{Artistic Failures of Elysia}

sometimes i try to do art
it's a work in progress

i. you'll be in my heart
ii. poliswag
iii. helioptile
iv. flabebe
v. tailow
vi. some rise by sin
vii. falling by virtue
viii. the king's shield
ix. the blade of kings
x. stronger than you
xi. billow

successful total captures: cubone, poliwag, tailow, $$$ (complex), $$$ (hard), $$$ (complex), honedge, sandile

 

Cubone

So at some point, I thought it'd be fun to do some art.

This was a very bad idea.

However, I already wasted my time and hurt my eyes looking at it, so now someone else has to do it, too. And maybe I can try to get a pokemon out of it or something.

Anyways, cubone. Apparently it's rubbish in URPG, but I absolutely love the design and story behind it, so #yoloswag or something. I was going to write a story for it with a horrible, sappy plotline along the lines of what you see in the first piece, but it turned out so horrible and so sappy that I scrapped it all and made it into a horrible and sappy almost-comic instead. UGH. THIS IS SO GROSS. I USED WORDS, TOO, SO HAHA. Also, first time with GIMP, and I didn't learn that using the smudge tool is a bad idea until... well.
{spoilered for massive but intentional vertical stretching}

Spoiler

{Don't Be Afraid}

And then I sort of picked up a basic understanding of how GIMP worked from Youtube tutorials and created a mildly (and only mildly) less suck-tastic thing.

Spoiler

{You'll Be in My Heart}

Going for: cubone (medium: two pieces of art scoring 50 or higher)

Oh, and proof of mine-ness with the pencil linearts below. I signed around somewhere and wrote some annoyed notes, if you care to squint; my camera's pretty awful.

Spoiler

Don't Be Afraid

Spoiler

You'll Be in My Heart

Spoiler

Oh, and references to the official Sugimori art of cubone and marowak, and then this picture of a ribcage from google.

HURRAY. ART. STUFF.

 

Re: Cubone

fast fast fast claiming the only thing I can lol

 

I'm releasing my claim on this. I apologize for the delay and hopefully another curator will be able to claim in quickly.

 

@Elysia

I'm working on the curations Elysia, I will hopefully have it done tonight/tomorrow

 

@Elysia

Don't Be Afraid (Cubone)

Spoiler

Color/Form
Its definitely an interesting image, and unlike most you’ve utilized words to assist in telling the story. The dark color as the background manages to accentuate the bright action scene you have used as the main focus. Some of the colors on the text could have been brighter or more contrasting against the blue, but they are still readable. The hyper beam effect is very nice, the blending between light and the mother’s form very good. The black lines aren’t necessary in thi case, it seems to detract somewhat.

Something to think of when making images: the more someone has to scroll to see the full image, the less likely they will be able to fully enjoy the image in its entirety. Consider removing some of the empty space between the phrases to make the image a little smaller.

Pokemon
Marowak, the mother pokemon. You've given her a nice dynamic pose, and have good shading and coloration is spot on. General shape of the pokemon seems correct, but one or two minor things you could do to improve it. Marowak’s hand that is holding the bone looks to be on the wrongs side of the bone based on the arm position you gave her, requiring a somewhat awkward position. The transition from the body to the tail also makes Marowak seem to have a large amount of additional mass that it shouldn’t have.

Now on to Cubone. I like the emotional pose and facial expression that shows dismay, it gives character to the pokemon and makes the viewer empathize with it. The details in Cubone’s skull is very well done. Again, color and shading are good for the pokemon. As far as this pokemon goes, I can’t find anything overly negative about it.

Environment
The image has a very simple background. I was confused on the dots, whether they were supposed to be embers or stars. The red makes me believe embers, as if they were not it seems to be highly irregular for the bright red stars. If perhaps there was a faint starfield in the background, even if just near the top, it could accurately convey what the dots are supposed to be.

Improvements
1. Color choice/form with the dots. Make it more apparent as to their purpose in the image.
2. Image size. There is a lot of scrolling required in this image, causing the reader to see only part of the image at any given time.

Something that is more a suggestion than anything else, watch your image file type/compression. I have seen both jpgs and anything uploaded to photobucket to have the fuzzy color effect that surrounds your words. Its not overly noticeable unless you are used to it, but it can sometimes be mildly distracting.

Score
Since this image is more about Cubone than marowak, and you included both as well as a touching story that conveyed emotion, I think its worth allowing a passing score.

50/100

You'll Be In My Heart (Cubone)

Spoiler

Color/Form
A nice if mildly creepy image. You’ve used the contrasting reds and white to make the pieces stand out, and it definitely succeeds. By placing Cubone in the center of the image you make the focus apparent. Also, the linear and curved bones assist in focusing the eye back to the pokemon itself. The picture is balanced, no element overly heavy in comparison to the others both symmetrically as well as overall. The one thing I’m going to critique would be the sharpness of the lines. When drawing with such sharp black lines you may want to use GIMP’s pen tool instead of the pencil tool, the lines will be more soft and allow for them to blend better into the rest of the colors.

Pokemon
Cubone is fairly good, color and shading correct. You’ve again managed to convey the emotion of the pokemon using its eyes and arms alone, which is a good thing to do for static images like this. The shape of the pokemon is good apart from one minor issue - the arms you gave him are too long and thin. I can see why you did it, to further the appearance of comfort in sleeping ‘with’ his mother. Its not something that will majorly affect the image.

Environment
The environment, the creepy part of this image. You’ve managed to convey the basis of the image without making it overly gory, although I do wonder why the background is all red. For this image, I assume you used a Kangaskhan for the mother due to scale. A Cubone with its mother’s skull would not fit inside a Marowak’s ribcage, the ribs would act more as a restraint. But I do like the image itself. You have added a lot of shading to the bones, and I like it so that it shows the curvature and details.

Improvements
1. Line sharpness, using pen tools or other methods will usually give a softer more natural (or just less pixellated) line.
2. Watch the anatomy, even if you stretch it to convey emotion

Score
I like the form, color, and emotion conveyed in this image.

60/100

THE RESULT:

Spoiler

Have the little motherless pokemon, Cubone has been captured

 

Poliwag


[URPG Chat]
Elysia
I think I'm going to make a team of swaggy stuff
poliswag
swaggron
swagsire
"gofuckyourself"monbrey
I hate you
6:42 PM Elysia
oh okay

SO THIS PIECE IS DEDICATED TO MONBREY, HAHA.

...turns out that this was also a very bad idea, but whatever. Didn't bother doing pencil lineart this time because I needed to finish in under an hour, but I'm decently pleased with how this turned out. except those dollar bills wtf also shading spheres what no

Spoiler

{Poliswag}

Proof of Mine-ness (warning, mildly terrifying; layers fiddling ahoy)

Spoiler

Going for: poliwag (simple: one piece of art scoring forty or higher)

 

@Elysia

For Poliswag

Spoiler

So before I start, I think its best to define what Swag is:

Swag:
1. an ornamental festoon of flowers, fruit, and greenery.
2. money or goods taken by a thief or burglar.
3. sway from side to side.

All three definitions are relevant, and shall be denoted so as to which applies.

Color/Form
Poliwag sitting in a field of greyish-green, slight yet good contrast between pokemon and background. Pokemon is central to the image, and therefore placed in the center, so nothing special or tricky going on there. With the background, there are a lot of lines pointing in different directions, so if the image was not as small and focused as it was, the eye might have problems trying to focus on that one point due to the multiple signals the edges can send. But, I think with the size of the image, the tail manages to bring the viewer back to what the focus is, Poliwag.

A minor detail here, but one I always try to point out, is that some of the lines when you drew Poliwag look to still be smaller line segments instead of one fluid outline. Be sure to smooth out any tails or gaps left when you have finished sketching something.

Even though it’s not as green as some money can be, still applying #1 here for an arrangement of green.

Pokemon
Your Poli got swagger like he’s been using that move for forever. Good color, shading looks about right, shape of a ball with a leaf at the back, all check out. Something I really do like and most people either would never think to do it or just don’t, is that you gave the belly a pink tint. I can only assume you did it because the light bouncing off the lips would give the area close to it that tint, especially with the light angle you chose, so well done whether intentional or not.

As per definition, I’d say #3 fits, he looks like he could be looking up at the sky and dancing with his money and shades.

Environment
Your two-tone background is simple and definitely assists in telling a story here. Mainly that Poliswag managed to get himself some money. THe layers of bills is good imagery, showing how much is there. But it seems very flat overall, like shading or some slight shadows would add depth to the scene. Maybe some of the bills could be crinkled, ripped, or aged to differentiate them from the others. Just something that would give the background itself more character, make it stand out by itself along with Poliwag.

For the lighting you have in this image, it feels like a spotlight or flashlight is shining down on Poliwag. Its mildly confusing, since the cloudy lighter area is on the bills, so I don’t know if thats what you were going for or not, try to be more definite for intent on what the light source is.

Definition… 2? *cough*thief!*cough*

Improvements
1. Adding depth to the background for more detail and realism

2. Light sources in images, try to make them more apparent, or more specifically make it more clear what/where they are.

Score
After looking at the subtle imagery and utilization of 3 different definitions for one word, I’d have to give this a

40/100

Also because its dedicated to my boss, and you just don't fail that.

Poliswag be caught!

 

Helioptile

So I decided to try doing lineless art because it looked fun.

...

...

It was not fun.

Also, some of these images are pretty large.

Spoiler

Helioptile looks like it's wearing a sherpa cap, so I gave it a scarf and a snowstorm to match. xD I tried using a monochrome palate and then migrated to bi-chrome when I got to the sky, but the whole thing is just varying intensities of one shade of yellow and one shade of blue. Vaguely proud of this. heh not really

Spoiler

And then I tried playing with perspective. Even less fun.


Also, before anyone berates me for anatomical correct-ness, there is not a single picture of helioptile that looks remotely like any animal alive. Literally, the thing is a blobby thing with legs. xD

So the moral of the story is that art is not fun and Ely should never touch GIMP again.


Oh, and proofs:

Spoiler

Going for: helioptile (medium: two pieces of art scoring fifty or higher)

 

@Elysia

Arctic Helioptile

Spoiler

Form/Color
I think the first thing I notice is the nice color contrast you used to truly set the pokemon apart from the background, THe black and yellow are a perfect opposite to the whites and blues of its surroundings. The elements and consistency of shading and form flow nicely between part of the image. Balanced image, the focus is apparent but you added some nice details surrounding the pokemon to still give different areas their appeal.

However, there are some areas where the lines aren’t as crisp as you probably wanted, spots where the two separate elements bleed together. Its not everywhere, but there are enough spots to make it noticeable.

Pokemon
As far as I can see, the general shape of Helioptile is correct. The only thing it seems to be missing is the arms, but I don’t know exactly is he’s standing on two or four legs, so theres a discrepancy there. The shading is fairly close, the only part that looks odd would be the yellow areas on the head. The emotion conveyed is nice, calming, it fits. THe scarf is also a nice original touch.

I am however wondering how well Helioptile fits into a snow scene, considering it does have the feel of an arid desert type, and its found in the desert normally.

Environment
For a simple environment, its not a bad one. You added a lot of depth and texture to the snow with the light blues, which gives the effect of snow reflecting the sky. Its a good aspect to include for images, especially at higher ranks. I do question some of the snow effects that are above the horizon line, I am unsure if they are supposed to represent snow on the camera, or if they were something unfinished. Its unclear in this image. Another part that could be improved are the clouds, which seem very plain in contrast to the snow and pokemon itself.

Improvements
1. Cleanliness and accuracy of shading and edges, make sure things don’t bleed or have odd rough edges that do not fit the pokemon or environment.

2. Add detail evenly to the environment, make all parts of the image equally ‘busy’ to keep the eye occupied.

3. Not sure how well the pokemon lines up to its environment, unless it was intentional to show how the desert pokemon would be warmer.

Score
40/100

Needs a few more fine touches before its up to par with medium rank stuff.

Basking Helioptile

Spoiler

Form/Color
While your last image was god in terms of contrasting colors, this image seems to focus more on colors that complement each other. The yellow and black are nice colors that always go with the green grass, yet still set the pokemon apart as being different than the grass. With the lack of too many other elements to offer any balance or spacing issues, its a fairly even, clean image. Something I do notice is how geometric the grass seems to look, whereas the pokemon itself seems to be far more organic. They contrast a little bit, and it looks unnatural.

Watch for jagged areas and loose bits, as I see a spot by the rear leg mating the tail. The stray bits appear between the leg and the arm on the left side, it doesn’t show up unless you look hard, but it becomes obvious when you do see it.

Pokemon
Helioptile does look a bit odd as you mentioned in your post. I can see that most everything seems to be about right, the only portion of the anatomy I would question is how short the neck is compared to where the arms join the central body. Maybe the body itself is just a hair too wide, but with the limited images I’ve seen for Helioptile its hard to be sure. Color and shading seems okay overall.

Environment
In terms of environment, again you went for a fairly even, clean, and non-busy scene. The grass has a good amount of detail, but is quite geometric as stated earlier. Consider adding more waves and curves in it to add additional variety in the scene. I’m having problems understanding the lighter lines that appear on the grass. Are they light beams, some kind of dust on the grass? If its the former, they seem off due the multiple directions they seem to be going in.

Improvements
1. Make all the elements of your scene fit together in shape and form better, also make sure everything in the scene has a clear purpose and the viewer can tell what it is.

2. As little info as you have, probably need to think more of how the body shape would be in a different pose. You had a good start, but some of the details weren’t there to make it truly believable.

Score
35/100

Its a decent start, but needs more attention to detail to make everything mesh into a cohesive image.

 

(I'll be redrawing Helioptile at some point in time; didn't feel up to it at the moment)

Instead, fun time with Flabebe!

Tried a new approach where I did everything on the computer. My mouse hand is on fire.

Idk, can't think of any good titles for this, but hey.

Spoiler

Going for: Flabebe (Medium, 45 or higher)

Proof:

Spoiler

 

clammed

 

Form/Color
There are some really good elements here and some questionable ones. This piece, to me, seems very split between stuff you put a lot of effort into and stuff that you just sort of left. In terms of shaping and everything, the image is great, the flowers all going in arbitrary directions is a little unrealistic and confusing, but that isn't a huge issue. Overall, the image is appealing to the eyes, but it's also pretty basic.

As far as your color choices go, everything seems pretty good, you stayed true to the colors of the Pokemon and also chose colors for your background that complemented the Pokemon, so good job there.

Pokemon
Okay, so the shape and image of the Flabebe is very correct. I really like the way the ears come out and you did all of the details on the face crisply. There's that one foot that is sticking out that is a little awkward, but it isn't really that much of an issue.

The thing that I have an issue with is how flat the Pokemon looks. You didn't really put any shading into the Pokemon aside from a very little bit on the ears (are those ears?) You can tell just by looking at that part how much better it makes the image look too. That's a big boon for me personally, because it would really bring your image alive. You seem to have the knowledge of how to shade (based on what you did do), but you simply didn't. If you weren't sure about it let me know and I'll help you, but even little things like adding a little shading under the neckline would've helped.

Environment
Your environment isn't bad by any means, but it definitely needs work. The flowers are all really drawn well and I'm impressed especially by the stem of the flower that the Pokemon is holding onto, you did a great job with that bit of shading and making it look realistic. However, you didn't use a lot of that technique on the rest of the flowers.

You have these white spots on all of the flower petals which, I'm not tally sure what they are trying to accomplish. I can't tell if they are supposed to be shading or if they are a part of the flower. I would initially guess part of the flower, but because they aren't as prevalent in some of the back flowers I'm not really sure. If they are an attempt at shading, then they are done wrong. The white spots are sort of all over the place. A good tip when shading things is to really imagine where a tiny sun would be shining on your image. If you do so, you'll realize not every petal from that center flower is going to get hit with light in the same spot.

Furthermore, the cloud in the background is a little lackluster. It's a nice touch with the colors, but it's also pretty obvious where you used the blur tool to just stretch it out. I would try to even out those blurs to make it look a little nicer. Otherwise just look out for some dark blotches in your outlines and some unevenness along your lines. Cleaning up those will give the image a nicer look overall.

Improvements
1. Put the effort in to shading the entire Pokemon not just bits and pieces, it will give the image more depth and make it more believable.

2. Make clearer the effect on the flowers and clean up the lines a little bit in the coloring on the petals. Make it smoother.

3. Clean up the cloud and other tiny blotches that the viewer shouldn't be seeing.

Score:

I do think this is a very nice image, but there are some elements I need to see improvement on in order to pass you, so I'm going to give it a
40/100

Feel free to ask for a recurate if you can make the improvements I stated above.

 

I made a thing. Editing later for prettiness, but going for Taillow (Simple).

Spoiler

proofs

Spoiler

 

@Elysia

Taillow

Spoiler

Form/Detail
The detail you put in here is quite detailed and lovely. The best part would be the feathers, and how they help define the major forms of the pokemon. Your shape of the pokemon is indicative of movement, we have Taillow soaring offscreen towards to some unknown destination. The whole image is unified in its smooth lines and forms, creating what I would consider a calming piece.

Color and Shading
Good choice of colors on the pokemon, vibrant and striking to make it the absolute focus of the piece. In comparison the background is a bit drab and simple, though you still have some amount of shading going on there.

Texture
The feathers are your main point of texture, but since that covers such a large part of your image Id say you did good here. The lack of specific textures in the background is understandable given the focus blur you added ,which was a nice stylistic choice.

Pokemon Anatomy
I like that you made taillow more streamlined than its traditional anime appearances, it adds a hint of realism to the image and makes Taillow look far more aerodynamic. The detail here really gives us the sense it is flying, the feathers matted against the body in the air currents. The one difference I do notice between most standard images and this that could have been a bit different is the eyes, they are very beady. But as a stylistic choice I think it fits.Colors and shading here are amazing, they are near perfect. Only changes I could see would be to add a bit more to highlight where the sun is positioned in the sky.

Environment/Perspective
The best part of your image, apart from Taillow, is the usage of the perspective focus here. You made the sheer distance quite understandable without needing to add in a lot of detail for size comparison, the viewer immediately understands the relative distance in the image. The one part that seems confusing or lacking is the water in the background. Im assuming its a lake due to the awkward land formations closest to it, and i doubt you could easily make land arc above itself like that. Despite the blurriness of that area something to break up the pure blueness could have helped immensely in setting it apart from the sky which is the exact same color only a short distance away. The other shortfall is how the horizon seems to cut off quite dramatically. if we are on the edge of a very tall cliff that works well, but we can't tell as there are no other discerning features to help define what else would be back there. just something to consider.

Creativity/Effort
Id say most of your time went into the pokemon as opposed to its surroundings, but here that seemed to work fairly well. You made a realistic taillow in flight, and the combination of calm contours and action gave a good mix of emotions for the piece.

Improvements
THe only real changes I could quickly suggest would be to still add in some variation/detail in the background, especially making the lake and sky different in some noticeable way. Also increasing the background so it doesn’t look like the edge of the world.

Score
40/100

Definitely enough here for a simple mon, enjoy!

 

WOW TBT DOING ART LMAO

I, uh, got my hands on a friend's tablet for the day and tried to do a speedpaint coverpage for my edgy, non-ironic fanfiction, some rise by sin, which is about people freezing to death in the winter, those big red aspen trees, giant murderbirds aka murkrow, and some other things.

Let it be known that I had no idea what I was doing.

some rise by sin

Spoiler

attempted capture: $$$

proof: potato quality gif of the attempt at speedpainting, may it rest in pieces

 

WOW SO I DIDN'T REALLY THINK I'D BE COMING BACK, BUT OOPS.

I wanted to do something to fit the theme for August, but I can't draw underwater environments or fire for shit, so I went for the "mania" component instead. And apparently I was still on a some rise by sin kick, which features a crazy murderbird and a batshit protagonist, and, well, this happened. I thought it would be hilarious and par the course for the theme of crazy shit to not shade with any of the right colors, and it actually turned out looking kinda okay and I legit may never shade with darker versions of the same color ever again, so, well, here we are.

Also, imgur nuked the quality of the upload sorry not sorry working on fixing that

falling by virtue

Spoiler

proof: I wrote my name in bright pink in the top left corner because lol palettes
I honestly didn't expect this to turn out decent, so I didn't bother with taking progress shots for a fun gif, which makes me sad now.

attempted capture: [AUG] theme (mania) + $$$
jokes i kno how 2 reed

 

WADDUP, HOMES. WELCOME TO THE THUNDERDOME.

In regards to the piece from 8/6 (or 8/7 depending on timezone).

The Gist:

This image is rockin’. It’s got fantastic appeal. And for someone that says “I don’t know what I’m doing”, well, I DON’T BELIEVE YOU. This seriously looks really phenomenal, and I am impressed.

This is going to be really hard to critique, because it’s clearly an atypical/abstract piece of art – which means, in a nutshell, “unrealistic” or “unnatural”. The biggest attribute to this is the fact that her shadow turns into a giant Murkrow WHICH IS DIVING INTO SPACE. So essentially , all ‘them categories (about things like light sources / realism / anatomy) don’t really apply to you, and it opens up a whole new Pandora’s box of new things to analyze. So thanks for being all deep and shiz.

The Good:

-Balance: The first thing that stuck out to me is the fact that there is equal “weight” on both ends of this design. Intentional or not, it’s gorgeous. While the Murkrow’s wingspan makes it appear more bulky or “heavy” at first, the background of trees and leaves in the human half balance that out. It creates a really nice symmetry between the two halves that boosts the overall appearance. REALLY COOL.

-Story: Clearly there is a backstory to this image, even without you blatantly saying so. (Which, by the way, sounds pretty [email protected]) And something that I absolutely love about images that tell stories is that they make you think. Be it “What is happening, and why?”, “How do they feel?”, and “What does it mean?” – any of these provoke thought. And honestly, art that makes you think or feel is the absolute best kind of art. It turns ‘just a pretty picture’ into something really special.

-Colors: Colors take on a whole new role in abstract art. Artists often use them to express some kind of feeling or emotion. The three prominent color choices used here are red, blue, and green: what makes this really interesting is what these colors typically represent. Red is often associated with anger, confidence, or evil. Blue is deep, supernatural, or heroic. Green, curiously enough, is peace, freedom and inner strength. I’m summarizing a bit here, but any study into color meanings will lead you to a similar one.

This is super fascinating to me, because it looks like there was a method to both the usage of the colors and the location of them. I don’t know what your story entails, but my interpretation of this from the colors alone is an ominous internal struggle, and a battle between good and evil.

The Grave:

-Sketchiness: So this is where it gets tough for me, because a lot of so-called “mistakes” can actually make a piece like this “better”. While I really love the simplicity of the trees, the erratic shading, and the blotchiness of Murkrow’s feathers, I feel like the actual line art kind of takes something away from it. I can see every stroke and line that was drawn out of place, and I don’t think it adds any more meaning, style or dimension. Some cleaning up and blending would have gone a long way. (For example, the third tree from the left looks the best to me, and it’s because it has the cleanest and softest line art.)

-Space: Be so careful with white. White is the biggest focus and flattener. That pathway smack dab in the middle of your image draws immediate attention, and it shouldn’t. If you stretched those little shadows on the horizon forwards, it could have softened it up quite a bit and even added some more depth

And I have one more really trivial nitpicking: she has her left arm outstretched, but it looks like her hand actually belongs to her right arm. It should be a pinky in front, not a thumb. But I digress…

The Gauge:

Honestly, I don’t know if you did any of this on purpose. But if you didn’t, I strongly suggest picking up art as at least a hobby because you’ve got the gift. Maybe you just threw this together and everything happened on accident, but it’s the coolest mistake I’ve ever seen. You’ve got a natural eye, and it could be some subconscious talent coming through.

Quick rant about the art section: I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love art and all it entails, but gosh do I hate the scoring part. Art is so ridiculously subjective. I'm thinking of some of the art I've seen showcased in museums, or revered as 'best of all time'. And like, people could literally snot on a canvas and someone somewhere would call it a masterpiece. Obviously, this image is not made of boogers, but it is abstract. And the abstract part of it makes it impossible to use typical scoring meters like shading and accuracy ‘CUS REASONS.

That said, on the basis of creativity, effort, and execution, I’m awarding this piece a 65. That’s equivalent of Complex rank and translates to $25k. This is a bomb diggity piece of art, man. RIGHTEOUS.

 

Round 2: FIGHT

For the 8/9 portrait image-

The First:

Me gusta. Looks great. I love the positioning of Murkrow over her face so that its eye aligns where hers would be, and its hat thing rests on her forehead. NEAT DYNAMIC. I also love the unique vibrancy of the color choices - it really gives it that manic feel you were going for.

The Fierce:

-Shading: So that whole "shading with wrong colors" you were talking about is actually a thing. It's called warm vs cool shading, or temperature shading. The concept, in a nutshell, is that your light source creates a temperature. When you look at a shadow (for instance, say we are looking at grass), you may think you are seeing dark green, but in fact you are seeing blue. You assume it's dark green because grass is green, but light is one tricky sombitch. Temperature shading is actually the correct/more efficient and realistic way to shade, SO YOU WERE ACTUALLY BEING SMART IN CHOOSING PURPLE INSTEAD OF DARK BEIGE ON HER FACE.



A literal scenario: a sunny scene will have heavy use of the left grid, and a rainy scene will have heavy use of the right. Shading a yellow ball with orange instead of dark yellow will give it entirely new and rich dimension. 90% of my own art is done with temperature shading. It's kind of a confusing concept to grasp at first, but it really makes a difference.

Stole this from somewhere on the internet:

It's a pretty telling side by side visual of the difference between shading with shades of the same color, and temperature shading.

That said, you did a good job! It's a little sporadic, but it looks really nice and the color choices are great.


-Blending: This was another thing that looked nice. Everything was blended well, and it gave your characters a great 3-dimensional look. Murkrow's cheek and belly area have a good "rounded" look. And the chick's hair looks smooth and sleek. 8) Very well done.

The Fine:

-Shading: So shading is here twice because I thought it was both awesome and needed help. The colors were awesome, but the consistency was a bit off. It isn't very obvious where your light source is because the shading is so irregular. Example: The top of her hair and the underside of her hair are the same colors and shades. Sometimes shadows are in places highlights should be and vice versa. Keep in mind that light shines like a cone - it isn't 2D.

Something else a bit confusing about this is that the background is bright green, a kind of conflicting color. Use your environment in your shading. If your subject is in the sky, hints of that blue will reflect on the character. This girl and her Murkrow are surrounded by green, so hints of that green would be in hair, skin, and feathers.

-Line Art: It's a bit jagged, and contrasts with your smooth shading. Her nose is a big place where this is super pronounced and distracting, because it is drawn and blended so well (and I know noses are hard!) but the line art takes that realistic blend and reverts back into looking like a sketch. Blend your lines with smudge tool, paint brush, or you can make them their own layer to begin with and color or delete them after you've painted the base of your image. There are tons of methods to make smooth lines, and it would really help give your art a "finished" look.

There also is a slight inconsistency with your anatomy. Mainly in her forehead being a bit disproportionately large compared to the rest of her face. I see that this probably happened due to the attempt of aligning Murkrow's head with hers, but either her face needs to elongate to balance that out or her skull needs to shrink a bit. ;x

The Finish:

This is a really cool drawing, and I love the color shading and the composition. However, I think the line art, light source, and proportions could use a bit cleaning up for a higher tier. I score it a 50. That's Medium rank and translates to $10k. GOOD WORK.

As for the monthly theme, I think this does fit 'mania', but the 'ole art encyclerpedier says that the monthly theme doesn't apply to cash submissions. So...



>;D

 

so i made a thing again

I really wanted to work on lighting, so I ended up ditching color altogether. And it turned out pretty cool!

king's shield is a fustercluck of a story that I wrote for WaR years ago, but I have a soft spot for it and I'm still fiddling with rewrites. In the meantime, it features a clumsy black/white chess motif, attempted grey morality, a giant dragon of darkness, and so forth, so it honestly lent itself really well to a greyscale piece. There's also an aegislash wielder and Giratina is so much fun to draw, so here we are.

the king's shield

Spoiler

proof:

Spoiler

this piece took literally forever
here we are halfway through, when I finished shading the head and realized that this might turn out nicely
also obligatory joke about having multiple shades of color between black and white

attempted capture: giratina cash, I guess, because this probs doesn't have enough focus on the aegislash to try to go for anything there