ShangXian's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[NEW SMASH GROUNDS (Thumbnail Art)]

Wooahh, this turned out epically! You did a great job with the rendering and the adaptation in full Newgrounds style where usually more characters are inserted in a dynamic and action context. I prefer much more this promo than the original you took inspiration from, because the sharpness of the lineart of each character makes everything very beautiful to look at and the characters are more noticeable. I like that the overall color tone of both the characters and the background is not excessively vibrant because it makes everything much more balanced in terms of lights and shadows as well as volumetric shapes of the individual subjects.

Every single character is very well done and characterized not only in style but also in what they do, so you can easily identify them. I realize of course that many NG characters like Charlie the Unicorn or Scrotum could not be included due to the spatial constraint, but it is nice to see Alloy a character, in my opinion, who deserves much more in terms of recognition so I am happy to see him in the promo. In terms of execution I like how each individual character has dynamic poses that match the character themselves. I especially like the fluidity of the poses in Alien Hominid, Dad, Fancy Pants, Salad Fingers, Henry Stickmin etc. The light effect behind Captain came out really well along with the left part of the background where a play of light and shadow makes it all pleasant to look at. I like the overall cell shading, it gives a nice cartoonish feel, but I also really like the soft shading on Bitey's face. It really does a good job of getting the fur effect right.

I also love the use of the font from the original promo for the collab title and of course I love the giant Angry Faic watching everything. I like the personalized touch he has with that look. Still in terms of details, I like the thickness of the swords (Green Knight and Hank) and the highlight on the surface renders the metallic texture well.

But if there is one thing I loved looking at the work was noticing the trigger discipline in Pico. I noticed that the index finger is not on the trigger. I know it seems like a silly thing to most, but for me who loves guns, seeing this element always makes me very happy because in reality it is important to avoid, even at the level of artistic works, spreading errors or false beliefs. When holding a gun the index finger must always be kept away from the trigger if you do not want to shoot. Considering that Pico is an expert shooter I doubt that he makes shoddy errors by keeping the index finger on the trigger if he does not want to shoot.

The collab seems very nice and interesting and I would have even participated if it weren't for the fact that I don't know how to animate XD. I don't even know if I want to try with Krita, lol. Good luck to everyone who participates though, I bet it'll be awesome. Great job offering to do the promo artwork, it does the collab justice. Congrats!

StitchMiss responds:

Have to start this off by saying thank you so much for the kind words, the detailed breakdown review and for recommending this for the frontpage! ToT It is the biggest compliment to have someone take such time to sit down and give such a thought-out review, and makes the hours of hard work, plotting, planning and drafting well worth it! So thank you.

It's also really cool seeing the perspective of the viewer vs. the artist. Sometimes you realize things you've done without realizing it, such as your commentary on gun safety! :D Given the amount of MadCom art I've done over the years, the gun holstering poses vary depending on character, and its something that is drawn without realizing at times. But I 100% agree with your conclusion: Pico would be conscious of it, and so the pose suits him well ^-^

These sorts of piece take the longest time to plan, draft and draw, because you are recreating someone else's character, their vision, their concept and design. And its daunting sometimes XD You want to do them justice, because you know a lot of work went into them coming to be. And that goes for both the Super Smash Bros promo art used as the reference, and each of the NG characters featured here. Doing fan art is something I love - to show appreciation for something that has inspired me, my art, and my passion and drive to make art for myself and others. So you wanna get it right. I've realized that with another project I'll be releasing soon as well.

So I am glad that all the careful details and considerations do the image justice. And hopefully bring in more support for the animation behind it! :D It was the least I could do, and I'm glad I could do something cool for it!

[Moonstone]

Time to give a nice review on this piece. I gave it 5 stars because I liked that you wanted to experiment something completely new to you and out of your comfort zone. Pixel art can be challenging and, in my opinion, even more difficult than digital art because principles are different despite being both digital art. Pixel art is a sub-type of digital art that employs only pixels as building blocks, where each pixel serves as an important component of the overall image. The overall aesthetic of pixel art is intentionally reminiscent of the early days of computer games, where the screen was visibly divided in piles due to technology limitations.

Some of the common styles we see in pixel are are isometric pixel art, where the X, Y and Z axis are shown at equal angles, and is often used for video game graphics. I don't know if you use a mouse or not, if so I commend you, if not I commend you nonetheless because this type of art doesn't give you the same amount of control that other digital art styles may give you. The software can be different from the digital program you usually use, but it can be incorporated in some such as Krita, which is completely free and open-source. In terms of websites where you can create pixel art I may suggest this:

https://www.pixilart.com/draw

I liked how it turned out despite its very simple shape, colour tones and overall composition. I've seen pixel art works made by people who barely started it and the results weren't that nice, but this one turned out nicely. And it's good that you began with something simple first because you gain confidence at making something new and unusual but ended up good enough to boost your self-esteem, second always start with simple steps. I am not a pixel artist expert, quite the opposite, but I started with simple pieces, watched some tutorials and experimented by myself. This year I started with it more often compared to the last year and I love how rewarding is the feeling of making something nice-looking in its simplicity.

All you really need to make pixel art are the following tools (so make sure your program of choice has them):

Pencil: your basic drawing tool that, by default, places one pixel
Eraser: erases or removes pixels that you have drawn
Eyedropper: copies the color of the pixel you select for you to reuse
Bucket: fills an empty area with one solid color

Other useful tools include selection, line, recolor, and rotation tools. They aren't absolutely necessary, as you can accomplish the same effects using the tools listed above. As for the size of the canvas, multiples of eight in powers of two are most common (e.g. 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, etc.) because old computers could not display them properly otherwise. I strongly recommend starting small because it can help you quickly learn the basics. After all, pixel art came about because artists wanted to make the most out of every pixel and color used, as their hardware could only handle so many.

You're forced to get creative when you have to work within limitations. Focus on getting good at maximizing the space of a tiny sprite. After that, you can then level up to bigger sizes to squeeze even more detail in there. And I see you started with the right attitude^^

This video talks about size canvas in Pixel art if you want to take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad-3dn2qUUs

And if you want to put a character in a scene, then you're going to have to think about canvas size too. A good way to go about this is to consider the ratio between your sprite and the rest of the screen. How big or small do you want your character to be in comparison to the world they're in? Game developers, it's worth knowing that a majority of monitors these days have an aspect ratio of 16:9. This means that for every 16 pixels in width, there are nine pixels in height.
Whatever resolution you ultimately decide on, you typically would work in a much smaller canvas size, then scale up to that bigger resolution when you're finished.

At the same time, you want to resize by whole numbers when scaling your pixel art, or else things might look a little wonky. It's important to make sure that your math checks out before you start creating pixel art. Let's say you wanted to achieve the standard resolution of 1080p. You could work on a 384×216 canvas, and then scale up 500 percent larger. Scaling should also be the last thing you do. You don't want to scale upward, and then continue drawing with your one-pixel pencil tool. That will leave you with different pixel ratios, which never looks good.

Some tips I may give you for the spriting process are:

1) start with a rough sketch, take a look at my very first Pixel art piece I made last year:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/shangxian/american-crow-pixelday-2024

It doesn't need to be perfect and this stage will give you the idea and its composition on the canvas.

2) clean up the lineart

Single pixels, or a group of pixels that break up the consistency of a line, are called "jaggies." Jaggies are exactly what we're trying to avoid. I am glad to see there are not jaggies here and you probably removed them when making the lineart. Oftentimes, the problem is simply that a segment of the line is too long or too short, creating an awkward jump. You want to use a uniform length of pixels for a smooth-looking transition on a curve. Don't surround a row of pixels with bigger ones.

It's impossible to avoid jaggies altogether (unless your artwork consists only of basic shapes), but you want to try and keep them at a minimum.

3) colour

It's time to grab your bucket tool and fill in your sprite's line art with colors. An alternative I tend to do during this phase is making an underlying layer beneath the lineart layer because it gives me more control when I then want to add shades and highlights, and other details but it's up to you and now that you are in the initial learning curve of Pixel art, just stick to the bucket tool.

Normally, you want to limit yourself to a color palette. Back in the day, sprite size often dictated how many colors were on the palette as well. If a sprite was 16×16, that meant the artist had 16 colors to work with. Thankfully, technology has advanced since, and we're no longer limited to this rule. The best palettes have varying hues that complement each other, different saturation values, and a mix of light and dark. Unless you already know how to use color theory properly, putting your own palette together can be tricky. I may suggest you this video about colour palettes in Pixel art:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkrK65FPmDI

And this brings up the only element I feel to critique in this piece: I notice the sky has different hues but the differences are not so visible enough to fully appreciate the sky's depth. It looks a bit homogenous, but it's understandable being your very first pixel piece. Asides from this I love the adventurous spirit in this work, hence my highest vote!

4) add details, shadows and highlights

This is the part I love the most about Pixel art, more than in digital art and traditional art, because here you are truly giving life to your work, you are sculpting it with colours and applying colour theory to make it more lively and cohesive.

Pixel art differs from digital drawing because of the constraints brought about by its grid-like nature. If you keep this way you will become a great pixel artist, keep it up!

Placeholder456 responds:

Woah, that's a lot of text...
Actually, this is not my first pixel art, this is my first original pixel art, where everything was drawn fully by me. You can check the first two here: https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/placeholder456/apopopop-album-cover-pixel-art
https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/placeholder456/zanzlanz-collector-s-bundle-mine-blocks
The first one was redrawn from an album cover, and the second one (which is my first pixel art) mostly made from sprites from games by Zanzlanz (which you can play on Newgrounds). I use Pixilart for drawing, and I made the sky with a gradient tool. Thanks for your review! I really appreciate it:)

[Amber (drawing)]

Hello I've seen your post in the Review Request Club and I would like to share my thoughts about this piece. Overall I like it because it has a well-defined simple design and I like how the left hand turned out considering they are one of the most difficult parts to draw, I like the face and those big eyes that give her unique traits. The things that I feel to point out though, and they are the reasons why I gave 3 stars and not 3.5 stars or even higher, are the running pose and perspective coming along with it, colours, lack of shading and the photo quality.

-the pose:

The pose isn't completely stiff and doesn't feel totally rigid because the legs and inclination of the head give a subtle sense of movement and overall it's clear that she's is running. But what feels a bit off is the lack of actual building a structure. The very first step to make is looking at references, this is an example of photos of running women:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=running+woman&iax=images&ia=images

Before starting immediately to draw and copy from the reference, take a look and watch them carefully, notice the overall vibe they give, the feel they have and then start with setting up a skeletal structure. In this video principles of structure are touched in a very good manner so I suggest you to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_-DiAzYBc

When I want to draw something that is more than a mere sketch or a free hand drawing, I first begin with dividing my subject into a combination of geometric shapes, like I wanted to do with your own drawing to show better what I meant:

https://imgbox.com/u8DWP5Hh

You can notice how I de-constructed your character in these more simple shapes, I suggest you to do the same in order to see another important element of the structuring: lines of motions.
The red arrows you see in the link I posted are the the “line of force” or “line of motion”. What are they? They are a fundamental concept in art and animation. It’s a dynamic and imaginary line that helps convey a subject’s overall movement, energy, and direction, typically a character or object within a composition. So as tip I may suggest you to start by drawing a line of action and then try to fit the subject into it. If you start your drawing by the head, creating poses that don’t look stiff will be harder. If you practice this enough times, it will eventually become second nature.

This is then how I built the lineart basing on the initial sketch I previously made and the reference image in order to stay faithful to your design as much as possible:

https://imgbox.com/es9DubUg

Once again you can see the red lines of motions to give me a rough idea of the movements of the hair since from your draw they look static because movements are barely perceptible. Since she is running some of her hair move, I opted for a more dynamic running pose because I image her running from something/someone or running towards something/someone, meaning there is action in the scene.

-perspective:

Perspective here is strongly linked to the pose. Because the character lacks of a skeletal structure (see the first link of the sketch I made for reference) perspective gets affected too and looks wonky. In the example draw the geometric shapes helped me to make the perspective more slanted, giving her a more dynamic vibe and giving a sense of action.

-colours

Another element that doesn't give enough justice to the innate lively nature of this character is the colour. The basic colours can be noticed but as another user noticed the shirt might be of a different colour. I for example wanted to play with the complementary colour of the girl's skin both for the shirt and short pants:

https://imgbox.com/W1OexKM7

You can also see the colour palette, feel free to change it the way you like it. Playing with complementary colours can help to make the character stand out very nicely. I don't mind at all more dull colours but it shall be done with criteria in order to avoid a too much homogenous character from the colour point of view. I may suggest you these two videos about colours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeI6Wqn4I78

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sKGVQK-sOU

Take your time to watch them and experiment with them. Mine are just suggestions and I don't have any truth.

-shading

Shading helps immensely in bringing a subject to life and give a more realistic tone to the draw even in case of simple drawings like this one. Choose always a light source first, it means where you want the light to hit the character: in front, behind, left, right, etc.

https://imgbox.com/dm9mCkoI

This is what I meant by light source. I sometimes draw it in the pre-shading/highlight phase to guide me. You can notice how the character looks more attuned with the surrounding environment even in the case of a white background. In future, once you grasp more concepts of shading and highlights you can play with them to create different effects and vibes such as in this case where I used Color Red blending mode in Krita to give a more different vibe to the character who's running:

https://imgbox.com/GOa1tiuS

With this blending mode (but you can replicate the same with traditional colour) now she has a more unsettling vibe around her because she looks like she's running from something or someone, maybe she even accomplished her mission and she's running away from it, from a potential danger represented by the red shading. You can speak a lot with shading and blending modes (in case you want to use a digital program, Krita is free btw).

-photo quality

Photo quality despite it shows clearly the character and makes sure main details can be appreciated, I notice that lighting is a bit low and doesn't give justice to her, by making her stand out. I strongly advise reading this guide about photographing your art:

https://sourcherryjack.newgrounds.com/news/post/1317182

Besides all these factors, as I said, I like this character, she looks lovely and interesting because of mammalian traits (horns and humanoid figure) and reptilian ones (scaly skin if I have looked correctly at her body, especially the tail) plus she seems a fighting character judging by the knife and scars on her legs and right arm (elements along with scales that I didn't include in my version simply because I wanted to focus on the elements I pointed out). If you keep practicing and having fun you will build your skills in no time and I already see the potential for a good artist. Keep it up!

AmberlingGD responds:

Ty for the feedback! Did NOT expect a response in this much detail, but it is very much appreciated! I will try to improve:)

[Mimi Sentry]

I admit I really like the design because it is rich, detailed, vivid and bright in colours. I like the combination of robotic elements with biological ones (face and hair). Considering that the image is aimed at introducing her, a static, stiff pose suits her best even though a more dynamic pose like in the case of your Spiderman fanart is a nice alternative. Robots are not easy subjects to depict so I commend you for managing to get the basic elements that give immediately the impression she's a robot. I've noticed the use of cell shading on her body, this adds further details that make the character more visually appealing.

Plus shading give the feeling the subject is more alive and realistic, even in more cartoony or simplistic styles. I've noticed though the shading is not always noticeable for example on shoulders and legs, while it's more visible on the right arm and behind the head where red hair can be seen. I don't know which digital program you use. If you use a program that has layers and modes I suggest to make a layer for shading more as clipping mask from the colour layer, but if you don't master clipping masks yet, you can always make the shading layer on top of the colour layer and then with eraser adjust and fix shaded parts that go out the border.

Anyway, shading layer, use blending mode multiply which is the best mode for shading, use a more darker grey tone and then play with opacity to reach the effect you prefer the most but make sure to make it visible unless you want to play with contrast between shaded and unshaded parts for reasons linked to what you want to achieve. A small tip for a more advanced use of multiply layer: instead of using grey colour as base for shades, use complementary colours, for example for red use green and then play with opacity level. This way you will see how the effect is even more pleasant to look at because it creates a contrast that is visually very appealing. Remember in art harmony is important but also contrast and asymmetry are very appreciated.

This video talks about the colour theory, take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeI6Wqn4I78

In this video instead complementary colours are used for shading and highlights (in Krita I use overlay or screen blending mode), I think it's a nice video to start off without getting into too much more complicated concepts of shading with complementary colours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sKGVQK-sOU

As for drawing robots I may suggest these tips I discovered myself when practicing with robotic designs:

1) sketch the wireframe to represent the robot's figure and pose (each circle represents a joint)

2) 3 dimensional shapes such as cylinders, box shapes and circles to sketch the body parts needed are always important to use when defining the overall structure

3) use lots of references for details and looks, you will learn a lot.

The only thing that I criticize is the background. The background clashes with the character because it is taken from the video game and does not give a natural atmosphere to the composition. The character seems attached to the background instead of feeling the surrounding environment. A better solution would be to draw it instead. Environments provide contexts and surround the subject, giving it the opportunity to be doing something instead of merely standing there. It's basically an interaction between a focal point and its surroundings.
Backgrounds are whatever you attach behind a character and sadly this bg is what gives me this feeling.

To learn this the first step is perspective, here an useful resource: http://drawabox.com/

but this video is useful too when it comes to backgrounds tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVynETvms-o

Another advice: the background should complement the characters, never make it stand more than others or compete with the characters otherwise it feels weird and gives off vibes.

Besides these advice I gave you, the design is nice with vivid colours, this is why I gave 3.5
Keep practicing, having fun and learning!

Scudlez responds:

Thanks for the review ! by the way, she's not my Oc, she's from Team Fortress 2. And yes I really suck at drawing background that's why I use background images from the Internet. Also yes I use references not only at the character but also the highlights and shading because I need to practice my shading and highlights skills to be perfectly good. As always I will take your advice and improve on it. Thank you very much for reviewing my work, I appreciate it !

( just a heads up, If you want to know which app I'm using for drawing, I'm Using Clip paint Studio.)

[As to the Gods]

Warning: very long comment, my nerdy side will be rambling a lot XD

Aaaaaahhh, Protagoras the famous pre-Socratic philosopher, numbered as one of the sophists by Plato, who in his dialogue of the same name credits him with having invented the role of the professional sophist or teacher of "virtue". But he is much more than this, he is also an important influence in fifth-century intellectual debates. His teaching had a practical and concrete goal, and many of the surviving testimonies and fragments suggest that it was mainly devoted to the development of argumentative techniques. But some of his views also raise important philosophical problems, which were going to be discussed in details by Plato, Aristotle, and many other philosophers. And his conventionalist notion of justice marks a break with the traditional account of divine justice; as it has been rightly claimed, it also seems to provide a theoretical foundation for democracy based on direct participation.

Sadly we do not know much about Protagoras’ life, and even less about his death: as the most famous sophist, he became the object of many, often unreliable, anecdotes. He was born in Abdera in Thrace, in the north coast of the Aegean Sea. In Plato’s Protagoras (317c) he says that he is old enough to be the father of anyone present, including Hippias and Prodicus. This confirms that he was one of the earliest sophists and suggests the 490s BCE as his birth year. According to an anecdote in Diogenes Laertius (IX.53) he was a porter until Democritus taught him. Democritus was also from Abdera, but was younger by about thirty years and criticised Protagoras’ thesis of the “Man measure” (see below) on the charge of being self-refuting. It is therefore highly improbable that Protagoras was one of his pupils. The anecdote, probably derived from some comic poets (such as Eupolis or Hermippus) due to possible connections between their epistemological theories, also served to point to Protagoras’ humble origins; an alternative testimony from Philostratus (Lives of the Sophist I.10.1–2) about his family hosting Xerxes at the time of the Persian wars goes in the opposite direction. This testimony also reports that Xerxes granted Protagoras’ family the rare privilege of having their son Protagoras educated by the Magi (this anecdote was also used to explain his agnosticism, as if it was impossible for a Greek to endorse similar ideas). Even if we regard this story as spurious, it still seems to confirm the contacts between Protagoras and the culture of the Ionian colonies and of the Near East.

But back to this beautiful yet simple work that carries a high philosophical value in this other memento mori work of yours. The text from which the sentence is taken from is Concerning the Gods (DK 80 B4) or On the Gods (it's more specifically the opening of the text) and confirms Protagoras’ penchant for sensational statements, capable of seizing the public’s attention.

not so fun fact: according to some ancient sources, this statement had a disproportionate effect: his books were burned in public, while he was convicted in Athens on a charge of atheism and sentenced to death; he then escaped and lost his life in a shipwreck. As already remarked, all these anecdotes are probably fictitious, but it is true that the sophist was made the object of unanimous and enduring condemnation, to the point of bringing together traditionally antithetical schools of thought, such as the Christians and the Epicureans, both concord in condemning his thesis as atheistic (see Diogenes of Oenoanda, 80A23 DK, and Epiphanius, Against Heresies III 16).

Protagoras is the first thinker to take an agnostic stance, which can hardly be understood as an expression of atheism; at stake, in the fragment, is not so much an ontological thesis (on the existence of the gods) but an epistemological one (on our knowledge of them; see Drozdek 2005: 41, Kotwick 2023: 259–263). It's not an easy text to understand (or fragment in this case), we need to compare and analyze the original Ancient Greek text which I can read and understand from a grammar point of view even though we never actually analyzed nor translated his works during high school:

"περὶ μὲν θεῶν οὐκ ἔχω εἰδέναι οὔθ' ὡς εἰσίν, οὔθ' ὡς οὐκ εἰσίν· πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ κωλύοντα εἰδέναι, ἥ τ' ἀδηλότης καὶ βραχὺς ὢν ὁ βίος τοῦ ἀνθρώπου"

Some interpreters have denied that Protagoras is doubting the existence of the gods in this passage on the ground of a parallel with the use of ὡς (hos if you want to know how to read it) in this statement and in the MM: in the latter case, as we have seen, the preposition clearly has a modal meaning; if we assume that it was used in the same sense in the former passage, we must conclude that, according to this line of interpretation, Protagoras was chiefly interested in the way in which the gods are and present themselves, rather than in their presumed existence or non-existence. Protagoras would thus be claiming that we do not know “how” the gods are or are not, and the words that follow (“nor of what kind they are in form”) would have an almost epexegetic function (or would more concretely refer to the problem of their visible appearance: see Kerferd 1981a: 165–168). This would imply, then, that Protagoras never raised any doubts as to the existence of the gods (and a different translation of the first clause would follow: “I am able to know neither how they exist nor how they do not exist”). The merit of this reading is that it explains the otherwise inappropriate order of the two clauses: since the first statement argues for agnosticism, it makes no sense to discuss the problem of the gods’ form. Against it, however, it must be noted that all the ancient sources, from Plato onwards (see Theaetetus, 162d), unanimously present Protagoras’ thesis as though it concerned the existence of the gods. As there are no reasons to go against such a solid tradition, it is better to interpret the text as discussing both the existence of the gods (“neither that they exist nor that they do not exist”) and their form (“nor of what kind they are in form”). As for the order of the two clauses, the most reasonable explanation is that, like in the MM fragment, these opening statements, whose primary aim was to attract the attention of the audience, were not meant to be too rigorous.

The fragment though links very well with your skull and the message you want to convey: the obscurity of the problem and the brevity of human life. These two elements acquire greater significance when viewed in relation to a concept the importance of which has already been stressed in relation to the MM, namely personal experience according to Protagoras: this is the only legitimate criterion to verify our knowledge. Once again it seems to suggest that Protagoras was endorsing a strong version of agnosticism: insofar as it exceeds our cognitive limits the question of the existence of the gods remains irresolvable as a matter of principle, both for the individual and for humanity as a whole.

The part about cognitive limits also strongly reminded me of Lovecraft when he said in The Call of Cthulhu:

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."

I know the piece is aimed at reflecting on the brevity of life (I may suggest for future memento mori-like works Seneca's On The Brevity of Life [De Breviate Vitae in Latin]), but at the same time it speaks to me in a Lovecraftian manner too. But it's just me, don't worry^^.

The uncertainty of the existence of gods, the limit of human intellectual capabilities and the brevity of life create a delicate semantic nuance to the more well defined lines of the drawn skull with the use of strong strokes of the ink and pens. It's a nice vivid contrast that I enjoy in a simple yet powerful piece like this. I hope to see other philosophical pieces like this and I don't care how much detailed or not they are, I am more than happy to dwell in the deep meaning they carry on. Keep it up!

ShadenLines responds:

I have but one question, sir: where did you learn all that?

...because I'd like to go to those sources myself. Am not into philosophy in general, but I will always make time for the ancient Greek thinkers.

[Pico]

This is truly a beautiful piece that brings back many memories in the hearts of those who lived that era but it also brings nostalgic vibes even to those who didn't directly lived that ear but know (maybe via screenshots, or web archive) how NG used to look like. An element I like a lot about this piece is the contrast between Pico's shading (even the name has details) and the simplicity of the background.

If one scrolls down the page, black silhouette of buildings can be seen and the background has the same vibe but with grey tones. I like how the combination of the building and ground's colour, and the sky make Pico stand out very nicely. I like the soft shades of the yellow highlight on Pico, it gives a nice warm feeling to the eye and shows in a subtle manner Pico's preparedness to a potential danger (his determined look and the finger on the trigger tell me).

It's always nice seeing old school Pico, I like FNF Pico, but classic Pico has a special place in my heart probably due to the neotenic-like features (or at least a young teen look) he has starting from the original design of the game. After all Tom himself told Pico doesn't have a rigid, specific design and everyone can see and interpret him the way they want. Even FNF Pico is another interesting way of seeing him. Pico represents the userbase of Newgrounds so many people, many worlds. I like Pico's stance especially those slightly curved knees that add a nice touch of dynamism in a rigid pose that shows Pico's readiness to danger.

Nice way to depict the MAC-10 Uzi, I particularly like the perspective and highlights on it because they make it visually appealing. Another element I love to death about this fanart is the dichromatic shade of the sky. The red and orange, probably to signify danger, power and action, combined with the grey colour of buildings give a strong flash game/movie vibe typical of early 2000s (after all the piece was made in 2009 so it perfectly depicts the spirit of its time). An element I always loved about Pico's classic designs is the nice combination of young teen traits and the more mature elements caused by the traumatic event he had to go through. After that damn incident he is not the same anymore sadly.

I've noticed the details on hair, I mean the shading that add a nice texture to the hair themselves, nice job. The simplicity of the background and overall composition as whole truly symbolize the spirit of both early 2000s and NG: a simpler era made of edgy jokes and creations where creation made by people and the randomness that came from it were the main elements. No stupid algorithm, no stupid AIs, no stupid NFT. Less regulation yes, but also more chaotic randomness in creativity.

Great job with this piece, I love it. Definitely one of my favourite Pico fanarts!

[“L’œil de Dieu” (02/06/2025)]

The very first thing I immediately thought when looking at this composition is the concept of "All-Seeing Eye". As you know it is a symbol depicting an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by rays of light or a halo, intended to represent Providence, as the eye watches over the workers of mankind. Often associated with US and Freemansory, this symbol can be found on the coats of arms of various countries such as Victoria, Canada; Brasłaŭ, Belarus; Neman, Russia; Radekhiv, Ukraine; and Radzymin and Wilamowice, Poland.

fun fact: it was also part of the flag and coat of arms adopted by the Confederation of the Equator, a short-lived 1824 secessionist revolt in the northeastern provinces of Brazil.

Besides this the symbols is also part of the Christian religion as symbol for Divine Providence. In late Renaissance European iconography, the Eye, surrounded by a triangle, was an explicit symbol of the Christian Holy Trinity. An early example is Pontormo’s 1525 Supper at Emmaus, although the symbol itself was painted on later, perhaps in the 1600s:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Pontormo_-_Cena_in_Emmaus_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/1511px-Pontormo_-_Cena_in_Emmaus_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

Another key source of the icon was in a book of emblems called the Iconologia, published first in 1593. In later editions, the Eye of Providence was included as an attribute of the personification of ‘Divine Providence’, ie God’s benevolence. As the name of the symbol and its early usage suggest, it was invented as a sign of God’s compassionate watchfulness over humanity. It's undeniable that the eye has its own inherent psychological impact, showing authority and for the viewer implying a sentient watchfulness. You can even see this effect in nature, with some animals having evolved ‘eyespots’ on their skin to scare off predators. The Surrealist photographer Man Ray summarised the uncanniness of the disembodied eye best when he said that René Magritte’s The False Mirror of 1929 “sees as much as it itself is seen.” But the eye symbolism is much more older than a Renaissance period.

But there is a deeper history to the eye as a symbol to consider – one that takes us back to the earliest known religions. In the third millennium BCE, the Sumerians conveyed the holiness of certain sculptures by abnormally enlarging their eyes to enhance the sensation of dutiful watchfulness. They even held ceremonies in which artists brought the sculptures to life by ‘opening’ the figures’ eyes. But the most famous ancient symbol featuring an overseeing eye is the Eye of Ra or the right wedjat-eye paired with the Eye of Horus, left wedjat-eye. It's a life-giving power that has been celebrated in temple rituals, and its dangerous aspect was invoked in the protection of the pharaoh, of sacred places, and of ordinary people and their homes. It has a double nature: protective and destructive.

This and other Egyptian hieroglyphs of isolated human eyes went on to affect European iconography during the Renaissance. At that time, scholars and artists had a fascination with Egyptian writing; the only problem was that they didn’t fully understand it, and attempted translations were normally riddled with inaccuracies. One of the most famous appeared in a romance of 1499 titled The Dream of Poliphilo where the translation of an Egyptian single eye symbol was ‘God’. This stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of hieroglyphics’ original use. Nowadays we know that they are a written language of mainly phonetic signs, but in the 1400s and 1500s they were believed to have a much more mystical significance. The symbols in hieroglyphic writing – animals, birds and abstract shapes – were thought to be deliberately mysterious, each one creating meaning through the inspiration of the viewer rather than being part of a linguistic system. They were, so it was believed, open puzzles that contained multiple meanings. This belief had a huge effect on European art. When dictionaries of symbols, such as Andrea Alciati’s 1531 Emblemata and later Cesare Ripa’s Iconologia came out, the emphasis was on cryptic, often highly complex visual symbols where the viewer is enrolled as a participant in deciphering as well as constructing meanings from them.

As a result, a motif like the Eye of Providence was deliberately esoteric in its appearance. For example in post-revolutionary France, Jean-Jacques-François Le Barbier’s 1789 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen featured the text of the radical new declaration with the Eye of Providence at the top. In this case, it has become an instrument of paternalistic reason watching over the newly egalitarian nation. In Britain in 1794 Jeremy Bentham commissioned the architect Willey Reveley to design him a logo for his ‘Panopticon’– a revolutionary new prison aiming to allow for continual surveillance of each cell. The resulting design prominently included the Eye of Providence – a symbol now of the unblinking stare of judiciary righteousness – surrounded by the words ‘Mercy’, ‘Justice’ and ‘Vigilance’. And well famous 1782 Great Seal of United States where the Eye was a conventional symbol for God’s sympathetic oversight of this fledgling nation (pun intended since the bald eagle is its national bird XD).

Even your composition has this triangle structure in which the eye can be inscribed. But another thing I love about this drawing is the VHS-effect typical of analog horror stories or in this case I would call "religious analog" since religious themes seem to play a role in the symbolism of both the artwork and the small poem written in the description. The overall vibe is strongly reminiscent of Alfred Alfer imagery where trauma and coping mechanism with art are employed a lot. I've also noticed the main three-eyed figure has an interesting symbol on the yellow rectangle positioned on his chest:

-the crescent and star

It was developed in the Greek colony of Byzantium ca. 300 BC, though it became more widely used as the royal emblem of Pontic king Mithridates VI Emulator after he incorporated Byzantium into his kingdom for a short period. During the 5th century, it was present in coins minted by the Persian Sassanian Empire; the symbol was represented in the coins minted across the empire throughout the Middle East for more than 400 years from the 3rd century until the fall of the Sassanians after the Muslim conquest of Persia in the 7th century. he conquering Muslim rulers kept the symbol in their coinage during the early years of the caliphate, as the coins were exact replicas of the Sassanian coins. But the history of the symbol is much more longer since it's a key feature of the iconography of the Ancient Near East as representing either the Sun and Moon or the Moon and Venus (Morning Star) (or their divine personifications). It has been suggested that the crescent actually represents Venus, or the Sun during an eclipse.

Crescents appearing together with a star or stars are a common feature of Sumerian iconography, the crescent usually being associated with the moon god Sin (Nanna) and the star with Ishtar (Inanna, i.e. Venus), often placed alongside the sun disk of Shamash.

fun fact 2: the NGE Angel Shamshiel derives its name from Shamash, the ancient Sumerian god of the Sun, it literally means "Sun of God".

You can find this symbol in Late Bronze Age Canaan. A very early depiction of the symbol (crescent moon, stars and sun disc) is found on the Nebra sky disc, dating from c. 1800 – c. 1600 BC (Nebra, Germany). A gold signet ring from Mycenae dating from the 15th century BC also shows the symbol. The star and crescent (or 'crescent and pellet') symbol appears 19 times on the Berlin Gold Hat, dating from c. 1000 BC. You can find the symbol in coins from the Western Turkic Khaganate, which held an important place in the worldview of ancient Turks and other peoples of Central Asia: https://akjournals.com/view/journals/062/66/1/article-p47.xml

Of course this is what I think to have seen looking carefully at the detail. I've also noticed another potential symbol in the sequence of pictograms or pictorgram-like drawings at the right side of the artwork. The second hand pointing its index up. Sadly I can't remember the exact name of it because I remember a statue of a hand with a ring on its index, it curiously appears in this Asterix movie "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix" with a slight difference in the position of the thumb (1:12:22 you can see it):

https://youtu.be/qRepV3mTMFA?t=4324

As far as I remember it was used in ancient times as symbol of good luck and tool to ward off evil spirits, but it can also symbolize the spiritual, virtual realm. For example Raphael's fresco The School of Athens Plato is pointing upwards because his philosophical inquiries, as outlined in his Theory of Forms, have led him to conclude that the true nature of things is of a higher order than reality as we perceive it. Plus the vertical indication leads the gaze of the spectator upwards, even outside of the fresco into a suggested, virtual realm (the painted skies above the painted architecture - which is especially poignant for Plato's idealism).

But I repeat I can't fully remember it, I need to do further research to find it, and if I find it I will update this review with a better, corrected info. Sorry^^'

Asides from this the whole composition is a mix of symbolism, personal symbols, trauma and need to cope with art, this is why I don't give any suggestion to improve things because it's perfect the way it is, and I always loved highly symbolic pieces like this one (hence my 4.5 rating). I also love the colours particularly of the background and how they mix well with the VHS tape effect. It's interesting to note the chains that keep bound the suffering creature. The are religious elements (even the title is highly religious) and the term religion from the Latin word religiō. According to Roman philosopher Cicero, religiō comes from relegere: re (meaning "again") + lego (meaning "read"), where lego is in the sense of "go over", "choose", or "consider carefully". But some modern scholars such as Tom Harpur and Joseph Campbell have argued that religiō is derived from religare: re (meaning "again") + ligare ("bind" or "connect"), which was made prominent by St. Augustine following the interpretation given by Lactantius in Divinae institutiones, IV, 28.

I remember that even in De rerum natura by Lucretius, the author makes derive the word "religion" to religare (bind/connect but with a negative semantic meaning). Religion sadly has been used as tool to relegate people and bound their liberties, I can see that in the drawing but of course there is also the concept of hell and conditional love that can lead to co-dependence which is a key element of toxic relationships. The colour of the sky with its purplish hues suggest the feel of command order and control over its victims. Purple is a colour linked to power and royalty and we know kings and queens often used religion to bound people to the belief they were chosen by God to rule the country. In Japan, purple is associated with the emperor and Japanese aristocracy.

But purple is also linked to religion itself often associated with piety and religious faith. In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic liturgy, purple represents penitence; Anglican and Catholic priests wear a purple stole when they hear confession and a purple stole and chasuble during Advent and Lent. Since the Second Vatican Council of 1962–5, priests may wear purple vestments, but may still wear black ones, when officiating at funerals. The Roman Missal permits black, purple (violet), or white vestments for the funeral Mass. White is worn when a child dies before the age of reason. But it is also the color most associated with ambiguity and in Britain, purple is sometimes associated with mourning.

So yeah this work is very powerful in its symbolism, I hope you felt better after subliming your feelings and emotions. Really beautiful work, keep it up!

p.s. sorry for long comment

KhaosKitsune617 responds:

thanks ^_^

i dont mind the long comment. i love the analysis.
here's my long reply :3

-technically, i felt like using an eye to symbolize not just god himself, but also that feeling of risking being smitten or punished for something minor. i chose the title to reference it. tho the reason the title is in french is cus i had little title desicions and wanted to pick something that sounded nice. i associate the eye concept as a symbol of judgement and hate, not life. speaking of the eye of ra/horus thingies, i may incorporate it with my main story (a lot of mythology shix will happen in it lol)

-the vhs effect is a motiff i commonly use for fun. for this art i was also inspired by old religious vhs vids and this creepypasta. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Faith_Buddies
as much as i dislike emily as a person, alfred alfer is a major comfort series for me. i like the trauma imagery in it a lot and the coping with escapism. (in the first episode theres a part where alfred is trapped in a room burning on fire and then it turns into her being cinderella)

-also the poem is actually not a poem. its a part of one of my favorite songs, "vicarious atonement" by the mars volta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUoP7QvaxF8&ab_channel=ruckwarts

-the symbols on his chest were just some symbols i thought would look cool. same with his scarf. tho i intend to add more sun mottifs on him. also shamsiel is badass.

-also you may have missed it, but i put like a few people, plus this fox like dude. the fox is supposed to be a friend of the dude, named sparkle. she's hanging from the eye along with some humans to represent damnation. her silhouttte and design is inspired by mausland. (rest in peace)https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/khaoskitsune617/the-fox-that-was-damned-to-hell (i also originally intend to name it “l’œil de dieu” but changed mind.)

-the chains represent torture, being trapped, and repression. regarding torture, stuff like the spanish inquisition, but also shunning and murder by religious zealots. many times i feel like religion itself is only for old or hateful people, despite having very friendly and understanding religious friends. the purple sky was meant to represent both hell and oppression. technically sulfur burns blue but i thought purple would be more eerie. also i cant draw fire well.

-also the spikes in the neck represent trying to please double standards.

-if you are curious, the creature's name is bashemath. i will be working more on him.

[In the Catacombs]

This is one of my favourite works of yours, the first thing I loved when I decided to fave and rate it 5 stars was the perspective and angle at which skulls are drawn and positioned. The perspective gives a nice idea of ​​solemnity, antiquity, mystery and slight eerie vibe. And the variations in its darkness of the charcoal pencil provide different and wonderful shades and textures that enhance the feeling of solemnity and respect one shall always pay to the dead. Even without reading the description my mind told me that the pencil was a B grade pencil.

I love the soft textures provided by this pencil and as soon as one touches it with the paper, then it gets settled softly in their desired manner. The softness can be particularly noticed in the crate and the wall which also gives a mist-like feeling to the atmosphere. A mist fed by moistness. The blending is another factor that makes me like this work a lot!
The fact the charcoal pencil can sustain multiple types of blending really helps at obtaining different shades and highlights, helping this way to build the structure of the composition. I love the midtones on the wall because it almost looks like the eye caresses the surface of the wall itself. I can feel the texture of the wall by looking at it. Same with the crate at the right part of the drawing.

The chiaroscuro effects also offered by the rebound of light give further three-dimensionality to the composition. I also love the details of the spiderweb at the top right part, where you can see the three skulls. I really like the play of light and dark in the pencil strokes when it comes to the threads of the web. And I also noticed a difference in thickness when compared to the thin thread of web in the bottom left part of the drawing. Over time, webs tend to accumulate, creating thickness which makes me think that the small spider, which can be seen on the right side, has been there for quite a while. While the thin web on the lower left gives me the idea of ​​something more recent. But this is just me who likes to overanalyze things.

I like the combination of different tools since the strokes on the skulls seem to be done with the pen. This creates a nice contrast and highlights the skulls and bones, ensuring that attention is focused on them as they are the main subjects. I really like the little white dots that you can see if you look carefully at the stone of the capital where one of the skulls is located. The same capital also serves as the structure of the three-sided triangular composition that you can see if you mentally break down the composition. It creates a beautiful asymmetry that is very pleasing to the eye. The skulls are also found in groups of three (upper and lower part).

This also creates that asymmetry so sought after in artistic compositions. Of course it is not a fixed rule, you can always break it to create something new or creative or to convey a specific message.

I really like how there is a very good balance between control and tone vibrancy. In its staticity it seems almost that the vibrancy accompanies the viewer's eye in a subtle dynamism of moving lights and shadows. To me it gives the idea of ​​a moving image, like the soft light of a candle that is revealing the catacomb before me. This work speaks to me like a mix between a tonal study and an atmospheric drawing. The subtle transitions from light to dark and viceversa is well achieved by the balance vibrancy and the applied pressure of the pencil on the surface.

I am still hypnotized by the capital with its crisp image, which adds definition and clarity to the composition, only thing I might point out is the midtone of the capital and the wall behind it. Maybe a use of a hard charcoal pencil in that area would have helped a bit to define the border between the capital and the wall but I see that something is still present although done in a more subtle manner. Still great though.

The dark lines of the soft charcoal pencil managed to outline shapes, add depth to shadows, and create dramatic contrasts of a composition that talks about the memento mori. This concept traces back in antiquity even though many people tend to associate it to more recent eras. But this was well known among Greeks and Ancient Romans, for example the philosopher Democritus trained himself by going into solitude and frequenting tombs. Plato's Phaedo, where the death of Socrates is recounted, introduces the idea that the proper practice of philosophy is "about nothing else but dying and being dead" (see Phaedo, 64a4 for further reference). The Stoics of classical antiquity were particularly prominent in their use of this discipline, and if you take a look at Seneca's letters such as Moral Letters to Lucilius you will notice how they are full of injunctions to meditate on death. The Stoic Marcus Aurelius invited the reader (himself) to "consider how ephemeral and mean all mortal things are" in his Meditations (see Meditations IV. 48.2).

It's an apparent gloomy piece to the superficial eye and fits perfectly the atmosphere of October month, but to me it's a relaxing, calming piece that tells me to stop, meditate and reflect on ephemerality of life. Plus these catacombs give me a strong Paris catacombs vibe. Even if there is no clock that is usually accompanied in memento mori compositions (see for example Philippe de Champaigne's Vanitas) with its symbolic motto tempus fugit, "time flees" in English, I can still perceive it. The draw tells me about the time that has passed in these catacombs and not only the physical time over the centuries but also the personal time of the people who have lived the area. It also talks to me about my personal time that is gradually and slowly running out.

A very contemplative piece if I have to be honest. And I still remember that forum thread about artistic levels "beginner, intermediate and advanced" where you were defined as a "beginner" by a person (I think the OP but I don't remember). Well, I personally see an intermediate level here since there is a good use of the pencil, a control of the pen stroke and the pressure exerted by it. So keep it up, we need more traditional pieces here!

ShadenLines responds:

You left my jaw on the floor, sir.

... I've never seen anyone put so much into a review. I don't think my reviews will ever match yours, where quality is concerned.

[Mincifry the Minccino!]

The thing that caught my eye the most was the overall colour scheme used here. I like that it is used to convey the idea of ​​the military world and the camouflage associated with it. The background is very simple and geometric, it is a stylistic choice that I respect since the main character is the main focus. I also like the weapon, how it turned out along with the helmet. They are the most detailed part of the artwork, this is why I like to look at them the most in the entire composition because I tend to focus on details.

I've noticed that outlines of the characters' eyes are shown despite being covered by the tuft of hair typical of Anime style. Nice combination of this element with your personal style which tends to be a simple and chibi-like style in some of its parts such as the big head, big eyes and smaller body, notably arms and legs. Compared to other works of yours I can see the details put in showing the character's traits, I mean the outfit, the equipment and look.

I noticed that the whole body structure tends to be built on simple geometric shapes such as squares and circles, then the rest is drawn on top of that. Now I would like to point out a couple of things that might be improved for future drawings:

1) stiff pose
2) lack of shades/hues/gradient/highlight

Keep in mind I am mainly focusing on this drawing, I don't know if in other artworks shading has been applied. Stiff pose is an element that hits every artist in the learning process, trust me I got that problem a lot when I was younger. Reasons of stiffness may be: being overly cautious, a lack of gesture, and a lack of line quality. I don't know if you start with a sketch phase before drawing them or you immediately start with the outlines. If it's the latter, I may suggest you to start doodling rough, messy lines. Don't worry too much about every stroke. Being so worried and careful makes you draw your lines too slowly, and that stops fluidity. It makes you hold your pencil too hard, and that prevents subtlety. Scratchy, messy lines also have a purpose: exploring. When you are exploring drawing poses, drawing from imagination, or just constructing the initial structure of your drawings, it is completely okay to draw lines that wouldn’t look “confident”, because you will eventually clean it up, draw it again, or just leave as a study you were doing. To avoid a stiff hand and so a stiff-looking drawing practice drawing warmups before starting your sketching session. Sketching without rules will help you get closer to the mentality needed to draw better, dynamic, confident lines.

Draw fluid lines to warmup, then you can start build the character's structure how you like the most.

A common trait I've noticed by giving a very quick look at your gallery, which is lovely with those cute characters, is that they all tend to have a stiff pose for the most part. It's a completely normal thing and there is nothing wrong in playing safe, but exploring more dynamic poses will be critical to making your drawings less stiff. Tip: include gestures even in the case you want to draw a more static pose. I've noticed the legs of the character are slightly curved, notably the right leg, and this gives a very subtle dynamism which I like if I have to be honest. Art is about making decisions, so even a stiff pose can be the right choice if you aim at it, for example this image of Tom and Jerry both scared is well conveyed by the stiffness of the pose: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ca/5a/ba/ca5aba0ca9dd4be8b41184ef4782fe83.jpg

But because military environment sometimes show dynamism I personally think that a more dynamic pose on him would have been a nice alternative at depicting him.

These for example might be good references for a military dynamic pose: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3c/48/33/3c48334cb92992d57a41304e331e01f6.jpg

Draw them with only gesture as the main focus of the practice. Details don’t matter; instead, focus on capturing the energy of the pose. Get inspired by your favorite artists and study their drawings by doing them yourself.

Another element in avoiding stiff poses is starting with line of action. The line of action is the first line you draw, and it sets the pose or mood of a drawing. This line of action usually represents the spine, as it is the most influential part of the body regarding movement. The more dynamic the line is, the more vibrant your drawing will be. I link here (I do apologize if it may look spam, it's just an example to better show what I mean) a WIP of a drawing I did for the celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles' victory using Pico and friends as characters:

https://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/shangxian/fly-eagles-fly-sketch-and-wip

This is the “line of force” or “line of motion,” is a fundamental concept in art and animation. It’s a dynamic and imaginary line that helps convey a subject’s overall movement, energy, and direction, typically a character or object within a composition. So as tip I may suggest you to start by drawing a line of action and then try to fit the subject into it. If you start your drawing by the head, creating poses that don’t look stiff will be harder. If you practice this enough times, it will eventually become second nature. Experiment, use different poses, don't aim at masterpieces, aim at consistency and I see you have the potential to make nice and dynamic-looking artworks.

Another core element: use contrapposto. Contrapposto is a term used in art to describe a specific pose or stance of a human figure. It is characterized by a subtle shift in the body’s weight distribution. By using contrapposto, artists can create figures that appear more lifelike and less rigid, making their art more engaging and relatable. Key features:

1) weight shift: in a contrapposto pose, the weight of the figure is shifted onto one leg, which becomes the weight-bearing leg, while the other leg is relaxed or slightly bent. This creates a sense of balance and asymmetry in the figure’s posture.

2) S-shaped curve: the shift in weight and stance results in an S-shaped curve through the figure’s torso and spine. This curve adds a sense of fluidity and movement to the pose.

3) counterbalance: the upper body and arms often counterbalance the weight-bearing leg to maintain balance. For example, if the right leg bears the weight, the torso may lean slightly to the left, and the arms might extend in different directions to counter the weight shift.

Here a photo to better show what I meant: https://enhancedrawing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Contrapposto.jpg

Even in the WIP is linked you can see it.

I may also suggest line variety, the thickness of outlines is nice looking I admit, I like it because it makes the draw pleasant to look at but a more variety in thickness and weight can help a lot to make a drawing less stiff. Line variety is the element of drawing essential for conveying depth, form, and meaning in a work of art. By manipulating how lines are drawn, including thickness, texture, weight, direction, and variation, artists can create various visual effects to communicate their ideas effectively. How to put in practice this concept?

1) light: try to make them thinner and lighter, so you can trick the brain into thinking that something hit by light is shining, even though a 2D pencil drawing can’t produce light.

2) distance: by making the lines on the front thicker and the lines behind thinner, you can trick your brain into thinking there is depth.

This video covers the topic of line weight, I recommend it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m3wGbPMSUY

When it comes to shading, I suggest to watch the videos linked by Skoops, a very talented artist on NG who is always ready to help artists with fundamentals: https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1523050#bbspost27682098_post_text

My humble tip about shading is to add even a simple shade beneath the character to make it look attached to the ground. Even a simple, oval-shaped shade beneath the character would have given a more natural vibe to the composition. Layer mode: multiply. Begin with this now and play with opacity to find the shading hue you like the most.

Ok, other than this I liked this drawing, the combination of thin outlines, dull colours of bg and the character's outfit, the weapon and helmet details made me give this drawing a 4 start rating. Keep it up and take your time at digesting what I said and linked in this very looooong and maybe boring comment. Have a nice day!