[FEB] Crater Thing

Spoiler: Spoilered bec huge

Title: Crater Thing
Target: Magby
Rank: Simple (35 points or higher)
Submitting for the February 2017 Monthly Theme under 'Fire-types'!

Notes:
Done with crayons. Another of my decade old drawings I found in one of my sketchbooks. As a kid I always saw Magmar as a volcanic-abomination-thing, because does it really look like a booby? Don't answer that.

Spoiler: proof of work

 

Sorry about the wait!!! I can't believe this escaped my radar! Claim!

 

Yikes! Sorry about the delay! Regardless, here I am!

Wow, ok this is a decade old? Ok! Well Magby is a simple pokemon. Which means that when I look at here your drawing gives off a rather gruff appearance given the medium I think that is a bit unavoidable. I do think there a lots of elements that work fine and others that doing quite add up the right way. I feel that this is drawn a little inconsistently. Some of the places I knoticed where parts of your drawing seem a little off is in your outline usage: in some places the outlines don't exists and in others are literally carved into the figure. It is a little jarring. I know you placed them there to differentiate certain parts of the drawing that would otherwise be hidden, as in its legs, or its arms, in particular and I think using a slightly different color might've helped. I'm a little confused as to why his forehead is colored in a little thinner than the rest of his body. If you want all super-thick outlines for that. If you want no outlines, really cut back. I feel like this drawing is at an uncomfortable stasis.

I really like how even the texture is on the crayon, taking the time to fill in every spot with great thickness is amazing, but at the same time I think, for a medium like crayons and colored pencils, it means that it becomes harder to shade when you start filling in areas with a thick coat of flat color. Editing also becomes harder and as I can tell by the way you've included some outlines around Magmar's head and legs, that happened. If you run into that, you can always layer other colors on top of each other, especially to get a color that doesn't come with your set so you don't have to spend more money on getting a better set. I think having a wide access to colors is good, but also you can do lots with a simple set of 16 or 24 crayons.

Magmar is a rather squat in stature and given the way you've drawn him, he is a little on the thin side. This isn't bad per se, but it is a little distracting. I think you did draw him well however, as his design is a complicated design of reds and yellows and I think you responded to that more than anything else in the drawing. He does seem to glow with all of those bright reds and yellows that you included. There isn't much shading which is a little upsetting--other than his claws which makes sense. I mean the only light sources you have specified are his glowing tail and the embers behind him yet you've shaded his claws as if he were facing a great flame. But I feel like this is an area with a lot of ambient light against a charred background. I think you could have made the background a bit darker, and more dramatic. Have you seen pictures of volcanic areas? That high contrast is so cool when you see glowing yellow and orange magma against a super dark, almost black rocky surface.

Overall your work has a lot of things with packed into it and it is a lot to process at once. You have a background with all sorts of mini-volcanoes or holes from the ground some of which are spewing hot fire while others are dormant. The background is a little flat, except for the part where he stands. I like the repetition and the drama of the scene as if pulls focus back to your Magmar, the black as night outlines are really jarring. I get if you're going for the inside of a dormant volcano, but the scale would confuse me slightly. I mean unless these "volcanoes" are about my height which could be possible in a volcanic active world. I'm not trying to ram you on this, since it is a simple, but watch out for scale of things in the background if you're not careful, you can make something a little silly. It is dark, however, which is a nice contrast to the figure out front.

Overall your Magmar mostly fits together as whole, but also feels like there were decisions made that either looked a little untidy or discontinuous with your style. I understand that this drawing is about 10 years old, but I really would have liked to see some TLC done to this drawing before submitting this. Magby is simple, so I would have to say that it eeks by simple standards. Once again, sorry for the delay and I do think this merits a Magby because even with all its flaws it does look like you struggled quite a bit with this one. (35/35) Magby is caught.

EDIT: You also get your little extra bit of cash for completing the monthly theme!

 

Thanks for the curation as always! Claiming Magby and the cash