Kinsei's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[sherbert]

Lights And Shadows

One of the things that I want to touch on it a texture on the cat its self. It seems so splotched together. Some fur texture would really help out in a lot of prominent places. Places like the ears, the brow and around the mouth come to mind.
That also brings up the lack or whiskers.Take a one pixel brush and make some real quick.

Another thing that would be nice to see is some more shadowing. You have some on the body, and a strong one at that, but not anywhere else. Some consistent lighting and shadows would really push this up a couple of levels.

The lack of any sort of contour lines make this seem very blobbed together. Even in art styles that have no line art, they still distinguish over lapping parts with a darker line. Not a black line mind you, but a line of a darker color. In a more realistic style of art, the over laps are usually defined by shadows, highlights or some sort of value change.
Going back to the lighting, I think some good strong shadows and highlights on the body properly mixed with a fur texture would really help this out. I can see that you started to push at that but didn't go the full mile.

As for the actual design and anatomy of the cat, it looks fine, well except for that elbow. For some reason it just seems kind of wild. The piece needs some over all refinement. Work mostly on your lighting.

<deleted> responds:

thanks for the review

[Lobo vs Logan]

The Hell?!

No really man, what the fuck. We have this and two other really bad ass pieces all just submitted within a short time of one another. Makes me think you guys are conspiring to make the Art Portal suddenly super badass, and its working.

Very nice color, layout, composition, everything and even more impressive with the short work time.

The only thing I can think of is that a little of Lobo's hair seems a very flat by his ear. it is so flat that it doesn't look like it belongs. Perhaps a quick highlight on the edge to make it blend in some more.

Still 100% though. very nice.

[Braaaains]

:D

Squee!!!!!!
You put the zombie in the portal :D.
I would so scout you right now :3

Over all you have done an awesome job of tying this together. The missing chunks of flesh, the missing leg, the rocking chair, and the piece of wheat coming for them mouth just make it awesome. You even have him singing. Very cool.
Its like you read my mind when drawing this.

TwistedXP responds:

I'm glad it means this much to you. I just drew what I thought a banjo playing person would look like once turned zombie. Seems great minds think alike.

[Traffic]

Nice Piece

Over all I have to say, solid piece. IT works pretty well. And yes Viewing it full size is recommended, it looks so much better.

The composition and style are good. I enjoy the designs of the characters as well as the vehicles in he scene. It is simple and effective all in one.

The background is good, The use of pastel colors is nice and separates it from most of the foreground, save for one. The walker seems to blend a tad on some areas. Although the shadowed areas do not. So although I would suggest a slight color change to the walker, it could still work the way it is.

One thing that I feel that I have to mention is the seeming use of two levels of shadow and highlight. Although the background has quite a few levels of depth since it makes use a few more colors, the rest does not.
with only using two levels it gives it some depth, but not much. I can see you are using some alternating colors on the eyes of the walker, but that is about it,
I think this could benefit from at least one level of highlight and a second level of shadow, to really show how dark the area can be.

Although lacking highlights and deeper shadows, you have kept the coloring and shadowing very consistent over the entire piece. So it does have some visual appeal.

I look forward to more.

[Gauntlet Preview]

Long Time No See Bob

So the Gauntlet is coming together, and nicely I might add. I am very pleased with the progress so far. The reason I only gave a seven though is because that this is still a progress shot. I can see some juicy things coming from this in the future.

Lets start with some shadows. Even though this is full size, and will cast shadows on its self decently enough, I think you should paint in some to help it out. Go around to the areas where things overlap and paint some darker blues, navy, or black in to the folds. This will give a much more deep feel to the piece. And don't forget to gradient out the paint so it fades in to your current blue.

Some accents would be good too. I don't want to plug in to this too much since I'm sure that some are coming. But I will give some suggestions. That big open spot on the back is begging for something big and flashy. Like a big red gem or something. I sat red because red does go well with blue. (Yay! I know some color theory!) Some accents of gold seems like it would go well with the blue as well.I would like to see some edging and some engravings with the gold paint or something.
I would also perhaps do some fry brushing with some gray or silver on some of the spikes to give the a warn feel.

Good Photo too. Its nice and clear, and I can see a lot of the detail. I know I'm usually riding you pretty hard on the photo quality, but I think you did a pretty good job this time. I also noticed that you "Cut it out" so their would be no distraction as well. Good choice. I would like to see lots of different High quality views when you get this complete.

Keep me posted

[Fluttershy Adventures]

Congrats Aigis!

Not only a front page, but 3rd place in the Contest. I'd call that a win.
Keep it up Aigis

[Vinyl Scratch]

Congrats Wiv

Nice Job, you got first place in the contest, Wiv.
Well done piece indeed.

Wivernryder responds:

I got fifth place, but thanks :P
I was really surprised!

[Condom]

Protection Is A Good Idea

Who knows where that banana has been.

[Shaman Symbol]

Getting Better

Let us start with my first impression. That impression was that this was a staff and that this was much larger than what it actually is. I was honestly thinking that it was a 6 foot staff or something. And with that idea, I figured that this was the only embellished part of the staff, and thus the focus of the Item.
As it was shown though, I was wrong and it is a much smaller item than I thought.

I would like to commend you on the carving of the disk and sphere. They are pretty nicely done Very clean and smooth.
Without much back story on your LARP, I cannot comment much on what the symbol should look like, but IâEUTMll try and comment off some speculation. I would embellish this a little. Perhaps some pseudo-engravings done with some etching tools, or something to give the symbol a little bit more of expensive feel. Some creative dry brushing with some black and gold paint can make it look very antique. Although that is if it is suppose to be metal. Now if it is suppose to be wooden, then I would attempt to perhaps still add some carved embellishments for a little style and flair.

The chain and ribbon is a nice touch, good and personal since the piece is geared toward that. Although they are nice, I do have a slight issue with the ribbon. I cannot tell if it is one of those ribbons that have the wire in the edges, or just because it is lying down, but the way it seems to hold itself up is kind of bothersome. Not like something that someone would wear in their Hair. I would expect a little less rigidness to it. And then perhaps stain it a little. If she was wearing it when she and the town was attacked, it would make sense to have it a little more tattered and perhaps blood stained. This would allude to it being from a tragic event for those who know little or nothing of the back story of the ribbon.
The paint isnâEUTMt bad. The overlay lends itself to some unique looking paint. It has a very deep metallic color shining through which looks nice. I think some more styling or perhaps some masking on the âEUoeStickâEU could help a little with some of the jazz of it.

Over all, the majority of earthy tones give it a slightly lacking feel. I would suggest adding something that really draws the attention. The easiest thing I think would be a brighter ribbon.

Would have liked a couple of closer shots for some of the detail, like that red mark that I see, but it still looks very nice at a distance. You have gotten better at the presentation of your creations, which is good. Continue to practice taking photos of your props.

MajesticBob responds:

Kinsei old friend, there is indeed carvings in the sphere. Roughly (Very roughly) in the pattern of human skull plates. The color is alternated between shiny black and flat black with gold specks. The carving lines are inlaid with silver color and the red dot is actually a hole. The ribbon does not have a wire in it. The color shceme may seem "Boring" but they match the characters personality. As always, I'm honored by your review.

[Footpads of Impending Death]

A Render, OK, But Of What?

Oh! there is a tree in the center... um alright....

I'm sorry, I'm just not impressed.
You have this random displaced mesh over the top,, a ground plane, and, a Tree?!
And not a very well lit tree either. No really I didn't even see the tree until I got a look at the high resolution, and even then, still hard to see.

I'm sorry, but this, this is just bad. Even if I was to classify this as some sort of surreal or abstract piece, it doesn't pass a message or meaning along at all.

Light the tree better, even if it was a colored light, it would be better than having people guessing at what the hell is going on.
If you want some meaning to your work then put some sort of meaning or ideal behind it. Cause a name alone does not a meaning make.

BenTibbetts responds:

OK, thanks for taking the time to review. Honestly I like how this one came out but you're totally entitled to your opinion.