That would tend to reduce the price, in any market!
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Original Manipulations by Cruxforums Members
- Thread starter Wragg
- Start date
Thanks for the birthday version of your latest picture, Jolly. The new variation has inspired some delightful responses, and we are now on the following page, referring back to your post. Both of your inserted slave girls are neatly extracted, which has required more than an outline in Caprice's case, since there are four internal areas to be subtracted from the pose, between her arms and legs.
This is a rework of an original manip of a Gerome painting which I had worked on for Bobinder's recent birthday. The birthday manip is in the "Member Birthdays" thread and is a cropped image of Hannah arriving. This version is slightly "expanded" to augment the story in the painting somewhat. I know I always say that if it looks simple, it probably isn't, and this is certainly true of most of Bobinder's manips. This one, however, is reasonably simple. There are only 5 visible layers, so fairly straightforward in that regard. There are an additional 10 layers of lighting, contrast, and colour adjustments to various parts of the image. Sometimes you get lucky when your models just seem to slot naturally into the image.
Hannah's pose demonstrates an excellent example of character interaction, whereby the man's hand has been subtly modified to take hold of her arm (in the original painting, he is gesturing in empty space). This is a refinement of an earlier version of the manip, in which he is seen reaching toward's Hannah's elbow. At that stage of development, I explored the possibility of using the redundant upper half of the painting, which is cropped out of the Jollyrei manip.
Since we were working simultaneously on different areas of the same picture, we decided to combine our respective halves in a restoration, using the full background. At that point, we discovered that we had started with different reproductions of the painting, in different sizes, with different colour quality and photographed at slightly different angles. Nevertheless, I blended the two manips into a background of the full painting for the collaboration image. The man is just reaching towards Hannah's elbow, and Caprice sits on her roll of carpet whilst Alice is tasked with holding onto the upper end of the carpet being displayed from the balcony.
Well, I'm finding it very difficult to find the "break" between the upper and lower halves of the painting. Seems a bit of work to start with a perfectly good painting, cut it in half, work separately on two halves, using different resolutions and colour balance, and then put them all back together again, but that appears to be how we roll here.
Anyway, it's a testament to your skills, honed over a few years now of blending colour to meet your vision, and we now have Alice looking down from the balcony, amused at the discomfort of Hannah below. 
T
The Fallen Angel
Guest
The Carpet Merchant
Jean-Léon Gérôme did indeed paint The Carpet Merchant in 1887. However my time travelling friend Polly Perkins tells me that it was one of his trips to Khabadami that inspired the painting. He visited a carpet showroom in the flourishing seaside town of Dibba Masfubat. Many discontinued lines were apparently to be put up for auction. However, once inside it became clear that it was no ordinary carpet and rug sale. At first he thought it was some simple marketing ploy to have a naked girl posing on a marble block in front of the carpet on offer. The bidding was very competitive but the strange thing was that the winning bidder would walk away with the girl and leave the carpet! As it happens Polly was there and explained to a puzzled Jean-Léon that the King of Khabadami, Sufyaan el-Yacoub enjoyed an extremely lavish lifestyle along with his ever expanding family of wives, lesbian daughters, nieces and a small army of sex slaves. To pay for his women and booze he decided to impose a windfall tax known as S.A.T.s (Slave Auction Taxes) on the sex slave industry. But, the sex slave suppliers were a greedy lot and devised a cunning plan to thwart the King. They would auction carpets instead! The winning bidder would then be given a girl as a gift so the only tax payable would be on the carpet and that was only a tiny fraction of what would have been payable on the slaves.
Jean-Léon took out his easel and oils and painted the scene without the naked girls. Thanks to Polly we do have a pic of what actually took place.
This is a most amusing anecdote to explain Gerome's rather mundane interpretation of the market scene.
The Carpet Merchant
Jean-Léon Gérôme did indeed paint The Carpet Merchant in 1887. However my time travelling friend Polly Perkins tells me that it was one of his trips to Khabadami that inspired the painting. He visited a carpet showroom in the flourishing seaside town of Dibba Masfubat. Many discontinued lines were apparently to be put up for auction. However, once inside it became clear that it was no ordinary carpet and rug sale. At first he thought it was some simple marketing ploy to have a naked girl posing on a marble block in front of the carpet on offer. The bidding was very competitive but the strange thing was that the winning bidder would walk away with the girl and leave the carpet! As it happens Polly was there and explained to a puzzled Jean-Léon that the King of Khabadami, Sufyaan el-Yacoub enjoyed an extremely lavish lifestyle along with his ever expanding family of wives, lesbian daughters, nieces and a small army of sex slaves. To pay for his women and booze he decided to impose a windfall tax known as S.A.T.s (Slave Auction Taxes) on the sex slave industry. But, the sex slave suppliers were a greedy lot and devised a cunning plan to thwart the King. They would auction carpets instead! The winning bidder would then be given a girl as a gift so the only tax payable would be on the carpet and that was only a tiny fraction of what would have been payable on the slaves.
Jean-Léon took out his easel and oils and painted the scene without the naked girls. Thanks to Polly we do have a pic of what actually took place.
And having deleted the figure of the trader, you have invested some considerable time and effort in stitching up the missing area of carpet. Nice work, Melissa!
Hannah visits Jollyrei
Hannah has been summoned on a visit chez Jollyrei. One is never really sure what to take in the way of luggage for these visits, especially since, apart from the usual invitation to a 'surprise party', no-one can be certain of what to expect at such events...
As we can see, she has been delivered with plenty of luggage, which does not appear to contain any clothing. Now she is waiting in the entrance hall for an audience with the master of the house, and wondering if the heating actually works in any part of this generously proportioned edifice...
Many thanks to Jolly for the figure of Hannah, in the same pose as her previous appearance in the Gerome manip. I suspect we may not have seen the last of Hannah.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
I wonder : did she get in herself, or did someone open the door for her? It hardly looks like, that front door has ever been opened in years!As we can see, she has been delivered with plenty of luggage, which does not appear to contain any clothing. Now she is waiting in the entrance hall for an audience with the master of the house, and wondering if the heating actually works in any part of this generously proportioned edifice...
The place looks both spooky and urgently needs a clean-up and the stucco work some painting, at least, as far as the stucco work is still intact!
Mr. Jollyrei clearly needs a woman in this house, to keep things in hand.
Loxuru
Graf von Kreuzigung
In the 1930’s, a private expedition of two adventurous American couples vanished without a trace, somewhere in East Asia. Despite warnings, they had undertaken their journey, intended to follow the Silk Road across China. No trace was found, until recently, a camera was discovered, that apparently belonged to one of the women. The film was still in place, but nearly all the exposures had been blurred, except for a last one, which apparently had been taken at a later moment. It reveals the possible fate of the two women, possibly captured and executed as spies, somewhere in Mongolia.
Some claim, the photograph is a (clumsy) forgery, in order to discredit Mongolia’s former Communist regime!
Some claim, the photograph is a (clumsy) forgery, in order to discredit Mongolia’s former Communist regime!
Nice atmospheric effect.
The Crucifixion of Demi A.
She was the young wife of a local shopkeeper, and had the misfortune to catch the eye of a Roman administrator. The Roman's servants kidnapped her in the marketplace, and had her taken to his house where he was hosting a party. When he tried to have his way with her, she defended her honour, scratching the Roman's face with her nails. The Roman was laughed at by his friends, and he vowed he would deal with her with nails as well. Her friends were sympathetic, but what could they do, and others said she was already defiled, so it was better this way. Her husband fled the city, leaving her to her fate.
This manip is only 6 visible layers, plus colour, lighting and filtering adjustments. The model is Demi A from a Teendreams photoshoot. She has also done quite a few series for MetArt including a series where she rides a horse (images from this series appear elsewhere on CF).
She was the young wife of a local shopkeeper, and had the misfortune to catch the eye of a Roman administrator. The Roman's servants kidnapped her in the marketplace, and had her taken to his house where he was hosting a party. When he tried to have his way with her, she defended her honour, scratching the Roman's face with her nails. The Roman was laughed at by his friends, and he vowed he would deal with her with nails as well. Her friends were sympathetic, but what could they do, and others said she was already defiled, so it was better this way. Her husband fled the city, leaving her to her fate.
This manip is only 6 visible layers, plus colour, lighting and filtering adjustments. The model is Demi A from a Teendreams photoshoot. She has also done quite a few series for MetArt including a series where she rides a horse (images from this series appear elsewhere on CF).
Defeated, exhausted, utterly without hope.
Just three of the thousand words spoken by this picture. Others include 'save', 'to', 'Wragg's', 'favourites', and 'folder'.
This manip demonstrates how a successful result can be obtained, using the economical technique of combining just six layers. The obvious ones are the figure, bloodstains, stake, background, upper sky extension and possibly the loincloth (although I think this is part of the figure source?) Close attention to detail ensures that we understand how Demi is nailed to the cross, without any visible sign of her hands, feet, nails or patibulum - the bloodstains on her raised arms and her elevated location are economic features which are sufficiently convincing in this respect.The Crucifixion of Demi A.
She was the young wife of a local shopkeeper, and had the misfortune to catch the eye of a Roman administrator. The Roman's servants kidnapped her in the marketplace, and had her taken to his house where he was hosting a party. When he tried to have his way with her, she defended her honour, scratching the Roman's face with her nails. The Roman was laughed at by his friends, and he vowed he would deal with her with nails as well. Her friends were sympathetic, but what could they do, and others said she was already defiled, so it was better this way. Her husband fled the city, leaving her to her fate.
This manip is only 6 visible layers, plus colour, lighting and filtering adjustments. The model is Demi A from a Teendreams photoshoot. She has also done quite a few series for MetArt including a series where she rides a horse (images from this series appear elsewhere on CF).
The stake barely features at all, being visible only at the top and bottom of the composition, but we can see its effect on the wardrobe malfunction, which guarantees an appropriate degree of obscenity for viewers who dislike loincloths. Somehow, the dark blue lace is a more personal and credible item of underwear than traditional, bleached linen. The hi-res figure is neatly extracted, with careful attention to the loose strands of hair. The background is a lower resolution source, blended effectively by defocusing, the resulting shallow depth of field contributing to the dramatic effect. Well done, Jolly!
Lissa's Last Moments
It's been a long time since I last worked with Lissa (aka Kamilla) and it's been a long time since I sent somebody to the gallows. And so, she faces the consequences of a life of piracy, and prepares to serve the sentence for her crimes. Somehow the prison yard lacks the heady atmosphere of a public execution. On reflection, she believes it was all worthwhile - at least they can't take that away from her!
On the technical side, there are 8 layer masks including the composite figure in 5 layers, plus 6 colour blending filters for each version of the picture.
She raises her head at the last - facing the end with dignity.Lissa's Last Moments
It's been a long time since I last worked with Lissa (aka Kamilla) and it's been a long time since I sent somebody to the gallows. And so, she faces the consequences of a life of piracy, and prepares to serve the sentence for her crimes. Somehow the prison yard lacks the heady atmosphere of a public execution. On reflection, she believes it was all worthwhile - at least they can't take that away from her!
On the technical side, there are 8 layer masks including the composite figure in 5 layers, plus 6 colour blending filters for each version of the picture.
Nice to see Lissa back and looking her best in the hands of the Master!
Kind of you to grant her a 'private' execution. Though Lisse is stripped of her clothing, I see you have allowed her wear jewelry and hair dressing. She should feel honored!
Thanks very much, Wragg. She knows there is only one location to place her head now. When the executioner applies the noose, the knot will lie briefly on her left shoulder, with eighteen inches of slack rope to inspire confidence in his singular skills. Surely she derives great comfort from the knowledge that she is in the hands of a consummate professional.She raises her head at the last - facing the end with dignity.
Nice to see Lissa back and looking her best in the hands of the Master!
Thanks very much, Tree. Ironically, she would have preferred a public execution, thereby resolving the judicial business openly, and leaving no doubt about her fate in the minds of her friends and comrades. But this was not to be, since the state prefers to deal with her swiftly and expeditiously - a convenient distance away from any witnesses who might feel inspired to lend her popular support.
As an experienced hangman, you have observed the relative lack of clothing. Being a modest, practical and knowledgeable girl, she did in fact request a pair of rubber knickers. On being informed that they were unnecessary, she understood immediately that no long-drop facilities were available at the prison. Ergo her relief on recognising a minimum eighteen inches of slack rope once the noose is secured with the knot below her ear. In fact, the prospect of losing consciousness under the circumstances is understandably attractive, to say the least.
But in order to avoid any lewd suggestions that the prison authorities had executed her completely nude, she was indeed permitted to wear her earrings as a symbolic emblem of her pirate status. The ponytail has a far more mundane and practical purpose - it provides a simple arrangement for drawing the hair completely through the noose, thereby avoiding the risk of trapped hair jamming the knot when the rope suddenly closes her throat.
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She seems well prepared for her life to be terminated. Curious to see how she takes the moments after the stool is removed...But in order to avoid any lewd suggestions that the prison authorities had executed her completely nude, she was indeed permitted to wear her earrings as a symbolic emblem of her pirate status. The ponytail has a far more mundane and practical purpose - it provides a simple arrangement for drawing the hair completely through the noose, thereby avoiding the risk of trapped hair jamming the knot when the rope suddenly closes her throat.
CamCrux
Magistrate
Excellent work as usual, and always with a touch of humour. I particularly like the one where Lissa is smiling under the nooseLissa's Last Moments
It's been a long time since I last worked with Lissa (aka Kamilla) and it's been a long time since I sent somebody to the gallows. And so, she faces the consequences of a life of piracy, and prepares to serve the sentence for her crimes. Somehow the prison yard lacks the heady atmosphere of a public execution. On reflection, she believes it was all worthwhile - at least they can't take that away from her!
On the technical side, there are 8 layer masks including the composite figure in 5 layers, plus 6 colour blending filters for each version of the picture.
T
The Fallen Angel
Guest
I got a "love it" from @Damian ! Just how good is that! Well it certainly cheered me up.
