Balian, Blacksmith, Knight, A Good Man

[Carmen]

I knew that three Balians were waiting for me here (goodness, only the thought of it sends shivers down my spine!!! ), since I already enjoyed them a long time ago. But only silently. Now finally my thoughts on them:

Kingdom Of Heaven - Gosh, you took one of my all-time favourite pictures of Balian . Actually that alone is enough to make me love this wall . But then the addition of Jerusalem at the bottom (I love additions to walls that show a bit of the settings - brings a lot of atmosphere to the work, doesn't it?) and Sibylla (Airi, I think it's in fact a picture of her and not of Eva and I think it's taken from the scene in the extended version where she's talking to Guy, but I wouldn't bet on that now) ... .
The only thing I would have done differently is that I would have forbeared from using the canvas structure. But that's - like many things when it comes to art - a matter of taste. Les for one particularly loves it.
However, I really love what you did with the title .. its placing and the style you applied on it. Any chance to get a link for it?

Light Of Peace - WOW, Ann!!! You've outdone yourself with this one!!!
Those two pics of Balian go SO well together (apart from the fact that they're both eye-openers ) and are perfectly arranged! Then the Crosshatch, then the rays of light, the beautifully styled title ... need I say more? This is one of the most beautiful Balian walls you ever made, Ann! Stunning work!

Two Kingdoms - Beautiful! The cap of Balian, the golden shimmer of his skin, the little toy knight of Sibylla's son, the way you played with the title and repeated the red of the frame in it (or bars at the top and the bottom of the wall - actually it isn't a frame) ... AND not to forget the darkness of the whole work . You know how much I go for that, don't you ?
That's one gorgeous offering, hon! Though here again I would have done without the canvas texture, but (also again) that's only my point of view. I'm not particularly fond of that filter, though I used it a couple of times in my own works. But as my mom always says, one guy loves the daugther, the other one the mother-in-law, LOL ... woah, German sayings literally translated *shudders*. I wonder if that makes sense in English .

Anyway, thanks for sharing those three works with us, hon! Looking forward to seeing more of our noble man!

Carmen

[Fiore]

I just accidently hit the wrong button and deleted my entire message !!

Let me try to recapture what I was saying...

First of all, I can't believe how long it is since I've last been in here... Balian isn't my specialty, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy working with him - far from ! I guess it's simply due to the year we've had that I've neglected him rather badly.
Secondly, thank you all so much for your generous feedback. It may have been a long time since I've last created a Balian wp, but that doesn't mean I haven't popped in to read all your reactions . And as always, all your comments are very much appreciated ladies.

Okay, so, a new Balian wp. I saw a title technique in a book I bought recently, and wanted to try and use something similar in a wp - that was my starting point, all the rest has been a lot of playing to make something pleasing to the eye, and for the pic I didn't have to think long : this one is one of my very very favourite Balian photos.

Quiet Knight (cringing and laughing here at the title , but I was thinking how he seems to ooze quietness and contentedness in this pic, and the title just stuck and now I can't think of anything else !)



Credits : pic of Orlando from ka-Bloom ; stock pic from Stock.xchnge ; gold style from the Adobe Share Studio on the frames ; font Engravers MT ; crosshatch filter + radiant filter from VP on the pic.

Enjoy everyone !

[Carmen]

Though actually some other walls of yours (or more precisely a lot of) deserve it much more to get commented now (speaking of the chronological order here, not of the quality of your works ), I can't help doing it but have to tell you immediately what I'm thinking about it .

GORGEOUS! ... Okay, that about covers my thoughts. Off again
No, LOL, of course that's not all I have to say .
What I love most about this wall is - apart from that drop-dead gorgeous, beard wearing guy, I mean - is its simplicity. Not much embellishment, actually none, just the man and the foliage in the back and the title. Period. - That's exactly up my alley, as you know. Same goes for the warm colours you used ... they go very well with the picture of Balian. Last, but not least I think the way you made the title - the cut-out look - is very apt. And fancy.
I really, really love this work, Ann!

Carmen

PS: Yay, my 1,500th post!!!

[Sparkles]

As if I could even try to temporarily ignore the beautiful man there for a second or two, Ann, which I cannot, and try to talk about another aspect of your wp, that's a wonderful and beautiful background you chose to go with him. Love that completely with all its warm tones. The photo is another fave - I guess that goes without saying though, doesn't it? There's something about a man wearing a ring that just does me in completely - another fetish of mine, I suppose...I have so many.


And I understand about deleting your own post accidentally. I've done that so many times and it's so infuriating. It's usually when I'm on the laptop. I hate the laptop keyboard.


Les

[Stormdancer]

Look, I was going to write this post but you may as well jus re-read Les's post, who said everything i was going to say right down to the ring fetish thing.

Honestly, that girl reads my mind sometimes (and not without its dangers)

Beautiful Ann, as ever. I love the background, but the foreground tends to hold me attention!

[Fiore]

Thank you Carmen, Les and Luna ! Glad you all liked that background... oh, and the foreground too obviously .

The following offering didn't take much of an effort . I got thinking about that wp again today, and had this vision of what it could look like if I played a little more with layer blending... here's the result of that.
Another Quiet Knight .



Credits : all the same as above.

I hope you girls aren't thinking now that I'm creating just for the sake of creating... I just hád to see whether I could make it look the way it did in my head (and it resembles my idea rather well, I've got to say, so I'm pretty proud of myself ), and I didn't feel like simply replacing the first one with this newer version, cos I still like that one too - but I do like this one much more !

Enjoy my friends.

[Sparkles]

Hey, don't worry about it, Ann. We have to experiment and do things like this. I think many of us have done more than one version of the same wp before and I'm very likely to do it again in the future.

Actually, I like this version even better than the last! But of course that's because I like the background so much. The blending options is something I've been playing around with more the last few months too. It doesn't always work for me, but sometimes it's just the thing you need. As is the case here.

Beautiful!


Les

[Stormdancer]

hmm, now I like this version even better, the richness - yumbles.

The subject is pretty yumbles too, but then you already know that!

Thanks Ann, well done love - nice improvement.

Luna
xx

[Gem]

I really love the second version of your wall, Ann, the way the background is like fire and the way it contrasts with Balian's quiet and thoughtful look.

[Fiore]

Thanks Les, Luna and Airi ! I really liked the first version, but now that I've created that second one - I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but I'm really proud of the way that turned out.

Well, there was a little prayer in the pic of the day thread a few days ago. I know it wasn't directed to our Photoshop artists here, but somehow I doubted that Photoshop is available in Heaven , so I decided to try and fulfil that person's little prayer .
Luna, I've got to say, there are easier pics to work with - I had 3 different versions of that pic in my files, and worked with the best one (which thankfully also happened to be the largest), but even so the quality was simply miserable (hate it when pics aren't sharp - makes me want to have a good word with the photographer !). I've done my best to make it look as good as possible, but I'm afraid that's not saying all that much.
Anyway, I hope you'll like it nevertheless (and if you don't, that's okay too ).

Protector of the People - versions 1 and 2





Credits : to start with, I've got no idea where I ever found the pic of Balian, but the background pic came from OL, that I'm sure about ; there's a load of different blending modes and a couple of default PS filters in it, plus the VP halo filter on the pic of Balian in the first version ; the style on the banner... uh, no idea ; font is CloisterBlack ; and finally the brushes are from portfelia.

[Stormdancer]

Oh Wow oh Wow oh WOW - there really IS a God!

Oh Ann, it's wonderful, and just perfect, just like our perfect Knight. Thank you for stepping in as God's publicist and spending time playing with this and creating something so beautiful.

I'm on the wrong computer right now, but I'll be back to save it on my big computer (your "Dayle" WP is on the lappy and is here to STAY!)

I very much love the colour version, I'm a colour girl, so as much as I do like the b&w version, its colour all the way for me and will be just perfect for my desktop in the study.

*Squeezy hugs* - you're such a doll, really. Thank you! Thank you.

Isn't he just divine though, in this pic, despite the blurring? And don't worry about that....couldn't care less. Is perfect the way it is.

thank you

Luna
xxxx

[Sparkles]

Well for a low quality pic, Ann, you did amazing things with it! Just gorgeous.


I really like both versions, but I think the 2nd is my favorite of the two. I think because of the steely blue/gray coloring. Seems to suit Balian very well. Is that the satin steele filter? The font is a great choice and the background is really great.


No surprise Luna will be nabbing it.


Les

[mames71]

I'm putting my vote in for number 1, however both are amazing! I'm usually a black and white kinda girl, but the different shades of blue are . I've said it before, but it can be said again.

Love it, love it, Ann!

[Gem]

Love the second version Ann! I can imagine how much the blurriness would annoy you but you've definitely done a great job here to get over that. Just lovely.

[Stormdancer]

Oh man, it looks so good! Thanks again Ann, is just beautiful! I love that it isn't so clear, the blurry looks just fabulous with the 'grain' you've used. It's just magic.
Squishy hugs babe!

Luna
xxxx