Art [OBWT] Round 2: Eclipse & Xra VS Kitty

[Ellerby]

[color=#555555][center][img]http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2388/round2copygg2.jpg[/img]
[/center]

[b][size=3][COLOR=Black]The Rules[/COLOR][/size][/b]
The following round is a 2 versus 1 match. I'm going to give a picture that all three of you will work independantly on. All you have to do is take the picture and, following the guidelines, make some prettyful artwork. :)

The winning team will be decided by the members of OtakuBoards (though this isn't the last you'll see of the judges). How it will work is every vote someone gets will be worth 1 point. However if a member of the two person team gets a vote, that automatically gives their teammate half a point.

So let's say The Boss and I are on a team against Dragon Warrior. Someone votes for DW, he gets 1 point. Someone votes for The Boss, he gets 1 point [i]and[/i] I get half a point. If the singular person wins, the other two competitors are eliminated. If one of the team members wins, only the singled out person is eliminated. If you're interested in voting, see my newest post in the underground.

So! Onto the graphic that you need to use. Click [url=http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4996/round21copyub1.jpg]here[/url].

[b][SIZE=3][COLOR=Black]Picture Guidelines[/COLOR][/SIZE][/b]
What you can and cannot do to the picture. The picture is 400 by 600 pixels.
[list][*]The picture must [b]not[/b] be the top layer.
[*]You cannot change the opacity of the picture.
[*]You [b]can[/b] move the picture, edit it's blending options etc.
[*]You cannot crop the picture.[/list]

[center]You have 4 days to submit the [b]completed[/b] entry.[/center]
[center][b][size=4][COLOR=Black]Start![/COLOR][/size][/b][/center][/COLOR]

[Xra]

[font=Century Gothic][color=Blue][b][size=4]Xra's Submission

[/size][/b][/color][/font][size=4][size=2][font=Century Gothic][color=Blue]Yeah, it turned into a PSA, but the top layer was never touched! (Save for the technically okay layer style change.)

[url="http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/3010/worm2xrafg4.png"]Link[/url]

Good luck to you both in the next round! I prolly won't make it there. :D[/color][/font]
[/size][/size]

[Kitty]

[SIZE=1]I'm so screwed. D: My submission title says it all.

[center][url=http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/946/obwtround2bf7.png][u]SO ... I'm out of ideas.[/u][/url][/center]

Good luck to you two. :3 Though you probably don't need it as much as I do, lol. >w<;;[/SIZE]

[Disenchanted]

[SIZE=1]Xra if you are out so am I, we're a "team".

AGGH this was rushed something shocking, I have finals soon and alot of other stuff going on... Curses. Anywho...

[URL=http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7539/babylightmyfire2am3.png][COLOR=DarkOrange]Light my Fire. [/COLOR][/URL] [/SIZE][SIZE=1]{pun intended}[/SIZE]

[Ellerby]

[COLOR=DimGray][b]Voting![/b]
We've waited quite a bit now and I think it's time to let the community of OtakuBoards submit their critique and comments. You'll be voting for just one of the submissions in each thread. Voting rules can be found [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=746126&postcount=64]here[/url].

Voting will end Friday, September 1st at 11:00PM.[/COLOR]

[jigglyness]

[b]Kitty[/b] gmv. I really like how you lightened up the lightbulb. I also really love the typography. I thought it was more interesting to read than the rest of the entries. haha...the cat. The stars made a good bg. I love the black 'energy' inside the bulb.

[b]Xra[/B] - I personally think that einstiens face shouldn't have been on top of the bulb. The bg is also really blurry and the text seems a little plain . I think if you had some color in it, it would look more lively. To me, einstein seems a bit out of place when placed with a bulb. I would say benjamin franklin would match a bit more, since he 'did' discover electricity right? haha.

[b]Eclipse[/b] - The fire looked pretty nice but it just didn't stand out enough for me to have voted for it. I admit I can't even get a fire too look that nice myself though. The text is a little small if you compare it to the rest of the piece. Maybe try to get that to pop out of the piece a but more.

great job all of you. :)

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy][B]Xra:[/B]
Hm, well to be honest I feel like the image is too cluttered. I think I get the idea of what you were trying to do but it just didn't work for me. The reason it seems cluttered is because the blackboard with writing on it that takes up the entire background and the picture of Einstein are overlapping, both having a lot of white and black in it which makes it look like there's a lot there. Then the lightbulb is another layer right in front of Einstein, so yeah...I felt the quote was unnecessary too, just adding to the cluttered feel. Maybe if you made things different colours instead of just black and white, because I like how you put Einstein in yellow, it makes it stand out.

[B]Kitty:[/B]
I love this image, it's so simple yet elegant. The background is lovely; several golden spots drawing the viewer's eye all over the image while still having the attention kept in the centre as the type cuts the image in half. I like that you put a lighting effect on the lightbulb because it stands out more. I had a little laugh at the type beneath energy, having truth and humour in it at the same time, very nice. Having the contrast of the white "energy"s with a black one in front of the bulb was great, the shadow of it is a good touch too. I really enjoyed this piece, nice how you managed to sort of discretely put "SO" in the top corner too.

[B]Eclipse:[/B]
I love the contrast in the background of the picture. I really love the fire effect that covers the bottom half, with graduating colours and wisps. The way you darkened the main part of the lightbulb was interesting, because it makes the filament and rims shine brightly which is good. I have to say though, I don't like the text, I thought it was too plain and too small because there's a lot of black above it of just empty space.

In the end, I decided to give my vote to [U][B]Kitty[/B][/U].[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[size=1]I'm going to vote for [B]Eclipse[/B] here.

[b]Eclipse[/b], your piece was pretty good. While your fire could use some crispness/vividness to it, the composition and simplicity really are what get my vote. The fire itself works well in relation to the lightbulb, in my opinion. And while I think your text could also use some jazzing up, it works well enough with this.

[b]Xra[/b], you had an interesting concept, but a poor execution of it. I think your two biggest problems are that 1) it's way too busy and chaotic in the bad way, and 2) your typography is weak. In relation to 1, there's too many formulas, a picture of Einstein, and a lightbulb all fighting for the center and it doesn't work out well. In relation to 2, you basically tried biting off more than you could chew. I mean that in the respect that you really don't need to have a lengthy quote; they're more trouble than they're worth. It's hard to work in huge blocks of text. And as a general rule of thumb, Comic Sans MS is [i]always[/i] the wrong font choice to make. ...Sorry if I sounded overly negative there. I honestly didn't mean to.

[b]Kitty[/b], I'm not gonna lie; yours was pretty good. Compositionally speaking, it was the best of the three, as was your typography. However I don't think the stars were a good choice for this piece, and neither does the motion blur on the lightbulb. I understand you wanted it to look dynamic/interesting and not so plain (or so I assume), but it was at the expense of much-valued clarity and crispness.

Very good battle though.[/size]

[Sara]

[color=#b0000b][size=1][b]Xra[/b]: I think you have an interesting thing going on here with the different layers. The overall effect reminds me of some sort of inspirational poster that you might find in a history or physics classroom. Unfortunately, with equal balance given to each part of the image, it gets confusing and the simple elegance of the original image is lost.

I think your image would work much better if there was some attention given to creating contrast between the focus of the design and the background elements. Whatever you choose the focus to be?Einstein, the quote, the chalkboard (okay, probably not), or the lightbulb?it's important that people looking at the image know what they are [i]supposed[/i] to be looking at. I'm not sure if you even had something in mind, or just put a lot of loosely-related ideas together on the page (which is okay, and a [i]great[/i] starting place, but not so great an ending place.) If the focus is the lightbulb, darken the background a bit more (or better yet, get Einstein's face out of there. An Einstein looking sage in the corner, or even no Einstein at all, works better than having Einstein fighting with the lightbulb for attention.)

With all of the blackboard writing (and the mad scientist hair), your text is really hard to read. I also have to give you a scolding for using Comic Sans (or possibly Chalkboard, but either way...). It's an extremely overused font, and everything it touches looks amateurish. Steer clear of it in the future, and you will do great things. =] I also have [i]no idea[/i] what to make of the yellow "Einstein" sitting there in the middle of the image. It does give things sort of an interesting color balance, but there's no other reason for it to be there (it's in the wrong place to be the source of the quote).

If I had started this image, I would probably have kept Einstein where he is, but resized and moved the bulb up so it'd smaller and more at his forehead?one of those "bright idea" things, and so it doesn't look like it's growing out of his nose. I'd find a different font for the text?maybe something cleaner, or maybe something more bookish?and put it in a box right above Einstein's mouth. (Because it's, uh, symbolic or something?) And then, I guess, I'd start fooling around from there.

[b]Kitty[/b], you don't give yourself enough credit. Your image is the crispest and cleanest of the three, and the one that I think makes the best use of the source image. I wish you hadn't put "SO I'm out of ideas" on your actual piece, because without it, your piece really [i]does[/i] look like a poster, which is pretty cool. Great job with the background; it really fits the theme you chose.

The fact that the text starts with "ergy" is kind of weird. I know that you want the word "energy" to be centered there against the bulb, but maybe there's a way for that still work and not have a bright white ERGY starting off the line. Maybe if the letters faded in a little bit? I don't know. Also on the subject of text, did you try putting a white stroke around the black "energy" in the middle? Right now it really sinks in, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

If I had done this piece, I would have changed the shape of the second line of text. It seems strangely tall (perhaps because the line above it doesn't have any ascenders), so I would squish it down a little bit. Make it look more, uh, streamlined or something.

I'd also probably put some little ghosted-white energy factoids in the background, just to go along with the science poster theme. You know, stuff like "Fact: if twenty thousand people combed their hair at the same time, the static electricity generated would be enough to cook a pizza." Or something.

[b]Eclipse[/b]: I like the way you did the flames at the bottom of your piece. They look really cool. The lightbulb seems out of place when next to them, though. The way you darkened and reddened the lightbulb itself helped a lot, but I still have trouble associating a glowing bulb with raging flames. I mean, I know there are electrical fires and stuff, and they both give light...but in the end, it's still hard for me to get past. Maybe if instead of red, you had gone with blue (to play more with the 'electrical fire' bit. For some reason I always think of electricity being blue. That might just be me though, in which case you should probably not take my advice) or something less forest fire-y.

Interesting choice of copy?it's neat how each of you came up with very different takes on the lightbulb, while 75% of the butterfly submissions originally had to do with freedom. Anyway, the text goes with the fire more than it does with the lightbulb. I have to admit that I really hate the font you used, though. The text is small, it's dark, it's hard to read, and the font itself doesn't say anything to me about fire [i]or[/i] flirtation. This font is to sexy pick-up lines as reclusive old math professors are to the MTV Sexy Person Awards. If the second is being presented by the first, you're going to seriously doubt its validity.

So, the flames look great, and the text is a neat choice. I would have played with fonts a lot more, hopefully finding something that supported the text instead of taking away from it. Between those two elements, you have the potential for a pretty cool piece here. But the original lightbulb image just doesn't seem to [i]fit[/i]. I think your piece would actually be stronger without it.

[b]My vote goes to Kitty[/b].[/color][/size]

[Boo]

[size=1]First of all, all of your pieces are so different with the same picture on the same position, which was cool. *thumb up*

Xra, your's had a cool concept, but I hate the font you used. I'm a big opponent of the Comic Sans font. The text isn't placed very well either. The idea was cool though. As was the schoolbord.

[b]Kitty[/b], who also [b]gets my vote[/b], her piece was cool. The stars in the background could've been a bit less... focus stealing, and Retribution is right about the effect on the lamp. I also don't really like the "SO""... I'm out of ideas" in it. The rest is cool though. The 'to your cat' was a really nice touch.

Eclipse, yours was pretty cool. The fire you used looked nice and the pun made your piece original too. I don?t really think making the lamp look pretty dark got the idea across, though and the text you used doesn?t work at all in my opinion.

Whee, good jobs still.

[b]PS:[/b] Happy Birthday, Kitty :3[/size]

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=DeepSkyBlue][B]Xra:[/B] What I like best about your piece is the way you combined pictures of Einstein and chalkboard scribbles to give the impression of the science behind the actual light bulb. The words add a nice touch to the overall theme as well. What I don?t care for is the choice of font, it?s too nice and neat when compared to the overall theme.

[B]Kitty: [/B]What I like best about yours is the background and concept of how energy powers everything. It all goes together nicely. I also like how you have the center word energy in black making it stand out more. The thing I don?t care for is the words so I?m out of ideas, it just doesn?t fit with the theme at all.

[B]Eclipse:[/B] What I like the best about your piece is the flames. They have a nice messy vivid look and the way they give rise to darkness except for the light bulb is rather nice looking. The things I don?t care for is the font for the words. They clash with the theme and the choice of color just seems a bit dull.

In the end my vote goes to [B]Xra[/B] as I think it has a nice messy feel to it. Excellent work everyone. [/COLOR]

[Delta]

[COLOR=#D55555][SIZE=1][b]Xra:[/b]
[indent]This is an interesting take on the subject. Instead of going for the really obvious themes of light/radiation energy, you instead chose to interpret the image that way. It's a simple connection, but I'm willing to bet that not a lot of us will think of it. V. good.

The use of monochrome really brings out the yellows in the bulb. However, I feel that the other images are a tad too dark and rather creepy-looking. Perhaps adjusting the levels so as to match the white in the bulb's outline (plus it'll look really rad if Einstein's skin blended into the bulb).[/indent]

[b]Kitty:[/b]
[indent]Nice quote you got there. The bulb and nearby text are so perfectly aligned that I feel like I printing out your work and folding the paper to enjoy its symmetry more. Yes, it does elicit really odd feelings.

I also love the way you used text in attempting to maintain balance in the image. "So" fills the upper part of the image nicely but the phrase at the bottom could've been set higher 'cause it sort of disappears into the background, or that white nebula thingie placed lower.[/indent]

[b]Eclipse:[/b]
[indent]Just as Xra's monochrome brought out the intense yellow of the filament, the colors you used brought out the blue in the bulb's outline. I never really noticed it until now but dang, that's complementary colors in action! I also like the way how instead of muting out the colors, you chose to intensify them instead. Hot.

Typography is lovely and the use of leaf(?) brushes to render fire is a capital idea, chief. [b][COLOR=blue]GMV, Eclipse.[/COLOR][/b][/indent][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=SeaGreen][B]Xra: [/B]I too like the messy feel and how you combined the pictures from the chalkboard with one of Einstein. It?s a great concept and I think it goes with the light bulb rather well. But at the same time it?s a bit too busy and I think that distracts from the overall theme.

[B]Kitty:[/B] Your piece has a wonderfully put together background and the words along with the picture of the light bulb all fit together nicely. It gives the impression that all energy is the same. But like indifference I don?t like the words?So I?m out of ideas?as it just doesn?t seem to fit.

[B]Eclipse:[/B] I too like the flames in your piece. But for what ever reason on my screen they look a bit blurred. However they are nicely done and have a good rich vibrant feel to them. And I like the choice of words for your piece as well.

In the end my vote goes to [B]Kitty[/B]. Great job everyone! ^_^[/COLOR]

[Ellerby]

[SIZE=6][CENTER][b]Round Over[/b][/CENTER][/SIZE]

[b]Kitty[/b] [COLOR=DimGray]wins 5 to 4 1/2. Eclipse and Xra are now out of the tournament. Good job to everyone.[/COLOR]

[Disenchanted]

[COLOR=DarkGreen][SIZE=1]Congratulations Kitty! Congrats to Xra as well for a good round. [/SIZE] [/COLOR]

[Katana]

[size=1][color=royalblue]Woah...I had been watching this round (been meaning to post, but school is a bi - yeah), and was really apprehensive as to how this would turn out. It was a heated battle, that was for sure, and the narrow margin proves the worthiness of the pieces.

Congrats to Kitty, but a definite applaud to Eclipse and Xra for making this a battle worth participating in. =)[/color][/size]