat in the string.

Chuck,mate – “Unfinished Witch” – Those are some nice hips! Are you going to finish her?

JLAfaro – “Crotch Witch” – This is a fun cyberpunk approach. The lighting scheme is pretty. Her face and hand are particularly well developed , and by contrast, the rest of her is lacking a bit in shadows and textures (which is a nice reversal of a common problem in figure painting). I’m surprised to hear myself saying this, but if her crotch is going to be so central to the image, it needs to have as much personality as her face!



Nice work everyone!

[masque]

Seedling covered nearly all the good points of the images, and i agree with her almost to a "T," so i'll play bad cop to her good cop. keep in mind that i do see the goodness, i'm just trying to not be redundant.

MoonVisionStudio: a well-modeled and well-proportioned figure, though not well-balanced -- she looks to be tipping backward any moment. good blend of punk/goth/geek, and her slightly contemptuous expression fits the character well, though the eyes don't quite match well enough, some size & placement discrepancies. lighting is pretty generic, could maybe have used more drama in that regard. biggest criticism is the huge text -- why? it doesn't bring anything of value to the image (the understated screen does it better!), and splits the image in two. skull in BG is not nearly so bad but is a bit hokey, too much gilding of the lily imo.

deadred: good spooky mood from the under-lighting on the shoulders and face, nicely proportioned figure, pose fairly natural but a little stiff and impractical for her perch, looks a bit awkward. form and anatomy of the hands not as convincing as the rest of the figure. hard to tell if the laptop is charmed into floating like that, that's my assumption but the lighting around the forward hand, and its pose, make it kind of ambiguous. can't quite figure why the octopoid arms are there, nor why she's holding a can of soda(?), both elements seem out of place, don't say anything to me about the character. the rendering is well done in general but i think the difference between tighter and looser areas is too great, some passages look almost unfinished. there's some ambiguity about the BG planes due to the textural and tonal change at the vertical -- sometimes it looks like there's a space back there, sometimes it seems like she's in a corner.

squidmonk3j: a strong, simple composition and an intriguing concept -- is she transporting herself into the comp or being drawn into it against her will? i like that mystery. but the figure has serious anatomy and proportion issues, and the pose leaves her nearly headless. the blown-out white is pretty heavy-handed -- some subtle tones and hues in that area would help a lot without harming the effect it seems you wanted.

sve: a charming young witch, Tabitha in middle school? ;) (that really shows my years -- anyone catch the trivia ref?). the very white BG is kind of overpowering, though, some more high-key tones like those around that chair would help that. she occupies a strange space where the perspectives don't match well, and that makes it hard to perceive the BG/MG/FG relationships, it gets kind of Escher-like, but not in a magical way, it's a distraction from the main subject. the compostion has the same prob -- a few too many elements, many treated with near equal visual weight, constantly pulling the eyes to different parts of the image but without much sense of flow from one to the other. her anatomy is a bit too "rubbery" in places, and except for her face, looks to be lit too flat, weakening the sense of volume and the spatial relationships between the various body parts. both the type and the almost-easy-to-miss spiderweb seem superfluous.

Gredel Grack: a very appealing "storybook" style, good compositional treatment for the most part, hues and tones generally well-handled. the swirling forms bring a lot of "action in repose" to the image, but the rendering of the mouse & keyboard seem to have a different look, less stylized, it disconnects them from the rest of the image somewhat, weakening the overall unity. the candle at far left creates a tangent with the pic edge that draws the eye. its unclear to me what's going on at the bottom of the pic, the green elements -- rays of light, magical force beams, glowing roots? their contrast with the smoky forms isn't unpleasant but it's rather vague what they are. minor crits on the figure -- her hands seem too large by far, and the bridge of her nose a bit too broad and vertical, even given the stylization.

Ferdinand Venter: the composition leaves me wondering what the subject of this image is, there's no real focus to it, so the most stark element (the 6-pointed star) gets my strongest attention. the many hard-edged geometries are fighting one another rather than working together to draw the eye to the figure, who seems rather lost in the arrangement. the picture planes lack definiton, making BG & FG ambiguous. the heavy use of gradients and blurs calls attention to these effects, rather than supporting the unity of the image.

JLAlfaro: i see the ref to binary in the "heartlight" rays, but otherwise this strikes me more as a somewhat twisted-sister S&M cyborg than a computer witch. the figure's anatomy is weak in a few areas, and the modeling doesn't seem consistent with the light source except for the head. can't say as how the genital nudity contributes much to the character, either, seems a bit of a ploy, as do the refs to bondage in the costume.

overall, good work, peeps! please take my comments in a constructive light, that's how they're intended.

[sve]

Thanks, Chip, you are bad, bad cop hehe...Totally agree with observations, her hand is especially runner-like and fingers are huge... Freddy Kruger-like...and flatness, yeah... I might do something about that... but a bit feel hesitating. don't want to ruin the gentleness of my baby.... thanks, you are sweet! I missed you, you know... lets talk our heads off.

[JL.Alfaro]

thanks masque, your crits are always welcomed and desired brother, I will definitely apply them here.

sve- I love your painting, the girl (your daughter right?) is specially delightful- she gives off a sense of happyness the kind of person you want to have around. nice.
whats up with the cats left eye? its a little wonky ;p

-JL

[chaosrocks]

and the winners are!

1. deadred

2. Grendel Grack tied with moonvisions

3. squid ties with sve

I'l give you the actual scores if you like
hehehe
but just rejoice in the thoughtful crits
YAY
GOOD GOING Y'ALL
chaos

[ZapRadon]

I'm not gonna try to crit everyone, because I don't feel I'm that much of an authority anyway, but I'll mention what strikes me.

Moonvision--I don't wanna be mean, but lime-green and purple are like nails on a blackboard to me. Your witch is nice and witchy (or mean and bitchy maybe ;) If the lettering leaned more toward the yellow, and the purple a lot more neutral, you mighta got away with it.
Or get rid of the monster headlines and do something with the skull in the shadows? Too much competition between elements there.

deadred: lovely. She makes me think "me". Tho that can reminds me too much of a tragic incident involving my laptop and a cup of coffee.. *shudder*
I actually like the version with her hand up higher tho--it seemed a better compo to me, tho I see the potential problem with the tangent there too. The finished one works quite well.

Squid--striking composition, almost iconic.

Sve--I really like this chick. I had tons of pets at that age, too. And the Suse chameleon is just cool. I do want to point out that baggy duds are not really a substitute for good anatomical structure, but she still gets the message across. And I love her expression. And her sticky-notes.

And since it's getting way too late tonight, that's about it for now. Everybody did great work for this, (I feel a bit guilty for *not* doing one, for that matter.)

Thanks, Chaos, for running with this and then catching me!

[sve]

Hi... a new face... interesting... just as I wished, someone unexpected... hello, ZapRadon ...thank you so much for judging and for crits, this is very much appreciated... Baggy duds.. heeh, I'm not native English speaker... is it about this blue striped skirt? it is not working? OK, that's my fault... I should draw better...
I went to look at your artwork and I love it... sincerely... the judging is done... sucking up is not realistic...so I'm sincere... I loved your blue nudes and manner in which you paint and semi transparent colors... Blue is my favorite all time anyway... I loved your sculpture: marriage wasn't working but separation went great! Can be interpreted in many ways... erotic and full of pain in the same time... when it is that painful... maybe they are not that ready to separate. or at least one of them is still married. Yeah, full of rage and pain image and still they are beautiful individuals... I'm trying to feel the beautify of their bodies and the expression of horror throws me off.. interesting effect, kind of challenging, doesn't allow me to fall into dreams and doesn't allow me to be too horrified either... hanging in between.
liked the both SP... a lot of personality and spirit of a fighter or of fox terrier, that's the breed of dog, very upbeat, never gruesome. That's a good thing, btw, if you are in doubt

There is no coming to consciousness without pain. is a gorgeous triangle composition... yeah everything works in this painting... i don't want to believe it wasn't painted in one mad creative hour non stop. I don't want to believe in any calculation being done with this painting... lets think it was a vision... composition is widened up to the bottom but it is not calm... so dynamic,,, so nervous... becasue if this graceful cat-like twist.

JL thanks buddy, yeah my daughter and wonky cat's eye... it's becasue I'm a dog person :).

Squid. lets celebrate!

[MoonVisionStudio]

Chaosrocks- Thanks for setting this up and managing it, I had fun and hopefully learned a few things.

ZapRadon, Masque, and Seedling- Thanks for taking the time to post well thought out crits, very much appreciated!

Congrats deadred! Good Job everybody! OK, back to work....

[Elwell]

I've been dying to post this since chaos announced the topic, but held off because I didn't want to influence anybody who was actually competing. Anyway, here's a cover I did about ten years ago for a short story collection called Curses, Inc. Neither she nor her computer are particularly modern by now, but here she is:

[chaosrocks]

Elwell dear that was the inspiration for this TD actually. Zap posted it on irc (zap saves everything) It's lovely.

chaos

[deadred]

masque: thanks for the great crits, it always thrills me when i get detailed feedback with good observations to stuff i've overlooked, will note this down when i fix up the piece further :D

zap: thanks, and yeah i came close with drowning my keyboard once with the same habit lol the pose with her holding up the can feels too much like a product placement to me, that's why i decided to change it

Elwell: ahh so *you're* the one who did that gorgeous painting! <3

chaos: thanks for your hard work organizing these community challenges, including the 3CH and EoW too :)

congrats to the winners, and thanks everyone for the kind words! :bashful:

[squidmonk3j]

tnx to masque, seedling and zapradon for taking the time to crit! ...and cheers for chaos for organizing this event!

congrats, dead:)

now, celebrations!

[Ferdinand Venter]

Ok I'm late at posting again, but this time i got a reason HA. No seriously now I didn't know about this new thread.

Congratualtions deadred you did a wonderful piece as did all who participated with me.

I must really get my art levels back on track but joining this improved me in some way so i guess it's a plus. Oh and I've just updated my picture a little to late, but next time I will be prepaired and have improved :D.

Edit: Oops silly me thanks chaos for hosting and the judges for taking the time to crit our work