#Art criticism

[sharkchunks]

From Hell (2001, The Hughes Brothers)

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Beauty in Splash Art 3

League of Legends splash art is, on the face of it, perhaps an odd place to go looking for beauty. These are JPGs whose first and primary function is to hawk video game cosmetics for a free-to-play game, it's not exactly the sort of thing you expect artists to particularly flex their creativity for.

And true enough, a lot of splash art is fairly rote. Here's a character, wow look at their cool pose, don't you want to spend dollars to own this, and so on.

But sometimes, one of the artists working at Riot, or at their outsourcing studios, seems to get a bee in their bonnet, or maybe they just get excited about an opportunity to practise craft, and you get splash art that tries to do something more than simply sell the product, or artwork which displays a real flex of technical skill, often in ways which are functionally invisible at any of the common resolutions that the art will ever be displayed at.

There is genuine reward to be found in those pieces, in zooming in close and marveling at the level of effort spent. So let's spend about an hour doing that!

Splash arts covered:

Odyssey Sona - by Kelly Aleshire

Victorious Sejuani - by Francis Tneh

Aurora - by Jennifer Wuestling

Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah and Rakan - by Ina Wong

Empyrean Vex - by Horace "Hozure" Hsu

Winterblessed Diana - by Bo "chenbowow" Chen

Porcelain Irelia - by Alsie Lau

Toy Terror Cho'gath - by Fortune "Fortuneee" K

[amphiptere-art]

How compliments feel sometimes.

[nobrashfestivity]

Peter Hujar

Gary Indiana Veiled (detail) (1981)

Courtesy of Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York, and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; © 1981 Peter Hujar Archive LLC

[death-limes]

These are originally from this post (X) but I want to make it its own post bc it’s something I was kinda worried about people misinterpreting.

I actually agree with this person, anytime someone redesigns or redraws something and calls it “fixing” I always cringe a little. Art is subjective, no matter how you, I, or anyone else feels about it. To say that you’re “fixing” someone’s art is to imply that the original is “broken” or inherently wrong in some way, which it’s not. That is disrespectful — which is why I very purposefully don’t use that language.

As for small artists, I don’t think I phrased it properly above. Poor-quality media is rarely a result of a lack of skill on the part of the artists drawing the storyboards and final animation. Along with being overworked and underpaid, they are also given model sheets which they must strictly follow. If something looks wonky in a fully-produced show — in this case, a character’s head not being drawn to suit the angle it’s tilted at — it’s the fault of the designers and showrunners, not the artists actually drawing the frames. They’re the ones who decided how the characters should be drawn, and they’re the ones who approve the final product.

(And yes, I’m censoring this person’s username even though it’s easy to find on the original post. I’m not intending to incite rude comments toward this person, but if you’re the kind of person who would go out of your way to view the original post & find them, my words probably wouldn’t dissuade you anyway.)

[acid-comet]

Baby update on artstyle. NOTHING HAS CHANGED 🥲

(Not done, complaining, and im gonna add more angles/lines/etc. also will be posting individually once all done🤪🤪)

PLEASE ADVICE, CRITICISM, ETC

[indierpgnewsletter]

The problem with asking if games are art is that the answer can be as simple and as complicated as you have time for. In some sense, anyone trying to be stingy about what qualifies as art is fighting a battle that was decided a long time ago. Today, anything can be art if you're willing to give it your attention and let it move you.

The more interesting question when it comes to tabletop games is, which art are you talking about?

The most common is the art in the books - beautiful illustration and beautiful writing that makes an RPG book an “art book”. I was recently posting on the site formerly known as twitter about how momatoes’ ARC was a work of art. As evidence, I posted screenshots of the PDF. The pages were filled with art, words, and layout that was dark but not scary, a kind of modern fairytale aesthetic that hints at hidden depths. Like a sculpture where marble looks like cloth, it's a feat of technical skill that can both humble and inspire you.

Then, there's the art of playing RPGs. This is a tricky one because there’s lots of things this isn’t: this isn’t acting, this isn’t the same as performing in an actual play. It’s adjacent to performance but not exactly the same and its importance varies across playstyles. But if comedy is an art, then people are busting their gut laughing in their games. If drama is an art, well, often it’s much more moving when someone you know adds the slightest quiver to their voice than when someone in a movie bursts into tears in the rain as a violin plays in the background. Sometimes its just knowing who or when to pass the ball to, and doing it deftly.

And then, there’s the art of design. Which I think Robin Laws referred to as “the hidden art”, though that is probably a little controversial. It’s not exactly writing, it’s more about what or how to write. It’s not exactly the sum total of everything that goes into a book. In some games, the bulk of the design is just the premise. The rest is left to the players. In some games, it’s carefully choreographed ritual. Eithery way, like all art, most of it will leave you cold but some of it can grab you and change you.

(This was originally published in the indie rpg newsletter.)

[detroit-become-moomin]

Howdy y’all, my essay on the abject is finally out! It discusses a number of issues, including purity legislation, self-advocacy in media consumption, and how we interface with dark/ugly topics in art and literature. It also delves into the issues surrounding HB900, Greg Abbott’s (failed) censorship law. It’s free to peruse, no paywall, so consider giving it a read if interested.

READ HERE

RT HERE (really helps!)

[metaphrasis]

[A critic is] someone who […] loves experience. I think it’s a disposition that comes even before attention to art. It is someone that looks at any phenomena and wants to extend their life by paying attention—by analysis—[by wanting] to juice this aspect of experience for all that it’s worth. Someone who is, in one way, battling death by saying I can extend this moment, and this one, and this one by way of attention. And so the best way to practice that disposition happens to be on art and therefore, [the critic] uses their taste, uses their standards, uses their whole apparatus of judgement, really, to express a kind of joy of being alive at the same time as the thing.

— Vinson Cunningham's response to the question, "What is the work of a critic today?" on The New Yorker's Critics at Large podcast

[caramelcove]

I'm not satisfied with my coloring or shading 😭

Here's my attempt at throwing anything on the canvas

If there's anything you like or dislike in these PLEASEJDG tell me

And you have any tutorials please do not be shy 🤲 share

[sc4rymxnsters]

my freaky little durge but its this

[altrbody]

"I became an artist because I had no choice. I was compelled to paint by something in me which I experienced as having extreme value and I proceeded to paint without ever having given it a thought. It was and it always will be for me out of necessity. Let me describe what I mean by necessity. It was a concern to directly remove and express images that pressed my consciousness. For the first three years as a painter (1974-1976) I never gave a single thought to the other aspect of art, that is its use to other people. I have now however come to the conclusion that art is for the most part used by others simply to purchase symbolic lots of time and or hand labor or to express the sophistacation [sic] and extent of ones wealth or to decorate ones environment in a manner which expresses any or all of the above functions. As an artist I simply do not fit. As a person I have too much self-respect to meet the requirements of such an oppressive system. I experience oppression in a twofold manner. Dealers reject anything which is not immediately intelligable [sic] as having a fashionable image or message. They look for clear signposts:

An art school background, which immediately indicates a willingness towards subsurviance [sic], a respect for collective opinions and a dose of art historical refrences [sic] from which to plunder.

A canvas which conforms to what they think is the complete art process, the best is an unfinished canvas which combines the sketchy look of working out the problem with the homogenity [sic] of a solution. Dealers and collectors alike like to think a work is preceded by a problem and concluded with a solution. Conviction alone disturbs them.

The artist must not portray the human figure in a way which the viewer will identify with it unless what is portrayed is simply illustrational or an activity or situation which reinforces the dealers social class and tastes. Better yet the artist should only resort to the human figure in the form of a sketch or symbol or if possible a concept."

From Art of Experience, Experience of Art by Michael Hafftka.

Michael Hafftka, Two People Fucking by the River at Night, 1981.

Oil on canvas 78" x 58".

[mrburnsnuclearpussy]

Vivsiepops art looks like she has only ever used her own work as reference and nothing else. It’s like derivative of itself with no outer input so it lacks integrity and is collapsing in on itself. Her style hasn’t developed it’s rotted.

[ms-cartoon]

Okay, before I can give my input about this trailer, lemme just ask. Who drew Vaggie sitting like that, lol!! I'm sorry it's just . . . .everytime I look at this screenshot and can't help but look at her and be bothered. I get that she's supposed to be leaning forward with her legs apart when she's sitting, but they just did it wrong.

I feel like I wanna fix this . . . .

[the-joju-experience]

Stealing the image from the @apollos-boyfriend thread because I don’t want the rest of those jokes in my reblog history but I can’t unsee this image. It’s haunting me. There’s something so fundamentally wrong about it that I’m having trouble putting words to.

My first pass at explaining it is that it’s the defining moment of the failed assassination. It’s the image that’s going to be in history textbooks - Trump triumphantly raising a fist in front of the flag. But it’s already passed so far into cultural consciousness that it gets parodied, and that even with enough details changed it’s still a recognizable shape. I’m never going to forget the shape of the original. The fascist in the center, the spoiled flag behind, the agents moving with it. This is going to be a fundamental arrangement in American culture forever and I hate it.

Another thing I’m trying to figure out is why Technoblade is there. The character of Technoblade was an anarchist and against Schlatt’s government, so why he’s in the place of one of the Secret Service guards doesn’t make sense. It’s definitely reading too much into it to assume that the artist is making a statement about horseshoe theory but why is he there? This is going to stick with me for a while.

Anyway, props to the artist who probably did this as a joke for creating something this provocative immediately after the event that sparked it happened

[saltysplayt00ns]

Page 849 Reworked

I've been waiting a long time to show this one, and had to adjust some stuff cause the author thought rushing to place an out of place fog would make things better, but just adds on the confusion of a fog only showing around their and not around the area. Also would've had a scene of them going through the fog and we seen the Two tribes coming in through the fog. This would've been a better battle and advantage CAUSE LET ME REMIND YA. There are two tribes band together to take down Meteor tribe and a few of Whispervale members. THIS IS A NO WIN BATTLE, Meteor has to be strategic and improvise from a no win scenario. Ronja and other would've taken advantage of the fog and fought them there and not up the freaking mountains. taken advantage when the elements plus the rain coming down would make it more thick in mist. THE BATTLE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!!!.

Close-up shots;

I did adjustment of the whole scene cause this is an action scene;

Panel adjustments and add-ons

Added lighting and shadows

Added SFX

Reworked the BG

Added armor

Added tribal paint

Worked Dialogue bubble cause yikes Ronja.

KARGO HAS PAINT ON BOTH SIDES!!!

He also has the other half of his body.

Adjust to make the dogs more like fur.

Diarko had him more primitive and connect the dark markings.

Also quote from the author themselves; " No paint on any of them for this, it's tedious enough to have to draw all this armor X)" SO BASICALLY YOU, an author that is drawing a Raiding battle of tribes that is between life and death, doesn't want to do paint nor any detailed important stuff, so we don't know who's fighting who. It's not even battle armor cause None of them ARE WEARING ANYTHING TO PROTECT THEMSELVESM, Meteortribe is more equipped with clothes then the tribes that are experienced not wearing any, they're the one's that say burning bodies is ' primitive '. let me tell ya after 2-3 pages its laughable on him trying to make this the final boss type BS when they. How these dogs advanced again? ya got literally spirits giving out free loot XD This is what I mean by ' changing plot to fit the story ' and ' inconsistencies ' like this an annoying blemish, instead of a competent tribes that are more experienced and trained to handle such things, you are NOT given armor nor paint nor anything of an build-up, because you was lazy and don't know how to find an easy way to do said battle armor - PLUS don't know how to have meteor tribe not lose members. Like, why the heck are the two tribes waited MONTHS to start invading them now why not then?? because kiq. doesn't know how to fix the plot holes, since basically would've been wiped out regardless of the extra protection. why meteor waited so long to fix their defenses?

why Keirr is not with them, isn't he a family oriented dog.?

Why Rhovanion and Feaf are not their isn't Rhov and family oriented dog?

Why meteor didn't leave around winter and waited many months to move at all? , this is not a vacation, its an evacuation.

why Tribes waited years to actually start something now then 30 years ago.?

Why Roamer wants to take the idea from Kargo which was meant for Kargo, roamer, Ferah to make their ' new life? ' why not just have it where its an idea you made on your own???!!!! really putting salt on that wound ain't ya?

When did Kargo know about Rogio, more then Roamer who is literally his boyfriend?

Why Rogio dumping all the chores on Roamer to do? he's been doing it a lot and somehow Roamer have to agree, cause remember those scenes when Roamer put OUT HIS OPINION??!!! and tried to help? he gotten gaslighted and a upper cut of emotional manipulations.

Why Rogio wants a Polycule now? especially after we SAW Rogio snooping AGAIN on other dogs conversations. and Kargo so far is focused on other things then having a threesome. and all these glaring and many more glaring questions. Again the question is why?? why, why and more WHY'S. This stuff usually is dealt with after doing drafts, concepts and revisions.

-----

Ps.

The quick placement of the Fog was laughable, cause think about it like, why kiq. going to do a dues ex Machina on the mountains and not in the fogs. Think about it in a tactical planning for Ronja and writers. The Fog is more an advantage to hide in the thick mist in dark shades of the trees, then being exposer on plan sight on top of a mountain. Meteor ( Nordguard ) 1. does not know how to wield a sword, 2. they're outnumbered, 3. lack experiences and 4. have children. They needed to think strategically and fast. The fog would've been a perfect scene for them to hide in and cover their scents, Rain and thunder is coming, so more thick fog and cover up from the tribes, they would use that to their advantage and scatter the raid them around. It's a risky maneuver but Ronja can't be hesitant nor meek on this, is all or nothing. THIS STUFF IS GOOD TENSION AND CHARACTER BUILD-UP.

---- This creating armor and concepts is like whip cream on an ice cream cake for me. But hey it's not my Comic to stress over, be a pump and dump for all I bloody know . .....

Side Goodies:

Quick Armored concept for Dragonsfall

Dragonsfall Paint marks

The Dragonsfall tribe is a group of Canines who have forged a strong alliance with Fire-breathing lizards, believing themselves to be descendants of these majestic creatures. They are known for crafting a unique bronze metal, believed to be hardened and melted with metal from the scales of dragons. This bronze shines like fire, is harder than regular metal, and exhibits weird translucent colors like the scales. The tribe also molds bits of leather to create softer but sturdier materials. While they may have lost some of the fierce traits associated with dragons over time, certain traits like their scales, reproduction and facials still show hints of their connection to these mythical beings.

---

HAPPY EATING YA BLOGGERS ♥