BATTLEFAIRIES [2019-01-05 15:08:24 +0000 UTC]
Hey; critique fairy here! In the spirit of Critmas (www.deviantart.com/beccajs/jou… ), I'm going to write a couple of lines about this piece and my impressions of it, if you don't mind.
I saw you link to this piece on the monthly critique sticky thread, and I think for a 'first attempt' at backgrounds for your characters, this is a very good try indeed! I think your landscape is taking great care to fit the foreground with the characters (including colour and light) without trying to play first violin. The composition is tight and sound, and if I would change anything I'd simply touch up the edges where your colouring spills over the lineart and maybe reference a different sort of cloudscape instead of painting them in here and there (as well as those birds) as if you were experiencing a case of horror vacui! But - praise where due, those purple shadows on those mountains are beautiful and very well-chosen.
Shading on your characters seems consistent inasfar as the direction of the light is concerned, but not everywhere does the style of shading make sense. I like the soft gradual shading, and I like the hard-edged cell-shading, but not in the same picture. The palomino mare has some excellently detailed shading on her front leg, but flat shading on most of her mane and ear. The red winged horse has some expressive hard cell-shading on his wing, but then locally on his throat and muzzle he has soft gradients of shading.
I'm also missing some fence posts, or are those light-coloured bars in the center of the picture a stylicstic panel divide?
Overall though, this piece strikes a brilliant first impression, and I'm sure many will agree with me. Have a good day, and a Happy New Year on behalf of this year's Critmas Team Tannenbaum Trebuchet!
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