http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/93191/panic-room.html

im not vote whoring or anything because the comp has finished but im just wonderin...

which elements are good about this?
which are bad?
what aspects shouldn't be included in the final chop?
any aspects which would bring down amount of votes?

its just that i thought that this was by far the best work i'd done and it could reach the top few entries. btw i know there were other really good entries from hindsight but a man can hope.
sorry for asking an i'd be very grateful if you left feedback (please *beg*)

First things first. You're entry for that contest kicked mine's ass. Mine stunk worse than limberger cheese. Again just because I can pick stuff out doesn't mean I have the skills to back this up.

The things I notice are:
Prolem areas:
1. The blood spatter has problems. It's too bright in color and it looks like it's on the lens instead of on the dresser. Shadow work may solve both of those problems.
2. The open drawer has perspective problems and the wood grain on the top edge isn't correctly "bent".
3. The sillouette is good but for that amount of light we'd see some features on the lit portions.

Good Things:
1. The back wall and floor. Great job on that (IMHO). Simply great
2. The pill container on the dresser. Just enough in the shadow and very well lit.

Changes I'd make?
That's tougher question. The bulk of the image has an illustrative feel to it whilst the lantern is grounded in realistic. If you leave the lantern then match it to the style of the rest of the image. I think I'd have actually taken the lantern completely out. It's too heavy on that side. Plus it doesn't lend to the theme and instead distracts.

Please don't take anything in this thread personal but here it goes.
The guy looks like a cardboard cutout with a beveled edge. The pill bottle is enormous (compare it to his head.) The guy can almost fit in the drawer and the knob is half the size of his head. The blood that is on the drawer looks like it is floating. Something that thick with that much bevel and emboss on it would cast a shadow on the drawer.That is some THICK blood. Almost like a thick paint. Also the guy would need two hands to hold that needle. It is huge.
Unless the guy is wearing a black body suit that covers his head too, he needs some color. Not just black. *Sorry but you asked*
Now on the good side, I love the mood, the lighting, the use of textures and muted colors to convey the feeling of a dirty, cold, grungy, sad world that this person is locked in.
Good job overall and the message was definately understood. Getting the point across is probably the hardest part of an illustration. Good job..

Weird how two people see different things. I took the person to be a small child and not a full-grown adult.

And Rey's right. That needle is huge.

LOL!

but seriously...
thx a lot for the feedback, i really need this kind of talk. i'd just like to say that i tried to match the scaling on the guy but your right it did come off a little worse than i imagined, possibly tofu's rigth it's a child *shifty look*. also, i was trying to give it a "illustated" feel to it rather than realistic hence the thick blood and beveling with no detail on the guy. thanks for pointing out the shadow on the blood and the size of stuff. i think this is the best entry i've done as far as lighting is concerned. ill try and update it in a mo
thx a lot
tom

any better do you think?

made needle smaller
darkened blood
blood shadow
lightnened the details of the child slightly - but darkened rest of body
erm...

Looking good armo! Looks like you worked on the top edge of the drawer too.

I really like the feeling of desolation you captured with this image. Rey's right about the difficulty in conveying a point through an illustration. I saw the things being pointed out here, but voted because I found the mood of your image very powerful.

That's it.

About that pill bottle. Leave it how it is, because there are bottles that large, I have some here in my house.

While there are some basic errors in the image, I thought it was a very atmospheric pice of work, and I agree with Armo, for the time he has been a member, and the work he has produced, this is a great entry.

And it was undervoted greatly for that reason. But like we were saying a while back Rey, some people get overlooked alot here, it is a shame, but it does change.

keep it up Armo, your doing some great work IMO.