Nick's Shiznat

Crits?
Man, I seriously like all those drawings, so I'm afraid I can't really offer much criticism.
I can tell you the little things that make the drawings interesting to me, though:

1. Batman
I love so much about this drawing, but the most interesting thing to me is the tangly line that the rope follows. I don't think I've ever seen a rope drawn like that, but it works so well - you can practically see the entire arm motion that Batman underwent in hurling the rope, and it's such an unusual motion.

2. Gangster
For some reason, I love the fingers on his left hand (our right) - there's no distinction between individual fingers, but yet you can make his hand out perfectly. I'm pretty sure I haven't seen hands drawn like that before.

3. Doc Oc
The smoke from his cigar. It's so unusual, somewhat psychedelic. Most people don't put nearly as much detail in to the smoke.

4. Elektra
Definitely the hand that's holding the 'psi' ('sigh'?). It's so geometrical, but it still looks like a believable hand.

5. Spider-Man
This is my favourite of all the drawings. I love the pose, but mostly I love how his arms are so jagged and angular, while his legs are so curvy and noodly. And, to get all artsy for a second here: I think having the strong, jagged arms on the bottom makes the loose legs seem even lighter and freer.


There are so many other little things that I like, but those are really the first ones that got my attention.


Now, I realize that it doesn't really help anybody to say "everything is great", so, if I was to rack my brain and try to find something to criticize, then I would say maybe Elektra's pose could be improved if you simplified the lines a little more - mainly the lines in her legs. Like, instead of having that trailing leg of hers slightly bent, maybe it could be totally straightened out - maybe even with totally straight lines, ignoring proper musculature (if you wanted to get really crazy) - the pose might look like she's straining a bit more that way. Worst case scenario, it would make the drawing a little more geometrical and stylistic.
Of course, if you weren't going for a 'strained' look, then you can ignore everything I just said. The drawing's great as it is.

Not sure if I made any sense there, but hopefully I did.

Oh, to be able to draw action like you can... my figs are always just standing there. I like the quick, clean lines; the Batman is my fave. It would be nice to see what they're standing on, though (what is supporting Doc Ock?).

The background thing isn't a big deal; I just couldn't think of any other criticism.

ps- I thoroughly enjoyed "How to Kill a God." I hope that's what it was called. Nice mish-mash of all types of cool. Thumbs up... waaaay up!

All right, forget the thumbs up. 56 pats on the back.

Sorry, Rik. Things got messed up when our website got reformatted. You can check out my gallery at www.viciousambitious.com until I fix this up.

Aren't you the guy who brought Joe Spliff to life? I see you all the time on the street and at Ctrain stations and movie theatres and I go, Hey! That's the Joe Spliff guy! But you are always just out of my reach, otherwise I'd say hello, I swear.

Nick,

Some good work here.

I'm not a big fan of 'foamy' anatomy... anatomy that is very cartoony and rounded and doesn't seem to have much weight to it.

That said, these are good cartoons. I like your Doc Ock and Batman (nice Quesada-like rope work) quite a bit. I like Spider-Man, but almost entirely from the waist up. He's strong and angular and well-done, but the body from the waist down doesn't follow the same style! You retreat to the balloony cartoon look.

I'll have to check out your webspace and see what sort of style you are accustomed to... I'm not getting a definite sense of it from these pieces.

All my best,
Kelly