Make Way For The Zulu Queen!

[CLKunst]

Another aberration of light. color and imagination. This time in honor of today, Fat Tuesday!
Comments and critiques welcomed. Suggestions cheerfully explored. :thumbsup:

[snoid]

That is so cool!........
Don't even wanna know how ya did it! ya did it right.
Blow it up HUGE put it in frame behind glass and sell limited copies for big bucks.
No question. This ones art...........

[CLKunst]

Thanks Snoid! That's pretty high praise. Congratulations on your sticky last week. That was a lovely stargazer lily.

Personally, I'm worried that the background is too empty. I have a penchant to crowd the edge and this time I've left her all alone in the middle. Mardi Gras rarely happens in a void such as I've created here Any thoughts on that? Anyone? Bueller?

[gahspidy]

I like it like it is, Cindy. Seems appropriate to me that the fabulous Zulu queen, on fire, would be coming out of darkness. stands out great. Anything else there in the bg might get this looking very confusing and busy, so it works just as it is.
Well done, fire woman.

[draymorton]

How is one to begin critiquing something in this category of imagemaking?

All I can say is, "cool!"

[GB1]

I like it. I think it's quite creative. I do however feel that the black background leaves a somewhat 'void' feeling. I am not sure what you could fill in to make it better however. Try experimenting. I might also trying sharpening it a little and see how it looks. It doesn't have to be sharp considering the context , but .. it's worth an expt. Missing eyes are initially hard for me to handle, but I guess that's the style (!!!)

[CLKunst]

I like it like it is, Cindy. Seems appropriate to me that the fabulous Zulu queen, on fire, would be coming out of darkness. stands out great. Anything else there in the bg might get this looking very confusing and busy, so it works just as it is.
Well done, fire woman.

Thanks Gary! Really!!! I went back and looked at a lot of my fire dancer photos from the past few years and unless they were standing close together (which is dangerous for everyone) they all look kind of like this: A body on fire coming out of the darkness. I tried a variation on this with other figures but cluttered and a lessening of impact seem to be the case. I've posted my attempt.

How is one to begin critiquing something in this category of imagemaking?

All I can say is, "cool!"

Thanks Dray,

That means worlds to me! I'm pushing my stuff and trying to get into a few galleries around here. She did start out as a photograph though, I just finger painted out the parts I didn't like.

I like it. I think it's quite creative. I do however feel that the black background leaves a somewhat 'void' feeling. I am not sure what you could fill in to make it better however. Try experimenting. I might also trying sharpening it a little and see how it looks. It doesn't have to be sharp considering the context , but .. it's worth an expt. Missing eyes are initially hard for me to handle, but I guess that's the style (!!!)

I tried to put in the eyes!!! I did, but everything I tried just didn't fit. The process I'm using for this is kind of erratic, which I like because that leaves room for happy surprises, but it's no good for the fine tuning detail. Oh I've just had an idea how I might do it. Hmph, I'll have to think about it some more.

Here's my stab at a background element.

"Queens Krewe"