I don't know if this is worth a challenge or not, but it's been commented recently in the Poser forum that some of the images in the galleries are really "art-worthy." Some images are not much more than ad art or layouts for fashion magazines. Just a figure posing in a costume. PabloS posted a wonderful image recently of a mother and her child and it stirred a lot of emotion. It tells a story. The image says something. There's great substance to it. I think it would be interesting to see how many people can come up with an image that really tells a story or stirs emotion in the viewers. I don't think this has to be a timed challenge, but just an invitation for people to try to come up with images that really say something. Just an idea to see if people can be clever with Poser. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=168235&Start=1&Artist=PabloS&ByArtist=Yes

I would only like to open up one limitation on this idea... that it not be Poser specific. While many use Poser for their primary package.. there are those who either don't use it, or like myself, have it as a human model resource. I take the basic models over into other programs, add bones, re-do all textures, etc... and then work with them from there. So, yes.. it would be great just to see some work going into images that tell a story.. no matter the platform/application you use to get there. :) Even 2D. There are some folks who can do things far better than I, with nothing more than PAINT. ;)

Absolutely! It's the finished image that counts. I know that a lot of people have made comments about the submissions to the galleries. There a some people entering images in the galleries that obviously took ten minutes to compile. These pictures basically say, "Hey, look at me, I can use Poser [or Bryce or Vue or...]!" Like many other members here, I'd like to see some substance to the images. Pablo, Norman Rockwell is a good example. His paintings were almost like little still movies. You could almost hear the people in them speaking. The Thanksgiving dinner one is a good example. I think it would be fun just to see what kind of emotion or story the artists here can produce with whatever medium they prefer. Melanie

Ok .... so it's settled... you come up with a great personal challenge to issue to everyone. :) Make a scene/image/whatever ya wanna call it... and have it tell a story. Envoke emotion, if it helps tell the story, whatever it takes to get the story across to the viewer. Any specific time frame? Or you wanna leave this open ended?

Just open ended. I think there's a lot of good talent out there, but some people aren't using it to the fullest potential. I think a lot of people would like to see some interesting images. I've just been seeing a lot of threads where comments were made by other members of there being too many images of beautiful women posing in armor and a sword and staring at the camera. I do see a lot of good compositions in the galleries, but I tend to agree with the other members that maybe there should be more images that have something going on in them. Some sort of action or business happening. Pablo's image is a good example. Melanie

ok... going to post a link to this thread in the title area of this forum. :) Hope we see some works !! Will be interesting. :)

Attached Link: http://www.knology.net/~carlos/redneck.htm

I love this challenge! I think almost all art should tell a story I myself try and make all my images say as much as they can with just one"Still shot" I will do my best to enter in on this one. Gaelyn Thorne

I'm looking forward to seeing some really exciting images. This is going to be fun. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=144664&Start=1&Artist=grendelsden&ByArtist=Yes

"D"

http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=172101&Start=1&Sectionid=7&WhatsNew=Yes This is my first post. It is an image I was working on when I read Melanie's challenge, and it seemed to fit, so I finished it up, and here it is. Hope you like it.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=169804&Start=1&Sectionid=7&WhatsNew=Yes

Wow, so far, these are great images. Stranger Aeons, the hair looks great. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=169819&Start=1&Sectionid=7&WhatsNew=Yes

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=171984&Start=1&Sectionid=3&WhatsNew=Yes

Gebe, that's a great image. Something's definitely happening in that one. What an original picture. Excellent example of a scene that says something. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=110467

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=60818

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=173846

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=173728&Start=1&Artist=Maker&ByArtist=Yes

But why does art need to validate itself with meaning? You can apply meaning to anything you do. Does that make it art? Is the Mona Lisa less magical because it's just portrait of a woman? Should we ignore the wondrous still-lifes of Jean-Baptiste Chardin just because they're of everyday objects?

Well.. I don't know about anyone else, but I could only look just so many renditions of the Mona Lisa before the magic is gone!!!

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=174168&Start=1&Sectionid=7&WhatsNew=Yes

Didn't think I'd finish it in time.

Uh.. just how many daVincis have you met today, Maker? :)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=172487

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=151997&Start=1&Artist=grendelsden&ByArtist=Yes

Portraits and still life images are every bit as much art as anything else. What brought this whole idea on was not so much a criticism of those types of images, but because someone had commented that there was a plethora of images that seemed to be just a single figure against a blank background, staring or glaring or smiling at the camera with no real thought put into it. It probably took them 10 minutes to pose and render. I think the idea they were trying to convey was to see more images with some action in them. Like a scene from a movie. Maybe "story" was the wrong term to use for this. Something with some business going on in it. People doing things, not just posing. Or in the case of non-Poser related images, something that gives the feeling of some situation taking place. I guess I probably didn't express it very well in the beginning of this challenge. An image of a city street with busy traffic and storefronts would be full of interest. Something that gives the sense of life, even if there aren't any people in it. This isn't really a contest as such, no prize or deadline, but just a call for some interesting compositions. So far, I'm seeing some fascinating things happening here. Melanie

In addition to Melanies words This isnt the Validation or even Recognition forum, its the Challenge forum. Anyway can challenge the rest of us with their ideas (within reason & TOS guidelines). Personally I thought this was a great idea. Its even possible to show great emotion and story with just a simple pose image as well. Rembrandts Mona Lisa (mentioned earlier) is one of those. Critics and art lovers for years have contested just why she is smiling. There is emotion in that image. (I only used that reference due to its earlier mentioning). So this is not to quantify one style of art over another. Its not to validate the artists here, as better the whole purpose of these challenges is to CHALLENGE you to try something new. Something you might not have thought of. There has been quite a few times when Ive sat down at the computer and every idea runs. So Ive sat here with a blank screen and no ideas. Coming in here has given me the focus or perhaps an idea. Even if its not related to the current challenges. The variety of works in this challenge alone is inspiring. And I for one thank Melanie for the idea. :) - James

is this challenge still on? i'm working on a pic now

Thanks for clearing things up, Melanie and James :)

There really wasn't any deadline for this challenge. I was just hoping to stir people into being creative. To put some images into the gallery that makes you stop and look. Thanks, James, for the clarification and for your encouragement. He's right, it wasn't to validate any form of art, and yes, I agree that images like the Mona Lisa does have emotion. I guess what I was thinking of was something with lots of detail. One artist that comes to mind is Norman Rockwell. I could look at one of his paintings for hours and still see little things in it that I hadn't noticed before. What I was really looking for was something that looks like you could walk into it and suddenly find yourself dragged into a situation. This all started with the wonderful image that PabloS did of the mom and her little boy. It could almost come alive. I could almost hear Mom's voice and the little boy asking her why she had to go away. It's very dramatic. I've been trying to improve my own work recently, doing more than closeups of faces (which I mainly do for my own reference to visualize my fiction characters better), and I wanted to do something that does things. Action scenes. Thanks for so much response to this. It's a bit overwhelming. I think I bit off more than I could chew here, but it's stimulating and fascinating to see what's taking place here. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=174489&Start=1&Sectionid=7&WhatsNew=Yes

Very nice image. It has lots of emotion. I'm glad things are on the mend. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=87684

i find this challenge very interesting,i myself am a portrait artist. almost all my work is faces.so i think i'll try working on a whole scene myself and see if i can convey some feelings.

I also do mostly portraits, which is why I thought it would be a great idea. This was as much a challenge to myself as for everyone else, too. Most of my images are reference tools for my fiction writing. I do images of my characters in portrait so I can better desribe them. If you can see them, it's easier to put their description into words. But I've always admired images where there are multiple characters interacting in some way. This is really what I was hoping for. Multiple actors in a scene, inateracting around some sort of theme or situation. A good example is the famous Thanksgiving dinner scene that Norman Rockwell did. A family enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner. You can almost smell the roast turkey in that painting. Something that could almost look like a scene out of a movie. Something that takes a little time to set up and shows some imagination. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=179477&Start=19&Sectionid=0&WhatsNew=Yes

Excellent image! Beautiful work. Lots of feelings going on in the man. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=79261&Start=1&Sectionid=0&Form.Search=Lunaseas

I know no one is reading this anymore but your eyes give alot of emotion, body language, those would help to add more emotion to the Poser images, and i agree alot of the poser stuff is bland and without life. just my thoughts. some nice stuff in here bythe way...

Ron, I really like the idea of your Emmett character. If memory serves me correctly, didn't he do his makeup to look like a heavy 5 o'clock shadow? I'd have to hunt down a picture of him, but you don't have to go super high-res realism on that, because it should look like a makeup job. I do remember his clown character. He was sort of a sad hobo character with baggy, tattered clothing and a slouchy, bent up hat. Or am I confusing him with another? I remember seeing him on TV when I was a kid. I'd love to see this character develop. You've got the sad expression down pat. Melanie

That's what it looked like! My memory is coming back now. Very good job! I think this look could be done on the Michael texture map, using reference photos of the real thing. I'll have to look up some photos on the net just to see the real Kelly to remember, but this picture of you is exactly what I remember from my childhood. You could come up with some great story images with this character. I've seen people post images of celebrities here all the time, especially when they're comparing a WIP of that person. I wonder if that would violate copyright? What about fan sites? They use celebrities pictures all the time. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished product. :) Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.emmettkellyjr.com/

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=190717&Start=1&Artist=ywaters&ByArtist=Yes

Thanks for the great contribution, ywaters. Wow, that's an interesting image. I left a comment for you. Don't worry, this is a very easy-going challenge. Nothing formal. Sorry, there's no prizes, and it's really just open-ended, with all contributers being a winner in one way or another. It's more of a challenge to see what the imagination can come up with that goes deeper than just a static figure standing, staring at the camera, holding a sword. :) It's interesting to see that this challenge is still coming up occasionally. I'm so pleased with all the folks who have contributed to this. It's given us something to think about. Melanie

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=189869

"That's the problem with dualities in life. You rarely have one without the other. Good and evil are a prime example. It seems that you can never completely get rid of evil. It always finds a way back. The half-elf ruler, Sha-Lah says that she has seen it coming in her dreams. That's why I have called a summit of the tribes of the amazons. With the great evil rising and the nations on the verge of war, the question remains - Where does the amazon nation stand?"