Bridging the Gap

One of the hardest things for me in writing a critique is knowing how to start off. There were a few things I've been wanting to say about yer style and coloring for a while and I'm hoping I can remember everything I wanted to say, should remember most haha. Couldn't decide if I wanted to start with the bad or the good for a while, finally decided to begin with what I like. I mainly want to focus my critique on the coloring, just a heads up.

ANYWAY

ZE GOOD: I like the colors you chose for yer characters: their hair, clothes, accessories, shades, highlights, etc. I like that you are trying to go for something unique with the shading (Those single pixel lines you use within the shades). I love the logos both you and IKY made, they go well together. I love the whole "This is how far we've come on our everlasting journey" approach for this picture. And, above all, I respect the fact you sat down for literally most of your day for three days and worked yer loving arse off getting this finished. That kinda passion is very inspiring, and why I do hope one day you can achieve your goal.

I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting to mention that I like, but my mind is kinda everywhere at the moment, so now I'll go on over to the main course. The meat of a critique, the uh...there's a word for it...ah well. I'll just call it:

ZE PART WHERE I MENTION WHAT NEEDS A BIT OF WORK AND ZE NO NO'S: You know, honestly...I thought I would have a bit to say, but there's really only three areas I can think of to discuss about yer style.

1: I believe Justin mentioned this a whiiiiiiile back. It's about the tiny lines you use as yer shading. While yes, they look great in some areas (my personal favorite are the ones on the face) sometimes it seems like they are overused, or just look well...scattered. Scattered as in it looks like you got yer 1 pixel brush and just moved your hand like crazy with little planning, just filling in the area. Your lines need organization, shape, something that isn't chaotic. See how you use the single straight lines on the face in an organized way? It works for that, it's awesome, try going for shapes or something recognizable for different parts, otherwise it looks like what a child would make with a crayon on a wall (I mean no disrespect and apologize if that example is a little harsh).

That said, the chaotic look CAN work for something when the situation is chaotic or intense. Your last picture is a good example, with Rush looking intense or extremely...sad? No, there's a better word...either way it worked for that picture.

Before I move on, I'd like to say that if there's anything I wrote that was confusing or didn't make any sense let meh know and I can try to make an example of what I mean haha. Words are not necessarily my forte and it's already been about an hour since I started this because I'm a damn perfectionist and now my mind's getting weary. Thankfully that was my biggie with this and the other two won't take long.

2: Maybe this one is just me but the character placement for this looks...scattered. I keep using that word...ah well. Anyway, I shoulda mentioned this during the line-art stages and I'm a Dum-Dum for not but the right side of this picture should probably look more like the left. Not sure if that's fixable at this point haha, depending on how you did yer layers anyway.

And finally!

3: PROPORTIONS!!!

Arms, hands, face, hands, arms, my left eye (Our right). Something on almost each character (Key word almost, Rush N' Wings and a few others look alright) have something off. This is mostly on the right side, the main characters on the left have very little wrong from what I can tell from the tiny picture while I write this. You're getting better no doubt, but I think both of us need to start really studying on arm and hand proportions. Maybe one day we can have an artist meeting and draw nothing but hands and arms alllll day and get tips from those that apparently learned how to draw them in 5 minutes GAWD AMANDA!

*Ahem*

Anyway, that's all I can think of to say. Going to be honest here, giving critiques is awkward for me. I'm not used to giving advice, and I'm hella not used to having my words taken into consideration. I apologize for not giving you the critique you've been asking for and just kinda staying in the shadows haha. Hope something in this jumbled mess helped ya, and again, any questions or any examples ya need let me know.

Have a nice one, and good night.