[Radthorne]

As requested: big cats. And no babes in bondage. :D

http://www.sff.net/people/radthorne/Graphics/big cats.jpg

[Hereford Eye]

I miss the babes but I suppose this is an example of equal opportunity in action.
The cats look good.
The guy's outfit gives the suggestion of breasts which, even though I miss the babes, do not think is a good thing.
His right hand lies close to the staff's decorative wrapping. When I first looked at the picture, I thought he had a white thumb which was in an ancient time the sign of the ability to grow luminous flora in dark places. I did not notice the staff for the first few minutes. When I did figure out he was holding a staff, it still took me a few seconds to be certain that was gift wrapping and not his thumb.
The 'stargate' seems to be top heavy, the weight causing the lower half to sag under the pressure. And the target the guy wishes to touch - he's conducting an elementary tactile experiment to discover what happens when you touch targets floating in the ambiance of anachronistic stargates - is off center. If he touches it now, he will not win the iPod.
I do like the background. Recommend you hang on to that one. Next time you use it, would you mind centering the pillar on its base? As it is, looks like the architect misplaced either the pillar or the base or he had an eye for discordant transitions.

[KatG]

That's great news about the Society, Kev. And thank you for the picture -- it's very nice.

The guy's outfit gives the suggestion of breasts which, even though I miss the babes, do not think is a good thing.

I think it's more the angle of his body, but yeah, maybe his chest could be flatter.

His right hand lies close to the staff's decorative wrapping. When I first looked at the picture, I thought he had a white thumb which was in an ancient time the sign of the ability to grow luminous flora in dark places. I did not notice the staff for the first few minutes. When I did figure out he was holding a staff, it still took me a few seconds to be certain that was gift wrapping and not his thumb.

I didn't have this problem. The white wrapping helps the black staff from melting into his black costume. The brilliant white hair tie did sort of distract me, but then I realized it matched the white tie on the staff.

The 'stargate' seems to be top heavy, the weight causing the lower half to sag under the pressure.

Not sure what you mean here.

And the target the guy wishes to touch - he's conducting an elementary tactile experiment to discover what happens when you touch targets floating in the ambiance of anachronistic stargates - is off center. If he touches it now, he will not win the iPod.

Oh are we getting another story? The target looks offcenter but is not because the stargate is tilted at an angle, with the right edge angled more towards us than the left edge behind the guy. Maybe that's why it looks like the bottom sags to you too. The stargate floats in the air (hence the displaced, blurry air around it,) and it also looks like the bottom of the stargate is angled slightly more forward than the top.

Recommend you hang on to that one. Next time you use it, would you mind centering the pillar on its base? As it is, looks like the architect misplaced either the pillar or the base or he had an eye for discordant transitions.

But then you couldn't see the carving on the wall behind. It looks like the pillar is part of an archway that extends over the curved ramp behind the stargate, and there is probably another pillar with the exact same design in reverse on the other side. :)

[Hereford Eye]

Are we getting another story?
Not necessarily; the comments in this post are part and parcel to my repertoire while providing high quality crits for the Radical Thorn's artwork.

Not sure what you mean here. Odd that you might experience such confusion since my brand new nickname is The Grate Communicator. Methinks the Radical Person may have adjusted the art. When I viewed it this morning, the bottom half was distinctly shorter than the upper half, by at least a sixth (a statistic reported to me by my ebriated eyeballs). Now it doesn't seem so bad, merely an elipsoid rather than a squashed circle.

I must also report that my heart is broken that you have switched allegiences to the Rad's side, defending him and all. It's probably because he omitted the women from the scene. I'd think a person of your experience - parenting a pre-teen and all - would be able to withstand such obivous manipulation but - alas - you're just another fickle woman.:eek:

:cool: :p

[Radthorne]

Have you ever noticed, Kat, how our dear HE likes to stir up controversy? And when the fur begins to fly, he claims he was simply misunderstood, and that he's really nothing but a simple country fellow... Methinks instead he's a shark from NY, and he's playing us all for a fiddle...

But we may have him here. I've made no adjustments to the image, so if HE was seeing a squashed view earlier today, then there must be something terribly amiss with his peepers (or the Twilight Zone is taking control of his monitor..."Do not attempt to adjust...")

The portal has in fact always been an elipsoid. It started life as a mirror, which I adapted to make into a fancy viewscreen. And as the good Kat noted, the blur around the edges was intentional, to emphasize that it is floating in the air. The off-center target was intentional too (not for hitting the iPod, or the Osama, or making the basket, although such imagery did make me laugh, HE). I rather envisioned that our wizard fellow might be communicating with something in that spot in the locale that he is viewing, or perhaps retrieving information about it.

The pillar, alas, cannot be moved as it is a fixed part of the model structure. There was originally a low parapet wall to either side, but it was blocking the near-side view and so had to be removed. Since the wall was all one piece, it took away the far side as well, leaving the pillars standing alone.

I'm actually fine with the fact that the staff was not immediately apparent - having things "come into view" after additional observations is not a bad thing, I think. I see HE's point about the thumb, and gave some thought to fixing it, but upon reflection it might be hard to do without making him grip the shaft around the corded part (for which HE would then chastise me for hurting the guy's hand, and it being an unnatural place to grip...) :D

The chest I might be able to fix. He's built well, so I just need to wimp him down a bit.

And Kat - feel free to take my side anytime. ;)

[KatG]

He writes well, so I don't care. :)

I defend KR all the time -- remember my justification of the clothing on our young warrior coming into the castle? But in this case, you will note that I sided with you HE on some things and not others, which is usually the case, and you do the same thing to me, with infuriating logic. You notice way more details than I tend to do, and make an excellent weapons consultant.

[Hereford Eye]

Have you ever noticed, Kat, how our dear HE likes to stir up controversy? And when the fur begins to fly, he claims he was simply misunderstood, and that he's really nothing but a simple country fellow
He writes well, so I don't care.
Mis-quoting Schlitzer & Overstreet who wrote Alison Krauss' song: I say it best when I say nothing at all.

[Radthorne]

Just because I suppose I feel sorry for him... For HE, a babe. :D

http://www.sff.net/people/radthorne/Graphics/for HE.jpg

As the picture is rather dark, it may not be evident but those are swords hanging at her sides. There are cords supporting them to the belt, but they're somewhat lost in the shadows here. And this is an elf, by the way...

[JRMurdock]

Initial comments for the picture of the man with man-boobs (yes, I agree he's too chesty). Also the hair tie looked like tiny wings until I looked really closely at it. The rest of the pic I was good with. I really liked the blurred effect aroudn the window.

For the woman opening the doors, he hands looked odd. I've never seen anyone open doors with the backs of their hands in a downward position. I'd think she at least have her pals on the doors when she pushes them open.

Other than that, her body positioning looks quite natural. Her skin just looked too smooth and unreal (cartoony).

[Hereford Eye]

It isn't easy to be a warrior maiden! You get to wear protective armor here and there but not everywhere. You can guard your shins, shoulders, and forearms but you cannot guard your cleavage or your thighs. The reason is straightforward: if you show just enough skin to divert your male opponents' attention, you don't need to worry about protection. It is also im[portant to put something shiny in both places just in case the male is one of those who tends to concentrate on business before pleasure. The shiny stuff distracts them, forces them to look at the skin, and they are done in.
Of course, if the opponent is another warrior maiden, then the extra protection might be useful. OTOH, your warrior maiden opponent will have the same problem you have so maybe it equalizes things.

She must be one of those Lilliputian elves. I understand they've grown from their original 20cm height but not as much as they'd like. It's a very good thing she has her elvish heritage to fall back on or Katherine the Great might be taking you to task for her apparent age. Of course, KatG and Maus99 don't know about this new Elvish skin lotion - Kari Sheen Butter - that removes all trace of aging so that the result is skin smooth as a baby's bottom.

Hard to tell with the shadows, but are her hands on the door handles? Shadows on both door exterior suggest handles. If so, I think the handles are too low for doors of that height and it spoils my Lilliputian elves story.

I very much like the dark setting, the shadows, the mood of the piece.


Oh, yeah, thanks for the babe.