Hi Karen

If we are to believe the mist is following the guy and passing under his armpit, then the nist would be going in every direction incliding around the other side of the arm and over his right hand.The mist on the grass looks out of place a bit, or it needs more, all around over his arm, hand and the grass in front, which may be a better idea. I like your imagination in this piece. The  little green things hanging down need darkening to blend in better Great eyes. Just some food for thought. I'll have to follow this to see how it comes along.

Cheers Gary

The deal with the mist is that my idea here is that he's coming out of the ground, there is mist behind him and a little bit in front of him.  You really think the Spanish moss needs to be darkened?  In real life it's much lighter than the trees it hangs from...kind of a dusty gray color.

When I was writing the comment it was only showing 3/4 of the picture and when I finshed the entire pic was there. That was wierd. I stil have the same suggestions. I agree with Frankie also about working the corners, some blood would be a nice effect.  

That's what I thought, wouldn't the mist be coming over his shoulders and around the arms and over the hands in that case. I don't think the spanish moss is a big deal, it was my last thought. A zombie on all hallows eve coming to get us. Wonderful.

You're right about the mist, but here's my hesitation on adding more -- with the background blurred and the foreground clear, (at least on my new widescreen monitor) there is this fabulous 3-d kind of effect, like he's coming right out of my monitor.  If I add more mist, I'm going to lose the clarity in the foreground, which will diminish that effect. 

I guess I need to play around some more with this.  (DANG day job for getting in the way!) LOL

You need a little more in the foreground for depth. Change the focus (blur- use Lens blur or smart blur) and then some mist behind him and adjust the blur accordingly. Try a 'whispy smoke' brush or freehand for more depth and texture. ****You have mail

Okay, devils advocate again. Are you working in this small a resolution or is that just the preview shot? I thought he was crawling on the ground. If he is to be coming out of the ground should not your terrain be a bit more around his torso on the sides?

I used to come home from work and spend so much time dinking with my graphics at night that getting up in the morning was a chore! I would give anything to go back there again. Losing my job has devastated me mentally and physically.

I can be 'critical' when it comes to commenting on walls....

I can even be mildly 'diplomatic' in ascribing variations of 'this is crap'.

Or...

WHEN it's 'crap' I can always tell you it is crap.

I have to disagree a bit on that, If I can clearly see that the criticism is valid and has merits and is from what I consider a qualified individual, I try to learn from the critique instead of taking offense. It was not always that way, but I have long ago learned that I am not always my best critic. I would value your opinion at any time.

No, I'm working with a huge file, 3000x2400 or something in that range -- that's just a preview shot (which is the biggest size Photobucket will upload for free, so that's why the preview shot is that size).

Amen to that!

OK - I've made adjustments, thanks to the great advice I received in this thread.  Any thoughts?

Hide all the breakables! That guy looks hungry. Very realistic k10w3. Are his eyes open or closed. They look closed. If so maybe having them open will lend more macabre to it, make it look more menacing.

His eyes are totally open, Uvah.