Art Review: Monster Hunter Tycoon

by mendularbx | Jul 13, 2017 | Art Reviews

Art by @TheWizard

Straight away when I look at this image, I know exactly what I am looking at, and can make that connection between the image and the title. Although the necessity of this correlation may be obvious, a lot of artists may forget to apply this knowledge when working, so you’ve already earned some brownie points here.

Right, now to talk about the ACTUAL image. When I decide to try and take a look into the selectively foggy/cloudy background I notice pine trees are being used, so I would guess this is a “forest” scene, which doesn’t complement the lighting which would typically be set for scenes such as barren wastelands or sand dunes (because of the sandy, yellow tinge in the fog).

Something else I noticed was how the base of the dragon’s neck disappears into nothing, while the treetops are still visible in that same part of the image.
The dragon’s head is extremely large, yet the body and neck are completely hidden by those trees? Reminds me of a T-Rex (large head, small body) except this one breathes fire and has an invisible neck.

This criticism doesn’t mean that I didn’t like how the dragon fits into the scene. If we view the difference between the render and the final image, the amount of photo-bashing, model smoothing and general post-work put into this is astounding! The textures transformed the image from an amateur’s work to an artist’s piece, not many Roblox graphic designers are capable (or demonstrate the capability) of doing so. Another point for originality.. although I think the lighting on the top of the head and the bottom of the mouth make the dragon seem more like a Chinese new year paper puppet. Those areas could have been more developed, showing a variation of lighting.

You have successfully manipulated the two individual renders into the scene, using almost appropriate lighting.
The way the flame’s emission affects the character is appropriate, but the flame itself could have been better manipulated to fit more accurately with the scene. The gun’s laser could have also affected its target.

Your choice of font is adequate and the size of your signature could have been a bit larger (for your own sake of watermarking, but that’s just me).
Overall, it is an interesting composition that displays many skills you possess. Ultimately, my advice to you is to keep at it! This may as well be a milestone in your career as an artist and I’d love to see more work like this from you, and possibly others.
I wish the best of luck to you as you progress in the creation of art, keep it up!

★★★¼

3.25/4

Art Review: Warrior

by mendularbx | Jun 24, 2017 | Art Reviews

Art by @XANZOT (Siro)

Marvelous.

I was extremely impressed when I saw this piece of work. Great detail has been put into the character’s armour, with shading to prove it.

The orangey-red shines through the dark helmet which, in my opinion, is genius! A single colour to contrast the monochromatic image, great application of the famous “colour popping” technique that many professional artists use. Although, I would suggest the lessening of the glow, as it creates a less effective type of lighting. For example, on the left tusk, because of the glow, the whole tusk seems to have been affected in the same way by the lighting, thus creating a less detailed image. Besides that minor detail, the rest of the helmet’s shading is stupendous.

The body and its armour, very well done. This is the most visible part of the image; it has to be the most quintessential section of the image, the most faultless and concisely drawn. You have assured that it possesses each of these characteristics. There is nothing more to be said if it is not to congratulate you for the work you have put into this image.

This background isn’t the prime focus of the image. It blends well with the character (due to the fact that both of them are monochromatic) which is the only thing that matters when the section is only present to complete the scene.The background is decent and serves its purpose.

The comparison between the original render and the final image is polar. A tremendous amount of work and time has been put into this image and it shows as we cycle through the process of creation.

Before I end, the one thing that slightly disappointed me was the image size. Although there is not a noticeable lack of quality, the size of this image should be larger for flexibility. We could use the example of adding this to a web page such as this one or adding the image to a slideshow with images of higher resolution. This issue is more technical and, in this specific case, did not create an image with lesser quality.

All of this work is customised and created manually (maybe with the exception of the hats and/or sword) and creates a visually appealing scenery, with the dynamic flow from the character to the complementary elements. There is no defined light source, meaning that in this scene, light is distributed equally, with the background and the render. You have provided well-defined differences in distance, using shading to an exceptional manner, and rather than defining the prime subject/focus of the image with DoF (blurring out certain areas ) you have been imaginative by using the smoke from the background to cover the areas around the character, which emphasises this dynamic flow from the background to the main character.

This art is aesthetically pleasing, and I would like to congratulate you for it, outstanding work!

★★★★

4/4