by Richie420 » Fri Dec 23, 2011 6:45 am
I dislike this picture for several reasons:
1. The "CHRIST" is done in too many colors, it makes it hard to read and almost seems to fade away which I think would be contrary to the religious message that the image is trying to convey. The angle of the stripes are not uniform they appear to start at a 45 degree angle and toward the end of the lettering they approach 10 or 20 degrees. It is very inconsistent.
2. The text otherwise isn't solid in color enough to make a statement - the pencil strokes allowing the white to show are distracting. The T in "NOT" sits higher than the NO.
3. The faded and blurry tree in the background seems rather flat. The balls on it don't hang properly. Three of them don't seem to be attached to the tree and one of the purple ones is particularly sharpened/focused more than the tree. The decorations don't extend to the lower level of the tree and what looks like brown tinsel is wrapped a little too tightly around the tree making it seem an unnatural positioning.
4. It's hard to tell what is in the horse's mouth. It doesn't have any particular dimensions. The colors on it make it difficult to tell what the material is. It looks like it is painted on to the bottom jaw or is stretched tight around the jaw and then it sticks out straight at the viewer. The only thing I can think of that might do this would be Styrofoam but the waves on the right of the green thing seem much different from the jagged parts of it on the left. The position of it in the mouth is awkward. The teeth don't quite hold it in place, it seems painted or draped in there, however the very top of it extends into the horses upper palate as if it were hovering.
5. It's hard to tell where the light source in this picture is coming from. The tree isn't giving off any. The light pink on the top of the cheek and bottom of the eye ridge are contrary to each other. The lack of a light source causes the entire picture to fall flat. That would be fine if this was done in a comic style, however what looks like shading on the green thing in the horses mouth seems contrary to that.
6. The hat: The hat on the horse doesn't lie naturally. If it is supposed to have holes for both ears it would sit forward across the brow. If it was made for one ear it would drape more down the side of the head. It also needs a lot more shading to define the fabric folds and the small poof at the end of the hat is a little too small. They are typically a pretty decent size. The curve of the end of the hat with the poof on it is over pronounced.
7. I don't understand why the horse would need a "Santa Hat"/hat commonly associated with Santa Clause, if the theme of the picture is to promote "Christ in Christmas". It makes the message confusing.
8. The bottom of the cheek rounds way too much like the horse has an orange lodged in its cheek. The top of the cheek is extending into the eye which makes it look strange and over the top. Placing the ears, nostrils, and eyes more naturally would give a better "angry" look to the face.
9. The eye is rather flat and it's hard to tell where the horse is actually looking. It needs more definition.
10. With the horse's nostrils, they flare at an awkward position by tilting forward instead of back. All of the features should sweep backward based on the positioning of the horse's head in an "angry" pose.
11. The hump on the top of the ears is too pronounced. It looks more like a floppy dog ear than a horse.
12. I am not sure what breed of horse this is supposed to be. My best guess would be an attempt at an Arabian - if that is so the eye brow needs to be more defined so that the eye flows into the dished face and forehead.
13. The forehead sits way too high up, even for an Arabian.
14. The background shading is awkward looking. It looks like the light blue was added after the rest of the picture. It has even overlapped the tree slightly on the right side of the tree. That background layer needs to be moved into the background. It needs to flow throughout the background. It looks choppy and confused on the bottom right part of the text bubble and the section where the signature is placed. The dark blue in those spots makes it look like an after thought addition to the picture instead of a purposefully placed background.
15. The text bubble leaks out of its outline in a couple places. It's shape is rather awkward as the font isn't center aligned. It's very lumpy looking. Text bubbles are usually symmetrical and sleeker looking. This one is rather lopsided.
