New hope - the ultimate return of Unicorn
by william88

Comment:
The composition is above average and is appealing to look at. I love the magical feel/mood captured in this image. There is without a doubt a-lot of work put into piecing this together. Some elements are photographic in nature while others have an illustrated look; indeed it reminds me of a cover for a folder that I had way back in high school, but that was a pegasus. Again, I give this high marks for composition and the magical feel this projects. However I wish that there was more attention to lighting in that all elements had the light fall or are light in a realistic manner. I think that is one area that becomes problematic with moving it out of a the photographic realm and more into the digital art realm. The separate elements all have different light and shadow. What I mean by that is that if you look at the unicorn the shadow falls upon the bottom of the head and torso - that should also be seen on the cliff face. But it is not, the top snow covering is lit correctly to match the unicorn but the rest of the rock cliff face should fall into more shadow.

Infant
by rooum

Comment:
Very errie and a bit disturbing. The distressed look to the 'photo' adds an element of age and something nostalgic perhaps - like the old bill poster advertising circus acts of people with odd features/anomalies. Here we have a cyclops baby - perhaps it is even one of the original greek titan children. Definitely very well done in the composition and presentation and also in the creepy chill one gets when looking at this image. An above average composition - well done.

Cerberus. Guards The Entrance To Hades
by Dazzermas

Comment:
Nice blending to of multiple heads to make the three headed dog, Cerberus. This image has strong potential but that greenish cast really drags down the impact. I am wondering why the choice of green? Green is a spring color - symbolizing life. The environment of Hades is just the opposite. The greenish cast also does not allow the black pelt or fur of Cerberus to visually pop off of the background because even the tones and highlights of the fur are greenish in nature. I believe a more rock tones barren color cast for the backdrop...maybe even venture into some deep dark reds (to allude to the concept of hell) to make the environment this creature lives in more believable. But I would not put that color cast on the dog - you want it to stand out on it's own. I like the red eyes but I feel you could have gone more with some further details to make him look fierce and menacing. My two other suggestions to make him look fearsome is to add sharp pointy teeth and to shot the picture at a lower angle to give the impression of menacing, towering over us size.

Hina Poggle
by Trumpeteer4

Comment:
Not sure what exactly a Hina Poggle is - but it is a very odd creature. It makes me think Monty Pythonish creatures...maybe it came along and finished the Black Knight for a snack (Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference):-) The one eye is cyclops in nature but the rest with the mishapen head and odd furry tenticile legs really puts it in a strange creature category. I do like how you have placed your creature an natural enviroment to show where it may be found. However, it is a little much on the cartoonish side to be a truly believable creature in existence. Perhaps more definition to the head shape and continuing the texture of the 'hairy' legs up to it's chest would help. Maybe adding some texture of fur/scales or whatnot might help too. I can't decide if the color should or should not be adjusted. On one hand this is supposedly a fantastical creature so it doesn't have to necessarily have real world color tones. However, the bright pink color would make it way too easy to spot for some wandering hero to slay. Of course the Hina Poggle just might have invisibility powers that help it's survival and it's ability to hunt :-) A good effort - slightly above average image but could be better with a bit more work.

Savage Cyclops
by TomCubis

Comment:
Now this is downright disturbing! ...but effective. Not a true cyclops but I guess you can say that even the cyclops monster would like a pet that resembles his master;-) (that is if he doesn't eat his pets being a monster after all) Lighting, focus and detail are wonderful. However, there are some elements in this composition that needed some addressing to make this a stand-out image (don't get me wrong it is slightly above average but it could have been even better). Details. The devil is always in the details. First off, the dog tag could have been cloned out (or taken off momentarily for the photo). Next, is the environment is not complementary to invoke the idea of a 'mythical monsterous beast'; or wild beast. The fabric sofaback and seat is more akin to 'domestic dog'. Picky, picky, I know but I do think it would have been more complementary to have the Cyclopic dog in a more rural/outdoor setting.

the spirit
by rodgers_le

Comment:
My first thought was water sprite or water demon due to the liquid like nature of the 'hair'. But on another looksee, I get the idea it is a air elemental, air sprite/spirit. This creature could fit several mythological creature descriptions but it leaves it up to our imaginations to determine the identity. I like the high-key aspect of this because it invokes the feeling of this being an ethereal or otherworldly creature which complements the errie/spooky strangeness of the creature having eyes on her hands (claws on her fingers would have definitely made it even more menacing. Not sure about the purple color of the creature...air/water make me think blue but that conflicts with what I see here (however it does not stop me from thinking water/air elemental/spirit/demon). Very strong composition on this image and definitely in the above average category. My only critique is that perhaps there could have been more faint wispy cloudlike/wavelike swirls around the torso to further cement the idea of air or water...but on second thought that might detract attention away from the wispy nature of her 'hair'.

The hunter
by svava

Comment:
Lighting, focus and color are all well above average. Believe me you invoked the idea of Artemis the Huntress quite well (although the archer in me is flinching because she is not holding the bow correctly when it comes to aiming). However, I have this crazy notion that I am supposed to being seeing a mythical creature rather than a Goddess ....although one can argue she is a lovely creature of beauty and homosapiens can be regarded as creatures. I think the shot is very well done in lighting, composition,color, and focus but fails to meet the true 'spirit' of the challenge. I am not saying it is an out and out DMNC but I wish there was more of a strong connection to 'creature' ....had you made her a centaur that would have met the 'creature' aspect to the challenge. If ever a God/Goddess challenge comes up and you do a re-shoot of this I would rate it quite highly in the 8 to 10 range in fact (just please have the full bow in view and the model aim correctly...although now that I think of it she might not have had the arm strength to pull it all the way back to the correct position). I have to be honest but I just cannot give it full marks due to challenge description but I still rate it slightly above average.

Flying Frogs: Fact or Fiction?
by Lydia

Comment:
Ah the elusive amFLYbian a distant cousin to his amphibian brothers. Only seen when mating season arrives they emerge from the cocoon shallows with their large flashy, colorful wings and hop/fly to attract a female mate whose wings are much smaller and a dull brown. O.K. you got my imagination flying with this one:-) While it is not a known mythical beast it is creative....and who knows, maybe I am wrong in that the Greeks created plenty of crazy and offbeat creatures to populate their myths. Focus and colors are great. Blending on the butterfly wing could have been better - there is a slight halo on the left wing (selecting the edge and feathering to avoid hard edge and then the clone tool would have taken care of that). The reflection of the butterfly wing is too solid (?) and not glassy (look at the reflection of the throat of the frog to see what I mean). I do think the composition would be stronger and more appealing if you pulled back and showed us the full wings and back legs rather than clipping them as done here. I believe the next thing I have to say will be meet with a "And Oh MY Do you have to be so picky it is a created creature for crying out loud!" But I CAN'T help but think scientifically here (hmmm the irony of the thought) - the placement of the wings is too high and doesn't offer balance that a mid-body placement would to help this poor creature stay aloft without tipping over.

Centaura
by Paul

Comment:
The blending of the female body to the horses body is spot on flawless. Even the stance of the two components work well together. I also like the attention to detail in this image in that the shadows fall correctly on all elements to make the scene believable (i.e. look at where the shadows fall on the tree trunks, the horse's body, and the woman's torso). The shadow underfoot of the centura helps the blend her into the scene; she appears there and not pasted in. Nicely done.

A Matter of Life and Death
by gyaban

Comment:
This is a fantastic composition! Love the details in this image from the textured skin of the three headed dragon to the blast of fire to the knight who stands at the ready as the sun sets on the horizon and even the other dragnoid beast that stands on the far island. Composition is good and strong with a story to tell - St. George battling the dragon or just a lone knight making a stand against evil represented by the dragon. A small nit is that I wish the dragon's eyes had more 'life' to them. They appear dull and flat - maybe taking a picture of a lizard eye or gator to paste onto the dragon's eyes would give it more of a life-like appearance. Even though I do think this is a very strong composition and rate it in the high above average image I still wish it could have looked a little less like an illustration and a touch more photographic in nature - more life-like eyes would have been one way to do it...hmmm, the other though is to use more natural tones on the skin of the dragon as in what color tones one would actually see on say lizards and such (of course one could counter that the dragon is SUPPOSED to be a fantastic beast and that blue colors are possible because it places them outside the realm of normal)