Brad - I think the cut-out job on your daughters is excellent. And how you turned the shadow in the original into a woody-looking walkway is really great. As a study in color I feel you captured the 'spooky' aspect of the original lighting in the placement and colors of the girls apparel. You created a real portentious and uncertain atmosphere here.   Posted: 01/04/2025 19:01:46

effective.

To improve...
the far left faint structure distracts me, easily toned down and
Since we come in the left and read to the right it makes me walk the people out of the frame, whereas flipping it makes them lead into the story.   Posted: 01/06/2025 23:43:25

This is a powerful "less is more" image supported by the fact that we read from left to right. Portraits of strong personalities show the person on the right side of the canvas facing left. As westerners "read" the portrait, their gaze is stopped by the portrait on the right side of the canvas facing left reinforcing the strength of the person in the portrait. That's what you have accomplished here with minimal fanfare. The viewer's gaze peruses where your daughters are going before their interest comes to the girls' entry into the scene on the right at which point the viewer follows their progress toward the window. Quite subtle. Nice work.   Posted: 01/08/2025 20:10:21

Hi Brad,
You are certainly getting the hang of making your masks more natural. This looks really nice. I don't have a sense of a story here, or at least not one that I can see. Maybe if it was raining outside and the window was open or something like that.   Posted: 01/08/2025 22:48:36

Brad, There is a powerful story behind this image which I like very much. I am drawn particularly to the way that the smaller scale of the couple under their umbrella 'walking the plank' towards the large 'white' window contrasts well with the larger scale surrounding darker internal environment. It is good that we can get an impression of the environment outside to which we are drawn as it is the brightest part of the image. The contrast between the colours of the couple and the monochrome background works perfectly and adds gravitas to the image. I support the suggestions from others about flipping the image horizontally to maximize the left-to-right visual flow. Lisa's version illustrates this perfectly. Congratulations and well done.   Posted: 01/10/2025 18:45:55