Blaze's Artwork (Pokemon and others)

[musesum626]

Oh, BlazeDGO is my Deviant Art name. That's why it's in the title, I just forgot that it wasn't my username here.

My #1 goal of this thread is to improve. So I would really appreciate feedback (positive or negative), even extensive critiques if you feel so inclined. I don't care if you say a picture looks like crap, just tell me WHY it's wrong. I'm always looking for ways to be a better artist :)

Pokemon
Ninetales - Now that I look back at this....I don't really like it. It looks sloppy.
Leafeon - My favorite Eeveelution.
Charmeleon - A raptor-like, more realistic Charmeleon
Hydreigon - I drew this for a contest on Deviant Art. It's preparing Tri-Attack.

Other
Amaterasu from the game Okami (one of the best games ever)
Glaedr from the Inheritance series. Inspired by a certain dramatic scene in Brisingr.
Light Yagami from the anime Death Note. This and the Glaedr picture were done for a 100 themes challenge that I'm probably never going to finish XD

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I really like the realism you've put into the designs, and appreciate the handmade look you've got going on. The one thing with the Ninetales, especially, is that it seems to look more like a wolf than a fox: maybe that's why you think it's sloppy? I wouldn't say it was sloppy, but it may not have been what you were going for.

Hope this helps! I'm new to this art criticism stuff.

 

[musesum626]

Yeah, I noticed that too. I tend to draw all canines the same way, even though they should have distinguishing characteristics. Thanks for your input!

 

[Firequill]

The links in your last three images seem to be a bit off, though I can access the images by deleting out the first few characters and adding a colon after the 'http' bit, at least.

I like these though! The Ninetails is in a dynamic and accurate-looking pose and the blurry background makes it look like it's moving quickly. Its proportions seem all-around good and I particularly like those hind legs...! If I were to critique it, I might suggest extending the grass further up in the image and into the background with the grass blades getting smaller and less detailed as they fade into the distance to make it feel more like it's running in a big, open space. Currently, with the grass ending just a bit beyond its feet, it seems like its running next to a sudden drop like a cliff edge or something, but if that was your intention, you can disregard that!

I like the Leafeon image and the mood its surroundings create (at least for me as I look at it). It makes me think of one of those days where there are lots of stormy-looking clouds in the sky, but the sun is still shining through and illuminating the land. Leafeon's pose makes me think it's acknowledging and preparing itself for an oncoming bout of bad weather. Or something like that!
I like the cumpled leafy look of its uh... leaf tail. Yes.

The Charmeleon looks very raptor-like! And the orangey, sunsetty colour scheme seems appropriately hot and fiery for a Pokemon of its type! I think it might benefit a bit if the parts of its tail tip that are touching the flame were brightly illuminated, even the line art itself, with pale yellow so it can look like it's really immersed in the flame and not just sort of looking like it's positioned in front of it or something? The flame looks nice and realistic though! Its light might also be cast onto Charmeleon's bum and the back edges of its leg that's closest to us, since it is sort of close to those parts of its body.

I'm not sure if I have any critique for the Amaterasu image. I think it's well-drawn though and she looks like she's in a ready-to-battle type of stance! I like how the lines resemble the inky sort of graphical style used in the game.

A golden dragon! I never read past the first Eragon book thing, but I can still enjoy the art. The golden sheen looks nice with those sorts of browny-orange shadows and yellow highlights and you put a lot of detail into the dragon's mouth! I particularly like the shading of its face around the snout/eye/cheek area.

And I probably can't say much about humans since I don't really draw them much myself...! I can't really see much wrong with that character you drew though.

So overall, I think your art is quite nice! You certainly have talent! One thing I might suggest as something you could experiment with in the future is adding some different colours to your shading. Objects will sort of subtly cast light onto their surroundings. For example, the green grass might cast some green light onto Ninetails' feet and belly, and the same would go for Leafeon. In a typical daytime scene, a character would likely be illuminated by the pale yellow light of the sun, but the shadows on their body would be blueish because even though the yellow sunlight isn't reaching parts of their body, the blue light from the sky is.

Heh, that all turned out to be kind of long. xD
But I like to write critique and it's nice to get detailed feedback on your art, so I hope you could benefit from whatever I wrote!

 

[musesum626]

You have no idea how much I appreciate that wall of text, Firequill! I'm glad someone took the time to go into that much detail about each of my art pieces.

You're right about the grass in the Ninetales picture. I remembered to do that in the Leafeon drawing.
I like your interpretation of the Leafeon one. I didn't intend for the clouds to be stormy, but I guess it turned out like that XD
As for Charmeleon, yeah, the fire should have created more light. I'll keep that in mind next time (I need practice doing 2 different light sources)
Thanks for your comments on my other pieces, too! You have no idea how much time I put into the Glaedr one.

And I've recently been trying to experiment with different colors (creating warm and cool tones). I'm still trying to find what works. This Hydreigon picture happens to incorporate some different colors in lighting.

Spoiler:

 

[Firequill]

You're welcome!

And that Hydreigon looks really good! I like all the different-coloured lights shining onto its various heads and 'wing' bits. I seem to particularly like the pinky red lighting around that head to the left and the edge lighting it creates around its mouth...! The bright lights and dark, dark shadows make it look very dramatic and intense, which is appropriate considering that it looks like it's about to launch an attack at something. I think it came out as a pretty successful lighting experiment!

 

[mew_nani]

Who the crap said your work was sloppy? :\

I liked every one of them. Ninetails has a special place in my heart, and in my opinion you portrayed beautifully. (Although I would like to see a little bit more movement in the tails, and it sorta looks like a lion. :D)

I especially like the Hydreigon. It just looks cool, with each head firing a different element. Nice work. :)