Music Is in My Soul

This is a beautiful composition. Peter

This is a beautiful composition.


Peter

thank you very much Peter, much appreciated

thank you very much Peter, much appreciated

Hi Ryan. Because I didn't recognise your username I went back to your portfolio, I'm glad I did. What you do is very personal, you create your own world in your images. Reading your [i]About...[/i] information taught me a lot more. You are coping with a degree of disability that would have made most of us give up long ago, and finding your own niche. Bravo! Technically this is miles from my area, but I am looking at it as a competition entry, and from the point of view of composition and emotional communication. The idea is brilliant, as is the essential formality of the composition. The central image itself is particularly strong. The story is complex, I am guessing that it hints at conflicting experiences remembered. Seagulls, song birds, parched desert with lioness, bright flowers and foliage, the fluttering sheets of music, stardust, the instruments and gramophone... Two nit-picking technical quibbles - the floating beam of light arching up from the gramophone horn comes to an abrupt halt, it needs to fade away softly; and the sheet music is either very soft or very sharp, I would like to see a subtler gradation. For my own taste I would want to simplify, to use a simpler frame for the picture in order to distinguish it better from the dreams, to omit the cracked glass and reduce the number of birds and details. Once one starts something like this it's difficult to know where to stop! I suspect that the crowded feel is very much intentional - and it's very Victorian in spirit. I shall be very interested to see the specialists' responses. Thanks for sharing your very personal vision, and an inspiring life story. Moira

Hi Ryan. Because I didn't recognise your username I went back to your portfolio, I'm glad I did. What you do is very personal, you create your own world in your images. Reading your About... information taught me a lot more. You are coping with a degree of disability that would have made most of us give up long ago, and finding your own niche. Bravo!

Technically this is miles from my area, but I am looking at it as a competition entry, and from the point of view of composition and emotional communication. The idea is brilliant, as is the essential formality of the composition. The central image itself is particularly strong.

The story is complex, I am guessing that it hints at conflicting experiences remembered. Seagulls, song birds, parched desert with lioness, bright flowers and foliage, the fluttering sheets of music, stardust, the instruments and gramophone...

Two nit-picking technical quibbles - the floating beam of light arching up from the gramophone horn comes to an abrupt halt, it needs to fade away softly; and the sheet music is either very soft or very sharp, I would like to see a subtler gradation.

For my own taste I would want to simplify, to use a simpler frame for the picture in order to distinguish it better from the dreams, to omit the cracked glass and reduce the number of birds and details. Once one starts something like this it's difficult to know where to stop! I suspect that the crowded feel is very much intentional - and it's very Victorian in spirit. I shall be very interested to see the specialists' responses.

Thanks for sharing your very personal vision, and an inspiring life story.
Moira

Hello Moira Thank you very much for the kind words and taking the time to give so much feedback :-) also good to see that you take the time to read my biography :-) with today's technology disability is not an issue! Great to see that you managed to pick up on the elements in the story! With regards to the critiques I see what you're saying about the light coming from the gramophone, this could have been faded much better. With regards to the music sheets I was aiming to give a sense of distance by doing the one in the foreground out of focus. Again much appreciated about the comments and the kind words and suggestions Regards, Ryan

Hello Moira

Thank you very much for the kind words and taking the time to give so much feedback also good to see that you take the time to read my biography with today's technology disability is not an issue!

Great to see that you managed to pick up on the elements in the story! With regards to the critiques I see what you're saying about the light coming from the gramophone, this could have been faded much better.

With regards to the music sheets I was aiming to give a sense of distance by doing the one in the foreground out of focus.

Again much appreciated about the comments and the kind words and suggestions

Regards, Ryan

Ryan - It's really hard to critique such accomplished digital art. It all works very well indeed! My only comment is that the area on the right is possibly a little bit bright, and may direct some attention out of the frame on that side... Beautiful, and haunting. (And I'll feel a real wally if you're posting here after the event, and you've scooped a major prize...)

Ryan -

It's really hard to critique such accomplished digital art. It all works very well indeed!

My only comment is that the area on the right is possibly a little bit bright, and may direct some attention out of the frame on that side...

Beautiful, and haunting. (And I'll feel a real wally if you're posting here after the event, and you've scooped a major prize...)

Its very well executed, and very beautiful. Its also completely impossible to critique as an image, unless you wanted help with technique, which you dont need. Well done. Put it in the general gallery. Regards Willie

Its very well executed, and very beautiful.

Its also completely impossible to critique as an image, unless you wanted help with technique, which you dont need.


Well done. Put it in the general gallery.



Regards


Willie

Just for comment as I'm in now way skilled to critique pics like this. I'd say the scale of the humming bird on the flower seems at odds with the seagulls above. Also the seagulls on the left have closed wing tips, yet those on he right open wing tips - yet it seems they are part of the joining of the left and right sides of the picture - is this intentional? The background of the oval picture slightly confused me with the top half looking like the overall background whilst the lover half is clearly not the main scene background. But Wow - i so want to start to learn these techniques. Super image.

Just for comment as I'm in now way skilled to critique pics like this. I'd say the scale of the humming bird on the flower seems at odds with the seagulls above. Also the seagulls on the left have closed wing tips, yet those on he right open wing tips - yet it seems they are part of the joining of the left and right sides of the picture - is this intentional?
The background of the oval picture slightly confused me with the top half looking like the overall background whilst the lover half is clearly not the main scene background.
But Wow - i so want to start to learn these techniques. Super image.

I'm sitting here with a big smile on my face :) I also read your bio on your website, and although I didn't mention that in the aquarium/fish thread, I will do now ... you yourself are an inspiration, not just your artwork. My only thoughts on this are, I think, echoed by Dudler above - the right hand side of the image seems so much brigher than the left hand side, and so gives it a very slight unbalanced feel. As for the rest of it, I can't critique it at all as I don't know enough yet about technique and stuff like that with compositing. But I'm so glad you've posted this :D :D :D

I'm sitting here with a big smile on my face I also read your bio on your website, and although I didn't mention that in the aquarium/fish thread, I will do now ... you yourself are an inspiration, not just your artwork.

My only thoughts on this are, I think, echoed by Dudler above - the right hand side of the image seems so much brigher than the left hand side, and so gives it a very slight unbalanced feel.

As for the rest of it, I can't critique it at all as I don't know enough yet about technique and stuff like that with compositing.

But I'm so glad you've posted this

Ryan, I too went to your about page, and all,I can say is that I am inspired by the ambition and artistry that you have accomplished, and are working toward. One of the things that I have observed as an artist (I am a studio furniture maker by profession, and a photographer all my life, so far), is that a large part of what we do as artists has as much to do with what we either cannot do, or do not do well...... As to this piece, as I said in my earlier entry, i think it is beautiful, and as with all of your work, tells a very intensely personal story. I agree with John Dudler about the brightness on the right at least that it is....and for me, it is a part of your aesthetic choice, and that is kind of beyond critique. I kind of like the way that the. Image dark to light, or the reverse, works. And, I think blown up large, it might not be an issei at all. Peter

Ryan, I too went to your about page, and all,I can say is that I am inspired by the ambition and artistry that you have accomplished, and are working toward. One of the things that I have observed as an artist (I am a studio furniture maker by profession, and a photographer all my life, so far), is that a large part of what we do as artists has as much to do with what we either cannot do, or do not do well......

As to this piece, as I said in my earlier entry, i think it is beautiful, and as with all of your work, tells a very intensely personal story. I agree with John Dudler about the brightness on the right at least that it is....and for me, it is a part of your aesthetic choice, and that is kind of beyond critique. I kind of like the way that the. Image dark to light, or the reverse, works. And, I think blown up large, it might not be an issei at all.

Peter

hello Thanks a lot for the kind comments and suggestions. I appreciate all of the feedback. @dudler, thank you for the comments, yes I see what you're saying about the light coming from the right, I was trying to get the feeling of music and magical elements coming from the gramophone and this can only really be done with light. @banehawi, thank you, to be honest I think I've posted in the wrong section :-) I wasn't after critique, I just wanted to show people what I did as I entered this competition a couple of years ago @jackalltog thanks for the feedback, I'm not sure what you mean about the open wingtips? Surely this does not matter as they are all flying anyway. With regards to the hummingbird I think this is in perspective if not they could be a little smaller as this is further forward than the seagulls are. if you want to learn some great techniques Try checking out psdtuts.com @tanya, thank you for the feedback and also encouraging me to post again :-) i'm going to try and post more regularly with some of my most recent work. also thank you for the comments on my biography, much appreciated. I just hope I can get time to post more and reply as I'm so busy setting up the printing website and also fulfilling orders @Peter, thanks again for the other comment, I've checked your website out and you do some great photography of furniture. also I totally agree what you're saying about being in the creative field, there are always other techniques we need to learn. That is the great thing about it really as you never stop learning and with time and perseverance you can just keep getting better and better

hello

Thanks a lot for the kind comments and suggestions. I appreciate all of the feedback.

@dudler, thank you for the comments, yes I see what you're saying about the light coming from the right, I was trying to get the feeling of music and magical elements coming from the gramophone and this can only really be done with light.

@banehawi, thank you, to be honest I think I've posted in the wrong section I wasn't after critique, I just wanted to show people what I did as I entered this competition a couple of years ago

@jackalltog
thanks for the feedback, I'm not sure what you mean about the open wingtips? Surely this does not matter as they are all flying anyway. With regards to the hummingbird I think this is in perspective if not they could be a little smaller as this is further forward than the seagulls are. if you want to learn some great techniques Try checking out psdtuts.com


@tanya, thank you for the feedback and also encouraging me to post again i'm going to try and post more regularly with some of my most recent work. also thank you for the comments on my biography, much appreciated. I just hope I can get time to post more and reply as I'm so busy setting up the printing website and also fulfilling orders

@Peter, thanks again for the other comment, I've checked your website out and you do some great photography of furniture. also I totally agree what you're saying about being in the creative field, there are always other techniques we need to learn. That is the great thing about it really as you never stop learning and with time and perseverance you can just keep getting better and better

[quote]Try checking out psdtuts.com[/quote] Although, bear in mind if you do (which I just have ...) it's actually [i]pstuts.com[/i] (i.e. miss out the 'd') :D Good site though with links to interesting stuff - thanks for the pointer :)

Quote:Try checking out psdtuts.com


Although, bear in mind if you do (which I just have ...) it's actually pstuts.com (i.e. miss out the 'd')
Good site though with links to interesting stuff - thanks for the pointer

thanks for correcting that :-) that is indeed a great website for photo compositing

thanks for correcting that that is indeed a great website for photo compositing