Kinsei's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[PORTAL CUBES~!]

I love a Companion Cube

Just not a stolen one...
http://risachantag.deviantart.com/art/The-Gentlemanly-Escort-Cube-207538713

[AVAT Submission]

Pretty Cool

I like the design. Although both simple it has a complex feel about it. Especially around the hips and ankles.

Some of the areas lack some solid definition where others do not. The sockets on the upper arm and at the elbow kind of show what I mean. Compaired to the top crease at the top of the thy or the creases i nthe ribcage, I would expect those joints to have a more solid contour.

Other than it being faint in a couple of areas, I do like the line art over all. It is thick and dynamic. You have some pretty solid line weight.
Your coloring and lighting are pretty nice. The blue glow is a nice touch, although I wish you would have pushed it a little farther, but I'll get to that later. The coloring along with the shadows are nice and subtle. it gives this a very smooth appeal that one just can't help but like.
(OK Now to try and finish this review before I get interrupted again)

One thing I wish you could have played with a little more is the blue glow. I think you could have had a little more behind some of the metal plates and have it reached out and bounce on other parts of the robot.

The robot's head in his hand seems a little on the small side.

One thing that needs some mention, I noticed that part of the rib cage is kind of showing through the bots hand just a little. I it's not much, but I'm sure you'll notice it when you look for it. Its a quick touch up that should take longer to get Photoshop up and running that it will fixing it.

Xotic responds:

Thanks for the review, it sure do have some very good points.
I'll keep what you said in mind and do some revisions when I find the time!

[like a sir]

OK, On To The Next One!

One of the first things to catch my is the lighting and shadows. They aren't very good. You have this strong highlight on the right side, but the shadows that are cast are straight back to the wall. This has an inconsistent with your highlight.
Some of the shadows on the character himself work a little, but not much, and definitively not with the background.
Remove your current lights and replace them with a consistent one. Fix the shadows and highlights to they all match. When you do this, think about the character in 3D space. The light doesn't hit in just small areas like that, at the same time it doesn't cast such simple shadows on the body like that. Shadows on the ground can bee fudged much easier than shadows on the body.

Take a moment and look at the cover of this book, http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223663107l/538647.jpg
Look at how the lights and darks are across the face, how the wrinkles and protrusions of the head affect where the light hits and how the shadows are cast. The body of your character has similar protrusions and dips that affect the lighting and shadows as well.

Moving on before I start to bore you with lighting too much.
I think your line work could use, well some work. Right now the lines are a little sketchy. It shows in your shadows as well. You should work on line weight and dynamic. At the moment your lines seem to be everywhere. sketchy and messy, you need to get them a little more organized.
Some times sketchy lines work out, but not often, especially if the rest of the picture isn't consistent with the line work. Sketchy lines usually work on sketches, and sketchy pieces.
Here is an Inking tutorial which hes some good points over line weight.
http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2006/08/21/inking-tutorial-part-i/

Anatomy needs some work, try and get everything a little more even. Make sure you do an under sketch before going on to the final piece. Don't forget to use the building blocks or geometric shapes to get your proportions down really well. The characters right fist looks so much bigger than the other one.

You will want to work on your backgrounds a little more, but I think you should focus on your other drawing aspects first.
Since you are just starting to get in to digital work, don't forget about the good old pencil and paper.

Keep practicing and you'll improve

<deleted> responds:

thank you for your comment i will make the changes.

[Mill for Mom]

Interesting...

At first I would not think this as a digital piece. And after realizing that it wasn't my second reaction was that you had used a few filters to give this a feel of a painted canvas piece, but then I realized the error of that those thoughts as well. I think I may need to look in to this Artrage a little more.
Anyway moving on.

As mentioned with the last piece I reviewed for you, I like your lighting, you seem to have a nice grasp on your lighting. You have a couple areas that could use some shadow play, like the dome of the windmill and its side, but you still do a good job over all.

One thing you need to work on is your form a little. The clouds reveal this most of everything. I think you could get a much more impacting sky with a little more form. Work some highlights in to some of your darker clouds to give them some more dynamic depth and to really push up your lighting skills. Work to your strengths, right?

Colors are nice and vibrant, This entire piece has a nice up beat feel.
I think you could have added a little more texture over all though. you have some in the grass and mill, but I think you could have gone a little further, not much, but just a little.

One thing I do need to mention is composition. Your main focus, the mill, is right smack dab in the middle of the frame. You usually want to avoid this. Try to follow the Rule Of Thirds: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Rule%20Of%20Thirds
Following theis will help your composition a lot. I think if you had gone fora wider shot you could have had more room to make clouds and lead the eye around a little before settling on the subject of the piece.

On top of everything, I think your mother would like this gift. you put in some nice effort, and had a couple of strong skills to show her.

Joshsouza responds:

Thanks for your in-depth constructive criticism, Kinsei, I really appreciate it. I will try to work on those things in my next piece. Thanks very much for the review.

[Custom Gauntlets]

Much Better!

I have always strongly believed that Presentation has lot to do with art, Especially when it comes to more physical or functional art. Here you have done an excellent job, the photos are many, and they are nice and crisp. I can see the detail very clearly. And you have taken time to remove all the white background, nice.
I think I goaded you in to going a bit overboard one the presentation this time. I would even say I may have agitated you a little, but by pulling out the stops like this, you have given the audience what they wanted. This is the type of thing you want when showing off your future creations.

The multiple photos help a lot. In the old one, I couldn't see much. And to be honest I thought that the foam was an awkward shape that you had wrapped around itself. I Personally though that it looked tacky and lacked design. But here I was, unable to see the rest of them. Now I see that for your main backing that you have these disks rather than one bulky piece. This lends the gauntlets a more traditional feel.
The backs of the Gauntlets are alright, I will mention that I think you could use some accents, symbols, or runes or something to help them stand out a little more.

You mention the stress fractures as a bad thing, but I think they are good. Take some darker paint, a dark brown or a black with some metallic properties and paint along those stress fractures. Make them look deeper like older cracked armor. Just because the Gauntlets have been well used, doesn't mean they lose appeal, they gain character.

The duct tape is a little messy, not for the paint chips, but just a little messy, although the fingers look pretty nice.
The gloves do look a little stiff though. They might be softer than I'm thinking, or even nicely broke in, but it still looks stiff. It makes me wonder what you could do with some leather work gloves or something. I think you should do a second set, but with a broader set of resources this time. I think you'll be amazed at your creation.

One thing I would like to see in the future is you putting some of these mods and creations in to action. Once you get a full array of costumes and accessories built, I think you should start taking a few photos of them in action. Talk one of your buddies or something in to holding them or dressing up for you, so on and so forth. Although sadly I think that crosses the line about the Portal's no photography rules. But that doesn't mean you can't put them in your thread. I would suggest starting out by having a few shots of your arm with one of these gauntlets on holding one of your guns. Meh, its an idea for you to toy with.

Oh yes, one last thing. Although I find Guns intriguing, I find the elegance of a blade much more fascinating. Any plans to do some swords or knives in the future?

MajesticBob responds:

No, but I do have a bow in the works. The thing about the stress lines is paint won't stick. Trust me. Color isn't going to change that fact. Lol.

[Cirrus]

Welcome Back

Starting this up on more of an upbeat, I enjoy the colors used. You did a decent job on color selection and movement.
The lights and shadows are pretty nice as well. I enjoy some of the sun play on some of the trees in the background.
So On those points, good job.

This has the feel of a speed paint, but you mention yourself that you spent 3 hours on the piece. I feel when laying in color rapidly like this, you should practice to cut down your creation time. This feels like one of the roughs before starting on a final piece. The work is so loose and wild that it just has that unpolished feel. I think that if you were to go back, and use this as a guideline for a more finished piece, you would have a pretty solid piece.
one of the reasons this feels so rushed and incomplete is the mix of line thicknesses, and then the blur tool. Like you laid down the initial color with a big brush and then went back for the details, but never quite finished the detail and got a little too loose with it.

You did a good job of only referencing that photo, but putting your own touches on your piece. So tighten it up a bit. I would like to see a second more defined piece.

Joshsouza responds:

Thanks for the advice Kinsei! I didn't actually use the blur tool once on this. But I think the problem with that is that I am so used to traditional acrylics and I though I could blend colors without having it blurry, I have another piece to upload right now too. So thanks!

[Custom Gas Mask]

Embellish It More...

I remember the conversation that was had in stickam. (Or at least I think it was stickam). In the conversation you have stressed a very, very strong position about not adding just random things to your mods just to make it seem more steampunk. I can understand where you are coming from with that, So many people on the net think that by just gluing some gears and painting it copper qualifies it as steampunk. But although I agree with you on that stand point, here on this mask I need to say, you needed to add some stuff.

First off I want to say that the cylinders are looking pretty good. They are an excellent start. I'm seeing some of the weathering and multiple colors that tend to make up the appeal of the steam punk. But after that the canisters and the mask itself seem a little lacking.

------------------------------------------------------------
What I am about to suggest as modifications may damage the protective properties of the mask. If you intend for this to be functional after my suggestions, you may need to take a little extra time to make sure the mask is sealed once again.
------------------------------------------------------------

Ok now that I have made my disclaimer, on to my suggestions. Go out and get some copper wire, well actually any metal wire will do as long as you paint it properly later, Drill two holes in the side of your canister and wrap the wire from one hole around the can to the other hole. This will give the illusion of tubing to the canister. Using super glue or hot glue should reseal the respirator so it is usable again. Do this in a couple of areas, and even have them wrap around over the top could help with the design appeal.
You can do similar with the mouth piece as well. But the thing I want to see is some scraping, get some of the oxidization on the mouth piece like you have on the canisters. I think that it would really help it stand out.

I'm glad to see you finally get some multiple views on your pieces. I think it really helps the viewer get a better feel for the piece. You may want to take a little more care in your placement though. with the white strips at thee top of the first one and the bottom of the second two... and the small sliver at the top of the third one.... you may want to crop these down just a little more. Also the second one is a little blurry...

Anyway good job. You may want to work on getting a little more flash in the future.but you have a start.

[Tanker]

Not Great, But It Is A Start,,,

To be honest, this has a lot of problems. We will get to those in a minute though.

Despite the probles it has as an art piece, it does have one good thing going for it and that is that it does look like a tank. I've, and I'm sure plenty of others have to, have come across some bad art and think to themselves "What the hell is this?!?" At least we an tell it is a tank. As I mention in my header, it is a start. From here you can work much better pieces.
You should start studying, not just art techniques, but the world around you. If you intend to draw you gotta know what things look like. I don't just mean simply having seen something, but actually trying to know what it looks like. Its something all artist strive to do, and continue to do long after they are considered accomplished artist.

One of the biggest problems on this is lack of detail, and excess of design elements that I bet you threw in there simply because they look cool. I'm not saying that you can't have things just for the cool factor, but try and get your initial design and practicality down before adding the awesome thrills.
Many modern tanks have excess plating to aid in defense. Those plates usually have deep and heavy seams that stand out. You should add some depth and shadows to the "grid" you have on the side of the tank to illustrate those plates.

Another thing this lacks is any real depth. You have a light source and some shadow, but you have little to no depth to the piece. Your Treads and their gears are a prime example of the lack of such. you have them flat when you needed to have some deeper shadows and some minor, very minor, highlights on some parts. I know that they are in shadow since because of the armor and sides of the tank, but they still get a little bounce light.

The pose of this is, well, boring. It is a simple profile of a tank, and that is just not interesting. Lets take a look at the Newgrounds tank. To start with, it is a very simple design, But the 3/4 angle tilt, the raised gun and tilt back all add a ton of dynamic to the Iconic war machine.
So get a different pose to the tank and change it up. Add some flair to it to make it much more eye grabbing. Play with some perspective and that will even help you out with your depth issues.

As for the background and ground plane, their just terrible. They are nothing but solid blocks of color, and one has a gradient on the end. Not a good choice my friend. You should have added some sort of texture or something to break it up. Maybe some mountains or clouds in the background and maybe some different colors on the ground to break it up. Something, anything would have been better than those sold colors.

As I mentioned earlier, one thing you really need to do is observe and study the world. That, along with studying art and the basics of art will greatly improve your perception of the world and the creation of your art.
Good luck on future pieces.

[The World Card]

Alrighy Then....

Everything I said in the last review, plus this~
The addition of the vines is nice for the tarot collab.
Pretty smooth move with the overlay on the space parts but leaving the earth standing out. It draws the attention nicely.

:P
Ok double duty done....
What... I can be a lazy whore :3

MajesticBob responds:

The vines were all over the earth as well, Someone said the vines were distracting, Then Zane the super Genius suggest what I ended up doing, and it came out Wundebar!

[Earth]

A well earned 9...

At first I thought this was water color. Especially when I was looking at the earth. And I could see others making a similar perception. You have done some pretty nice work on the planet itself. I also like the space. you have a but of a hint of some blue and green floating through space, giving it a much more mystical feel than a solid black. Also the mixture reminds me much of the Hubble images that NASA releases from time to time.
I tend to get lost in the majesty of the beauty of space and spend hours looking at images and the stars themselves from my own porch. But even will all that time admiring those distant lights, I have never been able to reproduce their beauty on canvas, paper, rock or a monitor. And here, in this simple, abstract form you have produced, you have seemed to capture something that is still elusive to me.

Moving on from my more sensitive self (BACK IN TO YOUR CAGE DAMNIT!). I think you have done a pretty solid job here. One thing I really want to point out is that this seems to have a bit of a texture to it. Even the planets seem to be a little raised. off your canvas a little. And it even seems like you have a rough bumpy texture other places as well. Although that could be the glitter that I suspect you used.

Speaking of, what did you paint this on? Cardboard or wood? I'm thinking wood cause I think I see some of of the texture poking through.

One of the things I think that could be adjust with this is the actual lighting. It seems like you had a bright light on when you took the photo, and it is reflecting off the piece kind of badly. You should take a second shot and try and get a more even lighting over it to prevent such a harsh glare.

So sweet man, Keep it up.
You should upload the one you prepped with the tarot card backing and such so people can see it as well.

MajesticBob responds:

Yeah spray paint is highly reflective so after MANY shots I chose that one because the glare looked like light from the Sun adding to the realism. I think you meant to give me a 9 but gave me a 10. I'll take it! No take backs! Lol. I'm really touched by your review. Thank you. As for texture, this was done on a 1' x1'x piece of pine. I used Spray Paint and only spray paint, Not a drop of glitter. I used paint layering for the texture. It was painted with earth colors (hence space has that rainbow effect and yes it was intentional) put a coffee can down and sprayed black around it. the stars were white, silver, and gold using a "dusting" technique, that if you look at my guns you'll notice I do that a lot. The moon was spray paint into a roll of electrical tape using a "flooding" technique that gave the moon it's cratered look. I am supremely proud of this.