Quarl's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Frankie Knocks Some Sense into Ashley]

Once someone pointed out that she started out as a Canadian country singer I could never unhear the twang in her singing voice.

KittyhawkMontrose responds:

Me too.

[Madame Vodou (w/ Glasses)]

I like that you added the software and specs. Gimp is rad, I use a version called Gimpshop skinned to look and operate more like Photoshop. Props for drawing with mouse. I've never held a tablet, look at all these cool kids running around with Wacom tablets, kids these days ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've never downloaded brushes either. You obviously didn't use any special brushes, I think? It almost doesn't look like a pixel image, gotta zoom in to see the square details. As someone that does not pixel art help me understand, did you draw this by hand first? It's a really good illustration <3

TheVodouQueen responds:

Heya! Thanks for rating it. ^_^

Yeah I tend to add the software / specs of anything artistic I do and put up on the Interwebs for peeps to look at / listen to / read. GIMP is so useful for freeware. I honestly hate that Adobe Photoshop and its other programs are so damned expensive to buy or upkeep because of subscription-based renewals. Thanks though; it's really hard to draw with a mouse, even if it's all square-by-square / pixel-by-pixel. I do have a tablet, but I'd need to get used to it again--it was awkward using the pen on a smooth surface, and transcribing that to a screen. I am much more acquainted with just bog-standard drawing by hand on a sheet of paper. xD Classics, I know.

I only used what came standard with GIMP, no downloaded extras, either. But yeah, all the shading--all the everything--was done with a square brush. xD So I appreciate that YOU appreciate the ability to somehow bring out details doing that, (because I honestly don't have a clue how I managed it.)

I sketched this picture based on something I found online and used to be an old image I used for like profile pics, etc, (and I do not claim that as my own work--it was a background image I found online for my desktop years and years ago, back in...high school, I'd say.) So yeah, with any work I'd pixelize, I'd sketch or trace or draw it from scratch myself, panel dictate colors to use and such, and do it that way, rather than do the outline, in pixel, from scratch. So I'd scan a picture in I drew myself or find some royalty-free / non-copyright sources to help me 'collage' something together, and then make it into a full work of art. :)

TY, BTW. ♥ I've considered taking some of my old oil paintings or drawings I did way back for art courses and pixelizing them--so stay tuned, because I might do so to further test and exercise the ability to draw on a computer, because I really need it. xD

[New fit]

I could name one piece of clothing from this futuristic spandex jump suit. I think I can see a sleeve? Her boot and her pants are the same thing. You've invented a character for a fun strip game that can't be stripped. 10/10.

EDIT: Im just razzing you for fun by the way. This is not meant to be taken seriously. Great job as usual Helixel :3

Helixel responds:

it doesnt look like it but i do have undies i designed for her to wear under this!

[Nina-LickLick]

Genuine criticism: who licks their own arm pits? I love your work Mr. Shark but even my boyfriend is looking over my shoulder right now like "sorry...that's kind of weird."

I need to stop showing him Newgrounds things :'l

EDIT: Oh duh, cat girl. For some reason that body language was lost on me despite owning three cats. Thank you for pointing this out. The drawing has taken on a new life. 10/10.

EDIT 2: I showed it to my boyfriend again like "ITS A CAT GIRL" and his response was "what's the blue thing." I'm so sorry for these messages, I'm just having fun. Keep drawing your drawings however you may draw them, I love your style.

FuShark responds:

Well it was suppose to be a play on how cats clean themselves but I'm sorry you and your boyfriend don't approve.

I'd say this is pretty tame for "Newgrounds" so might be for the best.

[Robot Day 2021]

This machine has an awesome amount of funk and personality. That circuit board in the background was a super sly move :)

BastianConst responds:

Thank-you kindly :D
What's a funky robot without a funky circuit board ;)

[robotday2021]

This is some awesome use of robots. Reminds me of what I'd imagine concept art for David Lynch's 1984 Dune adaptation might look like. Other worldly and mysterious <3

aki-T144 responds:

Thank you! I do love David lynch! I haven’t seen the dune concepts maybe I will check them out!

[The Sun and the Moon]

Awesome colors, amazing subject matter, professional execution. Looks like the line tool from mspaint, give us some details. I would love to know what went into this and how it was made. Newgrounds has a huge population of artists, we all strive to accomplish things and help one another. I have no idea who is judging pixelday submissions for the prizes but talking about your work adds a personal touch that may sway judges.

I know the audio portal has had issues in the past with stolen content. I used to mod audio here when I was in college. We'd interview new artists to try and determine if they knew anything about music production or not. It's how the website avoided copyright battles in the early days. Things are a bit different now but engaging in the community has always helped build report and push your work to the front of the line.

Again, I love this drawing. I only mention all the extra details because I'd love to see this get some more attention. Don't be afraid to gush about your illustrations! What programs did you use, what was the motivation, is there a larger story here? I can see symbolism on the moon, the lion and the lamb have mythological relationships, does that pillow have memory foam? Give me deets Schrek, I must know things D:

Schreckengast responds:

Hey thanks, I appreciate the feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed my work. There is a process behind this work, and I'll explain it.

When I started really doing pixel art within the last year, I was using mspaint and maybe some Photoshop to help with mspaint's limitations, which was very tedious and difficult to get perfect lines and curves. Paint has this tool that you can curve with two clicks but you have to click it in the same direction you draw it and even then the lines are less than optimal. Eventually I learned through use of Adobe Illustrator that you can vectorize your drawings that you scan onto the computer, and then convert the vector to pixel, and best of all freely scale the pixelated vector to whatever size you want. This way, the image is exactly at the resolution I want it to be, and the shapes are optimal. I then export from Illustrator into Photoshop and proceed to color the image. I may use mspaint in tandem if I need the use of its curve tool for specific parts. For the longest time Photoshop's paint bucket tool wouldn't color sprites the way I wanted until I discovered that the anti-alias, contiguous, and sample all layers checkboxes existed and were useful. At this moment mspaint itself becomes fully obsolete except for niche moments.

Motivation wise, I enjoy animal subjects more than human, and while I'm not specifically sure why other than "they're cute," I think it in part has to do with how versatile they physically look in the final product compared to people, and how varied different animals look. Whenever I browse artists who mostly do animal art, especially anthro artists, I notice some have certain issues drawing human subjects. It's as if humans don't translate well because they just aren't as "cute" as animals or the artists draw animals so much they never practice with people. I myself have drawn people before, and will do so if I find a reason to, but animals are just more fun by default, even if they don't have a message.

As for this image, there isn't too much deep meaning to it, which helps it be understood to the casual viewer. Astrologically, the sun is commonly associated with the lion, who is king and at the center of attention. Sheep can either be a symbol of a lion's prey or a subject it is meant to protect, such as Jesus Christ being a lion in some depictions holding a sheep. The moon isn't specifically associated with any animal that I can think of, but its pure white surface helps relate it to the sheep. While wolves may be the closest animal to the moon, a sheep could also work since wolves are more known for preying upon sheep, and they call to the moon as if they "want" it. The lion sun is holding the planet Mercury, the symbol is Mercury's symbol (☿️). The closest planet to the sun, the lion holds it like a teddy bear, scalding the side facing it, and freezing the side that faces away; the cool and warm colors on the planet reflect this. The lion sleeping on a pillow makes the difference between the lion being sung to sleep by the lamb, or him sticking his "blep" tongue out mocking the sheep because he holds Mercury and the sheep doesn't. This is important for context, because the lion is meant to be asleep, isn't mocking anyone, and he loves his talented lamb dearly, whether genuinely, or because he has a covetous nature, having planets revolve around him, the universe inside him, and his bright colors, where the lamb is mute and alone. This image could imply an imbalanced relationship, the sheep just enjoys doing what he does, isn't spoiled like the lion, likes the feeling of being a good enough vocalist that he can soothe a monolith. Maybe the lion doesn't fully appreciate the sheep past how soothing he is to sleep to. As the sheep orbits around the lion, it's a wonder if the lion even knows that he is there, or is small compared to the lion.

Additional themes, the lion's tail is a comet, and his mane is the sun.

Because I value accuracy in my work, I use reference images. Without reference images, you usually get artists who have anatomical issues in their work, or just make stuff up that doesn't add up or is confusing to the viewer. The lion was inspired from an image I found online of a sleeping lion. I drew him by eye physically on paper to give him a unique style. The lamb was simpler, but still required references. The universe within the lion was made within Photoshop by juxtapositioning a few images of space onto the lion: a cluster of stars, a galaxy "nebula" near the knees, and a more general image of space involving galaxies from a greater distance. Still, I don't want to plagiarize, so I made sure to pixelate these images of space with Photoshop's levels feature, thumbed through the layer effects, and then edited the stars, galaxies, and nebulas with the pencil tool, subtracting rough parts and adding parts, so that they still looked like actual stars, but were not 1:1 with the source material.

And that's all I can think of. There of course was much more than I explained, but I would need a timelapse video (which I didn't make) to show it all. What I described is the gist of it.

[Bernie Pokemon Trainer]

You win the internet today.

Kadejo responds:

I wish jjajaja :C but thanks your comment really inspired me to keep making more pixel!

[Pixel Day 2021]

Love how alive this feels. That wind blowing the flag, grasses, happy flying sprites... animated gifs rock. Congrats with that frontpage banner maruki <3

clarigaricus responds:

Thank you for your kind words!