Old House: My First Matte Painting

[LFGabel]

Just finished this in time for Halloween. My first matte painting, done entirely in Photoshop. C&C welcome.

After:
http://members.shaw.ca/lfgabel/Halloween_After.jpg

Source:
http://members.shaw.ca/lfgabel/Halloween_Before.jpg

[AliK]

I think the fake depth of field doesn’t work.
The tree in the right is good.

[LFGabel]

Thanks for the reply AliK. Other people have commented about that. Do you think unbluring will make it look better, or should I just remove the tree entirely?

[AliK]

I think remove the big bird and the tree.

[rrische]

The composition still probably needs something there on the left.
Try fewer tree branches, and have them be in focus.

[LFGabel]

Slight tweak to the "After' image (linked at beginning of thread).

Thanks for the comment, rrische. I tend to agree with you there. When I removed the blurred elements, the image looked bizarre, unbalanced.

[Milos Fehir]

To me it seems that the house stands out a bit too much from it all. Try making it blend in more with the rest of it . I'd also like to see alot more dirt on the house. You have some broken pieces but it just looks overall clean. I think that adding a few dirt layers would enhance our image lots. But is very nice for a first =)

[Luxo_Jr]

Good start for your first go. I think get rid of the tress in the front altogether..takes something away from it. It feels like it's a model too like a diorama or something you would build. The sky and lighting is good.

[LFGabel]

Thanks so much for the feedback, Milos and Luxo Jr. Much appreciated! :)