sincronikon's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[What's going on here?]

The best inspiration involves text and low-res old stuff :). I approve.

As someone who fails to create necks accurately myself -- can I suggest? I think you needed to show more neck here. Such a strange comment for such an image. But I feel this would land better if the character was looking towards me, showing some neck / face / etc ;).

If this advice is not useful, discard it. I feel this image is both disturbing, and wonderful at the same time. An incredibly difficult balance to strike! I'm glad you avoided wild gore / etc and focused on showing only the parts you felt reasonable. I would suggest converting this sort of material into a "painting" with blending brushes. As strong as your line work is, I think a softer rendering would have helped the painting, and line work, land.

(I am terrible at lines and have no business suggesting this, just suggests, lol)...

[Do you like THE MCRIB?]

Fascinating, fearless use of colour :). Love people who go for vibrant stuff!

4-5 hours? I have no critique, frankly, because this is so unique and wonderful! But I'm curious as to how you thought about composition? There is so much overlap... what was your approach to achieve this in such a short time? Did you immediately paint? Any references, or pure imagination?

Best!

Opabinia responds:

Hell, the time's mostly an estimate considering I was stuck in buttass nowhere (affectionate) in Pennsylvania at the time and was sitting on a bed drawing all day because the family we were visiting came down w/COVID halfway through our visit.

Thank you for the feedback! I didn't think much about composition aside from how the heck to position a Protogen's giant head so as to make it look like it was about to enjoy a Mcrib. I googled a reference image of a guy eating a sandwich, and then just drew a protogen over top of it (not tracing- drawing the protogen's body shapes using the position of the human's body as a guide for placement).

My process went: sketch -> colored the sketch -> added some shading to the sketch to guide me later when I finalized it (usually with lineart) -> hid the sketch layer one time and concluded it looked too good without lineart -> painted it.

This was painted on one layer, which is actually a bit easier than painting with multiple layers IMO. I had to think about where to paint first so I didn't paint over something else in the drawing that was already done.

Gradients and layer modes helped with this too, as well as an airbrush for around the glowing parts. Also I forgot to render the metal "ears" almost completely but no one ever noticed so I consider that a win

[Land scape practice]

Back for updoots =). I forgot to ask, how long did this take you? My first paints of environment were 20+ hours long, hahaha!

This is beautiful. OK, "rule of thirds", blah blah, but it's clear from your profile you know all of this and more -- way more, than I do.

What I especially like is how crisp this turned out, despite the lack of line work. The only thing I don't "believe" in this image is the mountain in the background, and I'm sure you'll sort it out as you go. Only tip? I think you could leverage a texture brush (e.g. dots, scattered lines -- complex brush) in combo. with a blender to generate sand and other "unknowns" a little more believably. I'm a big fan of shortcuts, and will share my brushes if you want to shoot me a PM. Best!!!

TheOtherSider responds:

This was something like 5 to 6 hours on a iPad from start to finish. I think had I dedicated a little more time to it I could have made it more believable all around. I think I might take a month and devote as much time as I really like to painting landscapes. This is the first time I really did one with the land scape being the soul subject.

[Kazuto underwater]

Hmm... I like the body shape and your focus on very specific things.

Can I suggest some things? Feel free to discard this advice if it doesn't work for you:
- I have a hard time believing the shin. A feminine leg works! The shin is a bit off at the top

- Push yourself to render feet! Hahaha, I'm also scared of feet! But once you do them a few times you realize they're easier than hands.

- Since this is under water, I suggest you push yourself to make a more complex background. If you need to photo-bash to get started, don't be embarrassed, ignore your art teacher =D. Look up Renee Robyn for examples of how real-world camera artists combine their work with digital, if you need inspiration. She has a wonderful under-water gallery. Even though she's a photographer, I think you could pick up an idea or two -- or at least, inspiration.

Best!

KisakiTetsu responds:

Hey! Thank you so much for your advice! it really helps me out! thanks for taking the time to look at my art and write the review! really aprecciate it!

[gaz]

Haha nice! I'm only familiar with the work you've posted. If I had to pick one that really lands, it's this.

The expression has been pushed sooo far, and it's great! I also like how you didn't shy away from more complex hair, and also, as a painter, I appreciate the "mess factor" -- I'm glad you left those lines in. It adds style, and I could probably learn from this as well.

[Bowsette]

Love the blend of styles! Ideally, one day, I will figure out how to mix lines and painting similarly :).

I don't know how far you intended to go with this, but I would suggest the reflection doesn't make sense, and the parapets don't match the high quality of the rest of the scene. It's clear you're pushing anatomy, and +doots for that! However, I don't believe she's actually riding Yoshi -- the creature shouldn't be transparent, regardless of intent. If you intended to show more behind, I would suggest expanding the canvas to a wide format and letting yourself go :).

Since you recently argued in favour of accuracy on my thread, I feel these comments are reasonable? But holy crap, great work, this is awesome :).

TheOtherSider responds:

Fair and accurate critique ! As I’ve spoken of before I have always been more of a character artist tha backgrounds and the like. So anatomy is kinda my game. You are also correct she is not riding yoshi . It is supposed to be one of those inflatable pool toys. Though admittedly my ability to render it as such is lacking a bit. Some of my problems come from I only think about the character until like 80% of that is done…then I’m like “shit…I need to add a back ground or something” a lot of my troubles comes from me not thinking all the way threw the piece. Thank you for taking the time to give me this feed back :)

[Spirited Away 3]

I see the story now :). Haha. My only (extremely minor) gripe? The shape of the eye and the shape of the lamp/dish/receiver are very similar and very close to each other. I had to take a moment to visually separate the two in order to fully see the monster. But again, wish I could draw this well!

TreasurePlanet responds:

oh yeah! i can def see that! those are good things to notice, the lamp looks like a face!

[Ruby Ridge]

I see your bashing based on Wiki of the Ridge, and I approve. I think you could have given yourself permission to go farther with this, by telling more of the story. How would you approach that? IDK... I'd probably have chosen to render the Weaver dog dead next to Vicki, but that could also be too much? Interesting, regardless :)

TreasurePlanet responds:

yeah i think youre right! I def could have gone more into this. I def dont shy away from themes of abuse and i think the feelings of animals are just as valid as human feelings.

[Spirited Away 2]

Wild, interesting, and impressive. I only wish I could draw this well! 5/5. I only wish there was some kind of background to tell me where this creature is, but, frankly, who cares? This is great.

TreasurePlanet responds:

thank you so much : )))))
you can draw this well too!!it just takes practice and nights full of frustration LOL

[Overdose]

Easily the most interest abstract/texture I've seen in awhile :). You'd think this idea would show up all the time, but, hmm... interesting :). Big fan of fearless colour peeps. Especially the ones who find a way to send a message.

TreasurePlanet responds:

thank you so much! : )))