Moon Goddess

Inspired! Lunar pieces always catch my attention and this went far beyond that. Technique is great, though my photomanipulation skills are too pathetic for me to really speak to that.

The model is beautiful, and I think it might be more powerful that you chose a position where she's not looking at us. Is she just looking away from the "camera"? Or is there something, perhaps, that she could be looking at? I don't think the angle of her head suggests she's looking at whatever is in her hand. I'm just curious, I like to try to piece together the story behind an image. If you can give your viewer a story as well as a gorgeous image, you've reached a new level of artistry.

Good color choices here; the gray of the clouds around the outside places that much more focus on the central image, and makes it that much brighter. The white is brilliant, I like the star in her hand. I don't know what color the model's hair was originally, but dirty blonde was perfect - in keeping with the light colors, but dark enough to frame her face and make it stand out.

The moon image was a good choice, the blue shadowed areas set off nicely against the brighter cloud areas. I think it's just above center, but on closer inspection it looks like it might be a little off... you might want to check that, but maybe it doesn't matter to you.

I would not, however, have placed any stars/sparkles on top of the moon. About even with her shoulder I can make out linear sparkle lines that really look out of place. We don't have stars between the moon and us, and in my opinion even with artistic license that's pushing it. I don't know if maybe the stars are behind the moon and the moon image is partially transparent... if so I'd advise against that.

The details around the moon really don't do it for me. There's a distinct blue edge that is not necessary, certainly not at that thickness, and the rays don't fit the picture. The sun has rays, not the moon. Sure, it might glow a little, but that's a softer radiance, not individual lines. Those lines are probably the weakest part of the piece, they detract from your really beautiful artwork. I don't want to suggest you cut them out entirely, something is appropriate there, but I would seriously consider either toning them way down (40% opacity, maybe?) or blurring them into something more like a glow. When I make my (pathetic) glow of anything, I don't use lines at all, just a blurry-edged field.

I like the piece, but like I said, the details around the moon detract from the overall impact, so I gave you 4/5 on that. But otherwise this is really gorgeous, and I hope you continue to grace the community with your beautiful art.

~Marie