Battle 44: Bre vs EndersWrath

[EndersWrath]

BATTLE 44
Bre vs EndersWrath

Bangel vs Bander
the alternate Bangel vs Spuffy debate ;)
A Battle of Epic Proportions

So Bre is a die hard Bangel shipper and I am a huge Bander fan, so we decided that would be what we centered our battle around, and to make it even more interesting we are gonna add themes to each round to go with a specific season, and to add to the twisty-ness each of us is going to add a requirement for the next person to add into their piece, no matter how infuriating it is :evil: Also...the final round will be superbad...er awesome...

Round 1/2 - Season 1 : 'Boy Meets Girl' - Pretty straight forward, art a scene about Buffy and Angel/Xander's first meeting.
Round 3/4 - Season 2 : 'Can't Let You Go' - Love is a tricky thing, it seems once you are in it you can't let it go or the person, so in this round just show where either side of the relationship can't seem to let the other go.
Round 5/6 - Season 3 : 'Anger feeds Anger' - This season had some really good moments of anger between both Buffy and Angel/Xander, so show a really intense moment about this.
Round 7/8 - Season 4 : 'I Just Wanna Protect You' - Who ever said that Chivalry was dead...or undead...? Use this round to show Angel and Xander protecting Buffy.
Round 9/10 - Season 7 : 'Forever, Thats the Whole Point' - Yeah, that's pretty much a Bangel thing, but we get some pretty good forever moments from both sides, so just depict a moment of this.
The Chaser - Best Of : 'Epic Relationships' - This is it, the final showdown and Bre and I have agreed to make this one epic, so to do the best of that we will make a Wallscroll of the best of each couple.

Let the showdown begin!!

So to make things fair, I had Bre come up with a requirement before I started my piece, and here it is:
I want to keep it simple for the first go around. Black and white. That's it, you can interpret that any which way you'd like, but... black and white.


And here is my piece:
First Stake
http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/thumbnails/firststakethumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/charactersandcouples/firststake.jpg)

Credits:
Textures: more adventurous, blacklagoon
Caps: Screencap Paradise
Promo: Pretty as a Picture
Brushes: Misplaced

Explanation - So the 'ol Black and White thing... I didn't wanna go predictable and just desaturate the whole thing so I played with the desaturation tool a bit...and added some colors. I also did something that I am very into lately and that is duplicating a layer, setting the top one to 'Screen' and then desaturating the bottom later and add some selective color layers. Also I went with making the texture black and white to add to it :)

As per the other stuff, I wanted to show Buffy and Xander's first encounter because I just love how they smile at each other and I'm guessing should big ol broody pants Angel not have come along, it would have turned into something more. Plus I really wanted to use 'Do you belive in love at first stake?' :lol:


So Bre, your mission should you accept it....which you have to (:p) is to use this texture in your piece, and I want it to be used in a brighter fashion ;) Doesn't have to be super dominant, it's only the first round which is why I chose a texture by Wendy because I know you love 'em
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c214/SheriffMars/037.jpg

[Bre]

First Stake: :lol: That's awesome, the text alone! Interesting interpretation of the black and white theme, it almost seemed to get a greenish glow. I adore the border that you have going and the crisp promos that you used are geeorgeous. You did a great job with a flow from the brushes to the large image of Xander, as well, and the caps you chose. Oooh, this will be fun!

Alright, here's my piece:

Round the Second: Is There A Problem, Ma'am?

http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/wtth_isthereaproblem_bigmini.jpg
1024 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/wtth_isthereaproblem.jpg)

Texture: Black Lagoon
Gradients: Mine
Brushes: Misplaced
Images: Screencap Paradise
Text: Episode

Oh, cheese! The classic one liner from Angel. :xd: So, Joe wanted a bright use of that texture and I actually really struggled for a while, because I wanted dark and gloomy, to match the darn alley where they met. But I managed to get this out, and I'm pleased with what it turned into. I actually only used that texture just to stick like glue to Joe's requirement. :p I chose this moment because it's when they first met-met. I considered the scene during Becoming when Angel first sees her, but bah to that because she didn't see him, so...

Okey dokey, Joe...ey. :roll: Here is my requirement. For every image that you use in your next piece, I want you to double that same image. So for every image, you'll have a duplicate floating around somewhere in there. I can't wait to see what you come up with! :hug:

[EndersWrath]

Is There A Problem, Ma'am?: Oh you and your cheese. I feel kinda bad about making you use the bright texture because I thought you were gonna do a dark alley piece, but I thought you would have been rebellious and like used the textured as a bright border or soemthing to that effect :lol: But none the less I really do like what you did this one. It still has that dark feeling because of the caps but also bright at the same time, a very nicely done contrast! Plus adding the cross into there was pretty cool :p

PS - God I love your banner! :wub:

Part the third!
Closer
http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/thumbnails/closerthumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/episodic/closer.jpg)

So it took me a bit to think of this scene and thanks to KingOfCretins I was able to figure out which ep this scene was from. I chose it because when Buffy hugs him Xander makes the remark "Yeah my life is easy" or something to that effect, and even though he is with Cordy he still can't let go of his feelings for Buffy. So I tried a couple variations of your requirements and everything I did came up really crowded so this is what came into effect. I think it came out well enough and the squares really helped with some blending.

So! The requirements for teh Bre! In your next piece I want you to not use any textures at all. Just the caps and coloring. Have fun! I am so looking forward to the next round :evil:

[Bre]

Closer: Ah, first, love the coloring! The soft tones and shadows create a lovely composition. Also, the way that you blended all of the images into the right and let the text dominate the left side is gorgeous. I like what you did with the little boxes and the duplicated images, making them smaller. They're a nice underline for the text. Aaaannnd... I can totally feel Xander's angst! You suck.

Round ze Fourth: Angel?

http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/iohefy_angel_bigmini.jpg
1024 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/iohefy_angel.jpg)

So yeah, that whole no-texture thing? Sucked! I've only done that once before and thinking back, I think I used textures for the coloring anyway, so this was definitely interesting and came out a little Jenni Lou-esque, which is awesome beans.

So, I love this round only because in almost every single episode in season two there is something to use for Bangel! I knew that I wanted to choose a dark scene to make blending the images easier as well as using color to set the mood, and the scenes that came to mind were way over-used by me in the past, so I did the kissing scene at the end of 'IOHEFY' when Buffy mistakes Angelus for Angel because of the love between the ghosts, reflecting what she had with Angel earlier in the season. While it is Angelus in this piece, practically everything that she does with him or about him, somehow causes her to think about Angel and what she had, and the hope that he's still going to come back to her.

Oh, cheesy bits of joy! (Try that out, bitca!) For you, my sweet, I give you this requirement: Text! I love text, but I also hate text, mostly because it can be the biggest obstacle when making anything... like, ever. So, for your next piece, I want to see more text than anything! Use it as texture, blend it in, just cover Buffy and Xander in text, I don't care! I want a plethora of textly like things. :roll: Oh, the good times... :hug:

[EndersWrath]

Angel?: How you made me feel heartbroken for that scene I will never know. Seriously, I usually find this scene almost as bad as the one in Amends or Buffy's "When I kiss you I want to die" line, but you somehow made me feel sad for Buffy. Kudos! I really like to uber blackness of the piece and made it feel almost like an empty canvas. Choosing to use only one word worked awesomely and the coloring is just swoon worthy!


Fifth round it is...
I Won't
http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/thumbnails/iwontthumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.obsessionofthemoment.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/episodic/iwont.jpg)

credit:
caps: screencap-paradise
texture: black lagoon


Oh, cheesy bits of joy! (Try that out, bitca!) For you, my sweet, I give you this requirement: Text! I love text, but I also hate text, mostly because it can be the biggest obstacle when making anything... like, ever. So, for your next piece, I want to see more text than anything! Use it as texture, blend it in, just cover Buffy and Xander in text, I don't care! I want a plethora of textly like things. :roll: Oh, the good times... :hug:

I did try, and it was hard (that's what she said).

So this requirement was pretty damn interesting and complicated. At first I so thought I knew what I was gonna do, but everything came out promos in my head! But Alas I came to terms with this piece.

I just used two caps and left the rest to text. I was gonna try to do a whole text background thing but that wasn't workin out for me soI just added a bunch of text around these two caps. The words are all from the song played in the episode form Dingoes Ate My Baby, or rather Four Star Mary called 'Sway'. The piece was originally more red to demonstrate the anger, but the softer colors blended much more nicely with the white text. Maybe I'll make a second version with black text and red coloring. :lol:

yeesh... this experimenting thing is all weird...

For your requirement! I'm thinking around the lines of you having to make focus of one part of the wall and have the rest blurred out...not fully blurred, just enough to keep all focus on that one aspect, whether its a cap, a picture or a piece of text. ... If I didn't make sense, which I probably didn't just ask and I'll try to explain better. Have fun my busy Bre :hug: (hehe, see what I did there? Busy Bre... oh I slay me.)

[Bre]

I Won't: First, love the moment. If there is one thing about Xander, he's very loyal, but he's very righteous in his anger, and what better when Xander's defending everyone against Buffy when she tries to leave again. Love the text and how it excludes from certain parts and blends back in. Interesting interpretation with the background, although it adds a different depth. The coloring is rockin awesome but with the text as it is, I wonder if black and white would have looked more distinct.

Here We The Sixth: Move On

http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/gradday1_untitled_bigmini.jpg
1024 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/gradday1_untitled.jpg)

I actually had to go through a few different tries to get something even remotely near what I had in my mind, and even then, it's much brighter. I blended everything first and made it into a different wallpaper before blurring the larger images and sharpening the cap of them together, but at a distance, just to get the idea of their arguement across. I had originally made this awful blend of them in black and white and... it was just bad, so I tried again. :p

I chose the scene in 'Graduation Day, Part 1' when Buffy and Angel actually argue, as a couple. I don't think we really see them argue as they do here, as exes, when Buffy asks him what he's doing when it was his decision to leave her.

Aaaaaalrighty then! For your next entry, I'm going to get wicked precise. I want to see the caps of a scene, but not Xander's face. Concentrate on Buffy in that instant, on Xander protecting Buffy from whatever the heck you choose. But, I want to see you use the Wind Distortion effect on something. The text, the caps, the texture, but I want to see the darn effect. :lol: :2party:

[Jenni Lou]

It's been two weeks since a battle entry was made. Hope you guys didn't forget about it!

Also, Bre, I :heart: iohefy_angel.jpg. The colors and blending are so prrettty!!!

[EndersWrath]

I could have sworn I posted this the other night. I may have gone crazy...

Move On - I'm really glad that you chose this moment between the two of them, it was pretty much there biggest non angsty relationship fight, which is one that doesn't make me roll my eyes :roll: I really like that you made the text so feint and focused more on the caps. The coloring is really good, and I think the brightness really did great in the piece rather than being dark that way the caps could speak for the piece rather than the text. I always get jealous of how you blend things so well and this is just another one of those times :p

My Hero
http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/thumbnails/myherothumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/episodic/myhero.jpg)

credits:
caps - screencap paradise
texture - colorblinded

Well chester cheesey cheetos (:evil:)! There aren't too many Xander protecting Buffy moments in Season 4! He is so invested in Anya this season and I guess that is kinda the theme of the season but damn, why make it hard on me Joss?! But one of the biggest things I remember about season 4 is Xanders little speech to Buffy at the begining to help her stay on track, that she isn't alone and that she can be strong. To me this is just the same as physically protecting her, giving her the edge she needs to be able to take on Sunday and those other wenches. I was trying to think as to how to compose the piece and then I thought I might try the little boz type thing that people seem to be into lately and I gotta say that I enjoyed it. And the not being able to see Xanders face thing made it all the more fun and challenging. I also tried something that Lyn talked to me about in how she goes about with her pieces, and thats the slighty grainy effect she puts on her walls and I really enjoyed doing that. So I also added in the motion blur onto the texture, it was much more detailed when I put it on, and I think I like it much more when it has that wind bursting effect, making the wall more whooshy I guess :lol:

For your requirement I just want you to use a box style wallpaper. Not a blend (though there can be blending) but a box style wallpaper. Think of the stuff Beth @ OOTM does. I'm only a little evil ;)

[Bre]

:lol: I love that your pieces are always posted on my weekends off because it gives me time to make the piece pretty much right away. :p

My Hero: Oh, dang! This is my favorite piece from you for the entire battle so far! I love how you blended in the boxed images with the larger Buffy image, it's so well done and I've recently been fangirling over that technique from other people. The lighting and the texture choice are perfect for the idea behind the piece, that Buffy is Xander's hero and OMG! You did a lovely job with not showing Xander's face (especially love the part in the upper left corner, so well done!). As for the moment, very subtle choice and very nice choice because Xander is completely tied up with Anya most of the season, but you did a great job showing how Xander looks up to Buffy, how humbled she is as well as how important her feelings are to Xander. :heart:

And thank you to Jenni Lou for the feedback! :D

Round Eight: Old Times

http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/pangs_oldtimes_bigmini.jpg
1024 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/pangs_oldtimes.jpg)

Alright, there aren't too many Bangel moments in the fourth season either, mostly because darn Angel went and got his own show at this time, as well as Buffy meeting Riley and building on that relationship. I wanted to show something sort of generic again, like my last piece, but I couldn't spin 'The Yoko Factor' no matter how hard I wanted to. It just turned out Riley protecting Buffy from Angel, which doesn't work! So I chose 'Pangs', when Angel comes to town to help protect Buffy from what happens in Doyle's vision, but doesn't want Buffy to see him. He wants to protect her from the pain that is their relationship, their past and just seeing each other because of those things. So he takes all the burden, but can't help himself by seeing the others, which in turn leads to Buffy knowing, which is what I showed. Sort of a few moments when he's watching her and she doesn't see and then the realization that what she's been feeling throughout the episode was real.

As for the requirement, I'm very pleased with how it turned out! I used the boxy style, but then I went all out and just did a total Beth piece. I tried incorporating the boxes into my usual style, but it wasn't working because it felt too crowded, and Beth always has a fantastic way of doing the lighting to make it seem as if there are no images there but one. This actually lead me to using gradients in ways I never have before, so it was pretty fun.

So, Joe, I want something... epic from you, for our round before the last round which is a wallscroll round piece, mm'kay? STOCKS! What a lovely addition to any wallpaper, but I want tons of stocks. Think Chris aka galatha @ Salt'n Burn (http://www.misplaced.co.uk/saltnburn/) and Stephanie @ Immortal Kiss (http://immortalkiss.sarrand.net/), most especially in her latest SPN pieces. :xd

[EndersWrath]

Old Times: OOO! I love how you used the requirement! I think miss Beth would be proud! It looks so great and the colors are so warm and great! I love how you organized it all! I don't think I could do something like that, it is just so well put together. I had to change that to a period because I think I used too many exclamation points... Anywho. The use of different quotes from the episode was a very nice contrast to the organization and structure or teh box styling. Speaking of the text, I love the font choice you used, I'm not sure too many others would have worked with the box style. Overall? Awesome-tastic piece full of greatness. I am jealous at your box skillz :lol:

My Life
http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/thumbnails/mylifethumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/episodic/mylife.jpg)

Lovely addition my ass. I HATE using stocks! :roll: I think its just because I can never think about what to use, or the fact that I can't use them right.. I hate using them in blends... though others always look so awesome and I hate them for that :lol: *winkerty winkerton*

So I was so effing stumped as to what to do for this entry (in terms of stocks, I already knew what I wanted to blend) And I decided upon two things which take up half the wall almost... in a way.. First I used a clock ( soo cliche!) to represent the forever thing, and then I kept thinking about what could go along with it and I decided to use flames to represent the love of these two characters (MY GOD SUPER CHEESE MAN!). I like how the clock came out, seeing as it is only a piece of one repeated 4 times... but I don't really like the flames all too much. Except on Xanders face.. it looks hot (pun!). Though I love it when I am forced to play with colors a lot and make it blend a ceratin way.. so I had fun :p

REQUIREMENT TIME BITCHES!
In the last requirement round I want you to include someone else in the piece other than Buffy and Angel.... not being dominant or anything... just in there enough to make an impression. However you choose to do this is up to you.

Can't wait to see what you come up with and damn we are almost at the end already! The wallscrolls shall be made of epic.

[slaycandy]

Hey guys, awesome challenge so far. I wanted to do FB for you guys in here, but wanted to wait until there were a fair few rounds so I could just do them all in one go, and the I got busy... but I'm back now! And I'm here to do some FB. So I have split these up into a section for each of you guys, then under the spoiler tags, I'm just going through your pieces round by round, :) I tried to be as thorough as possible, so these are a little long, :P

Enderswrath


Round 1: Boy Meets Girl
First Stake - I love this quirky little scene between Buffy and Xander when they first meet, it's fab. However, I'm not overly sure of the colouring of this piece to reflect this scene and their comedic meeting. To me, the scene calls for a more playful use of colour and quite bright, friendly colours, and similarly some playful brushes in nice colours. The colouring of this piece really downplays the fun nature of the scene, it's quite bland and the colouring doesn't really add anything to the scene, it more retracts the humour. I would have prefered to see this piece, with the black and white or monochromatic colouring in the background, with some bright, funky colours in the foreground showing their first meeting, thus representing the first moment, with this solid friendship in the background, something more serious and lasting than the flighty meeting in the foreground. Similarly I feel the background texture has a grungy look to it, and it may have been nicer to see something more fun and quirky like a pattern, or even just a plain slightly textured coloured background? I like how to composition leads you through the piece, of these friends, with this meeting taking place in the foreground, leading you across the page, but it may have been nicer to resize that image to be larger, and then move all the images and text up to me more central in the vertical axis, as the wallpaper seems to very heavy in the bottom half of the piece, and there's a strip right along the top that feels really empty, perhaps just balancing the piece out a little more would work. :)


Round 3: Can't Let You Go
Closer - I love this piece, it has a great flow to it, as the lighting leads us into the piece to see Xander's expression as he looks down on his tender embrace with Buffy, with Buffy looking away from the piece, with different emotions to Xander. The natural colouring gives it a very natural feel, and the tones of the texture blend really well with the images, and again have a very natural feel to it; but at the same time the light colouring gives it a very tender and touching look. I love how the text is practically illuminated by the lighting, and the little repeated images work really well as you read along the text, and the eyes are lead through the images at the same time re-iterating the wording. I only have two little niggles about this piece, the first is right above Buffy's shoulder there is this line going up as if it is an edge to image that hasn't been blended out, and it just sort of bugged me everytime I looked at it. The second comment, is the image quality is a little grainy, and not as smooth as it could have been to really make this piece look really polished off. Check out Zugma's tutorial on these forums for improving image quality, I think it really helps give the images a nicer look in wallpapers, and can make such a difference to the overall look of a piece. But overall, this piece rocks, :P


Round 5: Anger Feeds Anger
I Won't - I love the idea of the composition here, to have the opposing sides, and facing different ways, with the text in a position to lead us through the images in the direction it's meant; but to me the two large images facing in opposite directions, are just negating that natural direction created by the slant and text; those two images are really powerfully and over-bearing, and just force the eyes to go in opposite directions, and the composition just falls apart in my point of view. Perhaps switching the images so they are facing each other, and using other opposing force to show the two sides to this story and to highlight the anger would have worked better. Similarly for such an emotional and angry scene, the colouring of the actual images is light and there's not a lot of contrast to them, to make them more powerful. I would have loved to see this two images glaring at one another with a lot of contrast, and in really vibrant angry colouring. A gradient map with perhaps red and green colouring through it, or even doing each image in opposing gradient maps, to really show the divide between them, then doing the little text one side black against white, and the large text white against black, and then switching it for the opposite side, and doing the complete opposite to really highlight the dichotomy between the two images. As it stands the white writing doesn't really add much to the piece, aside from the wording itself, you could really use that harsh text to really add something to the piece, by giving it these opposing colours and sizes to really split the page in two, but at the moment the text actually connects the piece. It may have been an idea to really split this piece, like a mirror image, but with opposite colours on either side, or something. I adore the image choice in this piece though, the emotion in their faces just sums up the combination of hurt and anger, and had you played them against one another, it would really show how this was directed at one another. This was definately one of the points in their relationship where they had so much anger bouncing between them, and hurt resulting from this and feeding into more anger, a perfect scene for the theme, but I just feel you could have made those images and composition really give more power to the piece overall, and really flame that fight.


Round 7: Want To Protect You
My Hero - This composition works so much better for me, I love how the wording at the top, leads your eyes through it, and then naturally down through the images of Xander, as he smiles there in the darkness, leading down into this warm, and bright view he has of Buffy as he looks up at her, and then toward this image of Buffy smiling quietly in the darkness and looking down on the words as Xander calls her his Hero. I love how their smiles seem to mimic one another, and the top line seems to reflect onto the bottom line, with this warm image in-between. But most of all, I love how you have the scene reflecting the words, with Buffy standing out as this warm, glowing hero against all the darkness that is going on around them, showing how when things are bad, Xander thinks of Buffy as sees her standing out as his Hero. The composition, image choice and lighting just play off each other so well to really make this piece work as a whole. My only comments again, would be that the image of Buffy looks a tad grainy, and being a more foreground image than the one of Xander, I think it would have looked better a little more defined. And also, the font used for the word 'hero' is actually hard to see the letters, perhaps something a little easier to read, and bolder to really make the word stand out, maybe even using a different font to the words leading up to it; just to give it a little more power, perhaps even using a warmer colour to make it stand out more and match in with the actual colours used to represent Buffy, thus relating the word and image, by linking them through colour choice. Just a suggestion, but it seems like the most powerful word of the piece, and like there could have been a bit more to it. But I really do adore this piece, there's something about the style that just works for this solemn moment between the friends. And I love the framing of it, to really capture this moment in time. Thought I'd add that on as a slight after-thought, :)


Round 9: Forever, That's The Whole Point
My Life - I find this piece a little cluttered in the centre, and I think it is largely due to the texture used. It feels like quite a busy texture, with the clock on top of that, and what appears to be flames on top of that too; it feels like there is a lot going on in this confined space, with four images and text on top of that, and with multiple colours and tones all appearing, it gives a really mixed signal as to what is actually going on here. I think, this piece, with the images of Xander and Buffy looking at one another through these central images really needs to be simplified to focus on the text and how this applies to the scene. Here you have Buffy telling Xander how he has helped her get through all of this, and how she needs him, this to me implies a nice warm moment between the two, and the images reflect this warm feeling. And yet you have the piece surrounded by darkness and a grungy texture. Perhaps lighting the piece up a little, making it smoother, and less 'grungy' and then adding in some nice warm tones to the piece would really reflect the words, and give the images the colouring they need, rather than the mixed tones of the piece really giving the images mixed tones too - and not really solidifying the mood of the piece. I'm not sure of the relevance of the clock in this context, if it's supposed to show the time they have spent together, or something. But I'm not sure that the time factor is really relevant to the wording here. I know that the theme is 'forever' and that Buffy says Xander is always there for her, but the images and words sum this up without the clock, to show he's always been around, to me it doesn't add anything to the piece, and it's just unnecessary clutter. Similarly the flames surrounding them, might suggest the impending doom that is surrounding them, and the hell-mouth that has always been there; but I'm not sure they really fit with this piece and the image and wording. Given that your requirement was to use stocks, I would have stopped to think about what you wanted to show in your piece first, and then thought about what stocks would really reflect what you are showing, and then build the piece up. Chris gave me some good advice a while ago about how to use stocks, and that is to use them just like screencaps, they have a natural flow and direction to add to a piece, and they have as much meaning as your choice of cap does; so you just think of them the same as caps, and then build the piece up as normal around this. Thus perhaps if you wanted to show this scene, but bringing in the clock and flames more clearly to give a real 'feel' for the piece, it may have been an idea, to change the wording to something about the end of the world coming up, perhaps a quote from an earlier season, that Xander has used, and place this next to the Xander image, and then use the Buffy quote next to her; giving this element of time, of how they have faced so many apocalypses over the years, and how they are always surrounded by danger, but at the end of the day Xander gets Buffy through it. Although, I would still lose the texture, it's too busy for the piece, expand the clock outward and make it clearer, and the same for the flames, and then create a warmer inner circle where the images are to represent this warm tender moment they share, and their friendship, right in the middle of this ever-lasting threat that surrounds them. And again, see my earlier comments about grainy images. Most of all, for this piece, I'd say de-clutter, too much in one area, expand out, and find a less intrusive texture; then clarify the mood of the piece with clearer tones on the central images; and third of all, connect the piece, giving more meaning to the clock and flames, by linking them in with some sort of text. Wow, that was some long FB!


Bre



Round 2: Boy Meets Girl
Is There a Problem Ma'am? - This is not my favourite piece from you, I have to be honest. It feels like you just used the texture to meet the requirement then added a couple of images and text. And I know you, and how much work you usually put into pieces, but that just doesn't translate through this piece. I don't like the composition, Angel is looking off toward the top-left, Buffy down toward the bottom-right, and neither leads the eyes toward the text. I would have much prefered to see Buffy looking down on Angel, and he looking up at Buffy, thus relfecting their positions in the scene, putting Buffy in the upper-hand position, and giving the piece an overall nicer flow, and direction - it was also allow for the eys to fall from Buffy's POV down toward Angel, at which point the eyes read along the text, and see what is happening in this scene, a more solid connection in the piece than there is as it stands. Similarly I feel like the images are just sort of floating in the texture, perhaps there was another bright texture that you could have used, that images would have blended into more neatly? Or perhaps you could have used a gradient map over the piece to give the images colouring and contrast similar to the background to really connect them, but the way they are sitting right now, you can really feel the lack of a connection between the background and foreground. One more annoying little thing: there appears to be like notebook lines coming over Buffy and Angel's faces, now I don't know if this is a brush, or a part of the texture, but I find it more distracting than anything else, and it sorts of takes away from the image quality. I don't see the relevance for notebook lines, or words, especially if they are hard to read, and so it would probably be nicer just to leave them out. Overall, I love the scene, the word choice, and idea behind this piece; but I really do get the impression you were just trying too hard to use this texture, rather than trying to create this wallpaper. And from the amazing quality of the rest of the pieces from this challenge, I'd say this piece really stands out as your weakest to me, sowee :(


Round 4: Can't Let You Go
Angel? - I adore the darkness and simplicity of this piece, with those little highlights just outlining their figures, like they are almost silhoettes (damn the spelling of that word always gets me!) And to me, this is a perfect way to sum up this scene. Angel is just Angel on the outside, he's Angelus on the inside now, and I love how you have this highlighter outline, but darker tones inside, thus mirroring he is still light like Angel on the surface, but underneath he's all darkness. Similarly I love how the darkness, of Buffy's character, gives her that empty feeling inside these outlines, the way she feels after Angel is mean to her, she feels like she's lost something inside, lost that light and warmth. So I love the way you use this light vs. dark method to sum up both characters, and what happens in this scene. My only issue with this is the composition feels a little bit off to me. At the moment, I feel my eyes running over the images from the bottom left to top right, and the play of events that way is: they kiss, there's a kissing moment, then buffy is looking off in another direction into the darkness and loneliness, and then they separate, after her questioning him, 'angel?'. Which does work. But... perhaps playing it on the opposite diagonal line may have worked a little better... but start with the small warmer, brighter kiss, then get darker with the other image of the kiss, then have the image of Buffy looking off to the right into the darkness with the questioning 'angel?' and finish it off with the separation in the bottom right. I just have a feeling it might just play a little better in that motion. But like I mentioned it does do the job well at the moment, I just like nice neat little directional flows, :P


Round 6: Anger Feeds Anger
Move On - Love the image choice. Love the soft texture. Love the lack of text, and just the big 'move on'. But... yeh I know, there's always a but. I personally would have preferred the images looking at one another. Similar to my comments to Joe on this piece, I always feel anger, and hurt is more powerfully shown, if you can see who it is directed at; and here, placing these images facing in opposite directions, you don't get that same powerful, argumentative vibe that you would if they were facing one another, with those expressions looking at one another. My next comment, is the images seem really soft and smooth, but they feel a little too blurred out, perhaps sharpening them a little more, to really give them a little more definition would help. But I think with emotions like anger, you really need sharp, defined feaures to really emphasize those feelings. I think the orange colouring against the grey background and clothing, and text, really gives this feeling of a heated argument between the two of them, and making their emotions stand out against the bland background. I love the style and look of this piece, and would love it just a little bit more if those images were swapped over, :P The little image works really well just to set the scene in context, but it may have been an idea to blur out that random shopper in the background, ;)


Round 8: Want To Protect You
Old Times - I really love the style used in this piece, it is very Beth-esque, :) But, I really like the circular sort of direction created in this piece, the anti-clockwise direction through the images, the image of Buffy, leads to the image of Angel, leading down to the text and the boxes, bringing us back around to the start. The only thing that bothered me about this composition is it left a lot of negative space, that just felt empty in the top-left corner of the piece. Now I know there are small images in the corner there, but they blend in a lot with the black background, and it just makes the piece feel a little unbalanced on the whole. Perhaps just centering everything a little more to even it out a bit more. Although I have to say I do love the grungy background texture, mixed with that warm feeling of the piece; it sort of shows that warmth of Angel being able to see Buffy, but at the same time, there's this darkness around them, and this grungy look sort of implies the rough nature of his being there, obviously in secret. I love how the boxes sort of create a window, through which Angel is looking at Buffy, and I think it may have been really nice to keep all the images of Buffy in boxes and then have Angel on the outside looking in, and have him blending in with the background texture, much like he's just blending into the shadows in the episode. So perhaps just switching out that one image of Buffy for one of Angel, and perhaps even one of Angel with Giles behind him, or something like that? And also it may have been an idea to spread the text out a little more, to make it clear what order the reader is to read the lines in, as it didn't really make any sense as I read through them, and it took me a while to try and find an order that kind of linked some of them. But overall, it's got a really great mood and theme to the piece, and the style is just gorgeous, I hope to see more like this from you in the future, you pulled it off amazingly!


Okay, and that's me done for now. Bre once you've done your round 10 I'm just going to edit the FB in, so check back for it later on!

*hugs*
Good luck with the wallscrolls guys, it's a huge task, but you can pull it off!
SJ
xox

[Bre]

Thank you, slaycandy for the awesome feedback! You know my art and I love you for it.

My Life: And another emotionally awesome piece! Just like My Hero, only reversed, just beautiful. I like what you did with the stocks, but dang are they crazy here! :lol: The fire and the clock are symbolic in what is happening in this piece, about the future and their past, at least that's how I'm interpreting it, hehe. The blending is simply gorgeous, usually I don't go for having them turned into towards each other but it closes the piece and creates a warmth between them, especially with the image in the center and the words. :heart:

Round Ten: That Bitch

http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/chosen_thatbitch_bigmini.jpg
1024 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/buffy/episodes/chosen_thatbitch.jpg)

You made this too easy! What else would I pick, come on now! :roll: I knew right when I read your requirement that I would choose when Spike sees Buffy and Angel kissing (which was love). I remember seeing an icon a long, long time ago by some person who I do not remember with the blended image of Spike looking out at them and I wanted to do just that, with The First's words saying all that needs to be said. It's definitely a more Spike-esque piece but I like how it turned out with the shadows and the dark coloring and the dark look. Pretty. I almost did a piece with just Caleb in the background getting up, but where would the emotional punch be, I ask you? :P

:thud: Le wallscroll time, le Joe. Dazzle me! And to keep with the requirements of the challenge, I'm going to require something simple. No text. Ha! The opposite of my other requirement, I'm awesome. Let the images speak for themselves. :hf2:

[EndersWrath]

So I am having some technical difficulty...as in I have no internet...I am using my phone right now and have no access to caps and if I did I have no way to upload my wallscroll anyhow :/

So I guess I am asking for an extension...hopefully only a week or two longer. I am really pissed that this happened now as it is the round I have been looking forward to most... sorry bre love :hug:

Oh! And thanks for the feedback Sayjay :hug: though I can't read spoiler tags through my phone because it doesn't expand it... :(

[EndersWrath]

ACK! Been too long, but I got the internet back and went to work on the wallscroll.

First off, thank you so much for the feedback Sayjau :hug: I don't really post in the SN thread so I don't get your awesome amounts of feedback, so I'm glad that you took the time to do this :D

That Bitch: OO, This is something that I REALLY like. The grainy rock looking texure that was used really gives the "Spike is mad a fck" expression so much more! And then the seemingly outward bursting color around Buffy and Angel is very beautiful. I love the bright and yet calming color of it. I think you really captured Spike's hatred in this wall and the Forever theme by having Spike seeing that Angel will always be in Buffy's heart no matter what and that he is gonna have to live with it.

Now on the actual wallscroll part (I didn't think we were gonna give rules on the wallscrolls, but thats cool ;)) I'm notr happy with it at all. I mean I like what I was able to get across, but other than that, I really am not a fan of it, but I couldn't put this off for too much longer. Oh well, its only my first wallscroll, so Hopefully things will be better next time :lol:


http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/thumbnails/bxwallscrollthumb.jpg
1024 (http://u-mockers.voided-space.com/wallpapers/buffyandangel/wallscroll/bxwallscroll.jpg)

So what I did with this was use one of my favorite Bander scenes of all time and then used that scene as a reflection time to see what the two have been through, the good, the bad, and the ZOMG we almost kissed. I represented that by desaturating the flashbacks and leaving the "present time" in color and then at he end have a future shot in a bright colored tone. I dunno, I just had the idea and tried going with it since I couldn't use text (grr...arg). Since I couldn't use every moment, I just used some of my favorite moments. I hate that I wasn't able to use text because I so would have used Blake Lewis' 'Surrender' because I think of Bander whenever I hear it.

LAST REQUIREMENT! ZOMG!OHNOES!
For your requirement, I want a wallscroll done without having ANY caps/pics/anything of Buffy and Angel kissing. At all, evah! :lol: Not as evil as no text, but I was gonna go with not being able to use any pic of them touching at all...but that is just too sinister :evil:

I just wanna say that I have had so much fun with this Bre, I mean really, it was great to be able to art my Bander love as hardcore as I did ;) I hope to battle you again soon :hug: Thanks!

[Bre]

Wallscroll: Beauty! I think you did a great job getting the idea behind the wallscroll across. I feel kind of evil right now because I said no text, :evil: , but at the same time, you did a nice job letting the images speak for themselves and how you desaturated them. I love that you kept the present in the brighter colors, to show how they've grown and how much they still love each other and will always be there. LOVE the scene choice, too, when Buffy tells Xander how much she means to him along with their past. It works so well and the ending cap is so beautiful, the heart speaks so much. I would have liked to see the present blended in a little more with the past because they seem to pop out too much, making it look awkward. And again, I feel evil for no text. :p

And for my final entry!

Forever and a Day
http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/wallscrolls/buffy/bangel_foreverandaday_wallscroll_mini.jpg
4512x337 (http://infiniteillusion.primordialsouls.com/wallscrolls/bangel_foreverscroll.php)

As I was making this piece, I kept thinking, "How in the hell could Joe not use any text?" :lol: And then I wanted to kick you for the no kissing requirement because I kept coming across these beautiful, high quality kissage scenes and saving them before realizing, yes, no kissing! But that's okay, I managed to get something good. No kissing meant no scene wallscroll, so I made a basic 'I-love-Bangel-too-much-for-my-own-good' sort of wallscroll and I think it turned out very nice. I randomized the images because I didn't want them to be in the order of the seasons because this was just a general love wallscroll and the lyrics just fit them and their relationship so darn well, that it all tied together beautifully IMO. :D The lyrics are 'I Will Love You' by Fisher. :heart:

Thank you, Joe, for a spectacular battle. I love that you got me to test my boundaries and see where I would go with your [crappy] crazy requirements! :roll: I hope to do another battle soon, as well! :hug:

Now, shall we do a poll?

[Ehlwyen]

Poll is open for voting!!! Let the final battle begin! :lol: Such great art Bre and Joe!!! :heart: :hug:

[Jenni Lou]

I voted for "Forever and a Day." Lovely job, Bre!! What sticks out most to be is the wonderful cropping. There's a few images that are positioned so well. I know a lot of times we all go kind of straight on when using a pic and I like that you had fun with the cropping. Like the third pic in where we just see Angel's mouth....and I love the one where Buffy is wet and holding the stake because you really focused on that stake. So great job!! :heart:

A few other comments though.

Joe: closer.jpg- Nice Phases art! I was arting this same scene and gave up on it because I just couldn't get it to work for me. I love the tiny boxes because--again with the cropping--they're nicely cropped. INteresting to look at. :) And in iwont.jpg I like your daring text use. It really frames out the piece in a most unique and interesting way. myhero.jpg reminds me so much of a SayJay piece, sans the amount of text. The coloring and framing just really reminds me of her and it is very pretty.

[alexa]

Wow some nice stuff to look at here guys :)
I really love 'My Hero' and 'That Bitch' especially. And the Bander wall scroll made me go 'aww'. Forever and a day has great colours and I like how Bre's chosen only early pics.

The scene with Xander and Buffy in 'My Hero' is one of my favourite between them. I like how it looks simple but still awesome. Could have easily moved into a Bander place from here, but they just had to move Riley on in :p

'That Bitch' has perfect lighting and colouring. And the split between Spike and Bangel is really cool. Might use this as my background on my pooter actually. :D

[Fuzzy]

Wow! So many wonderful pieces! Ive picked my top 2 from each artist to comment on, just coz :2party:

EndersWrath -
First Stake: I really love this!! Im not a huge fan of season one of Buffy... they are just so young and it bothers me for some reason. This is a great moment and you captured it so beautifully. Im lovin the boxes, the text and the colour!
I Won't: This totally rocks my world! The text is crazy! Love the pic of Buffy, its totally filled with emotion & the Xander one is typical Xander-face :) Colour is gorgeous too.

Bre -
Move On: I love this moment in the show! The thing i like the most about this piece is the 2 caps of Buffy & Angel :lol: They both look like they have eaten something bad or smelled something bad! Love it how they are mid-sentence! Actually Buffy looks like shes about to sneeze... Anywho, i love the muted colours and the texture, its all done so nicely.
Old Times: Woohoo a "Pangs" piece! I can never get enough of anything to do with this episode, i just love it. Totally loving the box-style, you did it really well. You have all the good moments & the texture and colour is perfection!

But the one i voted for is "Move On" :D