HRg #23 score: 8 out of 10

Mongi:
Once again, HRg releases an original and artistic pack. I don't have any "complaints" really, this will mostly be descriptions of how good the work is.

2302dh.jpg by Darkhalo really fascinates me. The composition throughout the pic is amazing. First off the way the framing has been done reminds me of ansi framing, a continuous pattern (in this case women) that's more or less complex. It's very well done with good alignment. Then it's the lighting and the swirls that make good contrast to the dark background. The lights look very realistic.

Sprocket seems to be upset (as a lot of other people) after last month's heated discussions. Still he might have liked it, since he advertises for it =) Anyway, the composition is great in the photomanip, and he has put much work in details.

Inc0gnito has become one of my favorites in a very short time. The brushwork and color theme composition is a pleasure for the eyes. The Kenjutsu piece is truly good work. Whatever the intention was, it gives a feeling of movement and the mood you get when going to kendo competitions (I've seen quite a few). Using a technique that doesn't really show the details, but still a very complete and professional feel to the piece is very difficult to achieve.

Yoyo's "Mother Lore Island" (2313yoyo.jpg) shows great imagination. Surrealism is not as easy as it seem to paint. Being a bit humoristic and dark at the same time, and not at all perverted (as many other surrealists are), Yoyo has a unique style. 2326yoyo.jpg shows another side of Yoyo. Keeping the wild imagination, it looks a bit cubistic.

2324hz.jpg by Hazar really made me think. At a quick glance it looks like a snowy landscape with phone/electric lines in the background. But then you see the huge eye covering the whole pic. What did he want to express? It really bothers me not being able to interpret this piece.

Sayonara seem to have been inspired by Yoyo, the theme is what Yoyo could have thought of. The other pieces in the pack are all original and different compared to conventional "scene-art", even the photomanips by Atom and Sprocket have a new approach to design and layout. They all have substance and much work in them, just as the best photomanips I've before, only these are better.

score 8.5

Root88:
Incognito’s Kenjutsu pic was my favorite in this pack, outstanding bush work and use of colors and contrast.

All of the photomanips in this pack are excellent (yes this includes Sprockets). This is the first time I’ve ever seen a pack full of them and thought that. Usually, you’ll see a bunch of clipart that looks like it had a few filters on it, not in this case. All the photomanips in this pack used pics that when brought together gave them a new feel and meaning. If you ever peeked inside a copy of Discover magazine, you would see images with the same sort of style and quality. This is not meant as an insult, I am trying to point out the merit of these images.

2302DH.JPG could contain Poser models and lens flares (I’m not sure), and I still enjoyed it. Normally I complain about Poser models being used in an image, but that only applies when the it seems as if the artist is attempting to show off his 3d skills, by throwing someone else’s model in front of a brick wall or a on Bryce mountain. In this case it’s used more as a photomanip. The "lens flares"(?) were not obstructive to the rest of the image and were recolored so that they flowed nicely into the artwork. I would really like to know how he made the swirls around the females down the center of the pic.

2308US.JPG looks good, hey God Among Lice, you only left yourself 1%, you deserve a bit more credit than that.

2316BLUP.JPG (Guest pic by Blup of ACiD) I like your background. Its color and the way the peoples’ shoulders come together make it look like a heart. Very interesting, but if that was the intention, it could have stood out a little more, I had to look at the pic a few times to pick up on it.

score: 7