Art Crit Submit

You may submit any piece of artwork BUT you must include 1) your own name, or blog account so that I can credit the work to you. 2) The medium used to create it. (for example: pen and ink, oil paint, graphite, etc). 3)the SIZE of your piece. YOU MUST INCLUDE ALL THIS INFO OR YOU WILL NOT BE FEATURED. This is a curated blog that gets many submissions so don't be upset if you don't see your submission right away. I'm trying to post as often as I can but I will FOR sure be posting every wednesday evening.

[artcritsubmit]

Inky Ambedo

Pencil and Pen

8.5 x 11 in

My Critique. . . seriously thank you for telling me the size and medium of your piece. Only about 20% of you do so thank you for doing that. Ok so, I believe in my last post I talked about picture quality. Please read that because that advice definitely applies here also.

The first thing that my eye does is run around the track you’ve created by making the outline so much darker than anything else, which in this case is not a good thing. I notice the outline and how the facial features are too scrunched together and totally miss all of the details in the middle which I’m assuming is the part you actually want people to notice. Most of your audience will  have an attention span of about 1 sec so you want to make the most interesting part of you piece the easiest to see. I would suggest darkening up some of the areas in the inner part. Particularly the leaf pattern in the center because that’s what I find the most interesting. 

Here is a video on composition that I found helpful. It might give you some useful tips for when you start your next piece. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8i7OKbWmRM&index=6&list=PLdae_kf4jjjZomtsyJfV9oU4rHtvrEbz-

p.s- that bird is super cute. It should be its own thing.

[artcritsubmit]

History (2016).  12.5" x 12.5" Vinyl Record Cover Collage Art Paper Assemblage.   www.4StoriesUp.com. 

My critique… I love collage! and you are the first person to submit one so cool beans. Thanks. I love the stacking figures and the fact that you are collaging onto a record adds a depth of meaning that wouldn’t be there if you had cut up the image on the cover and glued it to something else. That being said, the original image on the record is what is taking over the piece. Everything that you have added is very similar in tone and just creates a border for the man with the guitar rather than seeming like it is part of the piece. I would suggest trying to find a way to bring some of the colors/tones of the original record back into what you have added so that the viewers’ eye won’t gloss over the work you’ve done. The quickest way to achieve this would be to get some acrylic paint in a very light green and outline the man playing the piano. That’s what I would do! You might want to check out the link on composition that I’ll put below. I found it helpful and  I think you might too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8i7OKbWmRM&index=6&list=PLdae_kf4jjjZomtsyJfV9oU4rHtvrEbz-

I’d love to see more of these! please keep submitting. 

[artcritsubmit]

“Daemon of Despair” by Nippy Nugsbussoms (215.9 mm × 279.4 mm) Pen

My critique… The first thing I’m going to talk about is picture quality. I know that capturing a good image of your piece is a pain but in this digital age it is absolutely imperative. If you are ever wanting to sell or show your work it is as essential as making a good piece to begin with. There are tons of resources on the Internet about how to do this but if anyone wants my how-to, send me an ask. Ok next, I think this piece is very imaginative and you did a great job creating believable proportions. Proportion-wise the only thing that needs help is the horn on the left. Right now it looks more like a jester’s hat than anything else. Take some time studying goat horns and you’ll be able to come up with something much more interesting. I especially like  the way you’ve drawn the bottom teeth. It seems like there should be more to discuss about this but unfortunately most of the details of this piece have been obscured. Be sure to submit this again if you ever get a better quality image!

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Art by art-mirrors-nature Please follow for more:)

My Critique: These feel like good starts, or good practice drawings but they aren’t developed enough for me to think of them as finished. The one on the left is the most interesting one to me.. .  The pupil-less eye of the lion gives a very real and macabre impression that the person is actually wearing a headdress made from a real lion. I think that if you add some very dark values it will help the piece feel more finished and give it a more dimension. Areas like the nostril (of both the lion and person), the corner of the eye, parts of the mane, could be made black.   The piece on the right I like less because your proportions are of a bit. The woman’s left eye (our left, her right), is too low and slightly more closed, her lips look pushed out and pursed, and I think maybe her ear is too high but I can’t tell that for sure. Her flowing hair looks nice, and the lion’s mane looks good too. 

If you decide to rework these, I would love to see their progress!

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This is an oil painting I did a couple years ago. I think it is about 24" x 18" but I can’t remember…

My Critique: The hands are by far the most successful part of this piece. .. I love how you snuck a 6th sort of ghost-finger on the hand on the right side of the painting.

The hair is very lack-luster however. Because you have used the same color all over the hair, it appears very flat, like a sticker that’s just been stuck on. Bringing some of the non-local colors you used on the figure into the hair could give it some volume. Also the area just below the cheek and the shoulder-area don’t really make sense.Especially that strange orange-y crescent. 

I’d love to see something more recent from you.

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Etching

My Critique: The background of this piece is very distracting. It seems like the texture was created as a way to avoid truly dealing with the space. The darkening of the back leg gives the viewer a sense of depth. I wish that skill had been carried into the background

Although I like the distortion of the figure, the butt area is weird and doesn’t make sense and the mouth looks like a Canadian from South Park. There seems to be a lot of attention to small details in the piece but because of the picture quality I can’t comment on those. 

Etching is a challenging medium that can take a lot of practice and frustration to master. I like the ideas you have presented in this piece and hope to see you submitting more pieces for me to review.