It Felt

Hello, friend, and Happy New Year! I'm here for this year's Critmas, spreading happiness through constructive, positive commenting! I found your piece in the Newest Deviations section and it looks fantastic, so I decided to review it.

The realism of this piece is, obviously, it's biggest charm. It's eye catching, vibrant, detailed -- the hair alone looks like it took a long while and a lot of effort. The hair is probably what stands out most to me in this piece, because it's a much brighter color than her body and the background, which then leads the eye to the silver dagger and, finally, her heart. And I must mention how fantastic the shading looks as well -- it's very realistic and absolutely lovely.

       

For pieces of such high quality, I feel I should put great emphasis on composition. Here, the woman is smack dab in the middle of the piece, which isn't very visually interesting. Perhaps if the woman had been moved slightly down or to the side, it would've added a little extra visual intrigue. Sort of like how you have this piece or this piece. This sort of composition could've helped bring our eye into the heart and blood as well, reducing just how distracting to the eye her hair is. I also think that added a few highlights of the sun's light reflecting off the blood and plasma of the heart could've helped in this regard.

I also find that the edges of the character are a bit too blurred when you zoom in, which shatters the illusion of this possibly being a photograph. Perhaps if there was more intense lighting or shading, it would've helped, but I'm no expert (in realism or otherwise), so I can't say for sure. The outlines just need to be sharper somehow, and figuring that part out seems to be more your shtick.

       

But still, this piece is absolutely amazing. The amount of detail in it is stunning, from the wrinkles in the fabric, to the muscles in her back, to the dirt on her feet, and pretty much everything about the background. It's awesome and my little nitpicky criticisms don't take that away. You're clearly amazingly talented and I hope that the advice of such an intermediate, dorky little artist was of any use to you at all.

All of this and I haven't even mentioned how much I love the meaning behind this piece. It's dark, morbid, but I can understand and relate to why she would do this. You captured the atmosphere and tone of this piece with your choice of coloring, her pose, and everything in between. It's just so well done. <3

Happy New Year, my friend. Keep painting these amazing pieces for the world to see. ♥