Kajenx's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Relax]

cool!

I like the style in this one and the shark one! Really strong dynamic contours. :D

[Shizuka]

D

I like this! It's god some really nice tones and a painterly quality to it. I feel like her sweatshirt could use a little work though.

[Junkship]

Cool!

This looked so lonely with no reviews! :(

I really like the design, it's kind of organic and mechanical at the same time. The rendering is nice too: loose but you worked out all the important details. The background is kinda phoned in, but it seems more like a concept art type piece, so I get that it's there more for context than aesthetics.

[Fat demon]

Scary stories!

Omg, this totally reminds me of the illustrations in the scary stories books!

This is strangely beautiful though. Amazing job on the lighting and rendering. :D

[Deckard]

Wtf?

Are you serious? Bladerunner is HORRIBLE. It's like the 80's throws up all the corn and cheese they've been binging on and force feeds it to you.

That aside, this picture is pretty good. The colors and layout are nice, but texture of it isn't great. It's overly smooth in most places with jarringly hard edges. You said to look at it from a distance and squint, though, and it looks nice that way, so meh. :P

Paxilon responds:

WHAAAAAAAT--but, but it's so... so...awesome...
Bwahaha, I'm a film student--the film is "ripe with symbolism and controversy," so it appeals to me from that perspective. Also, I spend most of it staring at Harrison Ford's ruggedly hansome face (and well-shaped buttocks).

Yeaaaaah...I'm not much of a realism person, so I didn't have much patience with the details. The stock image I used was a little grainy, too, but I get where you're coming from. I'll be doing more texture and detail excersizes in the future, so hopefully I'll get better. Thanks, bro!

[Katie]

Really interesting!

I really like this! I get a good feel of character from it, and the dimensional rendering is subtle and very nicely done!

The distortions also work very well, I think. They remain proportional and exaggerated, rather than lopsided which can make something look wrong or strange. You were able to make a flattering picture that also pokes fun at the sitter, which is really difficult to do. I'd say it's a perfect caricature, as well as a nice piece of art.

[Marine Dance]

E for effort

The first thing I would say about it is that it feels hyper-restrained with all the neat little hard edged shapes, but that goes against the whole nature of the painting, as it's built of these flowing curvy lines and brushstrokes. The paint itself is given a pretty even treatment, so the overall effect is kind of thin and feels thirsty. I'm not seeing it in person, so that's definitely hard to judge, but looking at the photo of it, it certainly seems that way.

Part of the problem might be from using a low quality paint. The colors feel washed out and cloudy/gray, which happens when you try to mix lower grade acrylic. Next time you run out to get paint, look for artist grade stuff. It's amazing how much better it just works the way you want it to. It'll seem more expensive, but you use it a lot slower because you only need a little bit to get a solid bright color.

The composition isn't terrible, but it's also pretty simple with the main color masses separating the painting into four pretty equal parts. I get a full impression of it, but I kind of stop there. I don't see anything that draws me in closer. Looking at your style, I'd recommend checking out some kandinsky paintings, or maybe some early Jackson Pollock (before he was dripping everywhere :P). On your next painting, maybe start with something unbalanced and try to fix it. It'll give you a much more interesting composition.

In terms of painting style, I think you need to loosen up a bit and experiment. You seem to have one mode of painting, so everything you are doing is running together and looking the same. Introduce some large variations in the sizes of the color masses you're using; consider edge relationships, overlapping, and transparency; experiment with paint density and texture; consider depth, how are the colors sitting on top of each other, what pushes forward in the picture plane and how does it sit in the space you're making? You could even try collage and mixed media since you're using acrylic.

Really pile it all on: edit, obliterate, layer, experiment, step back, judge, repeat. A great painting is built on harmonized complexity, and abstract painting is such where you can really do whatever you want and make it work. If the result is terrible, you can always paint over it and pretend it never existed, right?

[ogre magi vs. orc warrior]

D

Those grunts were always such troopers. I loved massing them and plowing through armies...

Great work, it has the Blizzard feel to it, definitely. Feels like a watercolor illustration too. Nice textures!

jouste responds:

looove massing grunts!

thanks for the comment about it feeling blizzardy! glad you like the image pal!

*mega-highfives*