This took me around 8 hours lol. It would've gone A LOT faster had I known what I was doing in the first place. To make a long story short, the wallpaper version was too small and I ended with this. There are some random splotches of discolored stuff... i'm not sure why. I tried to focus on lighting and realism Fun fact: this has 24 layers Stocks: Spoiler
Hmm not sure about this one. I see what u were trying to go for but the water just looks too disconnected from the sand. You can pretty much make out the two separate layers if you what I mean? Solid attempt but.
I tried to make it so the waves were crashing up behind the sand mounds... that's probably why. Before I had water going everywhere near the mounds like in the waves to the right in but it looked too artificial that way.. They do look separate, I'll admit. I'll keep your feedback in mind though, thanks.
the splash itself looks okay, but the lighting is wrong and it makes it obvious that the wave is not actually there it does not feel real. im not sure what to suggest though...
I agree, something about the lighting looks odd... can't quite put my finger on it though. I like the water, and the effect of it splashing across, but I also don't like how the child is kinda hazy around the edges, it sort of looks like he wasn't cropped right. Is it an effect? I can't tell.
The waves lack shadowing, which is what makes them look disconnected from the image. I'd also try to incorporate some kind of "wet" effect on parts of the sand to make it look as if the waves are encroaching. Just occasional blotching; think if you would flick handfuls of water at dry sand. Apart from that, looks cool. Kid could use some footprints in the sand behind him too, but that's minor. No one would look into it as much as I do, but I usually always try to add small effects that people take for granted when I do images.
Thanks for the comments guys, especially the ideas on adding shadows and making the sand look more wet. I thought about adding foodprints but that would've added another hour, and at the time I thought it was pretty minor. But I'll keep it in mind for future stuff.