Galneda's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cosmic Horror]

The raging river of people are just as compelling as this monster...holy cow.

The only thing that particularly look out of place to me are those drawn-star pentagrams. We have the starkly-realistic, living and breathing, mass of nude bodies streaming and bending into this horrifying other-worldly demon...and then we got these stars that almost seem to hint at "innocence" or "youthfulness" and it kinda throws me off from the epic spectacle of hell that the rest of this beckons to represent.

Why the stars, in that fashion?

Still voting 5.

Xaltotun responds:

You described it very well, and the stars were all intentional. Maybe they don't have the effect I was hoping for, because you're not the first to be put off by those, though. Anyway, thank you. :)

[Brak]

I'd recognize that face from anywhere. And upon enlarging the thumbnail, you made him FUCKIN' COOL!

He looks REALLY good. Bravo! I mean, to be perfectly honest, he didn't even need the extra weathering; the battle damage technique has proven to make anything look THAT much cooler, and here it comes off as a little excessive. One small simple tear on his cowl. A few scratches here and there on his mask and on his utility chest belt thing. Some on the shoulder pad...and honestly, while that work at any other time, it looks kind of out of place in THIS instance.

My eyes are drawn to those stark alien eyes...the green, cat eye-slit peepers that he's always had, but NOW in a newfound, horrifyingly powerful context. Those teeth. THOSE FUCKIN' TEETH! WOW! Perhaps what also nudges the battle damage on the exterior out from the rest of him is my eye is looking at everything I never paid attention to with the original Brak. So I'm lookin' at the flesh, and while his jowels and mouth look mutated and mauled in some way, he looks born into it. It doesn't look evident that he came from a fight.

But, upon saying all of that, I have to remember where Space Ghost started. And how Brak actually began with a gruff, spitting villainous kind of tenor. He wasn't always a big happy goofy retard like Coast-to-Coast and other Cartoon Network spinoffs of SG have since depicted him. THIS characterization that you've drawn is indicative that the original intentions of the Hanna Barbara Space Ghost origins can remain consistent and STILL believably badass sci-fi.

I love this. Great job, I love the textures, I love Brak's reinvention. My imagination is having a field day thinkin' up how he'll sound when he speaks.

"CURSE YOU SPACE GHOST!!! I'LL RULE THE GALAXY, YET!"

or

"HOW'YALL DOIN' BUDDY? MASHED POTATA! SWEET POTATA!"

[Kratos as a Lady]

I'm in love with that face of hers. Great work, great lines! The feet seem a little small, too me, and the angle viewing upon her HEAVING BREASTS is a little weird at first, but her far shoulder makes the angle sensible. (Do you see what I mean? There would have been nothin' wrong for a profile view of those tits, but seeing them from above while we're mostly seeing the side of her is a little odd.)

Again, I love the face. Great job on the hair and legs too...and hell, the tits rock, the chains rock, great job, voted five!

Sabtastic responds:

Hey thanks for the insights!
Guess I just fell victim to that damn 'escher girl' posing. lol Snappin' spines for visual appeal---

Gah I gotta start keeping an eye out for that. I know I've done it more than once.

Glad you like her face so much..! I tried this sweet little 'flipping' technique where I reversed the image to see her face from another angle-- it really helped to make things look more balanced and to work out imperfections.

That, and having a photo reference helped. xD

[Forgotten Lands]

Instant five and fav when the first words out of a viewer's mouth is

"Wowww.....I wanna be there."

quote, unquote, my first impression. Damn good!

[Happy Days]

I love it! My favorite details being the hooked-metallic tentacles and the toothy grin of the monster. The style on everything looks fantastic.

I have to ask, because I have NO idea how you do it, but how did you manage to get the comic-booky "dot-matrix" kind of shading? Is that a pattern that you overlay on the whole thing and erase where you don't need it, or is it much simpler/more complicated than that? I would cherish a response on the matter.

That's all I have to say about it, lol. I can empathize with the feeling of starting an art piece months ago and sludging along until its completion...I've been there too many times. But hey, it got finished, and it looks great! Don't beat yourself up about it, Mr. Front Page feature! Keep up the great work! :D

BryanV responds:

Thanks, man! It was done in Adobe Flash. I just set the color of the brush to a dotted pattern and then lock the pattern, and then just brush like I normally would. The only hard part was getting it to look right as flash would create a weird messed up pattern if i would zoom out to get a better look at the drawing so every time I had to do that I would just save it as an image. So.. yeah.

[Chalk Pastel Self Portrait]

You nailed the face, and the hair looks good too! I can see where your concerns are routed in the shape of the hand (wrist area, finger length) and the shading of the shoulder. Chin up, though! It all comes with practice...and dude, chalk pastels have a bit of a learning curve on them...I could only pray something I was fucking around with, using only chalk pastels, would come out half as good as this...its WAAAAY out of my comfort zone, and the only way to expand on YOUR skills as an artist is to push the boundaries of your own comfort zones.

That said, Mission Accomplished!

Keep it up dude! It looks good. Even if you hate it, never delete this; for it will serve as a testament to how far you've developed in retrospect...and shit, if you don't like how THIS turned out? You're aiming highly for yourself. Settle for nothing less, and keep on developing and improving.

372 responds:

Thanks dude, you always leave the best comments<3

[DeathInk 2099]

That's fuckin' awesome!

deathink responds:

thanks man

[OGGMON]

Surprisingly creepy.

Nicely done!

[Swampmaiden]

Looks fantastic! The detailing all over the creature's face is a marvel to behold...though I'm sure it was an intense, time-consuming undertaking, I kinda wish the same level of detail was continued to the comparatively bare forearms...

Even if it wasn't necessarily pores and wrinkles, creases...the contrast is evident. But, shit, there's no way that deducts on this artwork's score in the slightest. The overall color scheme is wonderful, I love big elements like the flowers, to little details like the necklace. I even enjoy the texture on the background.

This deserves its status as a front-page feature! Great job, keep up the fantastic work!

Jaona responds:

Thank you!

[Megaman]

Honestly, I liked it better without the laser pointers dotting him.

The two burn holes on his breast plate were sufficient in adding that grit, but the extra ones spotted here and there and on the helmet just makes it seem he's going after some needle-thin threat.

The edit/changes aside, though, this is fantastic art. The smokey orange to the left compliments well with the Blue Bomber. I LOVE the particle effects of the charging Megabuster. The metallic detailing and subtle knicks and scratches are AWESOME on the armor. The rubbery abdomen was a great touch.

The face must've been really fucking challenging.

I never quite understood the Japanese tendency to make (Rockman) sound more like (RockBOY)...I get the human that was turned into Mega Man was really young, but were they too scared he might be paralleled to Astro Boy or something? With Mega Man X, he's all grown up. Longer proportions, and to my bewilderment as a kid playing the next tier X games, he's voiced by a girl sounding like a child again.

Whatever Japan. Do your thing.... but I guess the artistic direction based on the character always aimed to make him appear youthful as well, beneath the helm.

What you've done here is the PERFECT, Non-Anime execution of his face. Every non-anime interpretation of MegaMan that I've ever seen up to this point just looks disgusting or wrong. This retains that Japanese, almost baby-face quality, and yet, somehow pulls it off with such grace, it retains grit, and it embraces badassery.

Is it the lighting? Is it simple details like the human blood coming out of the cut (though X was a Reploid). Is it the facial expression? Is it the masterful lighting, combined with the Megabuster and an overhead lightsource making sure the top of his eyes are shadowed?

Probably all. But Jesus Christ, man, mad props. Full Vote of 5.

(I still think the added laser pointers are a bit overkill.)