Manip| Paper Airplanes

First impression is this is a really neat manip. The dark subject on such a light, happy background really creates this pleasing contrast, and the paper airplanes are very impressive! It appears you hand-painted those so I offer you lots of applause. 8D

Notes on Lighting: I see there's a shadow for the more distant airplane, which seems a touch odd since there isn't a noticeable shadow for the other two airplanes, and also that the shadow is the same opacity as the horse's shadow. Since the airplane is higher, I think the shadow would be softer than the lower-down horse's. The shadow also seems far more distant than the airplane's size would indicate; based on the airplane's size, especially compared to the other airplanes' sizes and the size of the horse, it seems very close to the viewer despite the shadow being quite far away. Also for the horse's shadow is the shape. Looking at the field background, it appears the shadow would be more underneath the horse rather than entirely to the side, which is usually caused by more sideways lighting than is present in this manip. Also with a note on lighting is that the two mountains in the back have very, very distinct lighting sources that don't quite match up as an overall. The field looks like an overhead, directly-above lighting, the mountain on the left looks like the lighting source is on the right facing the mountain with just enough angle to induce shadows, and the mountain on the right is a very angled lighting source that I think is stemming from the viewer's side. I usually try to find stock that has lighting already matched up but other ways to comabt it would be flipping stock around to get the lighting sources as close as possible and covering the shadows with white on soft light (this would be a longg process) to make them go away and black on soft light to repaint more appropriate shadows. Another note regarding lighting would be that the picture is VERY bright but the horse has a pretty neutral, all-over lighting to him. I think his back would be a lot more lit up in such vivid sunlight and his bottom half, on the belly for example, would be more shadowed. The contrast would place him more naturally in the image. 

Notes on Hair: Your tail is phenomenal, I really have no critique for that beauty. There's depth, there's wild movement, it fits the horse, it just looks great. I do think it outshines the mane, though. The mane's ends, at the tips of the strands, are very thick rather than tapered, though the body of the mane looks fantastic. Really it's just the ends of the manes. I personally use settings with my tablet and photoshop so that the ends taper and since I'm not sure what you're using, I don't really know what to suggest for it. I know you could always go back with a hard-brush eraser and work on tapering them more. It'd also be useful to have more strands in the actual ends. The body is so very very thick but then the ends are so sparse I can count the number of strands there, which doesn't seem realistic. I can't imagine so few strands would make such a thick body. Having more flyaways at the end, more strands in the end, etc., can help keep the volume consistent throughout. 

Note on Blending: Despite the criticism above about lighting, you did a fantastic job blending the three background pieces. I can't honestly tell where one ends and another begins, they're just this flawless, seamless background. As this is one of my worst shortcomings, I can really respect how well you blended the background.

A big rave on color: OH MY GOD YES. I just looked at the original stock photo and about dropped my jaw to the floor. I would NEVER guess that was the original horse. EVER. Whoa. The color change is absolutely remarkable, the marking removal is perfect, this is just.. insane to me that you managed such a perfect freakin' color change. You are very daring to even try that and dang did you pull it off or what!

Grounding: Apart from the shadow that I talked about before, you did a reaaally good job with getting the grass over the hooves.

Body Prep: I can tell that the back leg doesn't have any detail (and looking at the stock I can see why) but repainting in some rises to the bone there and shadow in the groove would help you get back some detail that's missing, generally done with white and black on soft light with a soft brush. Besides the lack of detail in those two shin bone areas of the back legs, the body prep is really nice. The horse shines, the muscles are accentuated, it's not too bright nor too dull, I think it works nicely. I would like to see a bit more shadow in the muzzle area around the nostrils to ensure those don't get lost in the white marking, though.

Some other stuff: The eye is really well-done but so small that it looks a bit dead and loses the dramatic edge it could have. Repainting it just a touch wider would have given it a bit more life and attention, I think. I really like how you did the horn though I think it'd be casting a shadow down the horse's muzzle and be a bit brighter on top than it is on the bottom rather than having the neutral all-over lighting. Aaand that face white marking is really well-done, I love how soft it is and not at all harsh on the dark horse. 

Overall, killer work. The main problems have to do with lighting which is a bumhole any time you deal with a manip this bright because, well, there's a lot of lighting involved. I really do love this and am happy to have it in the Group!