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Uncanny Valley · Original Short Story ·
Organised by RogerDodger
Word limit 2000–8000
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Baptism at the Forest Temple
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#1 · 1
· · >>horizon >>GroaningGreyAgony
I like the concept here, with the combination of two images. I think, however, that the work that went into shaping the skull kinda left the lake/person a bit badly off? The trees kinda smear together oddly, and I'm not sure what the gray thing the trees are on and whatever the person is leaning on/holding in front of them are supposed to be, and that's making it difficult for me to appreciate the picture on the more obvious level.

It's neat to see the cohesion a higher-level concept can give a piece, though. Thanks for sharing.
#2 · 1
· · >>GroaningGreyAgony
It's a shame this round isn't art inspiring stories, I would have definitely tried to write something for this one.

The composition is top notch. The upside down skull really adds to the whole picture, and it's interesting to try to interpret it. Is it baptism to defeat death itself? Is the character going to meet his tragic fate?

Also the three levels kinda lead to a symbolism of life, death, and god(s). (Every life and death and love and birth and peace and war on the planet Earth)

About the character, I'm not sure, but I think this is a woman (the two round shapes points to boobies).

Not so much to add, this did a great impression on me. Thank you for sharing.
#3 · 1
· · >>Not_A_Hat >>GroaningGreyAgony
Oh, wow, I didn't even see the skull until >>Not_A_Hat pointed it out. The hazard of high-resolution pieces on horizontal monitors.

The trees unfortunately look kind of forced, but the rest of the composition is great (the central figure is particularly striking, and the use of the reflections to create the second layer of shapes), and I am very much a fan of the thematic duality here. Easy top-tier piece now that I see what I was originally missing.
#4 · 1
· · >>GroaningGreyAgony >>Fenton
>>horizon I noticed the skull from the gallery view, where it's much more easily visible.
#5 · 1
·
>>Not_A_Hat, >>Fenton, >>horizon, >>Not_A_Hat

Baptism at the Forest Temple

Congrats to all who participated in the art segment. I wish there had been more entrants, but it would be silly to actually complain.

I’ve had the visual pun at the heart of this composition in mind for a while, but never found a good way to express it. Now that it’s all out on paper I can fix some of the flaws. Yes, merging the treetops into one mass for the jaw and calling it a “forest temple” was rather a cheat. In my defense, I didn’t start work on this until the last day, as I was preoccupied with my fic.

I may eventually render this as a 3D landscape, so one can look at it from all angles and then view the one POV that reveals the skull; this would heighten the impact.

Thanks for the comments and praise!