The Crestock Photoshop Contest 2007

A large version can be found here. http://www.rocketscience.nl/images/theboss.jpg
And before I forget it, the best of luck to you all.

I'm not sure if this still conforms to the rules and objectives of the competition. I think your idea is great and your drawing is good, but you can't really call this photo manipulation can you? If someone didn't know the background you've given above, it would not be obvious that you've used the source images. But hey, I like it anyway ; ) and I could be wrong about what's acceptable in this contest ... so good luck.

Hi, fabadelic. Thanks for your comment. I appreciate your concern and I really hope I interpreted the rules correctly!

I started with the tree, took a crop and warped it. Then I noticed the beauty of the tree itself, the way nature has built all these branches. A tree is really a very complex thing. I wanted to capture this beauty and make it stand out. I printed the tree, put it against the light and traced the contours with a pencil so they would exactly match the original tree.

I recreated the tree by hand - with the original tree as a reference. Finally, I scanned it and put it back in photoshop. It's more or less like using a 'creative filter' the hard way.

Anyway, the tree couldn't have been drawn without the original image and I definitely wanted to have that 'manufactured' look. For me, 'hand made' was the way to go.

I created Adam with the 'tough guy' as a starting point. The arm and the chest are the same. I changed the original torso into b/w and used is as paint for the body. Later I added a photofilter to give it some color again. I had to draw an arm to hold the phone. The original dial is still there and the original phone shines through my own work.

Eve clearly has the beautiful female back of the reference image. I agree you would not recognize the source images if you weren't aware of them, but for this round, everybody has the same source material and we are free to use them any way we like to create something new.

Cheers,
Rob.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, Rob. Point taken. If anything I prefer a handmade look to something too slick and perfect. I can see how much time you put into this work from concept to finished product and, as I said before, I do think it's a great piece. Could maybe be described as digital mixed media! I especially love the texture of the charcoal (or graphite or whatever you used for the drawing) in the tree trunk.

Really nice concept and practice, keep on keepin' ;)

i think this is super original and amazing, but like they said above, I dunno if this actually conforms to the rules of the contest.

good luck man, im rooting for this!

Hi fallacy,
Crestock wrote:

'Your entry must be based on one or several of these photos, but you are free to do with them whatever you like'.

My work is definitely based on these images and the word 'free' implies no boundaries. I must have read the rules a thousand times and I can't imagine Crestock disqualifying me for using my own hands apart from Photoshop. So why am I holding my breath?

Hi,
If you think my image
is worth looking at then drop a comment saying: Yes
If you think it is not worth it then say: Bullshit.
http://www.crestock.com/blog/design/contest2007/entry.aspx?id=6424
Thanks for your time