Rabid-Animals's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Duck!]

A Kids' Book's Feel.

Like most meaningful art, I think I can find some meaning in this piece. It's certainly fun to look at, but it's also kind of perplexing. Is it a rubber duck floating by, or just a regular one? And, if that is the case, why is she trying to grab it? It reminds me of those cheap carnival games where you grab a duck and win a prize listed on the bottom of it.

There's a childish, kind of playful feel to this, but there's a very dark contrast. The grays and purples bring the tone of the piece out of the brighter zone, and into the more expressionistic, emotional, style. Bizarre, but definitely very original and thoughtful.

There's one point in this piece I don't understand-- the girl's size relative to the background. I'm not sure if it's the perspective of the piece, but she's either really huge, or those mountains are tiny. That's just how I see it, however, and it's one of very few flaws with the art.

I also want to note the pumpkin in the back. I don't know why it's there, but I inexplicably love it, so you gained an extra point for bringing that out in me! Overall, it's very pretty and I think you could write a short story based on this alone; there's a lot of interesting material.

Review Request Club

Merol responds:

THANKS A LOT!!
It's a real duck swimming by. And she tries to grab it because, I don't know, she's just curious!
She's not huge, but those are not mountains, just rocks. But yeah, I always screw it up when it's about perspective, those trees seem to be very close.

I already made a history with her, just a game, and it's not based on this, but still.

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR REVIEW!

[Ikebana - Sun of Ikebana]

Almost like art poured into a blender.

Flowers by themselves aren't interesting still-life pieces anymore. They come off cliche, almost like the ever-present bowl of fruit used as a method for teaching amateurs. Taking those flowers and surrounding them with brilliant swirls of bright color and lines is a stupendous reinterpretation of the design.

There's not much to say about the design of the piece, but the one thing that really strikes me is how the flowers are positioned. In the middle of the piece, they stand as the barrier between the bright and the dark. Are they breaking away from the darkness and causing the light? I love thinking about those themes; it's what makes abstracts interesting to me.

I don't see any technical errors in the piece, so I can't take any points on that. The flowers, though abstract, do seem to lack a little bit of detail. Maybe a petal flying away in the background, toward salvation or oblivion, would serve to bring a little more emotion into the piece. Great work again!

Review Request Club

Hacsev responds:

Thanks for your comments, especially the first paragraph. The concept of detail in abstract design is way different from representation, so I have to disagree about the lack of detail in the flowers. And yes, it is the thoughts and interpretations of the viewers what makes this form of art alive and interesting.

[Flathead Lake]

How's the fishing?

I see a landscape that doesn't scream any particular locale to me, but rather the idea of vacation. When I go fishing, I like to go out to a quiet spot like the one you've drawn and put my feet up; I sit back and cast, cast, cast, waiting for a bite. If it never comes, I still enjoyed chilling out. That's where my brain went when I looked at this picture.

I get a relaxed vibe from this picture. The only problems I've got with it have to do with really tiny technical details. The brown around the rock looked kind of like a glowing aura to me. Is it supposed to be dirt? I'm not sure. In the bottom-left corner of the picture, the water appears to be white, which just doesn't look too pretty to me. In the distance, the mountains have no detail; I'd have liked to see more than just black blobs, but combined with the entire piece, they are passable.

If you fixed up those last couple issues I had, this would probably make its way into my "Desktop Pictures" folder sooner or later. It's a brilliant piece.

Joshsouza responds:

Yeah, I might just cutout the rock and the things on the bottom left is supposed to be wood. Yeah, It's kind of hard to see it like that. I admit I was lazy when I drew the mountains in the distance. Thanks for the constructive criticism.

[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.

[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.

[~>:D]

It's a smiley on fire.

I can't think of much to add to this, but I can't think that it's perfect. Maybe a better background? Maybe some more flames or better detail in the frames?

I can offer a little advice. Watch your lines. Where the mouth's outline and that of the teeth collide, there is some extension beyond the mouth. So, there's this out of place black spot on the smiley.

JACalax responds:

well a least u wer honest :P