Last Man Standing 2 • Round Two • Matches 1-30 (HUGE D/L)

[sve]

Thank you, my dear Mr. Visions, but I heard an opposite opinion about my thinking abilities and really it is better to be realistic about yourself. . I can't think of anything else about Posh entry, I know that you are believer, maybe you can interpret this one. I would love to hear your thoughts.

[Sundance]

Jason Manley...stunningly perfect for the topic.


<Smartass Mode ON>
Dave Palumbo...when did you start making bookmarks?
<Smartass Mode OFF>

jk, I love your piece as well, very captivating.

[Mr. Visions]

sve, thanks so much for taking the time to reply to everyone. Much appreciated all the way around, I'm sure...

Sve, like Cody said, thanks, and I think everyone appreciates it. We as artists sometimes use imagery blindly or sometimes it comes from our subconscious, and we ourselves don't want to label it because we don't fully understand it. Or maybe we don't want to label it in front of others because we don't want to take away from the experiience of others, but it doesn't make those conclusions wrong. It's the form of our expression and the way we choose to approach it. I saw alot of the same things you did, but you also shed light on things in a totally different way that makes any artist appreciate the uncertainty of what we do (atleast I can say that about my piece).
In posh's piece, I will say that when you use imagery like crusade style attire and angels/demons, it will point your piece in that direction whether you like it or not. When you choose imagery like that, it will reflect it's origins, which I think sve and others might have gathered. I didn't gather that same exact conclusion, but I very well understand it, beliefs or not.
Sve, I think the fact that you pull so much from a piece shows your education/personal experience, and that's what it's all about: making someone else's art personal. It may not have been the artist’s intention all the time, but that's just a reflection of the artist's communication with his or her viewer. Without dragging this out anymore, I just wanna say again thank you for making us appreciate our work and others in a new light, and making it more real for all of us.

- Visions

[sve]

Me again. Last time I promise.

Kenji , It is very clever to use the things like the electric saw in the picture, art has limitations in its ability to deliver the message but object like this add sounds to the image through association. So I hear the unnerving high pinch sound in my ears while looking at your image. I like that you just suggesting the objects and details, I always like this manner in people art, ( probably because I do the opposite).
As a note I would like to add that the colors divide picture too much, maybe it souls be better to find some other shades closer on the color wheel. but they sure make the happening very dramatic. I might suggest to add more craziness to your psychopath in body language or silhouette.

BDFoster Very nice illustration, anatomy , poses and colors. Action painted very expressively. I just think the left arm of the dragon is hard to read, not that obvious for me and I need to look longer to understand the position in the space (probably because of the colors, they are very close to each other). I like the lighting on the riders and the very elaborated and beautiful bike.

Iconophobian There is nice magic feeling of slow motion in your painting. I think it's because of the deep blue colors, it bring association with aquarium or ocean to me, where everything is indefinite and unpredictable and sounds are silenced by thickness of water.
You had the same thing going in your Girl Thunderdome, kind of look from a distance, far away with time and miles between the happening and us, viewers.

And in the new image the confused face of the girl and some undecidedness in her pose and how she throws balls of fire and they fly and we see the traction, all this creates the feeling of not normal, surreal happening.
Like it is happening fast in reality, but very slowly, abnormally slowly in the mind of the heroine.

The soft, very mild colors and brushstrokes suggest the same to me. Not very sharp, a bit blunted sensation, like defensive reaction of our organism and mind in the very stressed extreme moments of our life. With purpose to postpone the shock and crucial destruction of our body and nerves in this important minutes.

My favorite parts of the painting are the figure of the girl, her face and balls of fire.


Vyle What a strange happening in the picture. I guess we are witnesses a hero, taking the hardest role on herself saving her people from the death. Very precise body language of the figures, I like how you painted BG of the image, but foreground look not that well thought out, there are some empty spaces and the smooth surface of the structure in front of the happening kind of distracts me. I think it has too sharp outlines considering that everything else is half hidden in fog.


Yumiko You are talking a lot through color ann textures in your image. Personally for me your painting has a lot of awaking memories and association with what I saw and heard in my childhood. I grew up listening of old Mongol legends and myth. And they had the same mood.
Admiration of physical power, cult of the fit body, love of speed, sort of sportsman qualities. Landscape is looking very close too, very powerful, solid, domineering tough nature. Country of the warriors and cruel conquerors.

Colors are very mature and confident. There are not one hint on the weakness in the image, everything is very intimidating. Partly it is effect of using opaque colors.

And of course hidden figure is the gentlest shade in the picture. Unsuitable to fight back. So escape is the way to go in this case.

I would suggest to put some highlights or some lighter shades on the knees of the horses and shoulders and helmets of the riders. They look very powerful and gruesome being that dark, but it will bring more deepness to the picture and I think it will make the foreshortening even more believable.
Overall, I like the colors in your image very much, they are unusual and fresh and very talking.

iolarnula I think because of the very soft texture of the sky in your image it would be better to wrap your objects more in the air, you know. They look a bit too sketchy and it kind of kills the atmospheric effect. Stylised sky is beautiful in your image.

Joiton . You know whenever I look at your images I very often feel like you have a great fun at my expense. Starting from the first image in LMS2.
I think you give just enough information to make my thoughts go in circle and it is kind of frustrating and irritating a bit. And it is a good thing, because it is emotion and it is really frustrating because i feel like I know only half of the words you are telling me.
The only thing I got from this you were smiling when you drew this and that the girl is a nonconformist in best or just total nuts in the worst scenario. I think she escaped from some sort of forceful imprisonment. She was counting days while she was there striking them in fours using her skin () . I have no idea what the exclamation marks mean, probably she is not all there in her head. and I refuse to comment on green spirit.
I think you have the most playful mind on this site.

loizze . OK. I think we have some agreement between the players in this match. You guys are rebels. You should have been born 70 years ago and be 20 years old in let say 1950th years when it was the sexual revolution going on. hippie, flower children, no limits, no borders, all that stuff. I just say I like stylisation in your image. If it is an escape then it's wild one.

Snarfevs The main character face and pose is funny, although maybe you didn't want this effect, but this glasses are hilarious. He has this kind of fancy guy look and outfit, like popular singer. I think it is not good to mix styles so much, going for cartoonish look at one part of the image and very realistic, textured in another. It looks like you didn't think it out too well.
The guy makes my smile every time I see him. Kind of Austin Powers type of dude .

Rusty I don't think an escape is happening right now in your picture.
More like planning or wanting to escape from the day routine which makes his brain half dead.

The little guy with huge worrisome eyes and signs of hard life is about to flip out, to lose control of himself. It will be a lot of action next moment, he will do something extraordinary the first time in his life. Just there is a limit of what a guy can tolerate.

It is probably already happening.

And when he is descending or ascending up in the elevator, his brains are working super intense, in full power and some fantastic, unbelievable , monstrous plans and images are floating in his mind.

It will be ugly, this escape of brains into craziness.

Summer Pudding You know, Pete, I already saw one time the unusual ability of a person, he was a poet, Russian poet, my contemporary, to feel and express the experience of other people as his own, very truthfully. I mean the ability to soak up the other person life events, other person feelings and transfer it through some form of art as his own, very believable.

I doubt you had this experience in the past hiding in the swamp from chase and looking at people with guns walking around you and being ready to shoot you.

But I see it like I'm sitting near you, main character, and my heart is dying several times in five minutes from every move those people make, toward me or from me. Great precise emotion and the most amazing thing it is done through colors and lighting mostly, I don't even see faces.
A body language and some little hints like guns being ready to use are very important and expressive too in your image..
You had the same effect in your submarine image. Hope you update soon. It was ages already.

Terrific job and you are really great artist, Pete, I'm telling you this without any flatter. You are a great manipulator, the best compliment to artist I think. Means, you are able to have a great communication with your viewer, the ultimate honesty and openness.

Badger Really beautiful, gentle combination of colors in your image, very refined sense of colors. And I like the simplified silhouettes in you painting. Such a gentle transition of shades, really beautiful. But it creates a calm relaxing feeling in me, so I see it more like kidnapping than escape, not expected kidnapping. Just the colors and poses of these people don't suggest that anything bad happening. It looks like well prepared action, but it is carried away without noise and panic.

Mythmaker I think the figures are bit static looking despite it is very fast happening action in the image and i wish you gave more deepness to the image, using dorm tricks to separate BG from FG. All objects have approximately the same sharp outlines, make it hard job for eyes and brains to analyse the picture.

Romance One of my favorite images in this Dome. Great effects and atmosphere and characters and story telling. And in the end the bad boys always have the most interesting roles in any story.
Really beautiful image. I want too look more at those lazy guys on the sofas with soft pillows. I suspect those dudes don't even know what reality is, they are always hanging out in their escape and whenever they need to stick their head out of it, they don't understand anything and just look with crazy eyes on strange silhouettes in front of them. The hashish is in their eyes and brains and in the wrinkles of their brownish unhealthy skin.
Perfect image and I never saw the smoked room depicted so truthfully, it is a picture with the smell and sounds, rare thing.

Jason Chan Beautiful girl, beautiful rendering. I could have said it is a silent picture because of the colors, they are kind of quiet, but you put headset on her, so it supposed to be quiet. So I agree it is very nice girl who does escape from reality into music but does it without making other people miserable. Lovely effect of the light coming though grid on the floor and her body.

Matt Dixon Hmm, I guess it is just that kind of girl who doesn't run in any circumstances and escape for her it is just literally to make a a brand-new hole in the body of her enemy standing and blocking her way. . Just that kind of persoanlity. Some other would call it agressive atttack, but you call it the only posiible escape . It is understandable, that's your personality. . your ability to see humour in most everything. I always liked it in your art.

You will disagree, because the effects are very beautiful in this image, but I would prefer Bg painted darker and duller. Just to make the main character the most important focus of the viewer. This shade of purple is very beautiful, but it is very active too, almost the same as fire and even more attention grabber then the monster or girl. And it doesn't carry that much information at all, but you make me slant my eye in this corner of the image, just because you probably don't want to destroy this lovely color. I would sacrifice it for better compostion.

Jason Manley Your image has very many symbols which effect our brains in certain way, always in certain way as result of our life experience.
Sunset, ocean, waves, not strong ones, pretty small, and as assumption monotone, casual outfit (sweatshirt), foot prints on the sand (and btw, the prints are going in circle as repetitive, comforting motion.) All these are very strong indication of certain mood: desire of silence, extreme tiredness, moment of relaxation and desire to be alone and be deaf and maybe even blind. That why you chose the grey image, it is ultimate state of tiredness, when person doesn't want any obnoxious loud colors or sounds. Everything effective and bright just irritates tired nerves. The repetitive motion and darkness are like refuge and promise of restoration.

Bowlin OMG, You overdid it for me, a little too much, my sympathy goes to the slaughtered bad guys. Just so much blood, wonder how he managed to do it in the air, flying. He got some potentials, this dude. Really nice lighting effect, very beautiful and I like the foreshortening.

magicgoo Poor little mermaid, got lost in the strange dangerous place. Do the octopus eat little mermaids? I'm so ignorant. I think it is a beautiful design, I think it could be even better. I personally think her hand gesture is not expressive enough, could be much more telling, like showing her inner state more, being startled or disgusted, or asking for help. I think it would be great to enrich the color palette a little bit, maybe to make some beautiful transition of colors. The composition is lovely though. I love the texture and rhythm those lines create.

Robot That's right, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher, called us to return to our primary bases, nature. Take off our shoes and be like just born, not spoiled by civilization.
Very expressive. could be like very much needed poster for extremely stressed places. Maybe some people will hear you. Green Party should hear you in any case. Like Travolta said " I dig propaganda' in your image.

I hope you will disregard my words in case if you think differently, it is just one person opinion, no big deal.

Thanks Mr. Visions, very kind words, I'm grateful. Cool if it is so.

[loizze]

sve>>> thanks for your crits man , i looked again at the pics and yeah the link between our pics might look weird .... or funny.i m quite amazed by joiton s pic though, and funny as well how the two characters are in some way expressing two different , lets say opposite, feelings
i guess we could find a freudian explanation to all this Male /female brain/ass farting...
congrats to jointon and snarfevs , good luck guys

cheers to all the amazing competitors
kick ass round!!!


Loizze

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...ghlight=LOIZZE

[HIMSA]

Match 28

Fiduciose vs Jason Chan vs thief

hahahahhahaha intimidation MUCH!!!!!

[Mr. Visions]

I will admit this was the match I was looking forward to seeing -

-sigh

[Rusty]

well what can i say,im pretty much blown away by everyones efforts here,amazing work guys,makes me feel 100 times worse that i entered a rushed piece.

i dunno summer puds, i think youve ripped me a new one with yours,too much dude.

...Jace

[brokk]

Screw stars, I give this thread five exploding heads!

pld:pld:pld:pld:pld:

[Icon]

Iconophobian There is nice magic feeling of slow motion in your painting. I think it's because of the deep blue colors, it bring association with aquarium or ocean to me, where everything is indefinite and unpredictable and sounds are silenced by thickness of water.
You had the same thing going in your Girl Thunderdome, kind of look from a distance, far away with time and miles between the happening and us, viewers.

And in the new image the confused face of the girl and some undecideds in her pose and how she throws balls of fire and they fly and we see the traction, all this creates the feeling of not normal, surreal happening.
Like it is happening fast in reality, but very slowly, abnormally slowly in the mind of the heroine.

The soft, very mild colors and brushstrokes suggest the same to me. Not very sharp, a bit blunted sensation, like defensive reaction of our organism and mind in the very stressed extreme moments of our life. With purpose to postpone the shock and crucial destruction of our body and nerves in this important minutes.

My favorite parts of the painting are the figure of the girl, her face and balls of fire.

oh my! so in depth! I'm so grateful you took the time ! I mean bravo for doing it for everyone! I'm actually quite happy the way you see it as it's very similar to the little story I wrote for it. I'd squeal but I'm a little too old for that!

Bravo Sve! You're breaking apart each and every piece not just technically but also emotionally! thumbs up and thank you!

[shadoman]

sve, thanks for the comments and taking the time to do all of that writing. I will keep them in mind.

[Summer Pudding]

Sveta,

you missed your true calling darling. You should have been a Belgravia gallery owner. I have a mental picture of you in a sleek chalkstripe Isi Myaki trouser suit, champagne flute in one hand, calculator in the other, showing Charles Saatchi, or Donald Trump your latest protege's work. You could sell snow to eskimos!



Lotsa luv hun

Pete

[sve]

Pete. I love you so much and miss your presence in the forum. Where are you hiding these days? Update?
You should hear me talking. I have an accent. I will not be able to sell candy to the neighbour next door who likes me . And I'm not that fond of the selling process at all. . I think any art should belong to the person who likes it the most, not to the richest one. Yeah, I know, sounds crazy.
BTW. All impressions are real. no flatter or selling patch.
Kind people who wrote to me back, thank you so much for art and kind words. It was fun though, no pressure.

[m@.]

hey, accents are great for selling art

And it seems like you interpreted my piece well hehe

the colors are not random, I wanted them hard on the eye on purpose (I guess my usual work proves I can do soft ones ), but well, it was kinda rushed and i don't personally like how it turned out either... I don't know why I feel like I should try new things each time in those challenges, instead of doing what I know and do well.

[sve]

I adore the fact you feel obliged or inspired to try new things in those challenges. means you want your art to be a present for us viewer. You love us !!! You really love us!!! hahaha.
But come on, love your art a bit more, be original, hehehe.

I'm not able to write looking at your art most of the time because it is beautiful, nothing to criticize, you have your own integrated world and I don't dare to interfere with it.
But thank you so much for allowing me inside of your creative process. That's a real treat I always love. So the colors you chose were hard and demanding and straightforward on purpose. They are loud, those orange and blue, in my opinion, it is the most attention demanding combination. Hard to escape in your thoughts from these colors, they kind of keep us focus on reality. But he managed to escape. I see. interesting.
Thanks again for saying this additional info.

[Darktwin]

wow great job everyone, really amazing work here, congrats to all that submitted.

[Rich Pellegrino]

When are the results going to be posted? I have no clue who's going to get in and it's killing me!

[flaptraps]

i just noticed these were up, wow! awesome awesome round, good job to all!

[vigostar]

I don't know why I feel like I should try new things each time in those challenges, instead of doing what I know and do well.

Cuz UZE a man with skills that can afford to take chance on a different approach and be confident enough to know that you'll get the job done...



Sve- art teacher status for you... I can just hear you lecture all day long about art history and getting caught up in all its beauty...

[strych9ine]

When are the results going to be posted? I have no clue who's going to get in and it's killing me!

The results are coming in fast, it should be coming soon...

[Rich Pellegrino]

The results are coming in fast, it should be coming soon...

Thanks Cody! Everone whould be worshiping you for doing all of this, you da man!

[Bowlin]

Thanks sve ... I really appreciate the post. I wish I had half the capability of conversation as you do... heh. You really are too kind.... thank you.

Dixon and Manley did an awesome job at putting me to shame (as I knew they would). I Keep going back over and over all the images, taking another look at artists websites or sketchbooks. The amount of quality work is amazing. I have so much respect for the members here at CA and dedicating so much time for these contest.

[Rusty]

cheers for the comments sve,missed them the first time because i was in a rush.Its wierd reading your comments,how someone can come up with all that info on an image that to me at the time was just a random image that came to mind,heh churs,thx robyn for your comment aswell

oh,and nicolas you never cease to amaze me,my fave entry out of the lot.

...Jace

[sve]

It is weird for me to read your thoughts, Rusty, because I always start from idea that nothing is random in art. All details have some reasons why they are included in the image. I even think that where you put dots and lines have some bases if an artist knows what he wants.
Look, I thought that maybe colors in m@'s image were random, and no, they were put there on pupose, were well thought out.
If nothing is random, then there is a certain idea in the image, I need to look carefully.

[romance]

Thank you Sve for the very kind comments about my entry, I'm happy you like it and see it in the same light that I did while painting it.

Also, thanks for taking the time to make comments on every entry. I'm sure it is most appreciated by all who entered this round.

-R

[loizze]

cody s the man ...i agree

[fionkell]

sve, thank you for your crit on my entry I think I spend too much time doing skies that I often forget how to place things in it properly, heh heh.

[ploboyko]

sve, thank you very much for the crits and compliments; I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I had to put it away for almost a week before I could look at it again after submitting! Anyway, you are right about the escaping souls overpowering the bad guy's torso. Guess I got carried away in that area a bit. Good insight, and thanks again.

[Mythmaker]

Hmm… I did say I’d come back later…

There’s a great deal of high quality work in here, but I just thought I’d mention a handful that I particularly enjoyed.

DavidSmit – Nice mood in this. I really like how the girl indicates some unseen threat outside of the frame – very effective.

Dutton – Great idea, very expressive and very well painted!

Mr Blonde – Loved the styling in this.

Okelvin – That must have taken flippin ages!

Viag – It looks complex and dramatic – yet simply constructed. These are skills I must learn!

Shelly – another beautiful piece! More understated than your first round, but no less worthy of merit!

El Coro – I really love the texture in the first piece – it feels so tangible.

Iconophobian – Painterly and dramatic – and a nice palette!

Jason Manley – I’m really drawn into this – it feels like a memory, or some thought captured in a frame. An amazing quality for a relatively simple piece.

Kudos to everyone who submitted an entry! - Too much awsomeness for one thread! pld:

Sve – Thanks for the critique! I’m sure you’re right – it feels more like an approximation of what it should have been. I spent too much time conceptualising when I should have just gone for it – I don’t have much experience with quick concept techniques, so I needed more time than I allowed. Oh well – My fault!

I don’t expect to be in the next round, and I’m already disappointed about that – but it’s been a great experience and I definitely want to be in the next one!

Looks like the results could be posted today!

[RasselTassel]

Very entertaining scroll!

MikeC, TyranX.. nice round!

MikeC: your piece definitely got the feeling of an escape, very cool “from dusk to dawn-feeling” in it : )

And Tyranx, sweet.. love the execution of your work, cool simple scene.

Whoa.. tons of great stuff! And thx Sve for the words on everyones work!