Shock & Awe

Overall a really great submission. As others pointed out, the pools on his antlers are a nice touch. I get the feeling you were going for, but the way that the water reflects made it feel less like water and more like... slime? If you use still water or something for those effects, it might be a good idea to blend a little bit of green pigment into it? The issue is that water is almost never completely clear, there's always something mixed up in it. Drops are one thing, but on a body I feel like it needs something to make it seem not so perfectly clear. I don't know, just my impression.

19 hours ago, ItsyBitsyFighter said:

Well I am not entirely sure what it says, but I painted whatever google said was “ramen”. Looking back on it. Sake would have been much better! 

For future reference, Japanese people never use kanji for ramen - it would be in hiragana or katakana - so it would look like this: ラーメン or らーめん *just for knowledge support - I've been living in Japan for the last 12 years and I've passed the highest level of the Japanese language proficiency test, so this isn't a random anime lover trying to drop knowledge *  I think the sign in the back says, "Village Tanuki", but the left radical on the first kanji is hard to make out. 

Anyway! This is a really great setup. The tree is amazing, the narrative is really funny with the placement. The paint job as well is stellar. All in all a great piece of work! Well done!

Sadly, my biggest coment here is that I'm not actually sure what model is behind/under all of this (I did finally find Marlena in there). It's too dark to make out what's going on. The ckoud is amazing, but you sacraficed the view of your paint job. I'm sure the paint job is wonderful, I just can't see it

Being a fellow painting challenge mate, I'll give you as much feedback as I can. Let's start with the areas to potentially think about:

1 - The crumpled background is a bit distracting for me. 

2 - The lighting is a bit too "dramatic" and it ends up detracting from your work because some of the details get lost. 

3 - I would be nice to see a bit more shadows/highlights on the model to give it a more "real" vibe - for instance, on her face - it looks like just base paints from what I can see. 

4 - While dioramas do usually need more shots, I might stick with one or two at most, because it feels like I'm trying to look everywhere at once (which pulls you out of the narrative). 

On the plus side:

1 - The roof set up and the water drip are absolutely ace! 

2 - The freehand is very nice

3 - the base and the grass, combined with the water is also really nice. 

Overall a really solid entry for someone new to the hobby!

The concept here is great, you've got a good eye for building a narrative. The main thing to work on is creating more depth with shadows and highlights. Really fun set up though! 

The blend between the background and the model is really nice. The water effects as well are amazing... and it feels to me like they are actually moving in reverse (floating up rather than falling down) which gives it this gathering storm feel. Great work.

The paint job is good, but you got a bit too tricksy with your photo and blurred the actual contest content :) It's also a bit dark, so it makes the details hard to make out.

Really nice work, especially on her face. The skull is also really well painted. I thing the issue, as other said, is just that it's a bit "brown". It would be nice if something in the middle stood out a bit more.

Man, those drips - and her eyes! Amazing work.

Great idea! Really smooth paint job as well. I second the smug look - awesome!

The dress is amazing. I love the water effect coming off the bat. Great concept!

1 hour ago, DemiMurgos said:

Great job on the skin shading, the flowery dress is flowing really nicely. The dirt at the bottom is a nice touch. I don't really understand the splash on the club, but maybe that's just me.

Is this a first edition/special edition Mah Tucket? I can't seem to find this model anywhere.

I think that's a LaCroix Raider, if I'm not mistaken

I really like the base work, and the little girl's face is amazing. I have to agree with the others though, that the main model herself could use a bit more to make her stand out (her dress stands out, but not her)

That freehand is amazing! I am not a huge fan of the mud pit base... because it calls to mind some other unpleasant brown smooshy stuff  But rest of the paint job is spot on.

The base is wicked. The only real issue, as the others said, is making some contrast between the garment and her skin. It feels like a large white mass in the middle, unfortunately. The wings look great though! 

I really loved this work. The cacti, the free hand on the bag, all the small details were really amazing. Excellent job!

The paint job does appear to be quite nice, but as the others have said, it's really hard to make out. It's interesting in an artistic photo way - but as this competition is about how you painted the model - we kind of need to see it a bit better

I also feel like the contrast could be pushed a bit more. Conversely, you could also lower the contrast on the photo to make the light hitting the models not appear so bright.

great overall paint job, and I do like the kind of dead looking flowers in his hand. Made me think of him getting shot down for a date and raging afterward! 

Very smooth paint job. Could use a bit more depth and shadows perhaps.

Everything about this is amazing - the water effects, the ripple effects, the lilies... all of it. Just a killer paint job.

The saliva effects are wicked! Same with the base work. Only thing I can think to add is that the eye is well painted, but it feels like it's missing depth somehow. 

Lots going on here! Perhaps try and separate the mouth and the tongue color next time? The center kind of gets drown in red a bit.

The translucent effect is really nice! The overall composition is really stunning. It somehow feels a bit... chalky... I guess, around her abdomen, but that is a minor point.

amazing freehand and really clean work.