Rabid-Animals's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Yesterday Afternoon]

Yesterday afternoon was probably exciting.

To me, there's nothing more important in art than for the viewer to be able to see it once and say, "Ooooh," then see it again and say, "Oh!" For all the bizarre patterns and seemingly random assortment of shapes, this piece still holds some literal meaning to the viewer: there's quite a lot to take in.

I think that's what I enjoy most about these abstracts. You can take maybe a quarter of it at a time. That's just a useful method of observing the piece as a whole. That being said, the piece seemed scattered, even for an abstract. Not terribly, but I think if there wasn't such a drastic transition from the flowing texture of the top to the bottom where mostly horizontal lines make up the patterns, you'd be better off. Maybe just a couple round images in the middle, as a kind of segue.

Other than that, I really like the colors and the shapes. Each block seems to have its own personality-- a kind of visual schizophrenia. Nice job.

Hacsev responds:

And nice of you to mention the myriad of patterns and shapes that make this picture. The full name of the work is "Yesterday Afternoon I walked Home". I enjoy taking walks. When I created this work I had a regular job in a building about a third of a mile from home. I used to walk back home to unwind and revel in so many visual details of architecture and nature, mostly conflicting patterns.

[The small Island]

Not enough going on.

There's no feeling of an island in this image. It looks good enough: the tree is shaded nicely, the color choice is appropriate, and the island has some nice dimension, but nothing about this piece has personality. Simply, there's some sand with a tree, and it's all in some water. If you wanted to really make a piece with more meaning, throw a shark fin in the water, maybe a treasure chest on the island.

"Why would I want to look at this picture?" That's the question you need to ask yourself when drafting a piece. If it gives nothing to the viewer, then there's really not much purpose in the art at all. I will give you that the piece is pleasant enough to look at. Quite easy on the eyes.

The only real artistic issue, rather than an issue of creation and ideas, is the water. It doesn't look like waves, and it doesn't look like it's crashing or fading. I think you could have done with fewer layers, or maybe some parts where the water explodes in white foam. A sun in the sky would have also been nice.

[Yum!]

Pretty, with a cherry on top.

I'd probably be worried about eating a blue cake. Either there's ground-up Smurf in it, or it's got some mold. Either way, this thing looks swell. There's a certain cartoonish atmosphere that it creates, and it works well for the piece. It's not hard to imagine it as a power-up in some pixel game.

The shading is excellent on this one. The cake definitely has some dimension, and even the icing looks like it protrudes from its pastry-master a little. Really not a whole lot to improve on in this piece; it's pleasing to the eye and it's simple enough to take in all at once. However, it is lacking that mystical something that makes the jaw drop or makes the mind run. I don't know if you can even accomplish that with a subject like a cake, but I'd like to see you try.

EventHorizon responds:

thanks for your great review! ;)

[mushroom!!]

Would look better smaller

Seeing this mushroom so large works against it. The suspicious lack of detail can be excused when the piece is smaller, considering the pixel art style. However, you will see many artists that have incredibly detailed pixel art pieces that are at the same time incredibly expansive. This mushroom could be received much better if it were shrunk to about 25% of its size. At that point, you've got more room to work. You could make more mushrooms and maybe even create a patch of them, like you would find near a tree stump.

The coloring of the piece isn't bad, but it is kind of confusing. It fades from brownish yellow to mint green, which isn't impossible (especially because, you know, it's not a real mushroom); however, it is abrupt and not particularly attractive. Again, this would be much easier on the eyes if it were smaller.

The mushroom cap looks great. I like the blueish color and the spots are a nice compliment. The fins underneath are colored very well, and look detailed enough. You did a much better job giving this part dimension than the bottom.

Detail the various pieces a little more, consider making the piece smaller, and then you'll have a mushroom ready to get people stoned just by looking at its pixely goodness.

EventHorizon responds:

thanks for your review, now that I think you're right about the dimensions of the fungus if it was smaller than it would have been better, I'm not a great artist because all my art I have drawn with the mouse and this is the reason for many imperfections, however thanks for your advice!.

[Avatar of Artemis]

Overwhelming to sense and soul

I'm looking at what appears to be a gradient of emotion. The top of the picture is incredibly oppressing; the yellows and blacks weigh heavy on the soul. Even as the viewer moves down, the colors add an eerie effect. It's not often that a piece of art so abstract makes me actually feel something other than "Oh, this looks nice." When observing this piece, I felt kind of unsettled, and I really liked that.

After loading this picture to full size, I scrolled down, most of my attention focused on the top. It wasn't until I hit the bottom that I considered the piece as a whole. The guy at the bottom, what appears to be fire beside him, and the other colors splashed about, really makes the mood of the piece. It's not until the second or third look over that the viewer will notice how the shapes evoke other symbols. The yellow oblongs in the top right corner remind me of eyes, which add to that eerie feeling-- am I being watched?

Even as an abstract, the only thing I can dock you for is a bit of a lack of cohesion. If there were something at the top to connect to the dude at the bottom, I'd be able to give you 10 stars without any qualms, but that might run counter to your intent for this piece. The stream running up from the man does an adequate job of giving the whole piece a theme, almost, so I'm able to give you 10 stars with just that one previous qualm-- not enough to take off a point.

In the end, I think you demonstrated a complete master of color, form, line, and shape to really set a mood. Fantastic job!

Review Request Club

Hacsev responds:

Yours is a very profound review which communicates the inner tensions and seemingly conflicting perceptions which in the end coalesce together into a composition that wins your full approval. Many thanks.

[Math]

Do you like trigonometry?

The Greek mathematicians always struck me as very classy-looking people. Maybe it was the togas, maybe the beards, maybe the distant, thoughtful stares. Anyway, their respective images in sculpture always seemed aesthetically pleasing in my math books.

That being said, you did a nice job translating what was probably a stone piece into an image with personality. I would have liked to see a little more below the neck, just so that he's not a floating head, but it's otherwise decent.

The floating theta, pi and other math miscellany are nice touches, but they're not incredibly involved in the piece, and they seem kind of haphazardly included, as if they were an afterthought. I'd like to see him consumed by the symbols, see them swarm his head with a blank look in his eyes, as if all the secrets of mathematics were exposed in that instant.

I'm a sucker for educational humor, though this just barely qualified. I guess it makes me feel kind of elite to immediately recognize a theta as it pertains to math. Oh well, it works in your favor!

Hacsev responds:

Thanks for the review. Most images of these great geniuses are ideal depictions. The symbols were placed to look like they are in some kind of motion around him.

[Spiderman]

Basic, but decent.

What I enjoy most of this is the original feel of Spiderman that you captured. This image bring to mind old, dog eared comics, not Tobey McGuire monstrosities. You're definitely right about the bright colors; they caught my eye.

I think the logo seems a little out of place, honestly. It's dark and kind of grim; it screams "new" Spiderman while you have the classic image just below it. Additionally, there seem to be little spots or articles strewn about the image, and I don't know why they're there. Spidey's head looks a little smooshed, but that's not all that noticeable.

In the end, we've got Spiderman, and not much else. However, I'm cool with that, and you should be proud of this.

[Leo & Satan WP]

Impressive

Satan has never looked cooler. The long nails, the curved horns, the furry lower half- it all works very nicely to evoke a kind of oppressing "look at me!" mood from the art. The cartoony style works very well throughout the piece. I really like the shadowing and the textures; it gives the piece a lot of personality.

Additionally, Leo looks great. The huge, bugged-out eyes really convey fear. I enjoy the simple blue shirt which contrasts nicely with the rest of the highly detailed piece. In the background, it really looks like Hell, but in a good way.

[The Red Queen of Traps]

Clever, and brilliantly executed.

A piece like this deserves to be on a poster in Tim Burton's bedroom. Everything, from the beautifully folding roses at the top of the piece, all the way down to his(/her if he/she prefers it) tiny brown shoes with the yellow strip are masterfully drawn and colored.

The face is what really caught my attention. The makeup is perfect; i really have no idea how you managed to replicate the most minute details and make this deceivingly look like the real Queen. Those tiny details are evident in the whole piece; the hair is crisp and detailed, as is the brush. Each individual rose petal is a triumph, as that couldn't have been easy. And the clothes, I really think they speak for themselves. Congratulations on this; it's a true opus.