Coop's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Diplomacy]

Tinned food?

Wow, what a great image. The way that the fire actually seems to make the dragon really gives the image a dominant feature, aside from the draconic form sitting there, regarding a particularly brave (stupid?) knight.

A little splash of cloud makes the background enthralling, especially as the foreground rock detail is very well formed, allowing the dragon to almost be framed by it all. Speaking of framing, the tail does a pretty nice job on the knight as well, though that may be a more David Attenborough observation, if such a thing were ever possible.

The texture is pleasing, with all of the scales in a "rough" layout, as opposed to smooth, where all of them would appear to lay down. In other drawings of dragons that I've seen, there appears to be bare bone or just stretched leather skin over the wing bones, as opposed to scales, but I'm glad to see that you've tried something different.

I wonder if the Knight will try something different...

[Review Request Club]

SuperBastard responds:

Thanks for the review! I'm really happy the background ended up being effective because that was the part I was least confident about when I started the drawing.

That's the third time this week I've had something likened to David Attenborough...

[Eyeball Tree Helix]

Where does the arrow point..?

Not a bad piece, with a good dollop of surreal symbolism attached to the whole piece, where it transforms from an optic nerve to tree roots. I think that you could do well to look at Norse Myth for further research, as Heimdall could be the best point to look at - guardian of the bifrost, with keen eyesight and hearing, who watches for the onset of Ragnarok and ultimately guarding Yggdrasil, the world tree.

Now, turning to the art, I'd suggest that the first place to make a change would be the meld between eyeball and optic nerve / root. Why not have the roots start off pink and flesh-like, becoming hard and wood-like a little way after they leave the eye? This would be a more potent transmutation and I feel that it would add greater significance to symbolism, if that was you initial intention.

The lens of the eye looks a little too pronounced - I know that this is correct in a scientific drawing, but there is an issue that the dome of the lens looks to protrude a little too much - rounding this off a little would still give a good impression within the image, I feel.

I think that with the level of detail on the helix for the tree trunk, you could have put a little extra into the leaves - you set the bar here and there is no detail such as the characteristic veins that run particularly down the centre of each leaf. In the small version, this is not so prominent, so not an issue, but when viewing the piece full sized, it become painstakingly obvious.

Overall, I like this piece and taking some of my advice will help you to become a better artist, I hope.

[Review Request Club]

Galneda responds:

The arrow is my signature "G"

Interesting perspective that it links with Norse Mythology, I'll definitely look into that, thanks!

As for the coloration of the root-nerves, I think it would lend better consistency to the artwork if I kept it mostly wood-based, leaving the fleshy organisms to the eyeball alone. That's why I have a pinkish shadow beneath the roots to further imply that they are also veins. I think it would look unintentionally weird if the roots were pink (as opposed to intentionally bizarre, lol)

Perhaps the lens is a little too pronounced, and I think the color of the background doesn't do that effect any favors. I agree that it could probably stand to be rounded off a bit.

Put a little EXTRA detail on the leaves? I guess if I'm going to do it, I gotta do it right eh? :D

Thanks for the advice and the detailed review.

[Shape Up Pumpkin]

There's a reason I don't carve pumpkins

Because I couldn't do much better myself... and I don't like pumpkin, so why waste it?

Anyway, this is very similar to last year's Tall 'n Short. There's a distinct lack of ambition in this piece - making a Tetris scene would have been much better, as there's a lot of detail to something like that. I know it's based on SardonicSamurai's work, but that's still no justification for a pumpkin being carved like this. Last year, the joke was amusing, this time, it wasn't so good.

I suppose that I should give you props for straight lines, even though the level of the block on the right looks to be just a little higher than the rest. You could have used some sort of straight edge for that, perhaps a bucket, so that the pumpkin is lowered to the correct level, thus enabling the carving to be done, while also providing a handy line to use as your "ground floor".

[Review Request Club]

ZJ responds:

Yeah, I agree. It was a lazy copout on my part. I gotta get my shit together...

[Skullface Makeup]

Creepy, but I'd still ask you out :P

Just with the skeletal face, you clearly still have a body to go with though, so feel free to drop me on the pile of potential suitors as well, who weren't the guy you were after.

Corny desperation aside, you've certainly made an impression on me with this makeup - the detail level is fantastic and all performed in front of a mirror, to boot! Clearly, you've had a lot of practice and the overall effect is quite creepy, but still looks the works. Have you got a costume to go with the rest? Do you intend to branch out into making kids' faces up at things like summer fairs, or even for Halloween parties?

This could be the start of something great.

[Review Request Club]

Sabtastic responds:

Oh, you.

I did do a little bit of face painting a couple years back at a community fair/shin-dig. Never again though. All those little buggers wanted me to do were tigers and spiderman... for EIGHT HOURS. DB

Anyway, thanks for the uplifting pick-up lines. lol

[Gauntlet Preview]

Looks a little flat...

Okay, so this gauntlet seems to have a lot going for it in the way of forearm protection and finger protection, but there's nothing covering the back of the hand, except for a piece of rubber, which looks like it would be better serving the palm of your hand, to aid with grip, for example.

I know that there can be issues with providing some sort of robust padding there, as I wear heavily padded gloves while playing cricket. You've got a lot of room for manoeuvre, as the back of the hand doesn't move that much , except maybe at the joint of the wrist, which I'm sure you could work around. The two ways to look at going are extensions of the finger detail, or just a massive pad across the back of the hand.

As far as the aesthetics of the piece look, you may wish to consider increasing the curvature of the guard around the arm, as opposed to leaving a piece which looks like a triangular board strapped across the arm. Continuing your angular theme, you can certainly afford to add a little more detail to the top of the arm-guard, especially when you consider the fact that there is a nasty array of spikes on either side, which can be used as improvised weapons (or possibly that was your intention in the first place?)

[Review Request Club]

MajesticBob responds:

Thank you for the detailed review. I kinda wish I used materials that could hold up to use like you described. Alas, tis' all for glamour and glab. You make some good points, and when I'm not being a lazy douche, I'll incorporate some of them when I (finally) finish the thing. When I do post the final product I'll be sure to include multiple angles so you can see all the little details. Thank you again for the review.

[[Pencil] A Field of Ice]

Needs more pencils

To make a pencil drawing, you need a whole range of the different compounds of graphite to really make an impact on the piece. That way, you don't find yourself applying lots of pressure to make the darker areas of the image, like the night sky.

The large patch of white that represents the webbing of the dragon's wing just seems to distract from the composition of the piece overall, as it's vast and central, so there needs to be a little more detail with regards to that area - something like fine detail of veins or even tears to the flesh, as that's a pretty common thing with artist's impressions of creatures such as this. Similarly, with a lack of detail of the night sky, perhaps a compromise could be reached, by moving the stars to where they would fit in better, as opposed to obscuring the dragon?

Yes, I'd like to see some colour for this, but it's something that we're not going to get - the bonus would be being able to see if the dragon were blue or white, as I feel it should be. That;s just the D&D player in me talking.

[Review Request Club]

I'm not sure at all about how you've decided to put a giant shimmering star between the wings of the dragon and the view - physically, it shatters the illusion, since I'm now thinking all manner of basic physics, to comprehend how something that could create a light like that could be so small and therefore so close. To me, it does not make sense.

Fooliolo responds:

I didn't have a pencil set back then. I'll figure out what the difference is between simply using lighter shades of graphite and applying pressure with a constant shade, skill excluded. Given the medium I was using, I doubt that the white streaking problems would go away entirely though.

D&D blue dragons spray lightning. Did you mean a silver dragon? And yes, that large twinkle is very dumb and should be ashamed of itself.

Thanks for having the balls to give constructive criticism where my friends and family have failed =)

[Greek Heritage]

Skull motifs?

I love the almost sepia colour scheme that you've used for this piece - kind of like the way they did for the colours in 300, this really reflects the way that the greeks have been portrayed for centuries.

While the overall effect of the picture is pleasing, with the sunburst behind increasing the shade, but not diminishing the spectacle of the piece as a whole, the skulls displayed prominently on their skirts is a little strange. I've not heard of any sort of display such as this before and it just seemed a little out of place.

The subjects could have been drawn with weapons, I feel, because this was the way that warriors portrayed themselves back in that age - weapons ready, fine specimens of humanity that they all were. They have been pretty well depicted over the years, so plenty of research material as well ;)

The detail on the chest pieces was adequate, though it looked a little flat. I've seen other images of similar scenes and it is possible to see more "definition" on the chest plates, which were very proudly embossed with the musculature, to be on display at all times.

A hugely impressive piece, please give us more!

[Review Request Club]

samulis responds:

Thanks. The fellow who made the costumes (AnimaTechnica) does more of a fantasy look... using inspiration from historical characters and costumes. I myself make okay costumes, but nothing as fancy as his... I will send him your feedback on the costume... he may like to hear it. :)

I may try to do a more historically accurate render at some point.

[Dress to Impress]

Superman, Chainsaw and... Pocahontas?

Well, I'm not sure who we've got here - a inverse goth chick, with a monochrome Superman T-Shirt on, a goth / emo version of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and some sort of princess, with the facial hair styling of a Native American princess.

To tackle each one separately, the left-hand character looks to have a little overbite, with the way you seem to have added the teeth as an afterthought. The pose is good, though I'm not sure whether she is trying to say "loser", or if she is showing off an imaginary gun - something that Superman really could back up :P

In the middle, the detail is impressive, with the headdress, the hair and the aproned front of the dress. I'm not sure about the makeup, but with the way that teenage girls dress these days, I'm not sure they are, either. The eye black on the cheek bones makes me feel that she's about to pull on some catcher's gear and squat down behind a plate in a game of baseball, which kind of ruins the effect of the princess / posh girl for me.

Finally, the most disturbing of the lot - ah, she has a set of stitches across her neck, as well. The black almost sunken eyes give the impression of either a complete lack of sentience, or the impression that she's going to hack off our balls and feel absolutely no emotion whatsoever. What more can you say about goth, because on that ideal, she really is no emo.

[Review Request Club]

Aigis responds:

It's Supergirl, Princess Zelda, and Sawyer the Cleaner.

[MaryJane]

sex sells - why sell cannabis?

Hmm, not a bad effort, but a few questions are raised about the subject material and why the glamorisation of something like dope? Drugs like that don't need an image to help sell them and using an image of a young nubile girl with cannabis leaves protecting her modesty does little to stray away from it.

I'd have added some colour to the proceedings, as a pencil sketch shows very little of your talents - I'd love to see how you deal with shading the piece and giving us what we really want to see. Some sort of background would have been nice as well, because otherwise, it looks like a work in progress.

I'm not sure about the shape of her standing leg here - it's almost like you drew it and have had to bend her knee backwards. This might be because the image is twisted a little and you've tried to centralise the foot, where it would have been better suited to being left a little, as you look at it.

Looking at the picture, the girl looks a little out of proportion - study more women, I'm sure you'll find that when they are that thin, they aren't quite that big up top. This means there are two ways to remedy it - give her a little more in the curves department - hips and bum in particular, or lessen the cleavage just a little. Conversely, her face does look nice and you've certainly done a good job of that - did you have a model, or just photographs to work from?

[Review Request Club]

newbienalwayswillbe responds:

As I said before this was something for a client and she was supposed to be kind of mystical and ethereal. It was a character sketch so I didn't include color or a background. If I had truly put more effort into it she would have been posed better and I had no photo reference or model. I think you should look at more of my art though I am very pleased by your review.