This picture:
My reaction is nothing short of insane babbling of how much I want that little thing right now. So. Freaking. Cute. I love rabbits. I can't look at it without feeling like my face is going to melt off. What is it, anyway?
Well, at any rate, I feel like I can actually comment on your recent works, seeing as they're a little more approachable. Well, firstly, I did mean to write in my first post what Alexial and Derozio said overall, in that I like your dramatic, sort of gothic style. It has a charming creepiness factor, and doesn't get overblown in becoming dark for dark's sake. I'd agree that it sort of reminds me of T.S. Eliot, and I think that's good. Personally, it's just the right amount of surreal. I guess the only reason I didn't mention it before was because I was slightly intimidated by, again, the sense of realism, and my lack of being able to draw it anymore (I guess I could get back into it, but I am without the motivators to get me into doing so).
I like the watercolor (right?) painting of the deer. Painting is something I attempt to do, but is pretty difficult without doing it consistently for years. It's not extremely detailed, and it makes use of what seems like a handful of colors, but it gets the point across, and it's easily identifiable. Also, it's pretty clean, too.
The rabbity thing I love, we get that.
The bird in the cup, it may just be because it's a really small drawing blown up, or the picture was taken by a camera, the lack of adjusting the levels or something, but the picture quality seems a little hazy, and it blurs the details. This isn't really a fault of your skill so much as something that has to do with presentation of the image itself. Also, I agree the cup is a little strange, unless it's a gravy boat. :P I do like the flowers around the bird's neck, if only the image was just a bit sharper...
Pokemon, yay! There's a familiar subject. Swablu stands out the most, despite the fact that my eye is directed to the fakemon with the balloons first. The reason I say Swablu stands out is because it's the sharpest. The lines are sharp and clear, and the shading becomes more distinctive because of it. I love the way you handled the cloud wings. Also, Swablu has a very cute face. They all do, really. The more I look at your creature, though, the more I like it. I don't know if it would fit into Sugimori's world of design (to me, this is far from a bad thing considering I consider Sugimori's art as more of a template and less of the end all to be all), but it certainly fits into yours, and frankly that's all that matters.
I think it's nice to see something cute from you as well. It not only shows your range, but it makes my life easier as well from a critiquing standpoint. ^^; I'd love it if the Swablu/Altaria/Balloon Guy pic had a splash of color to give it a distinguishable background. In fact, if you only used light blue to varying degrees, and in watercolor at that, I dunno, I think that would look sorta fun. :) Of course, if you feel like it'll ruin your piece, don't do it. It's not even a suggestion so much as a thought I wrote "out loud".
I do think the Cappucino Nest (nice handwriting, BTW) and Swablu and Co. could use some breathing room, though. That is, don't crop it so close to the lineart, and give it some breathing room. Ah, you know this, looks like you've done it with your previous works.
As an aside, I understand your viewpoint, Outfox, and I felt the same way when I first came here (and I don't even have a gallery). When I couldn't think of anything to actually say about specific pieces, I just wanted to leave behind a comment of appreciation, because I felt like this section was a graveyard. No one saying anything, lots of new galleries with only one comment, on and on. I didn't spam, as I like to post only when it's valuable (or semi valuable or answers a question), but I'm not the best at giving critiques because honestly, it makes me nervous. Even when I know I can help, I'm still usually uncomfortable. Derozio told me pretty much the same thing, though I sort of argued my point with him a bit (and expected a ban or something, haha), and I guess that's why the rules have changed slightly as of late? It's a lot less dead than it was in December, believe it or not.
Here's what I'd suggest to you, though. If it feels like it's unlively around here, or that you feel like people aren't being shown any sort of appreciation, step outside of your comfort zone and start commenting in other people's galleries. That's what I do, because we've all been in the same spots before at different levels of artistic ability. Sometimes I think people forget that, we weren't just born with the ability to paint something worthy of the renaissance. Some people really need help, and (I think) they appreciate it. Even if I feel that I suck at it, I want to reach out to as many people as I can and let them know that I think they have the capability to achieve whatever they want. It's an optomistic view, but I've lived a pretty optomistic life, I suppose. I encourage you, and everyone actually, to start taking things into their own hands. If it looks dead, liven it up! There's no one stopping you but yourself, and you can't control how other people use their time, but you can set an example.
With that, I'm done. :P