brownbair's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Hero pet challenge]

Wow! Very cool idea!!

A few notes (since you asked) ...

- I love the small details you've added (like the price tag on the santa hat and the "gill" pattern on the hero's outfit) ... but I think you could have taken it a bit further. While the subtle details are nice, they're easy to miss. It would help if you had something a bit more prominent to add some charm. Just as an example off the top of my head - maybe the swordfish has a fishbowl helmet over his head (so he can breathe on land) but his nose has to poke out of a hole in it or something ... just a little bit of added humor to bring originality and personality to the characters.

- It's going to be difficult for me to give feedback on your colouring since I'm not familiar enough with traditional media to give proper feedback. I can only tell you what works for me when colouring my pieces digitally: I always use different temperatures for my highlights and shadows (if one is warm, the other is cool) and I always make sure to either use high-contrast or high-detail to draw the viewer's eye to the focal point of my piece.

With all of that said, this is a great idea and an impressive use of watercolour (again - something I'm not brave enough to delve into!) ... you should be very proud! =)

Best of luck to you!

Floyds-artyworld responds:

I have new knowledge thanks to you :) thanks again!

[The Unlikely Hero]

Digging the motion in this piece for sure - you did a great job conveying that. And the proportions are spot-on for this contest, no doubt.

My only nitpick would be your light source and the strength of it. While your piece definitely draws the eye to your characters with their placement and the motion, you could probably knock everything else back a little further still with more atmospheric lighting. You've got the atmosphere in the mountains .. maybe just start it a little sooner so it fades that castle out a bit and really focuses your attention on the characters that much more.

Also - since your characters are headed from an open area to a shaded forest, majority of the light on them should be coming from behind them, which makes the lighting here a tiny bit awkward. But I see why you chose to light them how you did - you wanted to be sure they popped off the flat background. Perhaps try experimenting with an early-Disney colouring style where the background has all kinds of lighting and detail, but the characters pop off of it because they're flat. That's something I've been experimenting a bit with as well. (http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/brownbair/adventurer-norman)

Also some good rules to go by in terms of lighting:
- Highlights and shadows should almost never be the same temperature. So either warm highlights and cool shadows, or cool highlights and warm shadows.
- The area with the most contrast should be the focal point of your illustration/character/environment.

But yeah, with all that said, this is a strong piece and you should be proud. =) Best of luck to you!!

Tom-Par responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Yeh I need to practice some more with light sources and shading, Its something i think i need to plan out before i start the drawing. I tend to dive into the artwork straight away without thinking about it properly. I'll keep those tips in mind as well for my next bit of artwork. Thanks again for the feedback, much appreciated. =)

[Mr. Viking and Rupert, the Hog]

You get all the points because that pig has a beard and eyebrows!!!

Ganon166 responds:

Ahahahahah! Thank you so much!!! I hope everyone sees that