Thread: sammy0295's art

Feel free to go wild with your curations? grades. I love reading them.

1. Mareep [45/35 CAUGHT]

Hi @sammy0295;! Posting to say I'm claiming this piece for curation = ) Expect it within the next few days, hopefully.

@sammy0295; Sorry for the delay, but here's your grade!

CONCEPT & FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A heartwarming scene fills the page, and one that’s impeccably sketched to boot. An initial glance at this piece tells me you’re no novice to sketching, and the technique you’ve demonstrated here is further evidence of that. And while the mother-and-child scene isn’t exactly the newest concept in art, it’s certainly refreshing to see it with a Pokémon twist added to it. Lots of feeling present in this piece, and that’s always good—being able to inspire strong emotions one way or another is a hallmark of great art. There’s quite a bit to unpack here so I won’t dwell on this section for long, but consider me impressed!

DETAIL, STRUCTURE, & CREATIVITY
I want to start by saying I appreciate the details on both Mareep and Ampharos. They’re drawn in a more realistic style while still keeping true to both Pokémon’s design. I love the facial expression on them both and can’t help but smile myself. Forgoing the generic cartoon cloud shape for a more textured representation of Mareep’s wool is an interesting choice, and one that was delivered well. I also appreciate the smudging on Ampharos’s tail orb; the delicate strokes and smart use of whitespace really brings it out. My only criticism with regards to detail in this piece is a minor one, and that’s the line which is supposed to demarcate the nail on Ampharos’s right foot is either absent or was erased. The glow of its tail casts light on that part, but the line should still be visible nonetheless.

I’ll move on now to your pencilwork, which is definitely on point—it’s expressive but not exaggerated, and though needing some polishing in a few places (the hatching on Ampharos’s thigh and the upper left hand corner of the image comes to mind), it’s well done overall. In addition, your lines also appear calculated—It’s a common pitfall to just start sketching erratically just for the sake of say, filling up an area or do some shading, but I can see that there’s directionality to your strokes, such that it follows the contours of your subjects logically and purposefully, which ultimately results in a much more visually compelling piece. Of course I say ‘calculated’ here not to mean rigid; there’s obviously a good amount of fluidity to your lines.

A few words about the places I mentioned above that could use some improvement: the hatching on Ampharos’s thigh I think you could have made smoother (blue arrows, see Figures below for a comparison), and there’s a line in particular that juts out and seems out of place mostly due to its weight (red line). The lower curve of the thigh I feel could have also been fleshed out more with some additional strokes (purple lines).

The lines on the upper left hand corner of the image appear scribbly, which, while not necessarily a bad thing, feels rushed and inconsistent with the rest of the image. Light smudging on that area would fit better, or by leaving out the lines entirely.

Now let me briefly talk about the composition of the piece. As mentioned earlier, we have Ampharos and Mareep in a mother-and-child pose, and it looks like they’re in a cave or a similar enclosure of some sort, with Ampharos’s tail lighting up the scene and providing some reassurance against the surrounding darkness for its child. Not much else going on in the background, but that’s fine. My nitpicks above aside, I really do think it’s a wonderfully sketched drawing. You clearly have talent for this, so keep at it!

SHADING
Normally I have color choice in this part of my curations, but obviously doesn’t apply here so let’s stick to shading, shall we? I think this is the part where your sketch truly shines. The balance between light/dark areas in your piece is well done, and the use of shading either through various degrees of smudging and hatching come together to give depth to your subjects. I love the nifty use of erasures throughout the piece, most notably the rings of light emanating from Ampharos’s tail orb and the highlights on Mareep’s wool and also on both Pokémon’s ring patterns. Definitely giving you two thumbs up for this section!

POKÉMON ANATOMY
Earlier I noted that Ampharos and Mareep were drawn more realistically, which is neat. You did a pretty good job in terms of anatomy so I haven’t much to say here, but props to you for drawing Ampharos’s arms that way! Its flippers always looked a bit awkward, and I imagine they’d be even more so when holding a Mareep, so good call on that one. It seems you missed adding toes on Mareep, but that’s minor. Ampharos and Mareep are definitely recognizable though, so no problems here.

THE VERDICT

Spoiler:

For a Simple-rank submission your effort really shows through, and the execution of your concept is nothing short of wonderful. All things considered, I’m definitely giving this a pass with a score of 45/35, so go ahead and claim your Mareep! Hopefully this didn't come across as overcritical! You're definitely deserving of your electric sheep = ) You clearly have good talent for art, so I expect to see more from you in the future!

If you have any questions or just want to talk about this in general, you can VM/PM me on Discord (or here on the forum, though I’m more likely to respond faster on Discord). Hit me up anytime for anything else URPG related too, and don't be shy to say hi in #general-chat! =D