Hey guys! Here is the finished result for my weekend project! Its a very simple scene, with a very simple concept!
Do tell me what you think!
I think that makes no sense.
I must give credit where credit is due and say that the rock texturing isnāt bad, and the scene blending with the background image is brilliant, almost convinced me that the background was modeled.
But again, what is the exact thing you are trying to achieve here? Is the rocks some sort of spirit, or personality? If thatās the case, I would advise you add more rocks to his/her form to give a clue as to a more human anatomy. Also, assuming that the sculpture (for want of a better word) has a personality and a consciousness, what is he looking at?
You have a rock floating in mid air. Doesnāt sell the effect of a head, rather it just makes it look like you didnāt fix it in your WIP.
I love it, makes me think, earthy snowman-ish-thing goes wtf toward the pip squeak. Itās quite cool I thinkā¦ May I use it as my desktop background?
Oh, and the people that donāt understand it, donāt have a very good imagination.
@Kris And the Pixar lamp doesnāt exactly designate what is the head either, itās quite understood.
Batric: Thank you!
Kris and HOD: With regards to the āfloating headā, I wanted this image to be extremely simple; Hence the very simple composition. Main object left of center, and only other object slightly right of center. In regards to the head, I think angle of head and its purpose becomes more clear when you take into account what he is looking at (Hint: Only other main object in render).
Most of the responses I have had with this image on other forums have been quite positive, and they like the floating head, as it makes the stones feel more āanimatedā. Again sometimes it just comes to preference, and thank you for your comments:)
@Batric: Pixarās lamp is well understood. They use the existing parts of a lamp to make it look convincing. Pixar would never make a floating head to illustrate a rock has a head. Maybe two balloons, but never a rock.
@Sixthlaw: You asked for crits in your WIP; I gave you one. I get the floating head and why youāre doing it, but like Batric pointed out with Pixarās lamp, I can say Pixar would not have made a floating rock head to illustrate a point. It makes no sense. The rock should be offset on the rock, not floating. Even in an imaginary world, why would the rock be floating? All the movies Iāve seen with talking rocks, the rocks are all attached to each other because why is it necessary to have one floating. Thatās neither realistic, nor creative.
You said you wanted realistic in your WIP. With a realistic background and a floating head rock, Iād say you missed the mark.
As for your scene, it looks fine. You did a good job texturing. Also for future reference, if you donāt want people to tell you what they think, donāt ask them in your thread. I try to give an unbiased crit on peopleās work, here and elsewhere. If you donāt want feedback, I will skip your threads from now on.
@Kris: I think he just meanāt quality when he said realism, not logical real life realism. And I have seen some things with floating rocksā¦ Kirby for example, a few monsters have floating pieces I think. But anyway, he just wanted to be creative and original, Iām not trying to get in an argument, just trying to make you see the scene isnāt meant to be real life.
@Sixthlaw: I like it a lot, only thing is the scene is very slightly off on the angle from the background, oh and maybe go into photoshop and make a texture for the sand, generate sandy-orange clouds in a new layer, then set the layer type to overlay, or soft light, and change the opacity until it looks more like the background sand. Good job though, just needs those two tiny things.
Thanks Kris and Avenger for comments:)
Kris I understand, to an extent, what you are saying. I guess the word ārealisticā, was not entirely the correct word. When it was used, physics and laws thereof were not included in my intentional description. As for the statement with the "not creative " included, I think youāll find not all animated characters have their heads attached 
Take for example the stone trolls in oblivion!
Any way thanks for the comments, but please donāt turn this thread into a battle 
I like it, but I think a simple picture like this needs to be understood at a glance. As it is the floating rock could be a result of many things other that a floating head. Possibly you could put indentations for eyes or a rocky arm reaching out so we see a little more anatomy. And dont take my suggestions as negatives, the picture is very good, I just think it could be better.
If you donāt over-analize it, itās a very pleasant picture. I really like it. There may be imprefections, but what the heck. To me itās as good as any other image out there.
CGI is so difficult that people think overdoing things is a display of skill. Thatās why simple scenes are sometimes a nice change.
I think the image is great. It is simple, clean and creative.
Slick : Thanks I will be definitely taking that into account with my next image.
brankovukelic & Jedingfield: Thanks for the comments guys!
Itās pretty strange, but my nameās Kris too so Iām getting confused here.
Nevermindā¦
This would suit an animation a lot more than an ordinary still shot. Personally I would love to see it if you were to create the animation, say of the larger rock coming up to the smaller rock and looking down at it. Perhaps get harmed by the smaller rock somehowā¦ Yeah, test out your animating skills!
Hey, itās a quite cool render. I like the composition and the position of the elements. But also I have a few small things to critique.
The major point is that the sand donāt look realistic. Itās too smooth. You should make some particles and some reflections and highlights. It makes the sand a lot more realistic.
The focus should be on the stones. But the color and contrastrange is quite the same. The stones have nearly the same color as the sand. In my eyes you should try another color or more contrast. Because for me as a viewer, itās hard to focus the stone. You have the blue sky and water in the background. And then the yellow sand and stones. So my focus goes to the blue background cuz of the higher contrast.
The forderground should have the highest contrast and the background the lowest. Some examples for stones and sand where you can really good see the reflections of the sand:
You have everywhere this small white dots. Ok, next thing is the grass. I really donāt get why itās there. It is a sand beach. Everywhere only sand and then this blade of grass. For me itās looks wrong. And I really donāt get why the stone is floating 
Maybe you have an concept for this but I donāt think that the viewer get it. Itās not clear why itās floating. With a bit more work it could get really cool
Excellent image.
If you take it as an abstract image the floating rock would be nice. But if you take is as an realistic image the floating rock is creepy.