The critique is given as a service for =Stygma as part of the #dAWishingWell wishing program

What I like about this piece:

This is an absolutely beautiful piece with lovely colors, smooth lines, and an overall feeling of relaxation. The shading is wonderful, the textures are marvelous, and fur looks amazing; everything looks so great medium wise.

To go into each area a little deeper, let me start with the subject. Marwynn, the wolf, is the highlight of the work. The fur is very well done and highly impressive to me, as I have a very large difficulty trying to make fur look right, so I understand the work that a character like this would take. In addition to that, the light on the fur follows very closely to how fire’s light would look; with one exception, but that will be covered in a moment. The clothing is very creative and the colors work very well with the character. I especially like the foot wrappings as they are something I have not seen before.

The next area I would like to talk about is the background, which I find highly impressive as it is something I struggle with. The texture on the walls is realistic without standing out as being too realistic compared to the rest of the work. I especially love the aura of light around the torches; it makes the light feel so much more real. Speaking of the light, the way it falls on the walls is perfect. The weapons on the wall are also impressive in design.

Things I think could be improved:

These are just some suggestions on a few things I have noticed in the work. I myself am not necessarily perfect in the techniques nor do I necessarily have the skills to do what I am suggesting. All I am trying to do with this section is help you anyway I can. Feel free to take my suggestions at face value.

As I mentioned above, there is one inconsistency in the light I can see, though it could be intentional. On the back of Marwynn’s head is what looks like another light source. I’m not sure if this is a mistake, or if it is implying there is another light out of the frame of the picture.

One of the things that I notice the most in this piece is that it all feels so flat. The background and the character feel like they are on the same plain. The fireplace does not look like it goes into the wall. The items on the table look like they are painted on the wall, with the exception of the gold bowl. The perspective of the logs feels off. It just does not make the viewer feel like it could be a real room they could enter.

Just a small error is the stool; the subject looks like she is floating above it. A few wrinkles in the dress, and making the edge of the stool visible should fix that.

The last thing I have noticed is that the focus of the work is very distracted by the lines and other objects in the room. For example, if you took the coat out of the frame, or moved it closer to the subject, the green contrasting colors would not draw the viewer away from the subject as it does now. With all the different greens all over it takes away from the focus. As for the lines in the picture, none of them lead to your subject. They all point off to the left, which again leads the viewer’s eye to the coat rather than where you want them to go. I think that most of this problem comes from the weapons on the wall that point horizontally, and the direction your subject is looking. If her head was up turned to the torch, and the sword was turned so that the point was toward the subject I think it was solve it some, but probably not all.

Final thoughts:

The art work, technique, and over all work of the piece is wonderful. I feel like your level of skill is ready to go to the next level by incorporating leading lines, balance, and so on. Overall, this is a fantastic work that I feel is just short of its potential. Good luck to you and your future projects, I cannot wait to see more.

Yours,
=AquaQueen27=

Your work is wonderful I wish I could do something as good as this. I love your style the colors especialy the shading. You seem to be pationate about anthro/furry artwork. You put 40 hours into this I mean wow but it was all worth it because you have a wonderful masterpeice in your gallery I hope you keep on making this wonderful artwork. (Since this isnt enough words going to put random words at the bottom of this)
Love,
StarBurst-Arts <3
(random words aa a aa a a a a a a a a a a a a a a )