Sketchswap by maficmelody on Newgrounds

Author Comments

Don't go into the long grass!

A mass collaboration of the Art Forum where randomly partnered forum-goers swap sketches based on the theme 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Expect the unexpected.

Badass sketch provided by Phobotech. I was tempted to parallel it, but decided to ham it up for the sake of lulz =3

Reviews

Phobotech

Rated 2.5 / 5 stars Mar 21, 2013

"For the sake of lulz"

That really sticks out to me...sticks out more than the dude's man-cleavage.

You should know that I was legitimately stressing over the sketch you had sent me for this contest.

First and foremost, because the theme was Beauty and the Beast, and what you sent me was, in my initial impression, a stretch of an interpretation on that theme. But, it had damn good potential; the poses you sent me were dynamic, it had challenging perspectives and angles on characters, and there were even elements you threw in to be included...from the people in the background to the toothy grin within the dark, cave-like reflections of the water.

I stressed out, and busted ass on that thing to make it look good. I just couldn't wait to see what you had done with my sketch. As more and more completed sketches began accumulating in the Sketchswap thread, I couldn't wait to see if we qualified to win anything...just to see where we stood among these talented contestants.

I perused through your art when I was thinking about what to sketch for you. I had gathered the impression that you seemed to really like furries, and you're pretty talented at handling them...but as indicated by the sketch you sent me, you weren't afraid to draw a human. I wasn't about to go av-ante-gard on my interpretation of "Beauty and the Beast" when I submitted you my first sketch, but I wanted to challenge you like you challenged me. I gave you a stocky balance of two characters, and a sufficient reminder of an environment.

The raptors legs were drawn too long, in what I had sent you...some details were really out of place, or were simply the wrong size, but I trusted your artistic integrity to hone it right, adapt or alter anything in there and make it work. Even if it came down to completely changing the appearance of the Trapper/Hunter/Poacher, it would've been fine to me. Hell, I was looking at some of the sketches sent to some of the other contestants, and they were SUPER LOOSE, the bare necessities of what that user had in mind, and the other artist turned it into something frame-able.

Any adaptation, I would've been down for it as long as it looked good.

But this is really underwhelming. I will not lie to you, and I gotta get this off my chest, because I really think about it a lot.

I was looking forward to how you would have made the female velociraptor more elegant. I am met with a cartoon derp grin.

I was looking forward to how you would have handled the raptor toe-claws. They have been replaced with just toes.

I was looking forward to how you would have detailed the shotgun. It is replaced by a hip-strapped, still-sheathed dagger.

I was looking forward to the man's grizzled, bearded facial expression. Then, this. Then a big 'ol Texan belt buckle, and instead of patches, a smiley face pin, and that two-strap saddle, and so on and so forth.

There are two details that I like. The sky's color pallete looks good, very believable overcast, yet kinda happy. The other is you included the original sketch into the frame...what happened dude?

What could have happened?

I know you submitted this thing at the last possible moment, (and that's cool; so did I and a whole bunch of other contestants)...and you even revised it during the period of time when the deadline was extended, so, I get the impression that you're really busy, taking priority to other arrangements...school, family, work, bitches, it's none of my business, but hey, we all have lives.

Time-management is a factor, and it's especially stressful when working with deadlines on ANY project...and, fuck yeah, "Life gets in the way." Believe me, I understand...but the overall creative decisions you made in how this piece turned out is really a let-down to me, dude...and THAT is the bulk of my criticism and negative scoring.

You handed me your sketch, and I stressed out...I even had a convo with you and one of the judges to change it early on in the competition, but at the beckoning of the rules, I TOO finished what you had sent me at the last minute. I felt really stoked that I was designing characters in a way that I did NOT typically design characters. It challenged me, and it was kinda exciting as the sketch filled out to what it became. I had hoped that you had looked upon the sketch I sent you similarly.

You finished somethin'...but it wasn't what I sent you. Even without my bias, as just a completely original art that had nothing to do with me or a contest, outside perspective, I don't dig it. And I look around at your other art submissions and I know you're capable of effort. So, what happened? Were you not digging the content, the contest, or was it time?

That's my real-talk man, I don't want you take this as an attack. Its my honest, no-bullshit critique, and I needed to get it off my chest. If you only took ONE THING WITH YOU from this review, just remember me when you participate in another sketchswap, dude. That's all I ask. The future partner might not be so receptive to the sake of lulz being catered, when it was craftsmanship they were hoping for.

Thanks for reading.

-G-

maficmelody responds:

I see where you're coming from, and I stressed a tad as well unsure of what I could and should do.

The image I sent you had quite a bit of careful thought with layout and emotional appeal. I'm MORE than impressed on how well you translated it and that people who reviewed it were able to appreciate the message.

The challenge was "beauty and the beast", yeah, but I wanted people to READ it, not SEE it, and to draw their own conclusions. It's a higher form of storytelling I anticipated the judges to appreciate and for you to take the cake for execution.

The reason I gave you that picture was because I knew what you could do with it, especially because of your style. I couldn't pull that off with my curvy and soft cartoon lines and color pallet at this point in the game.

In the time we had I drew pages of raptors and barrel chested dudes, each time bettering myself with knowledge of shape and form. The picture you sent me had no real character dynamism telling of their relationship other than 'here is my steed'. I understood it as a reference sheet, actually. My background in animation often prevents me from nursing my lines and tossing in superfluous detail, which I believe is evident in my gallery and cartoons. I'm surprised you're surprised that I didn't reference your drawing 1:1. I was tempted to draw OVER your drawing with slight modifications but I figured you would take that as a cop out and perhaps you did actually expect me to cartoon it up as my gallery would imply.

Time was also an issue, but besides the usual factors of school and work, I spent every minute I could with my visiting nephew who I haven't seen in years and probably won't see again without flying across the country because of a custody dispute. Drawing in front of a computer that week wasn't something I really wanted to do. To top it off my internet provider was doing area maintenance that week so my last post and upload was on public wifi. Not fun, to say the least.

Anyway, participating in this challenge has made me think that I need to expand my scope with less cartoony things and more practice with art like beksinski, which I really like. Essentially you've participated in changing me as an artist and led me to pursue other avenues. So you can take that as you will.