14 replies to this topic

[Roan]

 

 

Welcome to the 8th Grand Graphics Tournament -- ROUND 1!. Artists are coming up together for an epic battle to see who's the best artist of the moment! Who wins?

 

You're the one who will choose!

 

This week's theme is : The Four Elements.

 

What are 'The Four Elements'?

The Four Elements are water, wind, fire and earth.

Artists were asked to create a piece of art using one or more of the Four Elements. 

 

HOW TO VOTE

Please rate each entry in each group on a scale of 1 to 10 with a vote of 10 being 'this blows my mind it is so good' and 1 being 'this is boring'.

You have up to 18 points to distribute between the two entries in each grouping.

You DO NOT need to give out all 18 points. The MAX you can give is 10 points on 1 piece per group.

 

Please include a reason with your votes - you only have to give a reason for one per set. It doesn't have to be technical. You can just say I liked this one best, or something along those lines but we all know an artist thrives on feedback so don't hesitate to really say what you think.

Example:
 

Group 1
a 10/10 - I like it, it is a decent composition. / Good but could use (insert suggestion)
b 5/10 - I don't care for it. / Needs work

 

Voting closes at 23:59 Server Time on Saturday, November 22nd.

 

Votes that do not have a reason will not be counted!

**Artists, you may vote, but do not skip your own group, votes will be adjusted when tallied.**

 

Please vote for every grouping.

On behalf of my fellow artists, thank you for taking the time to vote !

 

 

NOTE: Everyone who votes will be entered into a drawing for a FREE avatar!!  

 

Free avatar to be given out by random will be done by me:

 

1 avatar by Roan  (note: please be patient for it.)

1 avatar by weewee

 

Tell your friends, tell your guildmates!

 

 

 

Group 1

A- 

VS

B- 

 

Group 2

A- 

VS

B- 

 

Group 3

A- 

VS

B- 

 

Group 4

A- 

VS

B- 

 

Group 5

A- 

VS

B- 

 

Group 6

A- 

VS

B- 

Edited by Roan, 16 November 2014 - 01:49.

[Pix3]

Please remember the critique is to help your improve not to demoralize you. 

GROUP 1 :

A : 7/10 - I think someone followed a tutorial here. I like how well they followed it but somehow the final outcome is really messy and I don't believe it represents the theme really well. Love the attempt at making the flow and the top right light source, an extra point just for that.

B: 4/10 - well.. Nice try to represent the elements but just placing a wave with a darken setting does not work at all :\ The text too is not appealing, however again I am adding an extra point only for using the rule of the thirds even if unintentional. Try following more tutorials and more blending options  PLEASE ALWAYS KEEP A FOCAL POINT. 

Group 2:

 

A: 8/10 - The piece in itself has a serene feeling but severely lacks contrast, and the light source is too messed up for me. Fire is supposed to have LIGHT! Try using atleast a dodge brush? The bottom right corner seems pretty messy too. Can't figure out what that's supposed to be. Apart from that it's all good. 

 

B: 7/10 - Left half of the avatar? 9/10. Right half? Say what? o_o What happened to the depth? You placed the burning book layer over the render and didn't blur it. The fire in the bottom right corner seems out of place. It could have been an amazing piece but you break my heart

 

Group 3:

 

A: 9/10 - Ooohhh!! Hello love! Love the lights   1 mark deducted for the two small sparkles in the bottom left corner and near the text. Apart from that ooohhhhh!! Hello love :*

B: 7/10 - Again! Great potential! Love the 4 elements representation and it seems really smooth too. What put me off was the fact that the render does not merge with the background at ALL. It's too superficial. Maybe try some blur some smudge or some additional layers... or maybe even 4 merging backgrounds behind the 4 elements.

 

Group 4:

 

A: 8/10 - This was supposed to be a 10/10! The text just doesn't do it for me.. Maybe attempt to put the text on fire? and again.. the depth.. the blurring of the fire below the text and sharpened lines above the text ? Otherwise the light source is amazing and so is the focal effect created by the blur

 

B: 7/10 - Simply because I have seen that render. I like the fire text but the  GGT8 texts seems out of place and could have been skipped. It has a very nice overall feeling but considering the render there isn't just enough to it.

 

Group 5:

 

A: 7/10 - I am so sorry, this is purely personal preference. I just can't stand stick out art that has cut off edges. If you make a render stick out I believe it should appear to melt into the background and not be cut off after a point. Also the light effect really makes the back of her skirt look weeeeird.

 

B: 7/10 - I was so confused I thought I might die.  But again It does have an overall feel to it but few things mess it up for me. One is the contrast and the other is the lines (c4d) on the top left. Also the Elements text is so strong that it draws focus away from the render. Potentially an 8/10 if only the c4d wasn't there.

 

Group 6:

 

A: 6/10 - Again I apologize profusely for being harsh. But what? The whole piece is too blurred and what remains is the text :\ That too in the middleish. What's supposed to be the focus here? The text? There is no flow either. or Infact there are 3 flows. Just don't feel it

 

B: 6/10 - Overrrrrr Sharpened. Infact the right half is so sharpened that I couldn't distinguish what it was. Either make them melt or make them clash. The two parts clash in the middle then melt at the bottom. There isn't a focus. I believe the clash should have been it. maybe blur the renders instead? OR maybe where the fire and water meet there could be smoke and the renders could be the focal.

Again, All of this is for constructive purposes. Don't give up on your art, art is a subject matter of personal preferences. 

Edited by Pix3, 11 November 2014 - 08:01.

[Patnov]

Amazing art! I will vote later on today! Congrats to all!

[clock96]

Hey guys, any of what I am going to say now doesn't mean you are bad, just consider it constructive feedback so you can be even better

Group 1 :-
A ) (5/10) liked where this was going, great idea but representing it wasn't as good as the idea, I think the artist here meant to blend them all together but didn't work, it just looks messed up at the bottom, maybe add some borders between each one if blending them didn't work, take Patnov's sig for example (if he can allow me to use his sig as an example) you could have done it this way when the blending didn't work

B ) (2/10) don't want to be rude here but the sig isn't good at all, way a lot of work is needed, could have done more with smudging the edges of each element better with the other and that was the least to do, feels like everything is missing, after smuding this it may, just may work as a background not the main sig, the 2 points I gave were just for the try, sorry, don't be sad


Group 2 :-
A ) (9/10) I love it, everything is so good and amazing, nice job! Just the text should have been more clear but overall good piece!

B ) (3/10) First of all the text is a hugea turn down, hate text from this kind, working with fire is hard because it either makes you do an epic piece if you can use it right or a very horrible looking piece if you do the regular fire avis, the rendee should have been moved a little to the right and what is this in the background ? Is it a forest ? I really can't see and the fire around the avi just made it look not so good


Group 3 :-
A ) (9/10) one of the best pieces here, awesome I love it so much !! Just why the empty space on the top left corner ? Of it wasn't for the empty space this could have gotten a perfect 10 , its not so empty but feels something is missing but overall, EPIC, thx for making it, I love it

B ) (7/10) like where this was going but the background doesn't match the render so much, maybe a small blend on the edges of the render ? But overall good piece


Group 4 :-
A ) (8/10) I like it but the fire deer wasn't clear, like the text btw, the two sides seems that they have been neglected compared to the center but overall, good piece

B ) (8/10) it looks good, needed a few more touches, but nice blending, like the text too, overall it looks good once ypu talk the first look at it


Group 5:-
A ) (7/10) why is the render cut off at the top and left side ? Could have been way better, however good piece and I like the idea of the render popping out

B ) (6/10) I like the right side, looks classy but the left side not so much, the sides cought the eye more than the render, so I felt like I didn't even see the render, it should have been bigger and more to the center, nice try though

Group 6 :-
A ) (4/10) Too much blur!!!! I had a hard time trying to know what is the thing in the middle, and nice try on the flying fractal and c4d parts buy it didn't help so much, nice idea though but not so nice when it was made

B ) (5/10) why so much sharpen ? Or is it something else ? Also what is the thing on the right side in blue, can't see it at all, nice try on merging them but the smuding on the renders themselves was so so much that they couldn't merge together at the center, like where it was going though


****Sorry if I was harsh to anyone but it is just so you can become better, everyone has the potential, good luck all, love you and sorry again

Edited by clock96, 11 November 2014 - 11:58.

[Godblade75]

GROUP 1 :

A : 7/10 - I think it's a pretty solid piece. Things I like are the use of multiple renders, pretty solid flow, and I think the stark contrast works pretty well. The text is decent, the little bar thing, while aesthetically appealing disrupts the piece as a whole, and the subtext is pretty bad imo.

B: 6/10 - This one needs the most work visually. Conceptually, I think you performed admirably and really incorporated the elements better than most anyone else. The fire is not great, the earth is okay, but the other two are pretty nice. Text really doesn't do it for me, and neither does the strange beveled border. Also, why are there random lines? Points were awarded for solid concept, iffy execution.

Group 2:

 

A: 8.5/10 - This is probably the best looking piece here. I really love the visual flow and the smooth transition from right to left is stunning. One of the few pieces that really uses topaz to improve the piece. My only complaint is really probably being one of the more subtle interpretations of the elements, I don't know if I can really call that fire (and I guess water.) Oh, and the text I feel is not great in terms of font choice and placement.

 

B: 6/10 - Mehh. I thought it was pretty nice at first but the more I look at it the less I like it. The render is overused, the text is frankly pretty awful. Redeeming qualities are the nice fire effects and overall composition of the piece. As abhi said, the depth of the book is not great.

 

Group 3:

 

A: 8.5/10 - I like this piece a lot. Sleek and smooth, simple but not unsophisticated. Lighting is nice though a bit all-over-the-place, and the empty space on the left is a nice contrast from the flaming right side. Personally, I would have blurred the torch at the bottom-left for a nicer transition. The text was initially off-putting, but the subtext is really great. Also ties in the whole fire concept which I originally felt wasn't as well-expressed as it could be.

B: 6/10 - I was really hoping nobody would pick an avatar theme. It's just too convenient, I'm sorry. I can't pretend I didn't think about it but really, I think that merits some points off on its own. Aside from that, I like the symbols, but honestly it's really just an Aang render dropped on a fractal with subpar text. Six points for pure aesthetic appeal, looks fairly nice until dissected.

 

Group 4:

 

A: 8/10 - It's a pretty nice piece. Depth is good, lighting is nice, two-way flow as well. Personally I like the text, but only eight points for lack of wow factor.

 

B: 6/10 - Ehhhhhh. It's very average in my opinion. Not a very original idea, it's really just the Human Torch, some touchups, starry effects, not-great text.

 

Group 5:

 

A: 8/10 - Love this as a piece, but really just not a good enough interpretation of the matter at hand. Earth? I really don't see earth in that, no matter how you spin it. First of all, it's Syndra and while maybe a non-league player wouldn't know that it simply doesn't make sense. She doesn't tie into the earth element, neither does a forest. Flow is beautiful, text is great, and my only aesthetic complaint is the cutoff. Disrupts a nice flow.

 

B: 7/10 - Like it, don't love it. At first a nice piece, but upon further examination I can spot some off-putting factors. Top left lines, what are those? Bottom left and right, strange triangular formations, and the border is honestly not great. Add on the fact that you used the avatar and there's a lot of stuff wrong already. The piece is saved by nice render placement, nice working in of the effects, and decent text. Really made it a seven because it's definitely better than some of the pieces I rated six.

 

Group 6:

 

A: 6/10 - This is only a six because I feel obligated to rank one higher than the other in this group. This one I can see quite a bit of effort put forth, though the end result falls just short of some six-point efforts. A lot of C4D's not set to blend, a light source literally right on top of the render and focal point, and then bad text. With a bit of work, I think it could be a seven though, as the fundamentals are there.

 

B: 5.5/10 - Oversaturated, effects are messy, abrupt transition in the middle, bad text placement. I think the concept is pretty decent though, and this too could improve.

 

Reminder to take all my critique with a grain of salt.

Edited by Godblade75, 11 November 2014 - 12:19.

[SlntScream]

Group 1

 

A - 9/10 - I like this piece. The text is a definite let down, and there are some flaws in the blending. I give it extra points for incorporating all 4 elements. It's the most well done of those who did.

 

B - 3/10 - This needs alot of work. Props for also trying to incorporate all 4 elements, but it just looks like some random pictures stuck together.. No blending, no focal, just doesn't make alot of sense and isn't visually appealing to me.

 

Group 2

 

A - 7/10 - I really like this one, but it lost points for missing the mark of the theme. The muted colors don't work well to represent fire IMO.

 

B - 3/10 - I like the idea but it's very messy.

 

Group 3

 

A - 10/10 - My favourite of the bunch. Nice text, good blending and the right amount of contrast. The only issue I can see is that my eyes keep bouncing from the top right to the bottom right where there is a shine on his armor. That distracting, but it might be just me.

 

B - 6/10 - I like the idea and the use of all 4 elements, but the render isn't blended at all and sticks out like a sore thumb. I would've liked to see a different/more simple background that could pull it all together better.

 

Group 4

 

A - 5/10 - I probably wouldn't have known what this was if not for someone else saying it's a fire deer. Points awarded for good depth. I don't know though.. it's not bad.. just overdone.

 

B - 4/10 - Lots of room for improvement on this one. I feel like the artist must have rushed it, or just didn't put alot of time into it. The render takes up far too much space and the background is just very plain.

 

Group 5

 

A - 8/10 - It's a pretty nice piece overall. The color/smudging(?) at the back of her dress is a bit off-putting. Maybe could have been better with a different choice of render.

 

B - 4/10 - Very confusing. At first I thought it was just supposed to be fire, it took me a few more times going back to it, to realize the artist tried to incorporate all the elements. It's just all over the place and doesn't have a clear concept.

 

Group 6

 

A - 4/10 - I'm not sure what to think of this one. I like the idea that artist was going for, but to make it work they really needed a nice flow. There's no flow, no clear focal point, and the colors aren't really representative of wind either IMO.

 

B - 3/10 - Far too sharp, the blend is far too abrupt, and I have no clue what's even happening on the right side. Red and blue aren't exactly easy to blend, and I think that's the main problem with this one. Would've been alot easier and smoother to make it fire vs earth or air.

 

 

 

Great job to everyone who submitted an entry. GGT is off to a good start this year~

Edited by SlntScream, 11 November 2014 - 16:34.

[ghetoghost]

Group 1:

A:6/10 - Interesting piece. I like how it incorporates all four elements but theres no "wow" factor.

B:1/10 - It's pretty blah.

 

Group 2:

A:9/10 - Flawless

B:3/10 - I really don't know how to critique this one. Its eh at most

 

Group 3:

A:8/10 - Second best piece overall

B:6/10 - More could of been done to it, too simple and bland

 

Group 4:

A:7/10 - Its unique, i like it

B:7/10 - Simple but has a good flow and style to it

 

Group 5:

A:7/10 - Cool piece but i wish the top of her mask wasn't cut off to give more of the pop out feel

B:6/10 - Interesting piece but seems messy

 

Group 6:

A:4/10 - I don't know what i'm looking at

B:5/10 - It blends poorly and the text ruins it imo.

 

To roan: How will elimination work this year? Like, lowest scores from each group get kicked, lowest scores in general get kicked, or something else? 

[xXSavageEliteXx]

Group 1

A: 8/10 catches my eye and since I play league I like it

B: 1/10 no offense but looks pretty bad 

 

Group 2

A: 6/10 the picture looked pretty smooth but was expecting fire to be more bright

B: 2/10 don't exactly like the text "Fire" and how it's put on

 

Group 3

A: 9/10 the fire is very noticeable and bright just like how fire should be 

B: 8/10 really liked how the artist related the four elements to "Avatar the Last Airbender" but didn't like the background as it didn't go with everything else

 

Group 4

A: 8/10 I really really liked the render but I didn't really like the text on it 

B: 6/10 I didn't really like the text on it

 

Group 5

A: 9/10 I really like it overall except that the top right seems kind of empty

B: 6/10 I liked how the fire was bright but don't think it really went all too good with everything else

 

Group 6

A: 4/10 the colours are great but wasn't able to clearly tell what was in the middle

B: 3/10 I wasn't able to tell what the thing on the right was at all

[Command101]

whoops

Edited by Command101, 17 November 2014 - 05:22.

[ghetoghost]

2 dots on 23

*cough* wrong section *cough cough*

[Wesleysdf]

HOW TO READ MY VOTING: Open minded in with good humour in a funny way, otherwise you will get your feelings hurt, then it's best to just skip this post.

 

Group 1:

A. Good colour work, good concept idea. Bad blending, lighting.

6/10

B. This will sound pretty hash, but if I'm totally honest this is what I would say: Go to a torrent site, get photoshop, do some tutorials. The concept idea was good, but you started out in the wrong foot picking the wrong resources images to work with.

1/10

 

Group 2:

A. 5.3/10

Not good, not bad. Also with theme being four elements I don't think it fits here, or at least its pretty hard for whoever doesn't know those characters to identify whats going on.

B. 5.6/10

Text here really sucks. Sorry, it does. But on the other side, even the piece still needing some blending and other adjustment layers, its still a nice work with flame stocks.

 

Group 3:

A. 8/10 There you go. Best piece on here imo. Everything looks nice. Nothing mindblowing but all parts done well. Only mistake I can think of is the empty space.

B. Theres 3 things that makes your piece go wrong: your placement of elements (render, elemement symbols, text), your flow and your lighting.

5.9/10

 

Group 4:

A. Text is bad, too much white, not enough contrast, and you need to stop using those V C4D lines At least it have a good concept and good pick of resources. I see you worked on some depth here also.

6.6/10

B. Dude, the text. Thats a font you would use with powerpuff girls, kirby, or something fluffy. Thats human torch right there burning on fire... If you had got that right, it could be a nice simple piece.

5.9/10

 

Group 5:

A. The colours here are pretty amusing to the eye. On the other side you had no/little idea what you was doing with the C4Ds, and the render's head and hair are cut in a popup signature??

6.5/10

B. Brown, some cloud stocks, brown, more cloud stocks. For what it could have become and being a fan of avatar myself, it could had been alot better.

5/10

 

Group 6.

A. Every element seems out of place. The piece doesn't fit together. Text's font isn't right, placement of text and render could be better, too much white on lighting making it unrealistic, not enough adjustment layers to blend the piece, and it goes on.

5.6/10

B. Well, thats the only one that has alot more of what almost all the other pieces needed. In fact, it has so much that it takes from the signature's quality. Too much sharpness, too much contrast, and too strong colours. I know doing that kind of "X vs Y" signature is hard, but you didn't pull it out.

4.3/10

 

 

 

Now go on, hate me forever

[Pix3]

Guys are those all of the votes? Seriously? :\

[Roan]

VOTING EXTENDED UNTIL NOVEMBER 29TH, 23:59 ST

[Roan]

Bump.

[pinkdude]

Group 1

A: 8/10. Enjoyed the overall look, but was kind of hard to find the fire elemental without searching for it.

B: 3/10. Good ideas, but too much clutter. There isn't a focal point.

 

Group 2

A: 9/10. REALLY enjoy this type of graphic. Not sure how to describe it but reminds me of an artist back in the early years

B: 6/10. Good effort but not entirely sure what is meant to be conveyed here.

 

Group 3

A: 8/10. Crisp and clear. VERY Good

B:10/10. Perfect. No complaints at all. Really like this one

 

Group 4:

A: 3/10. Too messy, can't tell what is going on

B: 4/10. Very simple and a little messy

 

Group 5:

A: 8/10. Very quality piece. The background looks a bit funky to me, however. Maybe I just prefer blurred backgrounds?

B: 8/10. Enjoy the idea but the execution could be better. There's too much going on in front of her. The Aang one has him popping out. I think it may look better if she popped out of the background a little more

 

Group 6:

A: 6/10: Too much going on. Hard to tell that there even is a bird. 

B: 6:10. The girl on the left looks out of place. Also way too sharpened for my liking. 

 

(Here you go Roan! I'm not very artistic so this is basically just a "I liked this one better" type thing. I tried to add some feedback. By the way, are these pieces ever going to be for sale?)

Edited by pinkdude, 29 November 2014 - 04:22.