That soft blur filter is ruining your showcase entries

I keep seeing people post amazing digital paintings in the showcase but they slap a heavy gaussian blur on the background and it kills the depth... I judged a small contest last month and 3 out of 10 entries had this same problem. Have you checked how your background blur looks at 100% zoom?

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michael_craig4mo ago

Buddy of mine entered a local art show and the judge thought he'd smeared vaseline on the lens. Would've placed if he'd just checked before printing.

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christopher4024mo ago

Buddy of mine spent like 40 hours on a dragon piece for an online contest. Background had this soft hazy blur, looked great on his tablet. Printed it out for the gallery viewing and it just looked like a fog machine went off behind the dragon. Totally wrecked the scale and detail he spent forever on.

5

fisher.charlie4mo ago

@michael_craig that's exactly what happened to my friend jenna with a portrait she did... spent weeks on this soft ethereal glow around the face and when she printed it for her portfolio the whole thing just looked out of focus. she was so bummed.

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