Kajenx's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[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*

[Masque Girl Basse-Taille]

Really cool!

I love all the textures and color depth! I can totally relate to having a hard time getting a photo, I've been thinking of using satin varnish on my paintings to cut the glare down. Still, when something is made out of enamel or glass, glare is kind of a part of the irl experience, so maybe you should just find some lighting that enhances the forms and go with that?

radiodark responds:

Yeah, bits and ribbons of glare can be quite complementary, but in this case it kept obscuring the figure in blobs and covering up the head, which really destroyed its ability to be identified as a figure. Thanks for the lovely words.

[Kris' Self Portrait]

Pretty good!

It's obviously not traced. The eyes are too big and the hair is pretty different from the picture. It's fairly solid, though, which is the important part. People aren't generally going to compare a photograph to your work.

One thing, though, if you do any self portraits in the future, use a mirror! Self portrait is a perfect way to do life drawing without a model. It's a waste of time to mechanically copy a photograph; you aren't going to learn anything! A photograph flattens everything into shapes, so instead of finding shapes from masses (which is the best way to learn to draw from memory) you're just tracing with your eyes. That's how you end up with stuff like the wonky chin PixelPanda mentioned.

If you do insist on using pictures, though, try flipping them upside down and drawing, then do a mirror image on your drawing and the photo and keep drawing, then flip it right side up, etc. This will make any incorrect shapes stand out like a sore thumb.

itsKris responds:

I guess you're right on the mechanical drawing, it didn't feel totally robotic, but there were times that it did. Drawing from real life is so much harder though, lol, I can't get the same accuracy when the object's moving.
I understand what you mean though by how I'm drawing with my eyes and such :P I've done some gesture drawing before and used the upside down technique, but i didn't think to try either with this work.

I'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration, though in doing so my next piece might not be up to standards (my own), but it'll be a step in the right direction. Thanks for the review :)

[lou garoux! space werewolf!]

So cool!

You have so many good ideas in this! A picture and a few short paragraphs and I have a full fledged story in my head about who this character is and what he does.

Everything in your gallery just oozes style, great stuff man!

jouste responds:

it's awesome to hear that you get a story in your head about him. that's what i try to do with all my guys.

it's great that you've been enjoying my gallery pal. it's always good to hear that i brightened someone's day.

*highfives*

[sharkula!]

LOL

Funny AND awesome, lookit that!

It's a simple design, but it's filled out nicely and feels solid. Great work overall! I loved the description too.

jouste responds:

great!

thanks so much for saying those things. i walways really liked this guy but it never really hit home for anyone. glad you like him pal. i'm thinking about revisiting him soon ;D

*highfives*

[Lazarus]

I'm such a sucker for rendering...

This is just everything I love about old master painters like Rembrandt and David, strong and solid sense of light and plasticity, well conceived edge relationships, simplification of textures to improve clarity. The end result is almost better than real life and it creates that eye popping dimensionality that's so elusive. Amazing work!

Radziu responds:

Well, thank you. Temporarily I experiment and try to draw everything that comes to my mind in all the possible styles... the latest is zombie fridge, but died of natural causes on my piece of paper.

[Emerge]

I'm convinced

You're definitely afraid of backgrounds. This is the most context you have in any of your drawings on here, and it's because the figure is dissolving into the page, lol! Come on man! Let's see a figure lounging on a couch or something! I dare you to put a horizon in one of your pictures!

Anyway, backgrounds aside, this is a rather nice drawing. Just be careful on facial proportions, his eyes are too high. His hand is also a little awkward.

ornery responds:

Not afraid of background, the whole point of these large figures is to show that a background isnt necessary in a drawing and the figure can still feel grounded or in some sort of space by simply activating the blank areas of the page intelligently.

I always found backgrounds to be arbitrary in most pieces. In the ones where there is one it either dominates or plays little role in the piece. And in pieces where there is none the piece always seemed unfinished, or like the figure or objects were randomly placed and floating there, even with a shadow.

The purpose of intentionally omitting a background is to allow the viewer to create a space in their mind. This is much more effective in person since these things are large enough to make it feel as though the figure is in the room with you to some degree.

[sluds von starsworm]

3

The story made it even better. This belongs in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or maybe the world of Titan A.E.

jouste responds:

haha some very cool references!

thanks a lot for the high-score pal! i really gotta get going on a comic or something so these guys can live longer. i would love to have something i did as memorable as either of those properties.

*highfives*