Coop's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ikebana - Sun of Ikebana]

Explosion!

Well, that is the first impression I get from this piece - I couldn't really identify that much from the picture, so I grabbed what I could and ran with it. It seems to be a person whose lower torso has literally exploded in a shower of black and white sparks.

Right, symbolism and so forth aside, I think that there is more to this. Thanks for confirming my suspicions with acrylic on canvas. The one thing I would suggest for improvement is the direction of your brush strokes. Perhaps take them along the lines of the black and white, to give an impression of movement, without really doing anything different or radically altering the image.

[Review Request Club]

Hacsev responds:

I'll take account of your suggestions. Thanks.

[Flathead Lake]

Could be a little more crisp

I know that the idea of this piece wasn't to focus on the detail, but the overall impression is one of a very well presented piece. Particularly the jetty style construction in the middle of the lagoon is where my attention is drawn to, possibly by the level of detail there, which may be confirming my issue with the rest of the piece.

It seems that there are a few areas where there is no colour at all - an absence of art, if you will. Personally, I prefer to see these taken up by colours and brush strokes, that cause the page to feel more encompassing and perhaps even make me feel like I am there. Slight tweaks will permit this and make the piece so much better.

[Review Request Club]

Joshsouza responds:

Thanks for the review Coop, (I just noticed that you changed your username) I think I might tweak it a little bit later and fix the details on the Mountains that are far away, and the sloppiness on the trees near. I noticed the lack of color on the lake on the bottom-left and the rest. Thanks for the review.

[Avatar of Artemis]

The hunter?

The streaks of lighter colours to the left of shot indicate travelling with speed. This could be an interpretation of Uncas, the hunter in the early scenes of Last of the Mohicans. Perhaps these lines being dragged across the facial silhouette says war paint to me, I'm not sure.

Above the face, there looks to be the tail of a bird of some sort. This again indicates to me strong ties with the hunter, as it resembles that of a bird of prey at rest, surveying the landscape and ready to leap forth, pursuing another morsel in the undergrowth.

What looks like a sunset to the right of the screen, I would have considered more reddish colours in there, to give more of an impression of the traditional sunset, with oranges and even a red or two just giving a little more clarity. Of course, it could be a night shot, with the blue / yellow reflecting the moonlight and the darkness.

[Review Request Club]

[Yesterday Afternoon]

Interesting brief

"Yesterday afternoon, I went at about half a dozen of my paintings with a craft knife and made a collage out of the remaining pieces." That's what I see.

Some of it could be ceramic wall tiles (top left, for example), while other parts could easily be mistaken for fabric (The mesh looks like one of those pieces of cloth that children are given to teach them sewing). The piece is highly fractured and contains a plethora of detail, though it is difficult to see the bigger picture when standing back from the piece. Some more hints and tips with the comments section would work here. If I try really hard, I see an outline of a woman, looking left to right, with folded arms and a bird in her hair.

Is this acrylic on canvas, or is it actually a collage. With the bottom left, I really can't tell, to be honest. I'd love to hear what you make your pieces from.

[Review Request Club]

Hacsev responds:

Your comment about the collage is valid in the sense that it is an expression of visual perceptions through space and time.

[The small Island]

Not bad

Perhaps the feeling that this piece is too perfect might allow me to get my bearings and consider what needs to be changed, but you've done a good job. There is indeed a small island in the middle of a calm ocean. What more can the title give to us?

The author's comments don't really help, as there aren't any. What did you feel about the project? What inspired you to do this? Are you creating a toolbox full of things like this that you can add together in some sort of sprite based film or game? That would be pretty awesome to behold, actually.

Improvements could be made by making the piece more irregular. Throw some difference from symmetrical onto the island and the sea - the waves are too uniform, like North Korean troops and the way that they applaud their hierarchy of leadership, lest they be shot. Similarly, the island is too perfect - give it something other than a perfect circular shape and expand from there. Perhaps more trees in the background, even having them spread into some sort of larger forest, perhaps? A coconut is a good way to break the symmetry, as one has fallen from the tree and rolled down a slope, coming to rest a short while away, where it waits for incentive to grow into a new palm.

Good potential, but still in need of more.

[Review Request Club]

[Yum!]

Much smoother

Well, this piece is a nice smooth form for a cake, with a strange colour scheme and a weird array of additional "goodies" sprouting out at intervals. I'm not sure what to make of the nutritional value, but in a setting, such as Mario World, it probably isn't that much of an issue.

The same thing as with the Mushroom, this piece is bereft of a background, so I'll expect to see this randomly cropping up in future images, only shrunk down and almost hidden, as per "Where's Wally" or something of that ilk.

Of course, this could be a stepping stone for your productions in the form of flash or games. I'd love to see you incorporate it into those as some sort of Easter egg, for example.

[Review Request Club]

EventHorizon responds:

Thanks for your fun review, you gave me an idea of what I can do this cake, it's a secret for now.

[mushroom!!]

Pixelated

I like the idea of this and how it will look when you shrink it down to get the intended size. Also, some of these in conjunction with a few badgers and perhaps a snake would be epic!

Weebl aside, we have to consider that this isn't necessarily the best possible combination of colours that you could have chosen for the project and the background is non-existant. Overall, the detail level is good, for a pixelated image, so keep up the good work and show us what else you're capable of creating, possibly with this little masterpiece shrunk down and strategically placed in the background, for example.

[Review Request Club]

EventHorizon responds:

Thanks!

[Ikebana - Still Life]

More abstract.

In the centre of this piece, I can see a particularly mischievous and perhaps evil face, grinning outwardly, as it descends on something in the centre. I struggle, as I am unfamiliar with the term Ikebana, so I'll just pretend that I know what I'm talking about and move onto something that I'm a little more competent on.

It appears that you've used different styles to apply the paint. It is almost as if you have stippled the white paint, which gives a radically different texture to the piece, while some of the blacks almost look glossy - perhaps if you had made them like that, it could have been a completely different looking piece altogether?

Acrylic onto canvas? I'd love to know the methods here and that what the comments box is for, since you didn't tag it as such. I'd also like to hear what inspired you into making these pieces, as it would certainly help with my interpretation of them.

[Review Request Club]

Hacsev responds:

Abstract art is very fluid method of visual creation that allows people to have different interpretations of a particular piece. This enriches my own perception of my own work. Ikebana is the equivalent of flower arrangement in Japan. This word is the germ for each piece in this series. You are very keen in your observation of my technique, as well. I do employ both texture and wash to convey some sense of three dimensionality on the flat canvas.

[Hands]

Prety neat for pastels

Hmm, it's as if you've been on something like Photoshop to tidy this piece up after making the drawing, which for the art of the pastel, the smudge and the filthy hands that can cause such a mess if you put a hand in the wrong place, just seems ever so slightly wrong. This is not to say that I dislike the piece, just the method.

All of the different types of hands look fantastic here. The texture of the background and the way that the focus is at the base of the image offer a differing perspective. I personally love the severed arm that is being held up by a shorter armed person and the skeletal arm, potentially showing differing walks of life all trying to get the same thing.

The lack of fine detail is a nice approach, keeping it vague also assists the symbolism, as if you give the face any true identity, you could ruin that effect. The blank, almost lifeless eyes are the only part of her face that could convey any emotion, though you have stripped that bare, leaving only white spheres in there, that betray nothing of the feeling within the piece.

[Review Request Club]

Merol responds:

THANK YOU!!
I did use Photoshop, but only to crop the image, the way it looks here, it's the way the actual drawing looks (smaller, of course).
Yeah, it's a PAIN using pastels on little details. However, I just used pastels for the background, the girl and the hands were colored with color pencils, mainly because there were so many little details. Also, I didn't have the right pastels for some colors, like the girl's skin.

THANKS AGAIN!!

[Battery Point]

Frame it

I think that this piece needs to be framed and put on a wall, to show off the true beauty. Viewing it up close can only do the quality and the image harm. If you put it into a static situation, the brush strokes might give the piece more continuity.

Acrylic is a most difficult medium to work with and one false stroke can doom a piece, so you've done a good job here. What I'd suggest is with the image producing an appearance of breeze or wind about the scene, perhaps "comb" the greens in one direction or even have systematic breaks, where the stalks of vegetation are blown in different ways. This would also lead to colour changes.

The sea looks choppy, which means that the rocks look decent, though I would suggest that you make them a little darker, where they meet the path. Even with the spray over them, jagged edges of rock will show through and give you something to work with there.

With the proportions of the buildings and the trees, what have you got there? A church and a group of Sequoias? Perhaps thin the trees out and make the trunks less substantial there, for perspective. Would both buildings be the same colour, even down to the red of the roof tiles? Perhaps change that for a little more variation and throw in something to talk about with it.

[Review Request Club]

Joshsouza responds:

Hey, thanks for the review. I will be hanging this up on a wall in my vacation house in Crescent City next time I go there But all of the sea isn't in the picture for some reason and I didn't notice it until I uploaded it. The Building is actually a lighthouse, though. I might actually getting oil paints soon when I get enough money, but for now, I will just use acrylic since i am most used to it.

Since some of my acrylic paint is all gone like the important basic colors, I think my next piece will be done in artrage since I have been practicing and I can practice oils without wasting any real materials other than paper when I print it out. I have the iPad version with all of the functionalities of the desktop Artrage Studio Pro.

Sorry for getting off topic there but thanks a lot for the review.