#635: Hydreigon

This picture of the pokemon Hydregion was a very good attempt at giving it an astounding and strong appearance, as evident by the background, meant to compliment the pokemon; the outline, meant to define its shape and features; and its pose, which is dynamic and with movement.

It is made obvious that the source of light is coming from above by the location of shade and highlights. Even the frills encircling the head can be shown as in a forward position by the shading at the base and the underside of the frills.

However, the artist still has a few things to know, and these include color agreement, background/foreground agreement, common anatomical flaws, and the effect of different outlines on the artwork.

The color agreement was one of my first and foremost concerns when viewing this piece, namely when it came to the hydregion itself and the background. The splatter patterns on the background are in good intent, but the deep blue splatter does not suit the color scheme of the pokemon. To better fit the hydregion color, try using a cyan color similar to that of the pokemon's skin tone. (It can be made slightly bolder for the background to match the neon purple in the top left of the circle.) This would provide the right color agreement.

The other concern was the shade of the outline, which is white. Of course, everything else in the picture, including the hydregion and the background, are in dark tones. Therefore, the white outline is contradicting and distracting. I would highly recommend turning this white outline to black and keeping the thickness. The hydregion will be complimented in shape and color, and the picture overall will have a much more uniform look.

Another line recommendation would to make the lines on the hydregion, such as those defining the facial features and the limbs, only slightly thicker to match the thickness of the outline surrounding it. It would be better this way than leaving the hydregion with a very thick outline and extremely thin defining lines.

Lastly, there is a slight anatomical error on the tail; the reddish-purple underside's curvature doesn't match that of the tail. Redoing the underside to add more curvature would easily fix this problem.

Again, it was a great try, and practice makes perfect. I enjoyed critiquing this artwork, as I am a pokemon fan myself. Keep at it.