Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. I've tried editing but my brain couldn't make it more coherent.

[begin rambling rant]
For this contest my entry turned out to be about as crappy an entry as I've ever done. BUT I really like the idea even though I couldn't find a way to execute it properly.

This leads me to question how we chopping scrubs can ask for help without or coming across as ( or being accused of ) vote whoring? At this stage of my development I truly could care less about winning and votes. Some of you won't believe that and that's your perogative/opinion/right and I don't fault you one bit for believing that.

The comments and feedback are the guideposts to point me in the right direction. The votes, to me, confirm that I'm getting there. I know that if I can get better at chopping then the votes and wins will come as natural byproducts. But how do I get better without feedback on what I'm doing wrong? Soulfilter was the only member to give specific feedback one the above mentioned chop.

One of the things I originally loved about this site was the help and guidance the lightweights got from the heavyweights. Now I feel like there's not nearly as much assistance going on. Everyone's busy and I totally understand and respect that. But is everyone too busy to give feedback on a chop when they know how to do what the creator was attempting to do?

I try waiting until a contest is done and then PM a few people asking questions about how to achieve something in the chop. Of the 5-6 that I've asked only 1-2 actually respond at all and those have become few and far between.

I don't have the time/money to spare in order to go take classes in digital manipulation, art, design, etc. This is a stress-relieving hobby for me. I'd love to be at a point where I can literally and figuratively invest more into my hobby but it's just not feasible for my current phase of life. And I'm not the type that can learn by reading books alone. I need to bounce things off of people in order for it to stick in my brain.
[end rambling rant]

That is Impossible you vote whore.

Burn and Burn and Burn some more
This one i did is just that guys head and burning lots off it
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/98415/muffinhead.html

Quickest fix I got is duplicate the layer and multiply, then back off the opacity.

I honestly don't remember ever seeing this happen very often. The problem IMHO is
that any attempt to do such a thing will usually blow up in your face.
I know for a fact that when I use comments to try and be helpful, that we have certain people here who PM the recipient of the advice and say that the person attempting to be helpful is really just trying to make you look bad.

I'm not getting into that mess. I already know I'm bad.

What? You do good chops.
Is there something you wana do ya can't figure out?

Thanks for the compliment. It's more accurate to say that I occassionally do good chops. I'm pretty inconsistent with my results. I know this and I'm fine with it as the crappy ones are the ones where I've tried new things.

There's lots of things I want to know how to do and haven't been able to figure out. Turn things to glass, know when/how I should work with channels, color matching, etc. etc. etc.

There's been probably 10 contests over the last two months that I started something on but couldn't get it to work so I just didn't enter. Like the Country Cabin contest. I wanted to make the building into a maple syrup bottle. ReyRey and marco gave me some pointers but I just couldn't get the look I wanted.

Or a good example of when I did enter hoping for help on how to accomplish things is my "Musket Sniper" entry. I got a feedback suggestion from Sean but that's it. The barrel looks wrong compared to the rest of the gun. The color, sharpness, focus, etc. is just off from the rest of the picture. I appreciate the 30 votes it got but I personally I don't think I would have voted for it.

even though it's long, it's very clear. I agree with your ideas on that subject. Pretty much what FF said, use burn a lot. You might also try and soften the rock texture but not so much that you can't tell what it was. When I followed your link, I actually thought it was a piece of rye bread with a ton of butter on it, then I saw it was potato. pretty cool.

Ok one step at a time..
So I'll just pick something easy..
Do you do this?
When using eraser, burn tool, almost after you do anything at all...
and before you do ANYTHING else....
DO YOU Click the edit button?
And then there it says
UNDO
Step forward
Step backward and the next thing it says is
FADE...try it..use it alot for a chop and see what it does for ya-
don't keep trying over and over gain to get a burn right..fade off the
bad burn...l;eave it show a tiny bit,,burn again--
a few bad burns faded out = one dang good burn all the time.

Hey Tofudious
I just got back in the USA and was reading your post, your potato chop was missing something for sure, maybe the color was off, and it didn't have the right texture, but you can't always achieve your objective, the fact that you know you could have done better makes you better than most on here, don't worry too much about it, I'd say from being on PSC, that you are one of the most helpful artist on here, you always try to help out in a way that is not condescending in any way, some times you just hit the nail on the head, and sometimes you hit your thumb with the hammer but things always somehow work out, now I'm rambling I'm a fan of your work and we all get better as we learn a little more each day, ideas are half the battle here, and sometimes there just mashed potatoes

To make Maple Syrup, you must think maple syrup.
To think maple syrup you must drink maple syrup.

in my eyes, you are more a heavy- than a lightweight some entries suck, that happens each of us!

To drink maple syrup, you must make maple syrup. And the cycle begins all over again.

FF you crack me up. I literally giggled when I read your replies. Wise beyond your years you are.



You made me laugh to Bro.

It's nice to see some people step up with suggestions on how to fix my meatloaf/rye bread/baked rock thing. I thank you. I especially thank Stephen for his PM .

I think what's getting lost in here is the question of how to ask people for help without coming across as a vote whore. The flip side of that coin is the lack of effective, and specific, feedback on the bad chops (something I'm just as guilty of).

I was thinking (dangerous yes we've been over that in other threads) it might be a good idea if there was a list of members willing to provide feedback via PM? Kind of a listing of people who are recognizing that a PM asking for direction on a chop does not equate to a subliminal vote whoring? I have no clue if this is a good idea or not as I'm sure some will abuse it.