I sent an 18 x 13 inch print of this image to a digital art exhibition held by Byron Kindig in Kingsport, TN. The original 4800 x 3600 image had to be rendered and composited in several passes, but it was worth it to see the glossy print!
A familiar character…
(click for 1280 x 960)
Nice. Suggest cropping tighter and a different aspect ratio. Loose a bit from the top, more from the bottom and some off the right, the little blue robot could be made more the focal point of the image that way I think. And maybe a bit of glow, zing to the metal work of the cogs?
Close to perfect, including the composition. The only thing missing is an animation to the tune, “Singin’ in the Rain”.
I like the composition as well. Don’t crop it tighter IMO.
You do have some silhouette problems stemming from the very thin limbs, though.
Nice render. I wouldn’t change the composition though. I think it creates a great sense of space.
Thanks for the comments, guys.
@Yellow: Thank you for your advice! However, the composition is probably the one thing I put more thought into than anything else.
The overall space is roughly divided by the rule of thirds into 1/3 active, positive space on the left, and the remaining 2/3rds defocused or negative, making it passive. That 1/3 dividing line is, not coincidentally, where the character lies, falling most specifically at the eyes, looking upward and outward.
If you consider the natural flow of the eye from left to right, everything else that crosses the 1/3 line moves upward or outward in the direction of the character’s gaze, especially the gears, which not only imply rotation, but also have rhythmic edges that create important lines of interest.
Cropping a small upper portion would displace the top right corner toward which the character gestures, and cutting off the right side would marginalize the passive space and offset the character from the 1/3 line.
Composition is still something that I’m studying, and I thought this might help anyone who wants to learn more as well.
Cheers!
Excellent image and thanks for the composition lesson!
These are all things that a normal observer wouldn’t even realize about the image at first glance, but really add to the effect that is created. For instance, I didn’t even notice Fizzik’s curved limbs mimicking the curve of the gears, but it’s really a nice addition. Again, well done!
Beautiful work…great composition, the use of the rule of thirds and leading lines is very well thought out. There’s something wierd about the reflections and DoF on that gear on the right…idk what it is, but something is really bugging me about it, maybe I’ll comment again if I can figure it out.
Glad to see some new stuff though,
Tim
Very nice piece! Though the gear on the right seems kind of plastic-y to me 
It’s wonderful seeing so much thought being put into composition, it’s the one thing I tend to never consider. >.>
Wow!
I like this work - It has something very unique. It’s simple yet amazing.
The concept is very nice, and so is the composition and final result.
I would love to see more of your work - keep it up 
By the way, which renderer di you use? was it blender internal or something else?
Very Beautifull picture congratulation! Your little robot looks very cool!
Nope, doesn’t do it for me, I think my eyes must have naturally flown straight out the top right corner of the image, along that diagonal line leaving me staring at the big blank white bit and not the subject matter of the image. 
I like, I like. The front gear looked a little weird to me at the first, but I like it.
The composition would be great it that bronze cog wasn’t behind the character. Cause he gets lost in the flow of that bronze cog. Making it hard to notice him.
EREr, they just say it all!
nice.
rate,
Vote to Gallery.
I love these robot pics, they have such a weird sense of scale, like being big and small at the same time.
Compositionally it is all pretty solid. The bronze gear behind the 'bot does 2 things really: Draws the eye in because it is the warmest color, and also contrasts with the robots blue body which sets him apart from it. Very nice piece.
I’m really glad that people are discussing the composition!
@yellow: Thanks, If I were to change anything, I would agree with you about cropping the bottom, but only because it would emphasize the white space even more…
Composition aside, the main reason I’m reluctant to crop anything is because THIS THING TOOK 12 CUMULATIVE HOURS TO RENDER AT FULL RES
SO YOU BETTER LOOK AT ALL OF IT
…
Also here’s a link to Byron’s exhibition site:
http://www.byronsdesigns.com/digitalShow.html
And a local article about the show with my image in it:
http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=6069
Yay!
Rocketman, congratulations on getting first place and the piece in the article.
dude.
congrats!
its even the banner for BA!
I’m surprised no-one has already made the crit i am about to make:
The one thing that is bothering me is that the reflection of cogs onto other cogs gives the impression of unscattered 1 pass shadows. In particular the cog under the main character, it makes it look painfully CG to me.
Secondly, the character doesn’t look like it has any real weight, infact it looks like a render of a wire based toy as apposed to a living character.
Other than that, i quite like it, sorry to sound negative.