ANM 328 Project 2 Critique

The objectives of the Creative Critter Project were to demonstrate blending skills, learn how to select compatible images and make adjustments in the overall composition to create consistent lighting effects.  The final image should surprise us with an unexpected combination of critters or the environment the critter is in.  The most successful projects will make this combination seamless and believable. 

Grading Criteria:

95-100 Combination of images is creative, blends are flawless, shadows and highlights are consistent. Demonstrates outstanding skill with Photoshop

90-94 Combination of images is creative, blending techniques are good with slight flaws in lighting consistency. Good knowledge and use of tools and composition

85-89 Composition is creative but blending has faults or lighting is not consistent.

80-85 Composition has less creativity in focus or scale, lighting not adequately considered, blending techniques need improvement.

70-79 Lacks Creativity, blending has major flaws or omissions, lighting not considered

Below 70 Low quality work in all aspects of the project

Late work: -10 pts
No Group Critique: -5

Adams Group

Natricia-You went above and beyond to incorporate four images onto your background. The sunset is a great scene to start with and the primary image of the mermaid, placed on the sand compliments the fantasy. You’ve done an excellent job of blending the wings. The hawk face appears like a mask on the woman..not blended quite as precisely, but it’s small and a relatively minor part of the composition. The ship sailing arriving in full sail adds to the story you’ve created. It’s obvious that you enhanced the lighting effects to make the new elements “fit” the scene. The mermaid is clearly grounded in the sand with shadows around the edge and especially well done at the hands. Because the sunset is strong, I would expect the wings to cast a slight shadow across her body and it would be a bit more realistic if her body was toned-down slightly. She looks like she’s being photographed with an external light source from the front. I use the burn tool with a large soft brush to make subtle adjustments like this. The ship in the original has the exact lighting as in the new scene. Looks like there a little too much shadow at the left side as it sits now. I know, I’m being picky…overall your project is very creative and well executed.

Godfrey-OK…I didn’t expect to see a lion-cow out in the field….Maybe he’s in disguise and waiting for his dinner? My first impression is that the detail in the lion is a bit greater than the background image. This tend to make the head stand-out and visually appear in front of the cow it’s supposed to be attached to. The best way to deal with this is at the image source…pick very compatible images with similar resolution. If you have to deal with dissimilar resolutions then try to sharpen the softer image with the filter>sharpen>unsharp mask. It’s easy to go too far so use sparingly. I’d rather try sharpening than blurring. But, you could apply a very minimal blur to the lion until it matches the background.

It looks like you have accurately cut the lion head off the original and placed on the cow. However, The line of transition between the lion fur and cow doesn’t look as natural as it could. I would suggest adjusting the color of the cow to closer match the tone of the lion. To do this select the cow with the magic wand (it selects based on color) and then go to adjustments>hue saturation (select colorize) and try very small slider adjustments until the tone matches.

Mutter Group

Shayesteh-I’m disappointed that your critique group didn’t submit their work and afford you the opportunity for giving and receiving more feedback. You had quite a vision with the mountain sheep and the sweet little duck. I can’t help but wonder if this critter could even float let alone keep that giant head up and out of the water. It’s definitely a crazy critter! The blending is excellent with an almost invisible transition between fur and feathers…that’s tricky. The tone is as important as the texture and it looks like the new head belongs there, even if it defies the laws of nature. The key to the success of your critter is the reflection cast in the water…there’s just enough of the ram’s head to give us the illusion that it’s real. Excellent work!

Monroy Group

Robert-I saw your critter picture and immediately thought of the saying “Like dog’s watching TV”. That’s quite a crew up there in the couch and chair watching their favorite National Geographic special. You’ve done a great job of cutting and pasting all those critters into the scene…yes, do see the dog-face lion on screen. Because the lighting in the room is so diverse (from different overhead sources) the lighting on the critters could be realistic. The only critter that could be refined is the cat…shadows are a bit too large and perhaps too intense…the tail looks more elevated that it should be. It looks like you may have used the drop shadow on the cat…the still life tutorial week 9 shows you how to put a shadow on a separate layer and then you can edit it independently …that would be a good way to customize the cat’s shadow. Overall…lots of images applied precisely and integrated into a very good composition.

Kacie-You’ve done an excellent job of blending these images. The key to your success is making the transitions between fur and feathers invisible to the viewer. The composite image is very believable and those eyes are so intense. My only suggestion, and it is minor, is to consider slightly adjusting the tone of the lower body of the cat to match more closely the tone of the owl’s wing feathers…they are slightly darker and a warmer brown. To do this, select just the lower body with the magic wand (it selects based on color) and then go to adjustments>hue saturation (select colorize) and try very small slider adjustments until the tone matches. Nice work!

La-Wow..you’ve created quite a scene here with a variety of critters. Not sure what to call this new animal, maybe it’s a” tyraoguin”. You had lots of pieces to assemble in your final critter and, for the most part, the assemblage looks believable. Because the image is relatively small it’s not easy to detect the areas of transition, which are the most challenging. Where the image tends to be less accurate is it’s placement in the background. You have to look for the direction of the dominant light which is based on the shadows from the trees on the right…the dominant light would illuminate the front of the new critter and cast a shadow onto the water and bank to the left. The easiest way to add the light is to use the dodge tool to lighten the right side facing the sun. A shadow or reflection is trickier and best done while the new critter is on a separate layer. A hint of shadow may be enough..try a soft brush with very low opacity. To be more precise draw a selection of what you imagine a shadow would look like and then fill with a transparent black. Oh…remind me not to visit this place and get eaten.

Abigail-I thought your blend of the chicken and cow was one of the more challenging and successful in class. Rather than take the easy way out of simply transitioning from the head feathers at the neck to the cow’s body you chose to try to make the cow’s body more feather textured. I’m not sure how you did this but using the clone tool is one way. I especially like how the black spots have become large irregular feathers. Excellent work!

Taylor Group

Crystal-You definitely had a vision here with the giraffe/goat hitting the road. Maybe he’s hitching a ride to town? The background creates a very dramatic view we call “worm’s eye” since is at a low angle and how a worm might see the world. Because the combined critter is quite small (wish it was larger) it’s hard to evaluate the transition between the goat and giraffe neck. That blend is not very challenging and looks good. The real challenge is the lighting and shadows cast by the dominant light source, which is coming low and from the left. I do see the new shadow that’s cast on the road surface..it looks believable but based on the low sun it could be a bit softer. Just add adjustment>blur>Gaussian Blur to slightly soften. Very creative!

Evan-It was fun to find all the new “parts” in your bat-winged critter. You simplified the blending considerably but desaturating everything to a grayscale. The blending looks with the new pieces…the new face with teeth is especially fun but the teeth have a hint of outline perhaps from the selection process. I do see the added shadows, which make the new elements fit more consistently with a dominant light (probably a photo flash) from the front. It definitely looks like you had fun with this. Your new fanged critter would be scary to meet in a dark cave.

Nicholas-Now were talking..a fighter pilot cat! Your idea of fitting that cat with frog eyes into the cockpit is definitely creative. What catches my eye first is the slightly dissimilar resolution of the cat body (soft) and the cockpit. This makes it a bit more difficult for the parts to look as realistic as possible when combined. I do like the stick in his lap but the helmet is a little rough around the edges where the visor had to be removed. These are relatively minor points. Lighting on the cat’s body should reflect the strongest light from the left…I like using the burn tool with a soft brush and low opacity to slightly darken an area. The eye on the left side could be a touch lighter too for consistency. I can see why the cat’s eyes are so big since he’s about ready to pull 9 g’s! Looks like you had fun creating your critter!