magikarp more like magicrap amirite

score needed: 25

 

~ART GRADE~

~STRUCTURE & PRESENTATION~
First off, I'd like to commend you for your medium of choice. Usually, for an Easiest-level Pokémon such as Magikarp, people would be content with a quickly drawn sketch. Using modelling clay works to your advantage, as I feel it takes more skill and effort than a simple drawing (although some could say both are equal in difficulty). Now, contrary to what your thread says, I don't think this is crap at all. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say you've modeled this Magikarp excellently. The clay is clean, and for the most part the pieces are well-connected to one another (which is important, as one of the most common amateur mistakes when it comes to clay sculptures is leaving parts poorly connected, so that the sculpture looks unnaturally jointed). Your sculpture looks lumpy in some areas, particularly the pectoral and caudal/tail (forgive me, I'm a biology major lol) fins, though this isn't that big of an issue for me to mark you down. I actually think that kinda works for a Magikarp--makes it look more scaly. Nice work!

~COLOR & ANATOMY~
From the few experiences I've had with making clay art, I've always been annoyed at how limited the colors were. Unlike with paint or crayons, clay can be difficult when it comes to color. It depends on the brand, but most regular modelling clay I've handled doesn't mix well, either. Sometimes you'd want a particular shade of purple, and you're stuck with something that's a tad or two shades lighter. What's good about your sculpture is that all the colors match what is to be expected of a regular Magikarp, save perhaps the lining on the fins: you chose a light blue instead of black, which actually looks better in my opinion. Good call. Anatomy-wise I see no problems, though I think you could have flattened out the white portions a bit better. Also, I like how you captured Magikarp's signature vacant expression in clay.

~SOME SUGGESTIONS~
The fish checks out -- all good -- but what of the other elements to this piece? The background, for example. I think you intended for there to be a background; the scribbles tell me this. For a Pokémon on the lowest tier, this piece overall is good enough, but if in the future you intend to go for Pokémon in the higher ranks with clay art, I advise you to set up a more detailed background. You can do backgrounds with drawings, or you can even go as far as to sculpt background elements with clay. Maybe you can even put your figure in a natural setting -- think clay Caterpie on a real leaf, for example. Also, if you want to get serious in this medium, consider shading. Professional modellers (yes, that's an actual thing) make use of special paints designed to stick onto modelling clay. Some use special carving tools and molds to make sculpting with finer details easier. Like I said previously though, your piece is totally enough for an Easiest-level Pokémon--maybe even for a Simple Rank if you had a better background -- so over all you did well.

~THE VERDICT~
Magicrapkarp looks great, and the colors are nice. Try incorporating a more substantial background next time, and you'll get a higher score.

Spoiler

All things considered, I give your Magikarp a 32/100. That's more than what you needed to pass, so Magikarp is captured! Have fun with the floppy flailing fish.

If you have anything to say or questions about this curation, feel free to send me a VM/PM or IM.

@ayo;


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