What do you think? insights welcome
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Do not take offence please. Hope you will understand this as one more failed rude joke, typical for stupid people of my kind. I only mean that fairies are usually imagined as helpful, kind creatures, while ninjas were nasty people ready to commit any crime on order of their bosses… They could do a lot of tricks, but fortunately couldn’t fly…
May be I shouldn’t be that serious here. I understand that the current mass culture made romantic heroes out of ninjas and many other bloody criminals of old times. Now a lot of people are trying to hide their souls from reality into that fake, simplified, irresponsible, imaginative world, prescribed to them by mass culture, where black can easily be called “white”. A lot of artists, following that crowd and competing with each other, try to slide on the surface of that world, hoping for easy art and money. I do not try to condemn them. I only say that I am not a follower, I prefer my own way. Products of primitive imagination of this kind, flooding our art premises lately, can not touch my soul. That is my trouble. Thus for me no picture of this kind can be much better or worse then many other similar ones.
I do not like this artistic style either. May be this style particularly fits that simplified, imaginative world, may be it is good for some cartoons, tattoo, for all that new primitive culture or for one of its branches, etc. I do not know. I just do not see perspectives for this style in the ART, which I like.
Certainly, all the above is a matter of my rude test only. And still, trying to understand and not to be too rude, I can not suppress a bitter feeling of sorrow for the artistic skills, efforts and high level artistic work, spent in vain… I think all that deserves deeper thoughts and other objects, resulting in a better ART.
Sorry… I tried just to express my mood and to produce an honest feedback, in hope that critical view can be more useful for art progress, then a mere compliment….
The problem is that you partly confirm my words, speaking about fairy tales as if you live inside of them, among their imaginative heroes, while I speak about real people called ninja, who lived in Japan in old times. They were nasty people indeed, but the real history of their life, traditions, culture, martial arts seems to me more teaching and interesting then any fairy tale. I understand that the image in question is the product of artistic imagination and that in a fairy tale we can make a fantasy hero out of any living being or historic person. Nevertheless, in this particularly case the distance between reality and this picture is so great that I can not imagine a ninja as a fairy. When I try to, I have a feeling as if a life long trained professional assassin is flying over my head as a bloody butterfly. It is not pleasant and more scaring then a flying cow!
Another cause of our misunderstanding has a more technical nature and lies in the traditions of Russian translators. In Russian or foreign fairy tales they use the word fairy (in Russian it sounds as “feja”) only for purely positive, flawless personages. If she makes any evil or half evil doings she is usually called “vedma” (a soft variant of English witch). “Vedma” can be a funny, attractive figure, but she is never called “feja”. Seems this Russian tradition still influences my attitudes too much, so thank you for your corrective note in this instance.
I never said that this art, style and image are not valid. I only said that all that lies too far from my current artistic interests. That is why I can not judge here and this image “is not better or worse for me then any other similar one”. I supposed that this style can fit cartoons, tattoo… I can add that it can be absolutely good as an illustration for a fairy tale book… However, my main thought was another. I noticed that the author of that image Kevin Anderson spent a lot of artistic labor for this artwork and showed artistic talent, which I do not have. Envious or not, but I made a supposition, that he could produce a greater masterpiece if he had taken another object and tried to express a more profound thought. Why not?
Certainly, it is my test and opinion only and my supposition, which we can not verify yet.
I want to further comment to Kevin about the second illustration. I offer this as construction criticism trying to be helpful not trying to tear down. All in all I like the second illustration quite well but I cannot see it very well and welcome perhaps some other better sighted artists to comment likewise to see if it is just me being blind or if there really exists a problem in its visibility. I personally would like to see just a tad more color and I know the style calls for restraint in usage of color but perhaps just a tad more would not jeopardize style but make it a better more easilly viewed illustration. I would not use red as the red in the blood would be compromized then. I would not use the same color as the wings as that would be too much of that color. I think I might try a light gray or silver in the body or a least a good part of the body and I think that might make her a bit easier to pick out. If you are willing to try it. I recognoze the style calls for very careful use of color but I think you could use a bit more to your advantage and not sacrifice the style. Good luck, Hmm I looked at her again and I take back what I said..I think gray or silver wont work too much black and white....You might try a bright color that is slightly faded or a pastel or any color of your choice for her armour. A very bright white might do too. And I think she might benefit from a tad bit of pastel flesh color in her face to make it more visible and like perhaps purplish pupils in her eyes would be appealing. You might try some or all of this just for the sake of trying, you certainly dont need to commit to it but trying it might help you find a totally better look or it may not work, one never knows til one does try isnt that the way it is? ADelle
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