Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=226281&Start=1&Artist=Entropic&ByArtist=Yes

"Hey, I put together a render at the last minute before I dragged my butt to bed (in the wee morning hours as usual.)" "If you read Ron's comment that it was just a quick "sketch" you'll see that he wasn't trying to make the next Mona Lisa, he was using a picture to thank you to the creators of the items he used as they don't exactly speak much English." Ok. I have no intention of fanning the flames here, but I think it's relevant to say that I think these two quote sum up the issue nicely. The piece was meant as a thank you, fair enough... but if you truly want to thank someone you don't "put together a quick render." Frankly, I find that people who would devote so little time to making a piece look good, then call it a thank you, obviously aren't really feeling much gratitude (No offense to you personally, ron). I've seen several "tribute" pieces that the person spent a grand total of 2 hours on, then got tired and wandered off. There was no real reason to post this image at that exact moment. The two you wanted to thank weren't going anywhere, and your thanks could have waited for two or three days while you worked on it, to improve the value of what you wanted say. Beyond that, I see too many people just render and be done with things. It's a shame to see these plastic people wander about the galleries - not because _I_ don't like them, but because an artist truly owes it to themself to take a little time and effort to enhance a piece in post-production. So the backdrop was bad, nothing you could do about that. However, the eyes are crossed ( which should have been fixed in posing ), the hair needs extensive postwork, and the skin needs a texture, even if it just meant adding noise to a flesh tone map. The elbows have unusually sharp angles, and there's a crease in the forehead that looks very bad. The expression could use some work, as well, but that's a matter of taste more than anything. The point is, all of these things could have been fixed with some small amount of postwork. I personally feel that anyone who doesn't take the time and effort to make a passing attempt at finishing an image is almost certainly needing criticism and not praise. So, take the time to do it right, and you'll feel much better when you get passing praise. Paul P.S.: Rob, if you want to weigh _my_ opinion against my work, you're more than welcome to. While I recognize I have flaws (and in fact, my best friends point those out with regularity), I can, at the very least, say that I devote a great deal of time and energy to my work. Feel free to critique the attached link by way of reference.