Want a formal Art Critique?

[Ferstofus]

Hi, I've been dabbing into the theory of art critiquing and I'd like to offer it for those interested! I'm just a hobbyist but I read about it and I've been doing it for a while now (here are some examples from my stream). First come first served, just post your art here or a link to it and I'll reply with a critique! One art per post please, wait for me to get to you before asking for another.

I think this is different enough from a mere review since I'll be calling it successful/unsuccessful in the end instead of giving a score and I'll go through a process, here are some details:

• I'll be following Feldman's Method (Description -> Analysis -> Interpretation -> Judgement)
• For the Analysis I'll be considering 8 Elements of Art (the usual 7 plus Points, like some sources)
• For Judgement I'll consider 6 Principles of Art: Movement, Unity, Contrast, Emphasis, Balance and Proportion (because apparently authors online don't agree on which/how many principles are there and I had to make a choice)

By the way, if you want you can tell me what was your creative vision for the piece, basically your goal, plan, wish, the message you wanted to convey, etc; then I can just skip the Interpretation and use that instead, notably useful for things like references or fanart of stuff I might not know about so I'll need to do less research.

Also feel free to make me any questions! Thank you for reading this and make yourself at home!

[EmsDeLaRoZ]

Sounds cool to me. Here you have it then:

She's Kinbari, and she's a fairy with a chaotic nature and sociopathic mind. That's everything I wanted to depict here. I wanted to express the uncanny nature that envelopes the character, and to represent somehow the unpredictable and sometimes careless nature of her personality. Also, I don't like fairies with mosquito wings, that's why she doesn't have none, and the bandages in her design are for both represent simple forms of bondage (like mummification or just using bandages for everything), and embrace mystery as if she was hiding something under them.

I think is important to note that "Kinbari" as a name, comes from combination of Kinbaku and Shibari (which are the same discipline but with different names, and that discipline proceeds from bondage. Kinbari was first introduced in a bondage comic, and for context, as the Bondage Fairy).

[vlsrb]

Well that sounds interesting, why not. When you manage, I'd like to hear your opinions on this piece:

For context/intent, read the image description here:

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 12:44 AM, EmsDeLaRoZ wrote: Sounds cool to me. Here you have it then:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/emsdelaroz/kinbari-s-mind

She's Kinbari, and she's a fairy with a chaotic nature and sociopathic mind. That's everything I wanted to depict here. I wanted to express the uncanny nature that envelopes the character, and to represent somehow the unpredictable and sometimes careless nature of her personality. Also, I don't like fairies with mosquito wings, that's why she doesn't have none, and the bandages in her design are for both represent simple forms of bondage (like mummification or just using bandages for everything), and embrace mystery as if she was hiding something under them.

I think is important to note that "Kinbari" as a name, comes from combination of Kinbaku and Shibari (which are the same discipline but with different names, and that discipline proceeds from bondage. Kinbari was first introduced in a bondage comic, and for context, as the Bondage Fairy).

Alright!

Description

I see a smiling character with long hair in some sort of dark environment, they're startled or expressing some other intense emotion, they're covered in bandages and there are splashes of some red liquid all over them (I can assume that's blood), they grab their own face and hair.

Analysis

Points: I only see a few on the left side of the character's face, on one of the bandages, on the very bottom of their torso; gray on the face and bandage and black on the torso, sporadically placed, seem to be mostly complimentary to some textures.

Lines: Predominant in the background and the bandages, most straight or close to straight, gray on the bandages and black on the bg, uniform thickness on the bandages and more varying on the bg, and getting a bit thicker there.

Shapes: notably round head, oblong eyes, smooth-edged triangle mouth, curvy shapes with edges for the hair, rectangle-like shapes and trapezoids on the bandages and torso, ellipsoids on the background and finally hands with proper unique shapes, convex and curvy.

Forms: mostly conical for the torso and spherical for the head, proper forms for hands and hair.

Space: applied minimally between the hair and body/head, more generous use between the character's right hand and the hair and head and by far biggest use around the character themselves in relation to their surroundings.

Texture: by far most elaborate use on the hair, there's also use of it on the bandages and the splashes of blood(?), a bit also on details on the face and back of the hands.

Color: shades of white, red, brown and purple are predominant; there's also some use of blue and grey.

Value: pretty noticeable shadows on the background, the hair, head, eyes and mouth, some small glean being reflected from the eyes and darkest shadows present on the bg, also subtle brightness around the lines and shapes on the bg.

Interpretation

You saved me this effort! I'll just list key points from what you said: a fairy with a chaotic nature and sociopathic mind; uncanny, unpredictable, careless nature, bondage, mystery, Kimbaku/Shibari.

Also I can finally say they are a she.

Judgement

Movement: By far I see it on the background due to the use of elements of Line and Value. I see the Movement here as multidirectional and chaotic, considering the title of the art piece I see that communicating Kinbari's chaotic/unpredictable/careless traits, maybe somewhat sociopathy also.

Unity: Very strong to me on the continuity of the use of purple on the background, also on the repetition of red for the eyes, mouth and blood splashes, on the textures of the hair, and the rhythmic straightness of the lines on the bg. I also see Variety (Unity's opposite) in the shapes of the blood splashes and the angles on the bg lines. The Variety helps me see Kinbari's traits that were already mentioned, plus the Unity on the use of red; the Unity on the color of the bg convey to me a bit of something uncanny/mysterious. Also there's unity in the rhythm of lines and repetition of colors and textures on the bandages that I think could communicate ideas of bondage/Kimbaku/Shibari, but the proximity to the blood splashes convey to me something closer to damage/recovery/healing instead.

Contrast: Mainly in the juxtaposition of shades of white and the dark shades of purple in the bg. Again I see that communicating a bit of uncanniness and mystery, from one side of this contrast coin, let's say.

Emphasis: Strongly to me in the way the shapes and forms of the head and torso contrast with the bg and its space, lines, colors and value. Makes me notice the morphology well but I don't see that tying too much to any part of the creative vision.

Balance: I see equilibrium all around but points of tension in the left hand on the face and the right one pulling the hair. I think that also helps communicate the chaotic nature, sociopathy and unpredictability of Kinbari.

Proportion: I'm going to broadly classify the proportions as smallest for the splashes of blood, then comes the hands, eyes, mouth and head bandage; then torso bandage; then hair, head and torso; then background. The blood having its own grouping I believe helps give it some meaning, and that meaning tying well to chaos/sociopathy/unpredictability/carelessness, broadly speaking. Similar logic to the bg and uncanniness/mystery, once again.

Final Judgement: Unsuccessful.

I deem that there must be success in all parts of the creative vision for the art to be successful and I did not see the ideas of a fairy or bondage that well constructed; even if Kinbari's personality was strongly conveyed to me through most Principles.

Maybe the glean on the eyes could tie somewhat to a fairy?... I don't know, I just didn't find anything wondrous or magical or the like that could do it, mosquito wings or not. Maybe there's an argument that this is not Kinbari's first appearance and that I should critique that one for the design of a fairy, but regardless, the placement/proximity of the blood on the bandages kind muddled things for me on the Shibari front. I'd suggest trying to portray restraint in some manner, maybe that'd be a way for me to see it more as bondage mummification than healing wounds.

And just a reminder that different critics can give different judgements, but I hope this was helpful in some way!

[MetalSlayer69]

Go wild

[OnceHere]

I'm curious :3

[EmsDeLaRoZ]

At 12/16/23 03:44 AM, Ferstofus wrote:

At 12/16/23 12:44 AM, EmsDeLaRoZ wrote: Sounds cool to me. Here you have it then:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/emsdelaroz/kinbari-s-mind

She's Kinbari, and she's a fairy with a chaotic nature and sociopathic mind. That's everything I wanted to depict here. I wanted to express the uncanny nature that envelopes the character, and to represent somehow the unpredictable and sometimes careless nature of her personality. Also, I don't like fairies with mosquito wings, that's why she doesn't have none, and the bandages in her design are for both represent simple forms of bondage (like mummification or just using bandages for everything), and embrace mystery as if she was hiding something under them.

I think is important to note that "Kinbari" as a name, comes from combination of Kinbaku and Shibari (which are the same discipline but with different names, and that discipline proceeds from bondage. Kinbari was first introduced in a bondage comic, and for context, as the Bondage Fairy).

Alright!

Description

I see a smiling character with long hair in some sort of dark environment, they're startled or expressing some other intense emotion, they're covered in bandages and there are splashes of some red liquid all over them (I can assume that's blood), they grab their own face and hair.

Analysis

Points: I only see a few on the left side of the character's face, on one of the bandages, on the very bottom of their torso; gray on the face and bandage and black on the torso, sporadically placed, seem to be mostly complimentary to some textures.

Lines: Predominant in the background and the bandages, most straight or close to straight, gray on the bandages and black on the bg, uniform thickness on the bandages and more varying on the bg, and getting a bit thicker there.

Shapes: notably round head, oblong eyes, smooth-edged triangle mouth, curvy shapes with edges for the hair, rectangle-like shapes and trapezoids on the bandages and torso, ellipsoids on the background and finally hands with proper unique shapes, convex and curvy.

Forms: mostly conical for the torso and spherical for the head, proper forms for hands and hair.

Space: applied minimally between the hair and body/head, more generous use between the character's right hand and the hair and head and by far biggest use around the character themselves in relation to their surroundings.

Texture: by far most elaborate use on the hair, there's also use of it on the bandages and the splashes of blood(?), a bit also on details on the face and back of the hands.

Color: shades of white, red, brown and purple are predominant; there's also some use of blue and grey.

Value: pretty noticeable shadows on the background, the hair, head, eyes and mouth, some small glean being reflected from the eyes and darkest shadows present on the bg, also subtle brightness around the lines and shapes on the bg.

Interpretation

You saved me this effort! I'll just list key points from what you said: a fairy with a chaotic nature and sociopathic mind; uncanny, unpredictable, careless nature, bondage, mystery, Kimbaku/Shibari.
Also I can finally say they are a she.

Judgement

Movement: By far I see it on the background due to the use of elements of Line and Value. I see the Movement here as multidirectional and chaotic, considering the title of the art piece I see that communicating Kinbari's chaotic/unpredictable/careless traits, maybe somewhat sociopathy also.

Unity: Very strong to me on the continuity of the use of purple on the background, also on the repetition of red for the eyes, mouth and blood splashes, on the textures of the hair, and the rhythmic straightness of the lines on the bg. I also see Variety (Unity's opposite) in the shapes of the blood splashes and the angles on the bg lines. The Variety helps me see Kinbari's traits that were already mentioned, plus the Unity on the use of red; the Unity on the color of the bg convey to me a bit of something uncanny/mysterious. Also there's unity in the rhythm of lines and repetition of colors and textures on the bandages that I think could communicate ideas of bondage/Kimbaku/Shibari, but the proximity to the blood splashes convey to me something closer to damage/recovery/healing instead.

Contrast: Mainly in the juxtaposition of shades of white and the dark shades of purple in the bg. Again I see that communicating a bit of uncanniness and mystery, from one side of this contrast coin, let's say.

Emphasis: Strongly to me in the way the shapes and forms of the head and torso contrast with the bg and its space, lines, colors and value. Makes me notice the morphology well but I don't see that tying too much to any part of the creative vision.

Balance: I see equilibrium all around but points of tension in the left hand on the face and the right one pulling the hair. I think that also helps communicate the chaotic nature, sociopathy and unpredictability of Kinbari.

Proportion: I'm going to broadly classify the proportions as smallest for the splashes of blood, then comes the hands, eyes, mouth and head bandage; then torso bandage; then hair, head and torso; then background. The blood having its own grouping I believe helps give it some meaning, and that meaning tying well to chaos/sociopathy/unpredictability/carelessness, broadly speaking. Similar logic to the bg and uncanniness/mystery, once again.

Final Judgement: Unsuccessful.

I deem that there must be success in all parts of the creative vision for the art to be successful and I did not see the ideas of a fairy or bondage that well constructed; even if Kinbari's personality was strongly conveyed to me through most Principles.

Maybe the glean on the eyes could tie somewhat to a fairy?... I don't know, I just didn't find anything wondrous or magical or the like that could do it, mosquito wings or not. Maybe there's an argument that this is not Kinbari's first appearance and that I should critique that one for the design of a fairy, but regardless, the placement/proximity of the blood on the bandages kind muddled things for me on the Shibari front. I'd suggest trying to portray restraint in some manner, maybe that'd be a way for me to see it more as bondage mummification than healing wounds.

And just a reminder that different critics can give different judgements, but I hope this was helpful in some way!

Interesting to say the least. I'll consider your critique to redesign Kinbari for future appearances in my work, specially on both parts of bondage and fairy vibes. Thanks

[BroSkullEmoji]

A bit of feedback and thoughts wouldn't hurt:

The vision behind this piece is that I wanted to have a character that due to whatever cirucmstances, has a deep and destructive obsession for someone (hence the writing on the walls and the dagger). I didn't meant to make it super exagerated, abstract, or vent-art like; instead I was aiming for something along the lines of a shot in a movie or an album cover.

A few parts such as the white part of the eyes being black and the blood being more pink and saturated instead of a very deep red (like realistic blood would be) were actuallly intentional, for no specific reason, mainly appeal and/or uniqueness.

Either way, i'd appreciate your thoughts on this piece!

[NecroNovaNG]

I will absolutely take the chance to get some critique on my art for a change!

This is Ziker, and she's a robotic warrior, to put it simply. She's a warrior who has the potential for greatness, but cant easily control it due to her naïve nature. The design i had in mind was meant to look simple like Mega Man, but also complex like Beck (from Mighty No. 9). I call it a middle ground honestly. Usually, id give eyelashes to my characters depending on whether or not they're female, but i made a major exception for Ziker because i thought itd be pretty obvious when guessing.

"Ziker" also isnt a real word to my recollection, it just sounded cool and original compared to the others, so i stuck with it.

Art Portal Link: Ziker [Main Character No. 1]

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 02:03 AM, vlsrb wrote: Well that sounds interesting, why not. When you manage, I'd like to hear your opinions on this piece:

For context/intent, read the image description here:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/vlsrb/cocoon

Description

I see two bearded young men in some struggle or fight inside of the body of a crouched person with hands on their head. One of the men have chains on his neck and wrists while the other holds some handles of sorts on those chains. The crouched person is mostly featureless, lacking clothing, a mouth and any hair (though still having nails); also displaying a concentric pattern on their eyes and (what I believe to be) webs or adhesive substances on many parts of the body.

Analysis

Points: I see it mostly on the hair of the man on the left, complementing textures there and on some details of the cap of the other one. There's also points on some other isolated spots complementing other Elements of Art. All points are black.

Lines: I find a lot of variety on the thickness throughout, with thicker lines on the outline of the crouched person and thinner ones on other parts, like on the fighting men; though even within these parts there's irregularity on it (complementing the forms, it seems to me). Use of hatching technique to convey shadows and some textures. Presence of smoothness and curvature on many lines. Many lines are accompanying the shapes of surrounding parts, specially close to the fighting men, and use of concentric line patterns on the eyes and knees of the crouching person. All lines are black.

Shapes: Many humanoid shapes, with limbs, head and torso, specially considering their proportions; also on details like noses, hands and feet. Use of circles on the knees and eyes of the crouching person. Elipsoids on the webs/adhesives. Extensive use of edged shapes on the background, surrounding the crouching person and also present on the webs/adhesives. Thin, long shapes for the chains and presence of many smaller, unique shapes on details throughout.

Forms: Humanoid forms with plenty of curvature on many parts; flat, edgier ones on the webs/adhesives; many intricacies on the details and their forms and less curvature on the forms of the chain.

Space: More generous use in between the two fighting men, notable tightness between some parts of them and the enveloping crouching person and also between that person's body and their own limbs, due to their pose. Some openness on the background in relation to the crouching person. Also tight space for some details throughout.

Textures: Mostly the many folds of the clothing of the fighting men, also on the hair of the left one (being bristly) and on his beard plus the forearm hair of the other one (those a bit coarse, I'd describe).

Color: There is only stark black and white. Black for the background, shadows and hair + beard of the man on the right (+ Points and Lines); white for the rest in general.

Value: Extensive use of shadows on the back, hands and head of the crouching person; also some use of it on the hoodie of the man on the right and near the neck of the one on the left. As I said before, use of the hatching technique to achieve it. Lack of proper brightness or light reflection as far as I can tell, at most maybe there's a halo-like effect on the hair of the left man or some conveyal of light from contrast with the shadows.

Interpretation

Considering the title, the image description, my work on the Description step, Analysis and my own hermeneutics, I interpret ideas of inner conflict, development/change/metamorphosis/cocoons and freedom/choice were the core aspects of the creative vision. Also with that in mind I'll be considering the webs/adhesives as probably silk.

Judgement

Movement: I see it strongly on the use of short Lines near the left shoulder and right elbow of the crouched person and on many, many lines surrounding the fighting men's shapes. The movement here I feel as abrupt bursts and that to me communicates some sort of struggle for the men and distress for the crouched person, both of which I see as tying well to notions of an inner conflict.

Unity: I see it greatly on the encasing of the men inside the crouched person's body, in how their Shapes respect the boundaries of the person's (also tying to the use of Space) and how the person's Lines accompany the men's shapes on many parts. There's also repetition on the use of the hatching technique for many parts for Value and Textures and I see great Variety (Unity's opposite) on the edgy Shapes of the background in contrast with the smoothness of many lines in other parts. There's also rhythmic repetition on the Shapes and Forms of the silk and Variety on the two men's clothing and its details. I think the variety on the background help convey instability and discomfort and I think that ties well to a situation of inner conflict; the unity from the silk I think help convey the idea of a cocoon. The encasing of the two men inside the person I think communicate well the ideas of an inner struggle.

Contrast: I see it mostly when comparing the sizes (thus Shapes and Forms) and expressions (Lines, Shapes, a bit of Space) of the men and the person, also the dramatic use of Value on the person plus the thickness of the Lines. I see that as communication a bit the presence of an inner and an outer world, (though not by itself conflict).

Emphasis: I see it on the fight by far, with the use of Lines and Space between the two young men. A second point of emphasis would be the face of the person with the Lines, Shapes and Value specially to me (btw, some authors and I consider Hierarchy as the same principle as Emphasis). To me the fight helps convey (inner) conflict.

Balance: I see equilibrium on many parts but a strong exception on the left man apparently falling (Shapes, Forms, Space) and points of tension on two parts of the chain. From the tension I see conveyed conflict and some freedom but that's it.

Proportion: I'll broadly group the proportions as silks + many clothing details, then the chain, then the two men and the person's limbs, and the person themselves for the biggest one. I don't see any of it tying to the vision, proportion-wise (the cocoon silk is kind of muddled up with the different things and I don't see the chain conveying freedom just by itself).

Final Judgement: Successful.

To me most principles are carrying the notions of an inner conflict but there's at least one expressing freedom and one, cocoon. Cocoons are the way larvae develop/change, so I'm seeing it as a metaphor for development/change here (since people don't go through literal metamorphosis).

And just a reminder that different critics can give different judgements, but I hope this was helpful in some way!

[vlsrb]

@Ferstofus, that was a very interesting read. I can't vouch for other artists, since I am a bit of an amateur, but it's amazing just how much we pour into our art subconsciously. A lot of the things you mentioned in your critique were intentional, but some of them were not. I think some people would us this as evidence that art critique is meaningless, since it can discover profound meaning even in happy accidents, but I like to think that those who study art are actually able to peer into the subconscious process behind it, and maybe find things that the artists themselves weren't aware of!

A lot of thought, not to mention time, went into your critique, so thank you very much for creating this thread and giving my art a thorough look!

[ZombieGhost]

I am curious of your take on this one.

[Ferstofus]

At 12/17/23 02:06 AM, vlsrb wrote: @Ferstofus, that was a very interesting read. I can't vouch for other artists, since I am a bit of an amateur, but it's amazing just how much we pour into our art subconsciously. A lot of the things you mentioned in your critique were intentional, but some of them were not. I think some people would us this as evidence that art critique is meaningless, since it can discover profound meaning even in happy accidents, but I like to think that those who study art are actually able to peer into the subconscious process behind it, and maybe find things that the artists themselves weren't aware of!

A lot of thought, not to mention time, went into your critique, so thank you very much for creating this thread and giving my art a thorough look!

Well uh, I don't know about subconscious stuff, I'm not a psychologist nor do I aspire to be. I just go over my interpretation and impressions because of the way I've learned to critique art. But anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[BoiledMilkz]

Yeah, I have some art!

I just made them for fun.

[VanVeleca]

Sounds interesting

The piece I want to be critiqued is the cover I made for my webcomic

A big part of the comic's story will be about Ella's and Pfi's relationship and their pasts, how they influence eachother and what is truly important to them. The world? Or their friendship?

Right now the comic is still in it's early stages and I still need to properly set up the plot and introduce all the characters, but I'm already finished with introduction arc (Chapters 1 ~ 6)

What do you think of it for now as an early cover, where their relationship is a bit more distant?

I also have an olde placeholder cover for comparison, where the story was still a bit more loose and I didn't quite know where I wanted to focus on with the story

[Oddlem]

OMGGG I would LOVE if you could critique my newest one!

The whole idea was the idea of acceptance. I have a bird character inside of an overarching story I'm making, and she struggles with the difficulties of having a bird-like body instead of a human body. So I wanted to visually show her accepting herself, shown with a "human" version of herself reassuring her! And I used a bunch of sharp objects in the background to contrast against the soft lines of the human version, so that I could show that she's "safe" against the scary unknown. The flowers and vines, I put on her to TRY to imply that this isn't actually real and that it's happening through magical forces. The flowers on the ground, I honestly just wanted thematical contrast LOL

SO! I would love you to review this and tell me anything that I could've done better, anything that's confusing or strays too far from the idea I was going for

if you do, I wanna say thank you in advance!

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 03:52 AM, MetalSlayer69 wrote: Go wild
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/metalslayer69/rockin

Description

I see three men, each playing a musical instrument, two of them with stringless guitars and one on some sort of piano thing (I don't see the full structure of a piano). One of the guitars seems to have a neck shaped with an unique curvature and some piano keys seem to be detached from that instrument. One of the guitarists is playing standing on top of the piano. They all seem to be enjoying themselves, notably the pianist, who puts a foot on the piano keys. The guitarists are wearing suits and ties while the pianist, a shirt. There is some strong light being reflected from the glasses of one of the guitarists. The image is in black and white.

Analysis

Points: There's notably some black ones on the guitar of the musician on the left, accompanying the neck of the instrument; there's also a few white ones on its tuning pegs. A number of isolated points in black, white and gray are scattered throughout the picture, many to me apparently complementing uses of texture and/or value, but many not.

Lines: Much use of thick lines in parts like the left musician's guitar and his legs, the legs of the pianist, the partial structure of the piano-like thing and a number of other specific parts; thinner lines in many other parts like the suits, the shirt, the hands and the faces; overt irregularity in the thickness of lines through the whole artwork. Predominance of curvature, with fewer sharp edges and perfectly straight lines. Most lines are black, although there are a few faint, sparce, white ones around parts of the pianist (like his left leg) and left guitarist.

Shapes: The humanoid shapes (torso, limbs and head) are pretty noticeable to me, as well as the guitar ones with their long neck and "8-shaped" body. Guess I'll mention again the guitar with the uniquely shaped curved neck. There's also the presence of many unique smaller shapes for the many details throughout the picture. I can kinda make out some pseudogeometrical shapes for the piano-like thing and the pianist bench, I suppose (trapezoid-ish and pentagonal-ish ones?...And a concave nightmare on the piano's top).

Forms: Again, humanoid is what I'm thinking on and I'm noticing the girth of the limbs and torso; the blocky form of the piano thing and the flatness on the guitars and their extending, case-like body also call my attention. And I notice many smaller details having distinct forms of their own like the ties, the shoes, the glasses, the wires...

Space: I see it vast around the guitarist on top of the piano (in relation to the background), more moderate between the musicians and tighter on details like the distance between the guitars and the guitarists' bodies or the edge of the pants and the shoes of the guitarist on the piano. Also there's some slightly generous space under the pianist's left leg, between that and the bench; also between him and the piano...There are other uses of space (like between some detached piano keys and the piano thing) but I'll just mention the most noticeable ones to me.

Texture: Mostly on the many foldings on the clothes and the curlyness of their hair, there's also a subtle cushioned one on the bench.

Color: Everything is in shades of black, gray or white. Black for many lines; for a lot of the clothes, skin, hair and guitar wire of the guitarist on top, plus the shoes of the pianist. Lighter or darker shades of gray for most other things, except on uses of white for the pianist's shirt, belt, the piano keys, the left guitarist glasses' lens and parts of the two guitars plus some details of the whole picture.

Value: Notable on the bright reflection from the left guitarist's glasses, also accompanying many of the folds and textures of the clothes and bench and present on the musician's faces and the piano thing surface. The light reflections and shades seem to follow random angles and I can't make out where exactly is/are the source(s) of light, my best bet would be from the viewers eyes but some shades indicate otherwise (like the one under the top guitarist's left foot, who suggests a light source from the top left but that'd be conflicting with shades on the left guitarist shoulders, for example). Also the shades on the left guitarist face and neck seem to have weird shapes that are not fitting well into his forms (like his mouth or possibly an Adam's apple attemptedly conveyed through negative space).

Interpretation

Considering the artwork's title, its tags here in NG, physical traits of the musicians (specially tied to their instruments), my work on the Description, Analysis and my own thoughts, I interpret the creative vision involved a tribute to three famous musicians from the 50s, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, pioneers in different ways for the rock n' roll music genre; taking into account their separate paths but shared importance for the creation and development of that genre by extent I also interpret this art as a tribute to rock n' roll music as a whole. I also interpret that the portrayal of their personalities and that a general feeling of "good vibes" were parts of the vision. Thus I'll henceforth consider and refer to the left guitarist as Buddy, the other as Chuck and the pianist as Jerry; also the "piano thing" as a mere piano.

Judgement

Movement: I see it stronger on the extent of the necks of the guitars (mainly due to Points and Shapes), Jerry's left leg (Lines, Forms, Texture, Value), the piano keys (Lines, Shapes, Color) and Chuck's guitar wire (Shapes, Color). Also to a minor degree on Buddy's left hand fingers (Shapes, Space, Value) and Chuck's right foot and pant hem (Shapes, Forms, Value). I think this effect upon their signature instruments help communicate their skills and merit and tie well to a tribute, and also tying well to a tribute to rock n' roll for the fact that two of those instruments are guitars. The effect on the feet, I think showcase sides of Chuck and Jerry's personalities (them having done such movements on shows before) and also tying to fun/energetic/good vibes as I see it (duckwalking and/or fooling around with the instrument).

Unity: Strongly on the limited choice of Colors, black and white stuff. Also through the repetition on Shapes and Forms of the guitars, Variety on those for the piano. Repetition for the Shapes, Forms and Textures of the three rockers; Variety on predominant colors for each of their clothes (Gray, Black, White). I see what I said here for the instruments tying to a tribute to them and a rock tribute.

Contrast: Mostly on the Color between their clothing. Some between the instruments Shapes/Forms again (tying to tributes again). Some between Lines' thicknesses like Buddy's hands vs guitar or Jerry's legs vs torso (this tying to Jerry's personality and also fun).

Emphasis: I see some on Chuck on top of the piano (with Forms, Space, Color). IMO tying to fun and slightly "good vibes" and considering his duckwalking pose and guitar in hand tying to the other parts of the vision too.

Balance: I see the artwork mostly in equilibrium, exception being a slight lack of it in Chuck's duckwalking and slight tension in Buddy's and Chuck's joints and Jerry's left buttcheek. So much fun and I see tribute to Chuck and Jerry and a showcase of their personalities.

Proportion: Broadly, I see the artists' whole bodies + the piano in the biggest scale, smaller than that are the guitars + Jerry's left leg, smaller than that are the other limbs from everyone and even smaller are details like Jerry's shoes, Buddy's glasses, the ties. With things muddled on same scales or just unrelated, I don't see any of that (proportion-wise) or any relation between scales helping achieve any side of the vision.

Final Judgement: Successful.

I think the iconography helped a lot. Also, I'd like to add that I'm talking little of your technique here, naturally you can always still improve that (IMO some stuff had no function nor style vibes).

And just a reminder that different critics can give different judgements, but I hope this was helpful in some way!

[Waterina]

This one

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 06:19 AM, OnceHere wrote: https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/oncehere/emanation

I'm curious :3

Description

I see a winged woman in side-view, she also has wings protruding from some sort of black Dolman dress she's wearing, the wings are also black. She has long, wavy hair and above her head some sort of elliptic structure with a dark ball at the center and some perpendicular details. The woman has pointy ears and is in a pose with her right hand forward and left hand back, she is also on mid-air and apparently about to reach the ground (maybe from a jump or something). She seems to be using some unique footwear and her toes are exposed, at least on her right foot (I don't see the other one). There are some very tall pillar-like shapes on the background and some black balls at the upper part of the picture.

Analysis

Points: I don't think I see any, at most there's possibly some weaved into the textures on the wings (those'd be gray, sparse and isolated if so, though maybe I'm just seeing some "negative space illusion" here).

Lines: Some curved, black ones on the outlines of the hair. Some slightly straighter and thicker ones used for outlines of boned parts of the wings and parts of the dress (also black). A lot of thin, black ones used for texture on the wings and dress. White, thin lines circling the balls on the upper part. Lines white and curved (naturallly) for the elliptic structure.

Shapes: Very noticeable on the pillar-like structures, long and with thicker bases near the bottom of the image, also with imperfect straightness through their extent. The wings make for protruding and spread shapes from the woman, who has a slim torso, fingers and ears. The dress makes for spread shapes on her arms and lower body. The woman's hair has a shape long and with plenty of curvature. The elliptic structure makes for concentric ellipses, its perpendicular details have very thin shapes with very sharp edges. The black balls have circular shapes.

Forms: Noticeable on the wings, there slim and elaborate in the groups of feathers. Wavy on the dress, somewhat expansive on the hair. Thin, tube-like on the fingers; with a thicker girth on the foot. Splashy on the perpendicular details. Spherical on the balls. Also, the pillar shapes suggest some implicit three-dimensionality (even though, being just shapes, there's not actually any, Art Element shapes being 2D and forms, 3D).

Space: Limited, moderate between paired wings and between each pair, also between the woman's head and the elliptic structure; tighter between the right arm and the dress skirt, between the left arm and the wings and between the bottom-most wings and the skirt. Also, if considering the implicit three-dimensionality, there's a vast space between the pillars and a somewhat generous one between the woman and the pillar to the right.

Texture: Feathery on most of the wings and wrinkled on the boned part of half of them (the woman's left ones). Extremely wrinkled through the whole dress and footwear.

Color: Everything is in black, gray, white and red. Black for the balls, the perpendicular details, some shadows and the "ground" (only discernible if considering the implicit pillar's three-dimensionality); shades of gray for the dress and wings; white for the woman's skin, hair, the elliptic structure and the pillar-like shapes; red for the background.

Value: Present on shades on the wings and dress, on a pitch-black shadow underneath the dress and on very mild shades on parts of the hair.

Interpretation

Considering the artwork's title, author's comment, tags, my work on the Description, Analysis and my own thoughts, I interpret the creative vision involved mainly the portrayal of an "Angel of Death". Tied to that, also notions of power (specially from the pillars' imposing dimensions; if tying to the Angel, possibly the idea of something like "the power of death") and notions of something mysterious and unsetling (again, as a possible impression for death, tying to the black balls in this case).

Judgement

Movement: Mainly following the extent of the wings with their Shapes, Forms, Texture and Colors (+ maybe Lines); also on the lower parts of the dress due to Shapes, Forms and Color. I associate that with the concept of angels as winged creatures and there's use of dark shades of gray, some very close to black, which is commonly associated with death on western cultures (which are familiar with that angel iconography). Black can sometimes also be associated with "power" and "mystery" on color theory.

Unity: Strong on the continuity of Color and parts of the Shapes for the pillars. A lot on the Forms and Textures of the wings, also on Colors for the wings and the dress. Some on the Color of the background. Also on many other parts of the image, involving Space or Lines for example; scattered poinst of Variety also. I see the straight parts of the pillars' Shapes helping convey feelings of power and presence, the Unity on the wings helping communicate the angelic features again and the dark gray, ideas of death/power/mystery, again. Also there's some proximity between the elliptic strucutre and the woman's head (element of Space) and thus I see some Unity there and a little bit the idea of a halo (a common part of angels' iconography), though the lack of alignment between them wanes that some for me.

Contrast: Specially with Color in the Red x White x Gray juxtaposition (since red is the background) and also on the straighter Shapes of the columns in comparison to the spread out ones of the wings. A little between the Color, Shapes and Forms of the dark ball + perpendicular details against the elliptic structure. I see contrast on other parts, but these are the most noticeable ones to me. Paying attention to the Shapes of the wings, my thoughts are close to angels again, dark gray/black close to death, power and mystery (this last one also I think conveyed through the contrast between the black balls Colors contrasting with the background). Also the contrast between the elliptic structure and the ball + perpendicular details convey to me some ideas of a galaxy or a solar system, which I tie a bit to power for the sizes and energy involved in astronomical entities/events (+ I tie it a bit to mystery for the unique/alien/floaty looks compared to daily-life views/objects, at least for non-astronomers).

Emphasis: Strong on the wings (Shapes, Forms, Texture), second to that the structure + ball + perpendicular details (Colors, Shapes, Forms). Wings <-> angels again, and there's the small link between galaxies and power and mystery again.

Balance: In general visually balanced all throughout, I don't see any tension and there seems to be equilibrium everywhere in one way or another; if there's something differing from that I think it's too subtle for me to notice. I don't see any of that tying to any part of the vision.

Proportion: I'll conceptualize the biggest scale for the pillars (specially if considering the implicit 3D), a smaller one for the wings + the woman's body and dress, a smaller one for her hair + the elliptic structure (+ ball and details), a smaller one for the black balls on the upper part and the smallest for her hands + face + foot. That's how I'll group this. Thus the IMO imposing pillars I see as conveying power and the isolated black balls, mystery (+ maybe death/power), through distinct proportions. Humanoid traits on the smallest proportion are also conveying a humanity common in angelic portrayals, I think. The rest I see as either mixed without cohesion or just unrelated to the vision (proportion-wise).

Final Judgement: Successful.

I didn't mention anything unsettling but I see death as instinctively unsettling, so there's that.

Also, sorry this took so long, I was talking part in the Writer's Jam 2 last weekend!

[OnceHere]

Also, sorry this took so long, I was talking part in the Writer's Jam 2 last weekend!

Thanks for the critique! I'd like to add something about the pillars, the circles, the wings, and the halo. The pillars represent the human mind, the body, and the soul. The circles at the top represent the Holy Trinity of Christianity. The halo represents the universe. The wings represent the death of the three things mentioned earlier: with the death of the humans, comes the death of religion, and with the death of religion, comes the death of the universe (assuming that the humans are the only advanced civilization to exists).

And while the image contains lots of death symbolism, the number 333 also represents optimism.

Another related thing is the death of the author, all of the things that I want to convey doesn't really matter as long as the viewer has their own interpretation.

[OnceHere]

Thanks for the critique! I'd like to add something about the pillars, the circles, the wings, and the halo. The pillars represent the human mind, the body, and the soul. The circles at the top represent the Holy Trinity of Christianity. The halo represents the universe. The wings represent the death of the three things mentioned earlier: with the death of the humans, comes the death of religion, and with the death of religion, comes the death of the universe (assuming that the humans are the only advanced civilization to exists).

And with the wings and halo being a part of the angel, she also dies along with everyone; as the death of everything is the death of death. Death is its own murderer.

And while the image contains lots of death symbolism, the number 333 also represents optimism.

as death even if it is inevitable, (as of the creation of this image at least) we are just as equally capable of bringing our own success just as we do in our demise. Success is of course being entirely dependent on the individual, so there's that I guess.

Another related thing is the death of the author, all of the things that I want to convey doesn't really matter as long as the viewer has their own interpretation.

My reply got posted early T^T

[Nebulate]

i coud go for some critisism. This art was made for the NG secret santa this year. I put alot more effort that i usualy do im my art. But i still wanna find out what i can do to improove. Feel free to be blunt when criticing me.

A few notes:

I need to mention is that i use MS-Paint. I do plan on changing to Krita next year. Just so youre aware. Maby you coud give small tips when changing program (you dont have to tho).

And i did sketch during the prosess bc ms-paint has layers now. Im new to scetching lol.

i did use multible sittings and omited shading beacouse i was lazy when drawing this.

I am trying to acheve an artstyle with bright coulors.

[Ferstofus]

At 12/26/23 02:52 AM, OnceHere wrote: My reply got posted early T^T

Well, considering this for your creative vision would've meant some differences in my critique, I won't redo it now but I'll say I saw some triads in the art but not sure about your chains of thoughts or death of the author, I'd have to reevaluate.

Also, taking this opportunity I'm just gonna address The Death of the Author concept real quick, what is the "real meaning" of the work is a semantic discussion, right? Whether the "real meaning" is the interpreted or intended one. I'm not getting into that here, I just interpret as part of my critique method (though in my case, unlike for someone just appreciating art, I believe I'm accountable for interpreting "badly" or making hermeneutic mistakes).

[OviManic]

Ooooh, this looks like fun!!

Why not try one of mine if you wish?

[OnceHere]

At 12/26/23 11:12 AM, Ferstofus wrote:

At 12/26/23 02:52 AM, OnceHere wrote: My reply got posted early T^T

Well, considering this for your creative vision would've meant some differences in my critique, I won't redo it now but I'll say I saw some triads in the art but not sure about your chains of thoughts or death of the author, I'd have to reevaluate.

My bad, I meant that the reply where I talk about the details of my drawing got posted early and I had to make a new post elaborating on it. I didn't include it in the post a week ago because I wanted to see if I would "succeed" with just the image only.

Also, taking this opportunity I'm just gonna address The Death of the Author concept real quick, what is the "real meaning" of the work is a semantic discussion, right? Whether the "real meaning" is the interpreted or intended one. I'm not getting into that here, I just interpret as part of my critique method (though in my case, unlike for someone just appreciating art, I believe I'm accountable for interpreting "badly" or making hermeneutic mistakes).

About the "death of the author" part, it's just a part of the "death" themes in the work, like "everything died including the author's intentions when showing this work to the world"

In the end im happy that I was able to convey that death is something powerful. And while I'd like to see if I still succeed with my thought process in consideration, I think it would be unfair for others to have the critiques of their pieces be delayed for something that I should've included long ago (if including my process was my intention)

So yeah

Hope this made my replies clearer. Thanks again! :3 I'd definitely use this feedback to improve my future works

[xeiavica]

This is my first serious try with applying construction and general sense of proportions to a still life sketch. What do you think?

[LowDownSloth]

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 11:10 AM, BroSkullEmoji wrote: https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/broskullemoji/0bssessed

Description

I see a lady with a deranged face seated on the ground, holding a knife and sprayed with blood(?) on her face and left arm and with the words "LOVE ME BACK" written on a wall behind her, also apparently with blood or some other redish liquid. There's some sort of stylised logo on the bottom part of the picture and also a parental advisory warning/label. The lady and the words seem to be in some sort of alleyway and there's a fuse box (I think) on the one corner of the picture. Also the wall is degraded and bears graffiti.

Analysis

Points: I see clusters of white ones and of black ones on the ground, very light purple ones on the lady's left arm, white ones on the fuse box + on a pole to the right and on parts of the wall, many clusters of pink ones on the wall and on a wooden board on the ground some; and finally some light pink ones on some parts of the wall. Many of these seem to be accompanying effects of texture and/or value.

Lines: Extremely thick ones on the lady, specially on her pants, although there's also a great number of thinner ones on her as well. A lot of irregularity on the thickness, a lot of curvature and edges. Some straightness on body parts like the fingers, arms, legs and the skull's jaw on the logo. There's also use of thick lines with varied curvatures for the graffiti. Use of straight-ish lines meshed for some sort of texture effect on the right. There are other lines or line-like elements but I think I'll mention them in Texture, Value and maybe Forms instead.

Shapes: Humanoid shapes for the lady (limbs + torso + head), pointy shapes for the eyes and eyelashes, rectangular-esque for the fuse box and the pole (a very thin one for the pole), I'm counting the "LOVE ME BACK" letters as thick enough to call them mostly curvy lexical shapes, and there's the shape of a skull on the logo + many elongated shapes for tongues/tentacles + a head with a shape a little bit hexagonal + a spreading symmetrical shape behind. Also the knife has a shape serrated and claw-like. The logo seem to be encased inside a circular shape. Plus there's a rectangle for the warning/label and some smaller shapes near it, some quadrangular-esque, others more unique.

Forms: Greatest use of them on the lady by far, again something humanoid, tube-like forms for the limbs, fingers, mane-like for the hair and something flat for the blade of the knife + a tube form for the handle. Something a bit block-like for the fuse box and tube-like for the pole. Some thin, elongated and sinuous forms for the tentacles on the logo. Some flat forms for the wooden boards and, near them, something close to a cilinder or some unique form.

Space: Generous in general on the right side of the picture, tighter between the different parts of the lady's body and between the pole and some thing to the right (in some parts), something of a middle-ground space-wise for the space between her legs, some higher part between the pole and the thing, and maybe between the lady and the fuse box.

Textures: Many folds on the clothes, stitches on the pants, I think something coarse for the hair (also on the logo), blood stains on the face + left arm + the knife (which also has a metallic texture), a cracked and damaged surface on the wall, something dusty and/or stained + rusty on the fuse box, many splattered and dripping parts near the letters on the wall, something stained and something dirty on different parts of the ground, something woody and stained near the warning/label + rocky surfaces also around there, some specific fabric for the pants and shoes (I'll cautiously say wool...), something gem-like for one of the pendants, and finally something scrapped and something patterned for some lower parts of the wall. By the way, there's some splashy texture to the right on the pole and the thing near it that doesn't seem to fit well into their forms but in this case it seems to me to be intentional as some sort of filter/effect applied on top of many parts of the picture (considering the logo, the warning/label and (spoiler) the stated creative vision).

Color: Very strong on shades of purple, violet and lilac specially on the lady's clothes, hair, eyes, knife and on some other details, pink and red for the letters, gray for the wall and pole, some shades of brown or a reddish brown for the fuse box, a lower part of the wall and the wooden boards, I believe pink salt white for the lady's skin, maybe magnolia white for the rocks near the boards and some gray-ish blue for the ground (steel blue?). Plus some less saturated shades of blue, red, black and white on the logo.

Value: Effects of brightness and shadow seem to be juxtaposed on most parts of the picture, most shadows seem to indicate a source of light coming from the top right. Mostly mild lights and shadows, exception being an intense brigthness in the lady's iris.

Interpretation

I'll be using what you told me about your creative vision, thinking on "a deep and destructive obssession for someone", "a shot in a movie or an album cover" and "appeal and/or uniqueness".

Judgement

Movement: Only a bit on the extent of the legs I think and from the waviness on the hair. Maybe a tad bit also on the pole. I believe the clothing and hairstyle tie naturally to appeal/uniqueness as identifiable traits of the lady (although IMO everything that's not just stolen can be a source of apppeal/uniqueness...including the pole with e.g. the minutiae of the art style).

Unity: I see a lot of it from repetitions, continuity and proximity of areas of Colors derived from the hues of violet, red and blue. There is also a great deal of Variety from the Lines and their traits and the ammount of different Textures. Unity also on the logo and warning/label and how the circle and the rectangle Shapes' continuity seem to be respected. The proximity and repetition of the red stains on the lady's arm (+ face) and the knife convey to me ideas of violence and harm, that Color and Texture coupled with the Colors, Shapes and Textures on the wall communicate me a story about a destructive loving obssession.The warning mimics the ones found on many album covers and thus brings me that memory. Finally most of what I said here I see as appealing in some way.

Contrast: Specially between the lady and the words, with their Shapes, Textures and Colors. That makes me think on the obssession story again. Naturally they also tie to the identifiable traits of the lady and their appeal. Also there's some contrast with the juxtaposed use of black and white for the classic album cover warning, so also that.

Emphasis: I think mainly on the lady's face, with the intense brightness (Value) on her eyes, the edgy black Shapes for eyes and eyelashes and the variety in Textures of the hair closeby (+ the Lines and Shapes that constitute her expression and maybe the lighter Value and Color on her face in contrast to the darker Violet/Purple). The twitchy eye and manic expression I think help convey obssessive behaviour, which can also be appealing as an art of the horror genre, for example (and while I'm at it, the black eye could be appealing as an stylistic choice IMO).

Balance: I believe the tilted fuse box shows disequilibrium and there's maybe minute tensions in the limbs of the lady. The unstable state of the fuse box could be tied to the instability of an obssession I believe, kind of like a metaphor; and also the fuse box as an unique object in the art I believe adds, well...uniqueness.

Proportion: My scales here will be biggest for the wall, then the lady herself, then the fuse box and the pole, then her torso and legs, then her head, arms, knife, the boards and the words and smallest for the graffiti, her pendants and earring. I see the diversity in scales as producing some appeal but, other than that, nothing too close to the vision.

Final Judgement: Successful.

Also, I just realised I could just be calling her "Chelsea" at some point, eh, but anyway. Also, since many album covers are just images of all types, maybe that works always...

[Ferstofus]

At 12/16/23 11:10 AM, BroSkullEmoji wrote: A bit of feedback and thoughts wouldn't hurt:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/broskullemoji/0bssessed

The vision behind this piece is that I wanted to have a character that due to whatever cirucmstances, has a deep and destructive obsession for someone (hence the writing on the walls and the dagger). I didn't meant to make it super exagerated, abstract, or vent-art like; instead I was aiming for something along the lines of a shot in a movie or an album cover.

A few parts such as the white part of the eyes being black and the blood being more pink and saturated instead of a very deep red (like realistic blood would be) were actuallly intentional, for no specific reason, mainly appeal and/or uniqueness.

Either way, i'd appreciate your thoughts on this piece!

By the way, here are some notes that are more about technique that I wanted to give as feedback but I was running out of characters in the proper critique post (lol):

 I saw some misalignment between the lines of the blade and handle of the knife and how they should connect and I've found nothing that communicates intentionality on that.

 The space between the lady and the fuse box looks a bit unclear to me, somewhat conflicting with the use of forms for the box, I'm not sure if the box is flatter than the forms communicate and there's more space, or there's less space but it doesn't feel like the box is touching/pushing the lady or anything. At least that's how I'm seeing this.

 I believe shady parts on the lady's left arm are on an opposite direction than the light source would indicate and I'm thinking the knife handle should be casting a shadow on the lady's shirt with that angle in mind, or at least I've found no clear intentionality behind these choices.

[BroSkullEmoji]

At 1/2/24 08:09 PM, Ferstofus wrote:

At 12/16/23 11:10 AM, BroSkullEmoji wrote: A bit of feedback and thoughts wouldn't hurt:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/broskullemoji/0bssessed

The vision behind this piece is that I wanted to have a character that due to whatever cirucmstances, has a deep and destructive obsession for someone (hence the writing on the walls and the dagger). I didn't meant to make it super exagerated, abstract, or vent-art like; instead I was aiming for something along the lines of a shot in a movie or an album cover.

A few parts such as the white part of the eyes being black and the blood being more pink and saturated instead of a very deep red (like realistic blood would be) were actuallly intentional, for no specific reason, mainly appeal and/or uniqueness.

Either way, i'd appreciate your thoughts on this piece!

By the way, here are some notes that are more about technique that I wanted to give as feedback but I was running out of characters in the proper critique post (lol):

Thanks a lot for the critique!

Most of the analysis was quite accuarate into what I was trying to achieve, as well as the additional technical feedback (specially the knife's handle part lol)

I'll keep a few of these details in mind for my next pieces, thanks again!