Kinsei's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[My Lover]

Kind of Looks Like A Dude

With the enlarged nose and neck in combination of the scruffy hair it has the prominent features of a male.
Although I guess if you are engaged to a man, then these features would be right.

But assuming, and I mean no offense in anyway by this, that you intended to draw a girl, you should work on making the features more delicate and smooth. Even if you were striving to be accurate to the person's real features, their is no harm in a little stylizing and simplification to bring more beauty to the piece.

doppleganger responds:

If it looks like a dude, That's a very FEMININE looking dude! Sorry, but idk what ur talking about. Go take a shower and cool off.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[Helmet Study]

Very Well Donw!

I ended up hunting up the original picture so I could compare the two of them. And I will admit you have done a very, very nice job.

As for improvements, I would like to see some more stronger highlights and a few stronger shadows. This will really help make the helmet look like it was polished to a high sheen.

I also wish you had a much larger version of this. I'm one of those who like to see everything, and I do mean everything.
Really nice man. really nice.

thdark responds:

Your image hunting skills are astounding, haha.

I agree with the improvements, I just spent far too long on this, considering it was just supposed to be a study.

As for size, I actually made it larger than the source image I had on hand. I would have loved to start from a larger source, but this drawing was on a whim.
Thank you for the critique and comments, I appreciate it!

[Moon Card]

Nice

I like it kashi, but I think you could use a couple of dark spots to be the craters on the moon.
it just kind of feels right to have a couple of spots on the moon

congrats on the tarot card slot

Kashi responds:

Gah, where were you in Stickam when I was taking comments?
:P Good idea though.
And why don't I get a pagelong critique? I feel so left out D:

[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.