Envy Turns to Hateby
levyj413Comment by KaDi: Greetings from the Critique Club. The following comments are in response to your request for a critique on your challenge submission. Please feel free to send me a PM concerning my comments.
The impact of this image is immediate and lasting. It is a clear portrayal of an emotion and, in the context of the challenge, I appreciate that this shows what envy cum hate is rather than showing an object of hate.
Creatively an improvement, in my opinion, on your inspiration photo...though they do not carry the same message. I think the color choices and lighting carry a great deal of the impact. I would, however, like to see a bit more tension in the fist so that it really appeared to be squeezing hard. It would also have a little more impact if the heart could somehow look more squeezed itself, distorted in some way.
I'll also make a minor quibble with the tiny highlights on the one side of the heart...they appear to be from a secondary light source which doesn't appear to be contributing to any other part of the image. Of course, outside of basic editing, they could have been cloned away but perhaps the source could have been turned off in the first place? The main reason they distract, I think, is that white is so important in your image. The white V-shaped highlight on the heart so neatly leads the viewer to believe the white crushed "glass" coming from the fist. So, though it may seem picky, the tiny white highlights are made even more prominent by the other choices in the image.
There really is little else to quibble with in this image. (I will say I disagree with the commenter who wanted to see trimmed nails...as I usually do...but since when does envy stop for a manicure?) Overall, this is very well done technically, creatively, in subject and in conception...and the votes and comments agree. Congrats on your high-placing image! Keep 'em coming!
--Kadi