Best Traditional Artist

Cycle One: "Most" Nominations; Thread/Group Nominations
Cycle Two: Writing, Video Editing, Art Nominations; Roleplaying Nominations
Cycle Three: Best/Worst Nominations
Cycle Four: General Nominations

Vote away!

Llave de Espada

Spoiler

Dinny Grayson

Spoiler

Chie Satonaka

Spoiler

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=big&illust_id=36963069[/spoiler]

T A F F Y シ

Spoiler

Ienzo

Spoiler

jojoj13

Spoiler

 

Tie between Llave and Ienzo, but voting for Drew 'cause he makes me avatars! :3

 

Llave or Dinny ... hmm ... Sorry luv, I'm going to have to go with Dinny on this one. Those sketches were so cute and fabulously done.

 

Best "Traditional" Artist? Most of these pictures are digital art, that's kinda' misleading.
Oh well, it's not that much of a big deal.

Anyways, jojo is pretty solid. Great lineart, coloring, shading, space, light and shade, etc.

 

It is a bit but here traditional art is classed as anything you draw yourself as opposed to something made using renders and effects. :3

 

Well damn this is some pretty good art, I like most of the works submitted in this, but I feel like Dinny's won me over on this one.

 

Llave
Proportions of the first piece are way off, but I'm guessing this is intentional. A decent drawing but no more than that. I like the second piece quite a bit better. Like the way the freckles were done, but there are many good things to say about this image (the hair and the scarf motif are also top-notch). One small point of critique: the shading of the throat looks too much like a grinning mouth. Drawing the neck/throat in one smooth line would have prevented this, I think.

Dinny
I think I remember Dinny's works from last year and that I was truly impressed by them. That being said, I will only judge these samples here. The first entry looks slick once again, with a lot of attention to detail (especially obvious in the clavicles, although they do tend to make the shoulders look skinny). Eyes are beautifully drawn in both pieces and hold a viewer's attention in such a way that it is impossible for them to merely glance at the work. I'm equally in awe when looking at the second piece. The hair-to-blot transition wasn't consistently smooth, but overall it is another magnificent piece.

Chie Satonaka
Is this an original character? If so, then I applaud the creative design (even though it's not really my style). Proportions mostly look all right, the background matches the foreground and it is overall a solid piece. It's not my personal cup of tea (cutesy things seldom are), but from a technical point of view Chie seems to have nailed this. I wish there was a second piece to comment on though.

TAFFY
TAFFY seems to improve every year, which makes me wonder when she will hit her ceiling. Sometimes her works seem complex for the sake of being complex though, such as her first entry here, which is a shame. If there is meaning behind the frills, it's unfortunately lost on me. Nevertheless, I feel like I should emphasize that the aesthetics of TAFFY's works are superb and hard to match. The second piece also illustrates her mastery of contrasts. I was reminded of a stone bust, something hard and durable, yet I couldn't overlook the elegance and charm of the woman portrayed. The background hardly fits, but maybe that's just another way to present a contrast. Great drawing skills either way.

Ienzo
Much like with Chie Satokana's work, I wonder whether the man in the first piece is an original creation or an existing character, because I certainly dig his design. There's something about his face that looks...off though. I can't put my finger on it. Try to avoid grammatical errors in one-liners ("Small events are"); it's not like you have a lot of text to overlook things in. The second drawing is simply stunning, and one of the best works in this thread if not the best. The upper lip could be a bit thicker but everything else looks flawless. The eyes look inquiring and vaguely challenging, almost too real for a character of fiction.

jojoj13
Interesting piece. The theme and overall atmosphere of this painting sets itself apart from everything else in this thread. The realistic and incredibly well-painted skin tone stands out to me here, as well as the character's grin. Only two small complaints from me. First, the hair in the back makes the man's head look somewhat blocky and unnatural. Second, there is no second piece for me to comment on. I'm liking what I do get to see though.

Tough choice but I think Dinny Grayson impressed me most. All nominees had at least one great piece to show though; it was truly hard to decide.

 

It took me a while to sort out my feelings, but here it is.

I've elected to not use just the samples provided when making this choice. I've seen these people all post things on not only khv but deviantArt and tumblr and pixiv and whatever else they use. I follow most of them because I respect them as artists and I feel that giving my opinion based on so little when I know so much more would be a crime. Moving along, each review will consist of technical features on the top end and my opinions on the bottom.

Spoiler: Llave

You have a good sense of dimensions and lighting. You can actually see it in the samples the way you are able to work at multiple angles and create a consistent light source. You've got a handle on basic proportions most of the time and can foreshorten fairly well. I agree with Styx that you should have changed the lines of the neck on the second sample, but this belies a larger problem overall. The problem is that you aren't seeing the image through to completion. I've noticed that on some of your other pieces, you just seem to gas out at the very end before you do the final refining steps that are necessary to make your style look finished and good.

I don't like your fashion sense, especially the piercings. I never have and never will. That doesn't stop me from liking your other visual aesthetics like the lines and shapes you use when constructing characters. It's hard to say what I like about it, but you seem to have something nice going. One thing I did notice though, is sometimes you look straight like you're secretly the third Kishimoto brother with some of your work. Can't tell if it's the design, poses, style or all three combined that does it, but since it's not consistent I can't say much more.

Overall, I'd rate you 2nd best on the poll.

Spoiler: Dinny Grayson

I'm not sure how much of your style is stylization and how much of it is error. I know that sounds bad, but hear me out. The way you draw human bodies frequently comes out somewhat... deformed. It's within the tolerance for it being a conscious and understandable decision, but since I've seen it become less and less a part of your style the longer you've been around I figure it might be just something you've corrected to this point. So that's ambiguous and I can't say any more on it. But the real problem I see with your work is that it's usually very flat. Very colorful and detailed but flat. This is because your grasp of lighting and dimensions isn't fully developed I'd venture to guess. This is a huge turn off for me because the flatness of the images is always in stark contrast to the detail and color vibrancy making I look pretty amateurish at times. That said, it's not always a problem and when it isn't you look like a pro. Being more conscious of the volume the characters have would be the best thing for you to work on.

In the opinions section, I personally find your style a bit obtrusive. It's very, very loud. You have good color sense and I feel that putting in all that detailing and ruffles shows that you put effort and love into your work, but I don't necessarily like it. It's a purely aesthetic thing, but it's an interesting take on stylization to say the least. Not as many people do more as do less so I do appreciate it in that sense.

Overall, I'd rate you 3rd on the poll.

Spoiler: Chie Satonaka

You've got a fairly good grasp on imitation. In fact, I'd say you're very good at adaptation. That's a good skill for an artist. You also have grown better and better at stuff like lighting, perspective and volume. You're not as good as some people, but you're more that adequate considering how quickly you've got it. One thing I'd look out for though, is your posing. Your character poses are limited and it shows in the sample and several other of your pieces I've seen. You can do all the standard poses and you can imitate poses you've seen but when you're working on your own they end up slightly more... tweaked. It's a practice matter more than a knowledge or technique matter so I won't count it against you heavily.

My opinion is where you lose the most points with me. I respect fanart for what it is. But I feel that it stifles creativity to not work on something of your own and you more that anyone on the poll favor fanart. You don't trace or anything, but you take other people's characters and draw them. It removes the whole facet of design and really, someone as good as you are should be designing more. I imagine you'd probably be fine at it.

Overall, I'd rate you 5th on the poll.

Spoiler: TAFFY

Technically, you still look like a student. You're not incredibly refined, but all of the principles are there. You go fast and loose with a lot of your anatomy and perspective, but you have volume and lighting. Not much to say else. This is pretty open and shut, you're good, deal with it.

Now, here's where I get into why I love your art. You are good at traditional media. You have tons of ideas. You try various things. Above all else, you have flair and zazz, a style of your own. The patterns you use aren't something I see very day or month or year, they're interesting visually and well incorporated into your pieces as a whole. Another point to make for other artists, this is how you make flat, detailed and colorful look good not busy and amateurish. Bravo.

Despite my high praises, I still rate you 4th on this poll.

Spoiler: Ienzo

Alright, you're probably new to art as a serious hobby or aren't actually all that invested in it. I say this because you don't have any technique built up. Everything you do is at least slightly off and usually moreso. You don't have anatomy, you don't have volume, you don't have posing and you don't have lighting. I've seen that you can actually pull outs something relatively nice looking in spite of this, but that's not the norm and I'm pretty sure that it's an imitation act where you are copying a reference. That's fine, it's excellent practice and shows that you're going the right direction.

My opinion is pretty much irrelevant here since you don't have a style of your own yet, it seems. So I'll post some advice instead. You're not good. You can be very good. The difference between the two lies more in you learning and figuring out things than it does in straight up repetition or practice. The one thing I've seen here that you have over most of the other artists here is you finish. It might not be pretty, but you finish and polish to the best extent of your abilities and that shows that somewhere in you there is adequate dedication to be a good artist one day.

You are the newest artist on the poll. Congratulations, I'm glad to see some new faces. I'd rate you 6th on the poll.

Spoiler: jojoj13

Not much to say here really. I don't think the sample does justice to your skill at all. I mean, it shows that you can do perspective, coloring, lighting and that you never finish anything. All very true things, but the larger body of your work accentuates how technically adept you are. Not much more I can say, far from perfect, but closer than anyone else on the poll.

Now here's something I've never mentioned before. Expressions. Characters show emotions through their faces and poses. I don't want to gush, but you've shown the full gamut over the past year and you nail it right on the head each time. The face is never vacant or artificial, the poses are dynamic and lively. I'm just completely sold on your style and execution.

Needless to say, I'd rate you 1st on this poll.

Spoiler: After note to all artists.

I love you guys. You are part of what makes this site worthwhile for me, I wish I could see more of your work and compete against you more often in the monthly contest. Regardless of how I rated you on the poll or even if you didn't show up on the poll, I appreciate everything you've done and only ask that you keep doing it. Keep creating and keep working. I know it's a presumptuous request but there it is. Congratulations, all of you..

Spoiler: Final note to all people.

WHY THE **** DID NO ONE ****ING NOMINATE CHERRY BERRY?! SHE'S PUT A LOT INTO THAT SECTION AND PROVEN HERSELF EASILY AT A LEVEL TO AT LEAST DESERVE A NOMINATION, WHAT THE BLOODY ****?!