May 06 Contest Votes

T Paul · #1 05-01-2006, 05:35 PM

Voting will run from 25 May to 31 May 2006. Deadline for votes is 6pm EDT 31 May 2006.

Only those that entered the contest may vote. All other votes will be deleted. If you did not enter, but would like to comment on an entry, please post your comments to the May 06 Discussion Thread.

Vote for the 5 best entries in order.

Note you cannot vote for your own image. If you do, your votes will be deleted.

Example Vote:
Pick the top five contest entries and list in order...

1. Entry X (First Place)
2. Entry A (Second Place and so on)
3. Entry Q
4. Entry S
5. Entry P

This thread will remain closed until it's time to vote.

And as always, when you vote try to include some things you especially liked about your choices…what made them stand out, what impressed you, etc. This is a learning experience!

T Paul · #2 05-01-2006, 06:48 PM

Quick Links

May 06 Contest Entries

May 06 Contest Discussion

Viewing Album provided by makeovermagic (temporary link)

Quote:

If you jump to the end photo #69 -- this is the original image.

NOTE: photo #15 is entry by "familytreephoto" -- there was an error in uploading

Kraellin · #3 05-25-2006, 09:24 AM

this is by far the most maddening bit of voting i've ever had to do on this site. there were no entries that i could just automatically throw out. NONE! in the end, i had to go by which entries truly convinced me they were pencil and that if i saw these printed out on paper and was asked, solely based on the prints, 'which of these were done in pencil?', and which, if done in pencil did a good job of capturing the image from the photograph, this is what i came up with:

1. Twinbnj (oddly, i knew this one was my first place from almost the beginning. it just looks pencil and it looks like the girl in the photo.)

2. Soleah. i'm really not sure why this is 2nd place to me and not first. i look at it again and again and it looks pencil and it certainly looks like the girl and all i can say is, 'something about the hair and perfect shading strokes.

3. Bob Down. again, i'm not really sure why 3rd place and not higher, but when i look at it compared to 1 and 2, this is where it ends up.

4. Ajava. the perfect cross-hatching bothered me a little bit here. i would have preferred to see more varied strokes. it certainly looks pencil and it certainly looks like the girl, but i just liked the cleaner look of the other top 3 bmore.

5. byRo. i loved the varied strokes in this one, but something about the smudging in the hair just wasnt quite as convincing of pencil as some of the others. if it had just been the face and not the hair, this one would have moved up to a higher slot.

i said it in the discussion thread and i'll say it again here, my exposure to pencil sketches is limited. i studied the images in the link provided by soleah and ken and even my own pencil sketch rendition and that's all i can go by, what i've seen and what i know. i've never felt like apologizing before in one of these votes, but i sort of do in this one. so many excellent entries that anyone having commisioned such a work would have been proud to own regardless of if it were 'pencil' or not. so, if my vote eliminated your entry chalk it up to my limited knowledge of digital pencil sketches.

craig

Peth · #4 05-25-2006, 11:10 AM

I was privileged to go to art school with some very talented artists when I was younger, each one had their own style, their own techniques, their own vision for their finished pieces. I saw pencil art that varied from very loose pencil drawings through to highly finished, highly detailed. almost photographic pieces.

So my votes reflect that diversity. No one piece looks anything like another/ so in a way each of my finalists scored 5 points in that they convinced me that they could have been pencil drawings or sketches. In fact there were a few others that I could have included but alas there's only room for 5.

Elimination of the others for me was dead easy. Anything that looked like filters had been applied automatically dropped off my list. Sorry guys, full marks for participating but art comes from the soul - not from a drop-down menu. Tell-tale signs were things like cross-hatching going against the flow of the hair or all the strokes going in one direction.

Lastly there were some very nice entries that were superb artistically but looked more like paintings than pencil.

Righto then to the votes. This became quite subjective.

1.mseydel2
3.Nancy J
3.TPaul
4.Kraellin
5.Goose443

Nanls · #5 05-25-2006, 01:22 PM

First: thank you to Marsha for putting up the gallery...

1. Northernshawdow... it stuck out for me the first time I saw it.
2. Bob Down... a little soft and could use more contrast but I like the overall image.
3. CJSwartz - very well done
4. Doug Colwell - really different, like it.
5. Kr1156.. works
There were so many wonderful entrie... honorable mentions: chrishoggy, JanetPetty, Lorraine, allen, NancyJ, and auroraskye... geez, what a contest!
~Nancy~

____________________________________
www.photoart123.com

NancyJ · #6 05-25-2006, 01:27 PM

This was very difficult to judge, especially with so many entries. I've got a list of about 15 names and putting them in order was excruciating.

#1 T Paul - stunning, last minute entry, would have liked to have seen a few sharper strokes adn I dont like the vignette but overall it was the strongest combination of artistry and sketch style
#2 Soleah - very emotive, however some of the darker strokes are a bit too contrasty and a little splotchy, would have like to have seen them blend better with the rest of the image
#3 twinbnj - gets 3rd place because its nice but theres something not quite right about it - like a piece of tracing paper has been put over the top (possible a high-pass side effect) and if you took it away you'd have a perfect winner
#4 Cazubi - very believable, though it looks more like a rubbing than a sketch, just lacking a little sometihng artistically
#5 msydel - hands down the most 'sketchy' but the style isnt to my taste, it would be more suited to fantasy drawings or wildlife, I think it lacks the delicacy and sensitivity of a portrait, particularly for the girls mother. I dont think it is flattering to the subject and the heavy, separated lines make her face look hairy

other names on my list that didnt quite make it into the top 5, though on a different day they might have, terivon, 1stlite, Janet Petty, byRo, 226, KR1156

and honerable mentions to Peth and Cathy H for stunning peices of artistry that just lost out in the sketch department, I've no doubt that a real client would have been thrilled with your entries and not at all bothered about your choice of medium.

PhotoB · #7 05-25-2006, 01:28 PM

Okay. Not an easy choice. But here are my favorites (it's hard enough PICKING a favorite- let alone ORDERING them!!- but one has to comply to the rules). I had a list of about a dozen names, but I finally choose my final 5 for ones that rlooked like a pencil drawing- and not just endless photoshop filters (which I was guilty of myself) ...

1. bobdown- LOVE the high key!!
2. northern shadow
3. Tpage
4. Janet Petty
5. twinbnj

OnAir · #8 05-25-2006, 03:17 PM

It wasn't easy to understand, what technique will be right for the photo: 'sketchy' look gives feeling of something incomplete, that is obviously not in a character of the girl on the photo. Smudging technique gave perfect results, so my preferences are:

1.NancyJ - I like finishing touch, good work on details, absolutely nothing distracting, great job.
2.Infinite Monkey - good definition in skin tones, good overall contrast.
3.Ikroll - Unusual interpretation. I love contrast between dark strokes and soft, almost watercolor tones on skin and in background. Interesting just to look at the technique, but still a well thought-out and intelligent portrait.
4.Peth - Soft, well-taken portrait. I would love to see more job on the background and hair.
5. mseydel2 - It really looks like a pencil! Also I like pragmatical primitivism as a style.

Swampy · #9 05-25-2006, 03:50 PM

This was really tough! Probably the hardest contest to judge since I've been here. So many wonderful versions. I pretty much got down to 5 and then threw darts.. LOL

1. Chiroka
2. Solea
3. Kraelin
4. Terivon
5. Naburi_blast

mseydel · #10 05-25-2006, 04:07 PM

Though I loved many of the solutions as finished pieces, I didn't find them entirely convincing as pencil sketches. My own interpretation is that the piece would be a '1st submit' to the client, where they would indicate personal taste to inform the final. By let's end my editorial, and get to the voting:

1. soleah. soft approach overall which really brought out the eyes; felt like a lot of care had been taken with this, and it was an approach that I appreciated.
2. northernshadow. a touch too 'noisy overal'l, as if it were done with a sharp pencil on coarse paper. I expected to see more texture in the hl's though.
3. goose 443. very loose, playful style that felt more like a sketch and less like a filter; this added personality.
4. Infinite monkey. very nice work here, great contour of the face. If the contest had been charcoal sketch, this would be #1.
5. nancyJ. Great overall look; aesthetically this one appealed to me the most, but I found it hard to believe as a 'pencil sketch'. Those small details and deep darks would be very difficult to achieve with a graphite pencil.

soleah · #11 05-25-2006, 04:54 PM

I’ve read through my sons handbook on sketching using different media i.e. graphite, charcoal, conte crayon, black wax, ink wash. Honestly, I’m still not an expert on spotting which is which. I also came across some samples of photorealistic sketch. So to me (and my untrained eye), all the entries here met the requirement. My congratulations to everybody!

This is the toughest contest to judge. How I came up with the ranking, I don’t know.

My favorite:

1. Danny Raphael – Not a hint that it was converted from a picture. The cross-hatching effect was applied very well. The gray is just right for a graphite pencil and the whiteness of paper still shows where it was not drawn. The shadows are subtle and clean.
2. ajava – A skillful combination of filters. Very artistic. The darkened teeth distracted from her beautiful smile. I wish that the whole image is a little brighter.
3. goose443 – I love this one for its artistic rendition. The sheen on the teeth and on the pearls betrays it a little bit. It’s too smooth for a sketch. But then, using the right paper and proper technique, this could be achieved with a hand-sketch.
4. cazubi – A lot of smudging done on this one. The likeness to the subject suffered a little bit. Just like #1, not an indication that it came from a photo. The shadows especially on the face, not too aggressive, just right.
5. twinbnj – It’s probably the hair that did it for me.

The comments above are just base on my personal preference. Mind you, I’d be proud to show these works to the client. The mother would be very delighted.

lkroll · #12 05-25-2006, 04:55 PM

I had a hard time picking; won't give a reason, just my vote.

1.InfiniteMonkey
2.Drach
3.mseydel
4.Lorraine
5.T Paul

CJ Swartz · #13 05-25-2006, 06:36 PM

I chose a dozen or so that appealed most to me, looked at those to see if I thought they looked like photoshop versions of a pencil drawing (as the mother requested), and then chose these as versions that I would most want to receive if I were the mother.

1 - Nanls -- lovely, looks delicate, but complete and finished
2 - northernshadow
3 - Janet Petty
4 - Bart Hickman
5 - Peth

ajava · #14 05-25-2006, 08:42 PM

So many fantastic entries! I tried to follow the criteria when picking my top five...needed to look like the original picture and needed to make me believe it was done in pencil. So, here goes...

1. Soleah - just beautiful; very convincing. Nothing distracts the eye; it all flows together perfectly and really looks like a pencil sketch. Great.

2. TPage - Kept coming back to this one. Very nice job.

3. Bart Hickman - Was my first place choice early on; really looks like a sketch to me...maybe just a little too harsh in the transition from black to white, a litte too black.

4. Terivon - basically tied with Cazubi...tough call

5. Cazubi - nice job, so hard to rank them.

Now, there were some other entries that didn't necessarily look like sketches to me, but that I loved and would be proud to own (if the subject were my daughter) - NancyJ, just LOVE that one...beautiful, probably my favorite overall, just doesn't convince me it was done in pencil. And byRo - again, great job, but looks more like dry brush and paint to me.

And Drach - Yours REALLY looks like pencil to me, just strayed too far from the original look of the subject in the photo. Nice, though.

Janet Petty · #15 05-25-2006, 08:51 PM

Anyone want to join me for a game of darts with the five names we hit the most to be the winners? I got it down to about 12 names and then had a terrible time paring it down to just five.

This is what did it for me: Those that were very skillful but entirely too dark for pencil, being IMHO more suited to charcoal, sadly had to be disqualified. The challenge was graphite pencil, which depending on the softness of the pencil and the paper type will look a lot of different ways. Therefore, after I looked at technique, etc., it all boiled down to whether or not I liked the piece. Not very analytical or scientific, but quite subjective huh?

1. TPaul
2. byRo
3. DannyRaphael
4. NorthernShadow
5. Krll56

Honorable mention goes to a myriad of others including but not limited to AllanJ (charcoaled); Ajava (looked really like pencil); LaradFreder; Cazubi; Peth; Lonk; CJSwartz; Terivon; BobDown; and mseydel (pencil for sure; but too rough around the edges for my taste).

GREAT CONTEST. GREAT PARTICIPATION ALL.

Janet