JaxPad Forum Group - Would this be a good portfolio piece?

Possible Portfolio Peices - Gauguin Cheetah

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:12:35 -0000

Sorry for the late reply! The rest of the staff are still running ourselves ragged trying to implement changes so my typical duties have gone neglected. Anyoo! I'm going to agree that your first image does need quite a bit of work in the way of lighting. It has a lot of potential, but here's some changes I would suggest you fix on that particular piece, as I do feel its the strongest of all of your images: - The arm that's swung back (the one closest to the viewer) is back way too far and doesn't appear to be attached to the pectoral muscle at all, but dislocated. I would move it forward on his body more - More interesting background. Right now it just looks like a dirt mound rather than an appropriate setting. Even a flat horizon line would be a bit more believable, maybe some faded out mountains in the background? -Agreeing to the above suggestion of more interesting lighting. Right now there's a hint of shadow but the whole image seems very very flat -Inconsistencies in anatomy should be fixed in the feet. The feet seem to be of two different sizes and structures. The upraised foot looks more like toes attached to his leg with no foot pad, whereas the bottom foot looks a little more firmly planted, but he still appears to be floating. I would alter the feet a bit to give a better sense of weight. I would avoid using the corgi image as it appears to be heavily photo referenced with little use of the imagination. Generally the "smudgy" look applied to copies from photos doesn't give us a good idea of your skills, just your photo copying abilities. I like the conbadge as well, I think the lighting on the face is interesting. The lettering is oddly skewed though, in the future I would plan out your lettering a bit better, as it does contribute to the composition of the overall piece. Also his hands are a bit small in comparison to his head and body, make sure to watch that in the future! Hope this helps and gives you a better direction of where to go from here :)

Possible folio piece... - Gauguin Cheetah

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:53:31 -0000

Hello Tiberius! Sorry for the late reply. The staff is trying to play catch up with all the changes around here. First, I have to say, you're coming a long way. I actually love this piece. I'm literally grasping at things to critique really that wouldn't just be advanced nitpicking. In short, I'd say, go for it. This is a great application piece, and I would love to see more of this quality from you. I'd like to see some full body pieces, character interaction, and maybe something including some dramatic lighting to supplement it if you're going to be applying for a Compagnon star, but as a stand alone piece, I'd say this is one of the best things I've seen from you yet. More please! :)

My portfolio- Any thoughts? - Gauguin Cheetah

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:50:03 -0000

Hello Nominus Expers! I'll get right to the point and say that overall, as a portfolio, that is, a collection of your best work, I feel that this is a pretty weak way to present yourself and your skills. The chibi image and the sketch image I don't think should be included in a portfolio. The chibi image should not be included because it is sketchy, not colored with the same attention as your watercolor pieces, and does not show your individual style or even compare to your other pieces. I would leave that out and call it a fun drawing rather than a portfolio piece. The sketch, although ArtSpots reviewers like to see sketches in general, this wouldn't dock you points on an ArtSpots app for being unfinished, but in a general art portfolio stance, most schools and employers like to see finished works only. Most, not all, but that seems to be the general trend. Again, would be best to leave that out. This goes for all of your images: Presentation. On your sketch and your paintings I notice a lot that could be improved when it comes to presentation. The sketch for example, needs to have the levels toyed with so your white are white and you don't get that dingy gray around the edges. Also, composition, that character is smooshed to the lower left instead of a centered or "rule of three" proportioned composition. On your watercolor pieces, I would suggest in the future using paper that is best suited for watercolor, as I'm seeing a lot of buckling that really detracts from your images. You can flatten the image through a lot of pressure (heavy unabridged dictionaries work best for me, and pressing my scanner lid flat helps for a temporary scanning fix), but also I notice a lot of white flecks on the outer edge where you didn't paint that far. it's best to crop that out of your image. We don't want to see your messy borders, we want to feel that this is a scene, not just a clever placement of pigments. Skill wise, I think you still have some work to do overall in the areas of anatomy, light and shade, and use of medium. I loved the composition on the octopus guy. Clever things like that make me smile, I'd love to see more of that whimsy from you certainly! I feel that your main focus was to just put color on it, not really focusing on values or staying inside the lines. i see your pencil lines as guides underneath the watercolor, but I notice a lot of the color blows past those lines making it very distracting and messy looking. I would suggest, again, using a proper watercolor paper and maybe some smaller brushes to help control the flow. Also, masking fluid/liquid frisket is a great tool to mask off areas so you don't accidentally paint them when you're doing details or blocking out a large area. So in short, present your images well (use photoshop or some other photo editing program to remove little bits of gray or pencil shavings or crop out the meat of your image from the scribbly borders), keep practicing anatomy, put only your strongest pieces in your portfolio (and if applying for a Compagnon star, a sketch or two is nice, but clean them up please!) play with more light and shadow (check out some books in our library for resources on that), and practice more with your medium. There are hundreds of watercolor tips books out there that say what I just said and then some, I'm sure you'll find something to your liking. Hope that helps!

My portfolio- Any thoughts? - Nominus Expers

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 06:34:13 -0000

I submitted this already, but I'd like to be ready in case I need to do something new in order to impress a bit more. I'll link to my DeviantArt page, all of my portfolio pieces should be visible to non-members. http://nominus-expers.deviantart.com/art/Fluff-me-and-Ari-87227591 A stylistic "Chibi" piece http://nominus-expers.deviantart.com/art/Bunny-Mechanic-86888689 Example of watercolor: character design and mechanical design. http://nominus-expers.deviantart.com/art/The-Mage-s-Study-81224129 More Watercolor work. http://nominus-expers.deviantart.com/art/Dance-Like-No-One-s-Watching-80313078 My first digitally rendered piece; example of pose and perspective. http://nominus-expers.deviantart.com/art/Nominus-Expers-Taur-79808472 A sketch. I consider the two painted pieces "finished" work. Open to any thoughts.

Possible folio piece... - Tiberius

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:08:36 -0000

I still need a LOT of work on my lighting but I was wondering if I could get a crit? The original is much darker and you can see the shadow better but there's nothing I can really do. >_< I played around with the levels, and the brightness/ contract etc, etc. Nothing really seems to help. *sigh* Anyway, I'm getting together some pictures to submit again and this is my favorite one.

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:16:37 -0000

Fr0styRyan said: ... I'd make changes to #1. While I like the amount of detail you put into his fur, something about the lighting on it just isn't working right. His pose also looks quite boring... The storytelling in that picture is almost nonexistent as well. It looks like he's traveling, but... the background doesn't complement your character in any way. It seems like something put together very quickly...

I agree and I believe that's the second time someone's mentioned that. I'm not exactly sure yet what's off or how, but I might sit down with this and tweak it for lighting, depth and form. As for the pose, it's something I ran into in the sketch stage, but didn't really see clearly until later on. I think I might alter this too and try to get a more fluid and lively pose with some believable motion. The background was put together quickly and I do see what you mean about the lack of support it provides the figure. The image is a commission and didn't include a background and I'm tired of leaving my figures in a floating void of white so I threw in a background I thought might look decent so my eyes wouldn't get so bored while working on it. I Actually would like to go back and develop a nice background for this piece.

Fr0styRyan said:I would also change one of the pieces with one that has an interesting environment, as you'd be submitting a piece that shows your knowledge of perspective. The pose for #3 looks pretty good, but I'd spend more time polishing it with crisper forms. I haven't done an application yet, so I'm not sure how picky the reviewers are.

Yeah, I feel you strongly there. Looking through all my pieces I note environments, and specifically strong environments, is something that they lack. I want to do a piece with a nice, strong background and supporting environment. I think I understand what you mean about #3. There can be some more crispness and hard edge and value contrast, although what I'm doing is using alpha lines, edges, contrasts, etc. to make a strong focal point for the viewer. That is why there are some very soft and undefined areas. I do think it can be developed and fine tuned much further though.

Fr0styRyan said:Hope my critique helped. :)

Tremendously! Thank you very much for taking some time aside to spare a few thoughts, observations and words. Hopefully a reviewer will peek in on the post soon and add some comments. Until then I'll continue to try and develop these and future pieces.

Possible Portfolio Peices - Fr0styRyan

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:00:44 -0000

I'm liking 2, 4, and 5, but I'd make changes to #1. While I like the amount of detail you put into his fur, something about the lighting on it just isn't working right. His pose also looks quite boring. It could use adjustments to look less stiff and more dynamic. The storytelling in that picture is almost nonexistent as well. It looks like he's traveling, but... the background doesn't complement your character in any way. It seems like something put together very quickly. If you still plan on working on it, add a better background that suggests some type of story setting. I would also change one of the pieces with one that has an interesting environment, as you'd be submitting a piece that shows your knowledge of perspective. The pose for #3 looks pretty good, but I'd spend more time polishing it with crisper forms. I haven't done an application yet, so I'm not sure how picky the reviewers are. Hope my critique helped. :)

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 02:03:13 -0000

Aaaaand, that's it. Comments?

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 02:02:54 -0000

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 01:57:46 -0000

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 01:57:05 -0000

3 (I was told non-anthro work was ok for one piece, but what about nudes? This is purely an artistic nude figure study to demonstrate the use of anatomy, value, composition and lighting.) (NUDE FIGURE STUDY) http://ebonstripes.furtopia.org/Non-Anthropomorphic/NC-17_to_X/Figure_Study/Untitled.jpg

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 01:47:55 -0000

Possible Portfolio Peices - Tigress

Fri, 23 May 2008 01:45:56 -0000

I've mulled around for far too long. I'm going to just post a few pieces I have in mind for the portfolio review process so I can make any adjustments that might be needed before submitting my work. Out of what I currently have completed, here are five pieces I think best show the qualities desired. ___________________________________________ 1

Application Submission Regret - Ashkitty

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:08:52 -0000

Yeah. Like the title says, I regret my choice in pieces for submission. So, thinking I may be rejected, I'd like to get some advice. Could anyone tell me if this picture would be a good one for an app? Oh, and I did submit full background ones, too.

possible application - Seth Desmoen

Sat, 03 May 2008 07:54:54 -0000

bump

Advise on current works and style. Is it better than amateur? - Albino-Kitsune

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:34:17 -0000

Truth be told, I applied a few weeks back but I haven't heard anything in response. I'm not sure if the e-mail was lost in my spam filter or if it just never came. Regardless, I'm at a stage where I can't seem to enjoy my style. As a result I tend to think my pieces are amateur, lifeless, drab and dull. Though others beg to differ. I suppose I'll leave the decision to you, whomever wishes to give their two pennies worth. My gallery with the most is on deviantART. ( http://albino-kitsune.deviantart.com/ ) Though, the pieces I submitted with my application are as follows. http://albino-kitsune.deviantart.com/art/Something-In-My-Front-Pocket-82318253 http://albino-kitsune.deviantart.com/art/Badge-Sott-Rot-77794568 http://albino-kitsune.deviantart.com/art/Badge-Typhoon-74056663 http://albino-kitsune.deviantart.com/art/Bubblegum-Kisses-72076406 Although, I haven't posted much if any sketches to my gallery, I have one right now I'd really like some feedback on. Thank you for reading and/or commenting.

possible application - Seth Desmoen

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:43:24 -0000

I submitted another image to this thread a while back that was very well received, but I'm trying to figure out if I have enough good, recent color anthro work to apply successfully to artspots. I've been working mostly with sketches lately and I don't think thats a concern, but I think this piece (below) would have to be quite strong to get me in. Though I like it, it does have some minor issues and I'd like an opinion as to whether this will cut it or if I need another strong color piece to round it out (making the total three full color pieces and two sketches). Any thoughts are appreciated. Feel free to visit my gallery to see my other pieces if you so desire.

Hesitant about Applying - Purpleweeble

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:18:34 -0000

All great Artist's learn from the best

Working on character interaction - KoOkY!

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:42:18 -0000

Hmmms yeah that upturned hand you mentioned seems kinda small and flattened out, same with the left character's foot. Another thing that jumped out at me is the left character's muzzle seems rather large in proportion to the head I think? I know that's a tough angle though. A lot of good detail in there though!

Working on character interaction - Jillness

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:56:02 -0000

I understand completely what you're saying. I just may not use this piece though, seeing as I -really- don't want to re-ink the whole thing. It took me a few hours to get all the details in. Maybe I'll lightboard a new foot and use photoshop to magically fix it. X_x Now that I look at it, I think the right characters upturned hand looks a bit wonky.

Working on character interaction - legathin

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:09:17 -0000

If you have a copyer copy it then you can do whatever you want with out messing up the ferst drawing.

Working on character interaction - Jillness

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:13:12 -0000

Its been a LONG time since I made an attempt to get an artspots account because Iam determined not to be rejected again. I was thinking about using this piece because of the detailing and interactive qualities. Can I get some thoughts and opinions. I know theres a perspective problem with the left characters foot, but is it -that- noticable? Should I add some color or a background? Iam afraid of losing detail in color and ruining the picture altogether with a background. X_x HALP?!

A bit bland but... - linacrow

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:11:50 -0000

Thanks! Yeah, I'm pretty much a tard' when it comes to backgrounds and shading, so I had absolutly no idea if I got the shading right...apparently not. XD

lazy lazy - atsaki

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:46:49 -0000

thanks a lot c: ive been waiting for any kind of opinion for days haha i actually like when people is hard with me when critiques, it encourages me a lot to work harder, and always ends up having good benefits, ive been working on some stuff lately and wanted to makes sure i didnt miss anything, plus getting opinions from other artists is helpful c: thanks again for the advice, i shall now work on moar stuffs

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Sidney Eileen

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:41:42 -0000

Mauricia said: Just a note... It's generally a waste of time, and not esthetically pleasing, to place large watermarks over your images. Watermarks are easily removed with 10 minutes on Photoshop with the clone stamp tool, and you'll notice that most big-name artists don't bother with them, and if anyone, they're the ones to be worried about art being stolen! :D Putting art on the internet is always a gamble, but watermarking it won't save it from stealing, and it's hard for us to compliment that gorgeous drapery in the second image when it's covered in an embossed name.

This is an interesting subject for debate, and I think most people have differing opinions on the subject. I am not going to stop watermarking my images, and in this case I put my name across it embossed because the usual watermark (the acorns) was too distracting. With very realistic art, it isn't a simple matter of using the clone tool to obliterate the watermark. If someone is skilled enough with Photoshop to completely remove watermarks from very detailed, textured art, then they are most likely good enough to be able to make their own art. Your average art thief online (I believe) is not so skilled. I have actually had people tell me about thefts, based in part on poorly obliterated watermark, where it was obvious that the poster had removed some sort of watermark. I am not under the delusion that the watermark will eliminate art theft. When I started posting my art online, I did it with the assumption that dumb-asses could and would steal the art and repost it as their own. No matter how good or bad a piece of art is, it can be stolen very easily, and I have seen artists with rather unskilled art complain of theft. I view watermarks as a deterrent, and they are one I will continue to use. It is not a difficult thing to look at the digital and be able to say whether or not the drapery is well done, even if there is a watermark over it. If you choose not to fave something because of the watermark, that is your choice. If someone would rather look at this piece (and many others) without the watermark, they can purchase the original or a print. I may not be a big name, but I put a lot of time and effort into my art. If a watermark prevents just one theft, or identifies the piece if it is reposted (often the watermark isn't even removed), then I consider it worthwhile. Just my opinion. :)

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Mauricia

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:33:41 -0000

Just a note... It's generally a waste of time, and not esthetically pleasing, to place large watermarks over your images. Watermarks are easily removed with 10 minutes on Photoshop with the clone stamp tool, and you'll notice that most big-name artists don't bother with them, and if anyone, they're the ones to be worried about art being stolen! :D Putting art on the internet is always a gamble, but watermarking it won't save it from stealing, and it's hard for us to compliment that gorgeous drapery in the second image when it's covered in an embossed name.

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Sidney Eileen

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:20:28 -0000

Thanks for the feedback, Thornwolf. Much of what you mention about the second piece are things I was concerned about as well. Most of the shading on the sleeve, dress, and face were lost in the scan, so I agree that she blends into the paper too much in the digital copy. Part of the wall-eyed look is also due to loss of shading, but she still does have some of that on the original. That's the one part of the drawing that truly bothers me, and I wish had come out better. Thanks for pointing out that the head is too large. I've been having a horribly hard time getting the head size right in comparison to the body. Usually it's too small, but either way I have a hard time telling for myself if the size is right. I'm glad you like the first piece. I'm very proud of that one, and it's one of my personal favorites that I have drawn so far.

A bit bland but... - Thornwolf

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:39:14 -0000

Actually it looks like you have some pretty good structure going on here, I love the musculature and the wrists especially, but one thing I could see being a hinderance (although I can't speak officially on behalf of artspots) is lighting and atmosphere. Its a good character, no doubt, but there's nothing really drawing the viewer in. The lighting on the character seems to come from all directions instead of one (or two) defined sources. Maybe to go along with your cool characters play around with some settings (even just basic background elements, we're not talking huge epic murals here) and maybe some cool lighting, maybe even some different angles? Just hoping to help a little :)

App Forgotten, Thoughts Wanted - Thornwolf

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:37:04 -0000

I /really/ love that pic of Esk you did, in fact, I think if you did more pieces like that you'd be in, but that's just me going by predetermined standards when I worked over at Yerf, so I couldn't speak officially. I'm sure they haven't forgotten you, from what I hear there's a big backlog and a lot of the volunteers well....life happened XD Admittedly your icons, I'm not too crazy about. On the lion the eyes are too high up on the head and kind of "float" on top of the face instead of looking like they're embedded within the skull, there's no real depth there. And the fox, the head is very bulbous which looks like it has more of a human braincase but with everything else being feral. I'm not sure if that's the look you were going for but shortening the forehead would be a good start on that one :) Sorry if I don't help much! Just figured I'd put in my 2 cents.

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Thornwolf

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:32:58 -0000

I /love/ your black and white piece and I think that would be a shoe-in but personally I'm not too fond of that second piece you posted. The eyes are too far apart and create a wall-eyed look, not to mention the head is /very/ large in comparison to the rest of the body. Also, the character blends in too much with the background, particularly on the sleeve where its hard to discern where she begins and the paper eds. Its very nice details, but a lot of that is lost by not letting the character stand out enough from the paper.

lazy lazy - Thornwolf

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:30:22 -0000

Personally I think they would be, but you might benefit from at least one fully finished drawing that's not part of a composite and not just a sketch/pencil drawing. I know I'm not official ArtSpots staff but I used to work over at Yerf and we had pretty high standards and to my knowledge, a similar system. I think you have a good range! Just, yanno, a lot of those images you have in the composite could be "stand-alone". :)

lazy lazy - atsaki

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:57:12 -0000

ive been working a lot lately with school and my job and...life...yes i has one >u> and havent got much time to do decent work lately, all i do is sketch, and leave the sketches in the will-finish-and-color-and-make-them-all-cool-and-stuff carpet :l... however ive also planned on applying again, since my skill has digivolved :O i dunno what pictures i should apply yet...but ive been thinking on these ones: http://atsaki.deviantart.com/art/penguin-power-76911657 http://atsaki.deviantart.com/art/sketch-spam-revenge-77006302 (warning, big file) yes...i know this stuffs not worth it :l but i guess my inner self needs to know so go ahead and judge

Looking for suggestions - Efig

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:23:46 -0000

Sidney Eileen said: I would assume that the staff is very busy post FC08. They might also be trying to get through some of the backlog of applications already submitted. I believe they are all volunteers with day jobs. ;)

I see, I was unawares of such, thank you for clarifying that for me. :>

Looking for suggestions - Sidney Eileen

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:25:20 -0000

I would assume that the staff is very busy post FC08. They might also be trying to get through some of the backlog of applications already submitted. I believe they are all volunteers with day jobs. ;)

Looking for suggestions - Efig

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:49:00 -0000

Is the portfolio thread dead? I've noticed a serious lack in activity from the sites staff in this area.

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Sidney Eileen

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:04:19 -0000

This one was also a bit mangled by my scanner. It lost a lot of the lighter shading details, particularly on the white part of the dress. I am also concerned that it doesn't have enough sense of place, since the ground shading also got munched.

I'd rather not be rejected again, so.... - Sidney Eileen

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:54:19 -0000

I was hoping for some feedback before applying again. I seem to be having issues figuring out what to submit in order to be successfully admitted to the site, so I am hoping for some pointers on whether or not some pieces would be good for my submission portfolio. Two of my better, current pieces were somewhat scanner-mangled, so please let me know if the scanner ghosting on this one would prevent it from being good for my portfolio.

App Forgotten, Thoughts Wanted - Valdyr

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:32:06 -0000

Yeah, I originally sent in my app in October, and it was forgotten about, apparently. So, since I had included some fursuits as well as some artwork, and now that I have some more artwork, I thought I would post here in hopes that maybe my first app will be reviewed, or my app will be removed for updating. Anyways, on with the links: Finished Artwork: http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/In-Twilight-73559203 http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/LJ-Icon-Kamaria-74074795 http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/LJ-Icon-Tyr-Fox-72757808 http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/WH-Pose-Raine-74095549 http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w96/ValdyrFenrisdottir/thepictures.jpg <-- This image, and images related to it (like a puppy and a Native American Fetish drawing), were stolen by my college roommate and used to start up a PonyIsland pet shop during the summer. I post this screencap instead of the actual artwork to show that I am 1) The REAL Valdyr Fenrisdottir, 2) The ORIGINAL creator of the image, 3) Both forms of the image, finished and uncolored. Sketchy Stuff/WIPs/Unfinisheds: http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w96/ValdyrFenrisdottir/kimie-nita-wip.jpg http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w96/ValdyrFenrisdottir/eskwip.jpg http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w96/ValdyrFenrisdottir/beastiebeast.jpg http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w96/ValdyrFenrisdottir/caribouscared.jpg Fursuits: http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/Fursuit-Valdyr-71242121 http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/Fursuit-Mittens-71242371 http://valdyrfenrisdottir.deviantart.com/art/Superbeast-71242459 Thank you much.

A bit bland but... - linacrow

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:01:44 -0000

Would this be a good porfolio peice? I'm not yet ready to submit one, but I want to see if I'm getting close. http://linacrow.deviantart.com/art/Clarissa-74660710

Hesitant about Applying - Rainblossom

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:29:34 -0000

I'd like to thank Chlorophyta and Gauguin for being polite and kind, but Sudan Red and Emerald Sage were right. It was dishonest of me to use Chlorophyta's picture without asking her first, it would still be wrong even if I did ask her. It was wrong of me to post it without giving her credit, and I acknowledge that. I'd like to make a formal apology to Chlorophyta, and let you all know the image has been deleted and I will not be posting it anywhere again, nor will I be tracing/using other artists' pictures as references. On a side note, however, I'd like to say that all of the other pictures in my galleries were my original creations. As I stated before, I'd been working on this particular picture for some time, and I couldn't get the right feel for it. It was a very personal image and I wanted the cat's pose to reflect my own feelings. I came across Chlorophyta's picture and I saw it was exactly what I wanted, so I copied it. This was wrong of me, and it won't happen again. Also, Gauguin, I believe this post is in the wrong forum, because I was not asking if my picture would be a good portfolio piece, but rather if the fact that I used textures from stock websites in the background would be okay for portfolio pieces, because in the sample portfolio guidelines it says: "Photographic and altered photographic backgrounds are a big negative." I had no intention of submitting this image in my portfolio, it was the background I was worried about. Again, I'd like to apologize to everyone, especially Chlorophyta, for the drama this has caused. It won't happen again. I'd also like to thank everyone for dealing with this in a mature manner.