m1kclark's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Lamp]

I've noticed a new trend among NewGrounds' 3D art submissions, and it applies here. Your depth-of-field blur is too high. We should be able to keep the entire lamp in focus, but the head of the lamp is slightly blurry while the neck is in perfect focus. The image also wastes a lot of space on the left- and right-hand sides, when clearly the image revolves around the model itself.

The model itself is all right! You used the right colors, specularity, and geometry to construct a convincing flexible-neck lamp of a particular design. There is room for improvement, however, in that the materials could look more "worn" or "used", and you could have done the image with the lamp on instead of off. The soft light-source was a nice touch, though.

Overall, I'd say you've got an excellent model that you could do more with artistically speaking. Please, please, please play with this model and use it in more submissions!

[Bourdeaux]

What is with her right hand? Otherwise, excellent caricature.

Pyrowman responds:

I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to drawing hands.

[Lazarus - Mother]

Nice pixel-art piece. The mostly two-tone makes the fireball stand out, but you manage enough contrast with only the black and olive-green to give the scene real depth and a sense of overall scale. The Metroid inspiration is there and it is clear once you've seen it, but still it isn't obvious at first.

I think you've captured the essence and the humanity of the Samus/Mother Brain battle (which is really a David-and-Goliath struggle), still putting it in a sci-fi venue, and managed not to duplicate the Metroid scene. That's really good art, portraying exactly the conflict you wanted. Keep it up.

Tishe responds:

That's a brilliant review from an obviously open minded person, so thank you for that, I really appreciate comments and reviews like this, they're honest and motivating, so again, thank you!

[Demon]

Oh my god, please texture that and make a background!!!

[Growing up]

There's a lot of emotion here. Lovely color choices all around.

KayaKure responds:

Thank you for notice!
I had the emotions in focus when I made it :)

[Angry Peas]

Good: material choices, textures, lighting, geometry on the peas, especially the facial features.

Needs work: The geometry on the fork needs to be sharper with more distinct edges (though I am super psyched that you beveled), if the fork is metal then it should have some reflections (if it isn't metal then don't make it gray), shadows aren't dark enough, and the depth of field blur is a little overkill.

An excellent model, and I'm now going to check out your other 3D art!!

[Saka 3D Model]

That is an excellent use of Blender's strengths! I really applaud you for making clothes that look like clothes within the animated framework (meaning, it doesn't look like real clothes but it looks right in this style). The hair, the facial features, and the posture are all wonderfully self-consistent and I think this is an excellent branch point to explore other characters and even animation! The one-and-only criticism I have is on the earrings and the eyes: that green looks too sharp and has no sense of depth. It looks like you used the "Shadeless" feature on the material, or maybe you cranked up the "Emit" setting too high, but either way that green doesn't look like it's part of the character.

Otherwise, it's awesome stuff, and I can't wait to see your other OC!

[Bahamut FFIX]

It's an excellent model with great texture choices. Unfortunately, the post-work you did (you added pixely noise across the whole picture) kind of cheapens it. It doesn't allow us to see the hyper-details, which either covers up your mistakes and reminds us it's a 3D image, or it camouflages your best work and doesn't do you justice. Keep it up!

[Mecha HardSurface Model WIP]

Nice design, both in geometry and in colors. The only comment is on the material settings. Right now it looks plastic, or perhaps painted. If you want a steel look, then you must at least increase the specularity and increase the sharpness of the specularity. For that extra-realistic look, you should also put in a texture that is essentially random lines of random gray-ness, to give a machined-metal look. However, if you like the feel of this current texture, then ignore my comments!

SmokeryDots responds:

This is just a screencap from maya, when it comes to the point it'll be fully rendered and textured.

[Cipher 3d Model]

The eyes need a little work. If he's staring straight ahead, then the pupils should look centered in the sockets. The nose, also, looks too low on the face. I suppose you could say that his entire facial structure needs to be raised/rotated toward his hairline. Last critique, he has Popeye forearms and wet-noodle upper arms.

Otherwise, this is an excellent character and style, and it's clear that you intend to animate this! The character looks eccentric and a good focal point for interesting story lines. I look forward to it.

sirhenrystudios responds:

hes meant to be heavily exaggerated, so yeah I can clearly see what your talking about. Thanks for the feedback man, still got more to model on this, like his goggles and his backpack.