Critique

Although I cannot take full credit for the original painting, I was very impressed by the flow of the composition. The usage of the thirds rule was very evident, and clearly guided my eye through the painting. The highlights and shadows were also done very nicely, and the perspective was accurate. The final touching details such as the cherry blossom trees and falling leaves greatly augmented the surreal experience. However, I felt that the environmental concept did not personally evoke any strong feelings. This is where each of my photo manipulated renditions come in and evoke prominent feelings of renewal, toxicity, and foreboding, respectively. "Blue Renewal" achieves its refreshing, minty vibe through the use of a cool color palette; in particular, cyan is used as the prominent highlight, with more muted purples to indicate shadows. On the other hand, "Toxic Paradise" makes use of clashing colors and various shades from neon to ashy to produce what I felt was the most effective trigger of disgust. Finally, "Bloody Ritual" attempts to heighten its shock value by using dark, bloody red tones along with a dark, moody navy blue. However, I felt that I did not achieve the maximum level of satanic foreboding, partially due to the fact that I could not further darken various elements without losing detail. This was a problem for all the digitally manipulated renditions, in addition to being unable to fully blend elements of contrasting colors.