Even though it needs certain elements, as you say, I like where you are going. My main concerns are as follows: (1) The hair doesn't look right. There should be more of it in front of her forehead and perhaps it should also cover her ears more as well. (2) The background is a bit too drab for the rest of the image. Keep it 2d, but add a hint of blue to the sky. (3) The lack of shadow on her cleavage is also distracting. (4) Once you've taken care of the above to your liking, add a bit of post to Raquel herself, so that she appears more painted (she is already well-lit for this, but is still a little too plastic). Hope this is helpful to you, as I like this image quite a bit as is. I look forward to seeing where you take it from here :-)

I like the color of that dress piece of the original render. I second the previous post 2,3, points... And I also can say that it is a nice work.

I like the upper part just fine. There's something odd about the legs. Maybe it's because a naked hip under a gunbelt is incongruous or unexpected, so it needs more contrast (or something?) to be properly perceived. My eyes started with the face, then ran down the east side of the picture. They didn't "understand" the left leg at first. I had to go westward, figure out that the part under the gun was a naked hip, then come back to the left leg. Of course, if this sort of double-take is what you want, then it works perfectly!

Questions of these types sometimes get opinionated answers. Meaning, they are subject to what the viewer prefers. So, it doesn't mean the artist is wrong...just that a viewer differs in opinon. So, for me, the first thing I thought was that I thought it was too yellow. I suppose that is for a purpose...a southwestern sort of look. I also think the background is too similar in color to the foreground. Should be more separation, in my opinion. But, it's just an opinon. Follow the beat of your own drums.

To everyone who has thus far responded. Thanks. I understand that opinion may vary, but hopefully by hearing what others think, I will get a general consensus as to what areas need further consideration on my part. In the end, my vision may differ, and things suggested not be changed, but that is not to say I do not appreciate the comments being made or find them helpful.

Before I posted this version, it had gone through a number of variations, and I also thought of making some of the changes suggested here, such as a bit more blue in the background sky, etc., but held off doing more, deciding I needed a fresh perspective first.

So, please keep those thoughts coming. I fear I am one of those folks who reads a lot about the principles of art, such as color, composition, etc., but has a hard time making the conversion from text on the page, and examples shown, to incorporating those aspects into my work.

Okies. Looking good, but a few modest tweaks could help. Posing's my thing, so here goes (none of this is criticism, btw, merely observation):- * The gun hand is perfect. Spot on. Don't change it. * The rest of the pose is off balance. Draw an imaginary line through her hip and through her shoulders. She should be leaning against a wall or post or something at her left (the right of the picture as we look at it) in this pose, or the strain on her left leg would be most uncomfortable. Now, it may be that you've lowered one shoulder and raised the other, but the poncho and (as mentioned above) the lack of chest shadow hide this. From the top of her right hip, there's no visual clue about her stance until you get to the shoulders. * It's probably just me, but I find 'full face on' head poses, where the model is looking over my shoulder, most disconcerting. The model should be making eye contact with the viewer, looking in a more 'dynamic' pose (left, right, down, whatever), or (far more effective), she could have her head turned a little to the side and maybe up or down a few clicks. * Last one, or you'll hate me for ever. The curved edge of the saddlebag is hidden behind her left forearm, but the brain fills in the missing pieces. The curve will take it through her (hidden) biceps. Either that or her left upper arm is painfully thin. Everything is solved by getting the shoulder / hip angles right .. it'll also stop the saddlebag looking as if it's about to slip off her shoulder. All minor stuff to tweak, but the pose and the lighting are 90% (at least) of any great picture. Good luck!

I like the pose and outfit. But the wet skin I find a little distracting. The post work seems to accentuate the wet look. So I have to ask why is she wet? If she came in from the rain her outfit and hair should also be wet. If she's going for a ride, why didn't she dry off first? If that's sweat?, yuck.

Given the poncho, the bag, and the cactus in the background, I just assumed it was hot (smile).

Actually, I have that effect on all women :O) (I can't believe I just said that).

Shadownet, From a strict painter point of vue/er.. view, your palette is overpowered by the reds. The saddle bag is off axis too, like it's a cut and paste. The gunbelt(texture) can be connected to displacement node (0.1-0.01) to break it up and toned down with the taupe (rightside) colors. Gunmetal black and specular too. I like the bg. Almost like she's standing in front of a mural. That movie came out years before the pause button so, I understand...lol

I am learning one thing from all this. When it comes to being able to make changes to your work. Poser Good. Paint program, Bad! LOL

I may fudge a little on the rework, and do more - if I can - this time round in Poser.

@richardson - you are close on the saddlebag. I did not have a saddlebag, so that one got painted in. I did start with a photo I had found, and tried to line it up so I would have some idea how to place it. Guess I goofed in a couple places there. The hat was also added later, but that was from a render I did in poser and cut and pasted in, so I was better able to match it up to the figure.

Got the idea for the gal in the poncho, from the Raquel figure and remembering the old S.W. I do not think she looks much like Raquel here, from Hannie Caulder, though, and was not trying for that. Just like the idea of a the gal in the poncho, but did find a few pics on the internet, with Raquel, form the movie - actually the pose I used here was from one photo. She was/is leaning up against a post in the photo - and here too, only the look of the post has changed in the revisions, so now looks more in the background behind her.

What I have learned thus far is I pay closer attention to detail at the start of a work, but during the revision stages, I tend to let things gel, even after changes made might require other changes, like the need to alter her pose, once the post was no longer clearly there as a prop for her to lean up against. Live and learn. LOL

:O)

I've gone thru the "concensis" thing on my project's too. It can be good and bad. The good is that if you can get too caught up in the piece and a fresh set of eyes can be helpful. Also leaving it alone even for a few days and coming back to it can give you a new insight as well. You seem to have plenty of suggestions to consider so I'll just comment on the one thing that jumped out at me. I would like to see the eyes pointing at the viewer. It's the first thing I thought of. Or maybe slightly off to the side instead of dead on. My biggest concern in my pieces especially in the newer one's I am working on is where are the eye's pointing. I think it's the most important thing, at least to me.

I started to redo the original, but found myself making a new picture when I went back into Poser, cause I kept changing stuff. Since the purpose of this exercise was for me to try to improve the original, I went back into Paint Shop Pro and attemped to make the changes there. I could not do much about the pose, so I added the post back in more foreground so that it (hopefully) looks like she is leaning up against it. I added the blue in the skin. Tried to eliminate the wet look of the skin, and tone down the red. Also painted in a bit more hairline and hair at the ears. Not much cause I kind of liked the hair in the original. Oh, also found I could use the push tool to move the pupil of the eyes a bit, so I tried to set them so they are looking at the viewer.

Feel free to rip into this. I have thick skin, and my interest is solely in learning so any critique made in the spirit of helping out is appreciated.

Rob

Hmm, seeing this for the first time on my laptop. The top of the hair, against her forehead, looks like a bad layer blend. This did not show on my desktop. I'll have to fix that. If it shows on anyone elses monitor, that's what up. BTW, is there any way to make a picture so that it will look more or less the same on different monitors? Any tricks or anything like that. Or is this always an issue?

Colour, contrast and brightness are always an issue. Even if you calibrated your monitor so that it was perfect, you can't know how other people have theirs set up. And Windows and Macs have different 'ideal' settings. All you can do is make sure your machine is consistent across your various programs. PSP has a rudimentary gamma tool. Have a play with that (write down your existing settings first, though!).

Anyway. Picture. Much better, imho. I really like the painty look. The texture on the poncho looks very realistic, which contrasts well with the rest of the picture. Although I guess some might say that it is now the focal point of the piece (though my eyes always go to the gun hand first .. it's posed perfectly .. lazily threatening).

For the crit' part .. there should be some shadow on her left thigh, where the front part of the poncho ends. The eyes still aren't quite right .. they are kinda staring vacantly over the top of my head, now (I shouldn't slouch so much). The sun is coming from her right side, square on .. her right eye should be squinting slightly. Just lowering the right eyebrow and eyelid a couple of pixels should do it. It'll also help to animate the face more. Finally, a more general point .. the lighting is consistent in the picture, but it implies the sun is only just over the horizon (the shadow on her leg caused by the gun is the biggest visual clue). But the 'quality' of the light isn't right. It's too blue (I think). You were closer in the previous picture, on that score.

But that's all nit-picking (as requested). You're doing good work, pilgrim .. btw .. are you laughing at my mule?

Message edited on: 10/21/2004 19:37

Hi moochie, thanks for the info on the monitor, thought it was something like that - but one can hope. Also, thanks for the additional feedback on the picture. I wouldn't dream of laughing at your mule. LOL! (er, that wasn't at the mule, put that six gun away). Those darn eyes are giving me fits. If she was looking at another figure in the scene, I would not have problems. I tried having her look off, to her right, as if there was someone there, but it just didn't look right to me. I'll try the squint and also see if I can lower her gaze a tad so she is not looking over your head. :O) Not sure how I missed not adding the shadow to her left thing. Good catch. Hmm, on the light, I guess I got too much red out. I think I can fix that an not mess anything up. I hope I hope. Well back to work I go....

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=795209&Start=1&Sectionid=20&filter_genre_id=0&WhatsN

Rob