Challenge #208

[Byron Gale]

I see that Grant has selected the image for Challenge #208.

(Has anyone else noticed that 208 is 52x4? Grant has been doing us this service for FOUR years, now!!! Many thanks, Grant!!!)

http://www.cavesofice.org/~grant/Challenge/Challenges.html

[Robyn]

I'll second that!

[chas3stix]

I think a lot of folks will have a ton of fun with this one!......I did.
Chas

[Wendy]

This is going to be a fun one to work with !! :)

My goodness is it really 4 years ... I didn't find the Challenge until No 28 :)

Wendy

[ME100FINN]

WOW - you guys done me proud... great work so far!!! Made me laugh and smile... keep it up!!

[nkeevers]

I must be losing it...I don't see the challenge!

[ME100FINN]

I just followed the link from the #207 post

[BobWarren]

The samurai seems to have inspired a lot of us this week.

ALEX B: Interesting set of variations -- I rather like the 'underwater' look of #2.
ANNE P: Glowing edges? A nice effect.
ANNE T: So, do any of the characters match the writing on the lamp? Love the vignetting around the face in #1. I like the bevel work on the box in #2.
BARBARA W: A welcome return -- the fabric effects in #1 & #2 are wonderful. The scanner in #3 is a great idea.
BEN M: Three little maids from school? I saw a 'modern' version of the Mikado a year or so ago in which the maids were dressed in stereotypical modern Japanese school uniforms -- sailor blouses and short skirts (and the men were all dressed as salary-men).
BILL Z: I love the comedy/tragedy morphing -- neat idea!
BYRON G: The Mexican flag color gradient on the text is great! A unique idea, too.
CHARLES Y: Nice movie poster theme.
DAVE D: Interesting combination -- plastic wrap and watercolor, perhaps?
DS F: Nice work putting the image on the car hood.
ELLEN H: Great job on the label -- I like the head swap between the samurai and the snake!
JACK S: A dark assortment -- very creepy setting for the snake.
JOEY E: Nice job inserting the face into the samurai -- the lighting and the shadow are just right.
JOHN E: Interesting distortions -- how did you get the spirals on the samurai medallions?
KATHY N: The dragon cutout is an interesting idea -- smudge for the flames?
KIMI B: Terrific idea -- I love the snake-in-a-box!
MALCOLM D: Interesting color shift.
MARILYN L: Somehow, I can only see the thumbnail of your image -- I love the maiden and the vase.
MARK R: Nice work on the water and the reflection.
PAT C: The wax-shard candle blends into the other image nicely.
PAULINE W: The film look in #1 is an interesting effect. A needlepoint samurai in #2? Nice work on the mist and moon in #3.
RED S: Very cool amusement park setting in #1. Is that a cast on the cat's leg in #2 -- great canvas for the image!
RITA G: Looks like one of those chiming chrome eggs -- great effect.
RUSTY: The disembodied heads make a great backdrop for the actors.
TAB A: I like the expanded snake theme -- right down to the frames.
TOM M: Great light burst -- I love the halo and the way you worked on the headdress transparency.
WARD G: Terrific samurai hockey player -- The fit is just right. The wastebasket is cool idea.
WENDY W: Lovely fan in #1 -- I love the cords and shadows. The curtain is amazing -- great work on the shading/shadows on #2. The slides in #3 are a great re-creation. Interesting rearrangment in #4.

Bob Warren
http://www.rewarren.com/challenge/chl208.htm
RANDOM GALLERY:
http://www.rewarren.com/challenge/random.html

[Wendy]

Hi Bob ...

... and thank you for the comments :)

It is so nice to see Barbara back again ... and I have to confess that No 2 and No 4 are based on things I have seen Barbara do in the past.

That technique of overlaying things on folds was something she told me how to do quite a long time ago and as soon as I saw this one my first thought was Barbara's folded effect. So its nice to see that she is now back with us :)

Wendy

[chas3stix]

Wendy,
I noticed that my movie poster submission didn't come out for a full vertical frame. What numbers do I need in sizing the photo to get a full frame?
Chas

[Wendy]

Alex ... Good enhancement of the colour in No 1 and neat colour change in No 2 and nice work on the effect. I like the effect on No 3 too that is very effective and suits the image perfectly.

AnneP ... Wow that jumps out at you ... did you use Find Edges in there somewhere ??

AnneT ... That would make a great poster and very nice work on the edge effect of the image ... how did you do that? Clever idea in No 2 and it works really well.

Barbara ... Welcome back ... we missed you !!. No 1 is a delight to see, I love this effect and you are the master of it. No 2 rather reminds me of a folded blind at a window and there is just so much going on in No 3 ... just beautiful work !! :)

Ben ... Reminds me of poster for the Mikado !! ... Nice effect !!

Bill ... Oh that is good ... I love the new smiling mouth that is neat !!. Very well blended.

Bob ... No 1 is just excellent very nicely done indeed and No 2 is just so different and a new twist on the image.No 3 has a great feel about it ... just wish I had thought of that and how did you do it ?? but my favourite for this week just has to be No 4, it jumps off the page at you and its so 3D that you could almost pick it up. Beautiful work on that background too !! Well I thought No 4 was my favourite but then I saw No 5 ... OK how did you do that background? it is amazing, nice work on the fan too :)

Byron ... That did make me laugh. What a good take on the image .

Charles ... Nice work on the poster. It looks very good.

Dave ... Now that is so different ... how did you do it. I would guess at quite a few different blending modes ??

DS Fisher ... Good work on overlaying it on the car ... it works really well.

Ellen ... Oh that is a good idea and you have made a great job of fitting it onto the tin.

Jack ... That is way scary ... it looks like it came from the haunted forest in one of those horror movies !! and what a good effect in No 2 ... how did you do that?

Joey ... Wow I love that ... nice work on blending the face into the image

John .. Did you use liquify on your centre image this week ? ... and how did you get the effect around the balls ??

Kathy ... What a splendid dragon ... the images lends itself perfectly to the effect and I love those flames.

Kimi ... Oh that rocks. Very nice theme and beautifully done.

Malcolm ... Nice work on the colour changes I would love to know how you did it?

.... I can't see Marilyn's but I bet it is great !!

Mark ... I like the flooded effect and nice touch with adding the background.

Pat ... Very mystical and really good work on blending it all together.

Pauline ... I like the film strip idea ... it works so well with this image and what a neat background effect for it. Nice work on No 2 and how did you get that effect on the image ??. Great blending in No 3 and what a good misty cloudy effect it has to it.

Steven ... Very spooky and I love the way you have inserted parts of the image ... that is very nicely done. No 2 just made me smile what a picture of contentment.

Rita ... Oh that is good. It almost looks as if he is gazing into the future. Its a very good effect indeed.

Rusty ... Your entry has some very good little touches in it .. I especially like the way you have done so many variations on the face. That works beautifully !!

Tab ... I like the way you have done so much with the snake the background seems to be twisting around on itself and nice work on the framing effects too

Tom ... Wow what an explosion of colour and movement .. it almost leaps off the page at you.

Ward ... Now that is just so imaginative and you really have made a great job of blending it all together. What nice work on No 2, I love the simplicity of the image and it is perfectly done.

Wendy

[Wendy]

Hi Chas ...

I honestly don't know why it has come out like that ..

How did you resize it and what size did it turn out to be. ??

Wendy

[Byron Gale]

...BYRON G: The Mexican flag color gradient on the text is great! A unique idea, too...

...Byron ... That did make me laugh. What a good take on the image ...
Bob and Wendy,

I always appreciate the fact that you take the time to acknowledge each entry. Thanks for the kind remarks.

I suspect that the "joke" in my entry was a bit too esoteric (IOW, something only *I* would think of) and dated (something that applies to me, as well!).

The two inserted images are album covers. The right-hand, from a group named "Wall of Voodoo", contains a track titled "Mexican Radio". The left, from a group named "The Vapors", contains a track named "Turning Japanese". So the gist was that the snake got his geographical references mixed up, and the fellow in the middle, of uncertain origin, was severely affected by the music. ¡Olé! :D

Byron

[Wendy]

Hi Byron ...

Have to admit that I totally missed that :eek: :D :D

Wendy

[Byron Gale]

Wendy,

I would have been tickled if anyone HAD gotten it -- and fairly surprised, as well, given the references were probably not meaningful to very many. ;)

Byron

[kimi_boo]

Bob & Wendy...
Thanks for the nice comment on my snake in the box. ;)

[Ritage]

Wendy and Bob,

thank you for your always appreciated comments.

The Eye of the Beholder is such a marvelous thing. Chiming Chrome Eggs and Visions of the Future, and all I thought of in my pedestrian way, was an actor looking at a picture of himself in costume.

Rita

[Red Sky]

Thanks for all the comments Bob and Wendy. That's a lot of typing with so many entries. My first one was taken about 10 years ago on Brighton Pier. Have you been there lately Wendy? And Bob, I have a thread on this forum dealing with my cat's broken leg, and all the various casts she has been in (6 so far), so it seemed natural to use the cast as a canvas. I'll request that print for her next wrap.

Bob- At first your 1st entry was my favorite, but I have since gravitated to #2. It has a sinister Edvard Munch feel to it, which I like.

Wendy- All were great, but #1 stands out to me. The vibrant red backlight really makes the fan stand out.

Byron- I "got" most of yours. I have both in iTunes.

[Ellen]

I'd also like to thank you both Bob and Wendy for being so kind to comment.
It was a striking image and the entries benefited.
Bob - I think I like your first best just because of the snake but then there's the fan...
Wendy - all of yours were amazing! Are the folds in the fabrics and the fan a result of dodging and burning only?
I guess all the fabric shadings are what struck me in so many of the wonderful images, Barbara's were amazing.

[billz]

Bob and Wendy - Thanks so much for the nice words and for taking the time to comment. It's appreciated.

Byron - I picked up on the vapors, but I'm glad you filled in the rest of the blanks.

Bill

[jstorck]

Bob and Wendy,

Thank you both for taking the time to comment.
Wendy- No 2 was a crop of the snake and then I applied the painting tut. The background was a photo of a jungle swamp. I used a B/W effect. I got the photo from one of the free online sites.

Kimi-Snake in a box is my winner for most original. What a hoot!

[Ward Grant]

Bob and Wendy
Thanks for taking the time to comment on this week's entries. Quite a collection of really striking entries this week. As usual, both of you set high standards for others to follow with your interpretations. I have to admit Wendy's folded fabrics was one of my favorites.

[Kathy]

Bob and Wendy,

Thank you for taking time to commment on all the entries. It is much appreciated and makes for very interesting reading. I look forward to the post each week.

Can't pick a favourite of your entries ..... they are all wonderful and inspiring.

Bob ..... flames were painted using a Gouache brush in various modes and colours (love my Wacom :) ) and then a slight Gaussian blur added.

Kathy

[BobWarren]

Wendy --
Thanks for your comments.

For #3 (Spiderman) I selected the samurai face and enlarged it, then selected the red with the magic wand and used the median filter to smooth the edges. This left the black matrix lines, which I reinforced with an underlying black layer. I repaired various holes to complete the face, then added shading to emphasize the contours and created the eyes from filled circles & bevels.

For the background in #5 I used the cranes medallion that I had separated and repaired in #1 and enlarged it substantially, then applied the mosaic filter, duplicated the layer, applied the find edges filter and set the blend mode to darken.

Bob Warren
http://www.rewarren.com/challenge/chl208.htm
RANDOM GALLERY:
http://www.rewarren.com/challenge/random.html

[Wendy]

Hi Bob ...

... and thanks for the information :)

You entries this week were really exceptional ... looks like you had fun doing them

Wendy

[chas3stix]

Wendy,
Here are the figures you asked for.14.208" X 9.458" @ 72ppi. Or as pixels...
1023X681. I hope this helps.
Chas