- Joined
- Jan 25, 2011
- Messages
- 2,382
First Place: 45 reputation points and your entry on the award icon
Second Place: 30 reputation points and an award icon
Third Place: 15 reputation points and an award icon
Other Participants and judges: 5 reputation points
Second Place: 30 reputation points and an award icon
Third Place: 15 reputation points and an award icon
Other Participants and judges: 5 reputation points
- 70 % of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge(s).
- 30 % of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.
DarkFang
Consistency of the icons in the pack 9/10
Blizzard Style 9/10
Concept 21/25
Technical Note 46/55
Total 85/100
More Note: Overall, the four icons presented have a really nice appearance and contrast. Each, icon has the similar style and match very well together. The crown icon has a nice gold tint too it and shows off how gold should be made. The sword icon could use a better shape and the shading seems a bit too dark to me, I would make more brighter parts indicating that the blade is very sharp. I do enjoy these because they have a nice definition and details towards them. The color and backgrounds are nicely done with the aura bringing off the objects. Nice work.
Exarch
Consistency of the icons in the pack 4/10
Blizzard Style 4/10
Concept 8/25
Technical Note 20/55
Total 36/100
More Note: These icons are very confusing too me, the backgrounds are nice but it makes the actual object become camouflaged and you cant really tell what's going on in the whole icon. If you just made a black background and made a small aura around the object instead of the whole icon it would make it more visible to the eye.
~Nightmare
Consistency of the icons in the pack 9/10
Blizzard Style 9/10
Concept 22/25
Technical Note 50/55
Total 90/100
More Note: The concept here is nice, the colors all match together perfectly. The wand icon is really nicely made and has nice details towards it. The shading and clarity have a realistic feel towards them, and overall they have a nice execution. The cloak icon could be a better shape and maybe increased in size by a little. The crown itself could have more brighter highlights too give off that diamond type texture that shines bright. Lastly, the colors match well and they all match together well.
PrinceYaser
Consistency of the icons in the pack 7/10
Blizzard Style 7/10
Concept 15/25
Technical Note 38/55
Total 67/100
More Note: Overall, the shape and contrast could use some editing, the rings shape seems a bit jagged and the shading seems too dark and could use some more brighter highlights. Each icon has the same color way and the definition is pretty good. Sharpness presented could be a little better, some shading doesn't seem smooth enough in the helmet and the ring, the shield icon looks pretty well made and the shape on that is very well made. Color and composition in these are nicely made, they all have the same colors and all 4 match nice. Lastly, the shading could use some work in some icons and the highlights could be adjusted. The shape of some icons also could be adjust and re defined.
Sharkarsh
Consistency of the icons in the pack 8/10
Blizzard Style 8/10
Concept 20/25
Technical Note 40/55
Total 76/100
More Note: Each icon presented match well with there color way and how each icon have similar styles. The concept and creativity used is nice, the sword icon with the souls coming out is very creative and shows how the models ability's is. The shading is really dark and I feel like it could use some more brighter highlights in some spots too bring the armor more presentable to the eye. The armors themselves are really nicely made but the shading and highlights could use some work and defined a little more. Overall, the shading and highlights need some work and some definition to match all 4 icons needs a bit of editing.
Wildfire
Consistency of the icons in the pack 710
Blizzard Style 8/10
Concept 18/25
Technical Note 39/55
Total 72/100
More Note: Overall i like the outcome of these icons, the unique factor of the sword and helmet is that they have nice sharpness and great shading/highlights. All 4 icons match well with the background colors and gives off the vintage look. The ring icon could use better shading and highlights, or maybe add some runes on it on the inside too give it a cool look towards it. I like the necklace but its quite simple and could use some more towards it. I also dislike that the background color matches with the objects color, in some areas it mixes with the object and makes it confusing. It would be nice to have maybe some redish color in the necklace or the ring too match it a little more with the helmet and sword icon.
Consistency of the icons in the pack 9/10
Blizzard Style 9/10
Concept 21/25
Technical Note 46/55
Total 85/100
More Note: Overall, the four icons presented have a really nice appearance and contrast. Each, icon has the similar style and match very well together. The crown icon has a nice gold tint too it and shows off how gold should be made. The sword icon could use a better shape and the shading seems a bit too dark to me, I would make more brighter parts indicating that the blade is very sharp. I do enjoy these because they have a nice definition and details towards them. The color and backgrounds are nicely done with the aura bringing off the objects. Nice work.
Exarch
Consistency of the icons in the pack 4/10
Blizzard Style 4/10
Concept 8/25
Technical Note 20/55
Total 36/100
More Note: These icons are very confusing too me, the backgrounds are nice but it makes the actual object become camouflaged and you cant really tell what's going on in the whole icon. If you just made a black background and made a small aura around the object instead of the whole icon it would make it more visible to the eye.
~Nightmare
Consistency of the icons in the pack 9/10
Blizzard Style 9/10
Concept 22/25
Technical Note 50/55
Total 90/100
More Note: The concept here is nice, the colors all match together perfectly. The wand icon is really nicely made and has nice details towards it. The shading and clarity have a realistic feel towards them, and overall they have a nice execution. The cloak icon could be a better shape and maybe increased in size by a little. The crown itself could have more brighter highlights too give off that diamond type texture that shines bright. Lastly, the colors match well and they all match together well.
PrinceYaser
Consistency of the icons in the pack 7/10
Blizzard Style 7/10
Concept 15/25
Technical Note 38/55
Total 67/100
More Note: Overall, the shape and contrast could use some editing, the rings shape seems a bit jagged and the shading seems too dark and could use some more brighter highlights. Each icon has the same color way and the definition is pretty good. Sharpness presented could be a little better, some shading doesn't seem smooth enough in the helmet and the ring, the shield icon looks pretty well made and the shape on that is very well made. Color and composition in these are nicely made, they all have the same colors and all 4 match nice. Lastly, the shading could use some work in some icons and the highlights could be adjusted. The shape of some icons also could be adjust and re defined.
Sharkarsh
Consistency of the icons in the pack 8/10
Blizzard Style 8/10
Concept 20/25
Technical Note 40/55
Total 76/100
More Note: Each icon presented match well with there color way and how each icon have similar styles. The concept and creativity used is nice, the sword icon with the souls coming out is very creative and shows how the models ability's is. The shading is really dark and I feel like it could use some more brighter highlights in some spots too bring the armor more presentable to the eye. The armors themselves are really nicely made but the shading and highlights could use some work and defined a little more. Overall, the shading and highlights need some work and some definition to match all 4 icons needs a bit of editing.
Wildfire
Consistency of the icons in the pack 710
Blizzard Style 8/10
Concept 18/25
Technical Note 39/55
Total 72/100
More Note: Overall i like the outcome of these icons, the unique factor of the sword and helmet is that they have nice sharpness and great shading/highlights. All 4 icons match well with the background colors and gives off the vintage look. The ring icon could use better shading and highlights, or maybe add some runes on it on the inside too give it a cool look towards it. I like the necklace but its quite simple and could use some more towards it. I also dislike that the background color matches with the objects color, in some areas it mixes with the object and makes it confusing. It would be nice to have maybe some redish color in the necklace or the ring too match it a little more with the helmet and sword icon.
Darkfang
Exarch
~Nightmare
PrinceYaser
Sharkarsh
Wildfire
Consistency: 9/10
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
The background shows fiery sparks emanating from the objects in every icon, however the crown icon doesn't show any. This makes it look plain and detached from the rest a little bit.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown looks like a flat object instead of circular. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, so that flat crown differs a bit. I think Blizzard would probably have the angle tilted a little bit, so the viewer will have a more interesting view and will have a better understanding of the shape/form of the item: examples 1, 2, 3, 4 (even this 4th one, where the item in flatly facing forward, the artist managed to move the camera a bit higher up so the viewer can see the circular shape of the circlet, and understand how it adheres to the head of the wearer).
Concept: 20/25
It's good, I like the royal jewelry idea. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease. I understand some people may find this fire theme monotone with the small color variation but I don't have a problem with it.
Technical note: 48/55
Proportions, shading and materials were all very good. There is the small shading problem with the crown as I mentioned above.
You made a sweet background with nice embers emanating from the equipment, while not making it too exaggerated. This is really cool.
Except on the ring icon, it does look a bit exaggerated there imo. It has to do with the fact that you went for very little color variation on your icon pack: 3 of the 4 icons are just gold and red (with white highlights) over a red&black background. This is not a problem in itself because the similar colors were used in moderation, however the ring icon has too much gold-yellow on the fiery sparks, making it look too much like the same thing. Perhaps it was intentional, however artists generally recommend using contrasting hues, even if very little (e.g. if the scene has too much red/hot colors: instead of making your dark grey with an hypothetical 15/15/15 RGB, make it 15/15/25 RGB, so it has slightly more blue in it). This would've been useful with your background (not only the black color, but also the reds and yellows of the sparks), the slightly different hue would differentiate it from the gold color used on the ring, making the overall aspect feel "fuller" because of the wider color range, even though minimal. On a personal note, I don't mind the use of warm colors only.
Good icons, Darkfang shows great control of his drawing coloring techniques, they look readable in small size and are also good looking. They suffer from small color variation and the crown looks a bit plain without the background effects as seen in the other icons.
Total: 86/100
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
The background shows fiery sparks emanating from the objects in every icon, however the crown icon doesn't show any. This makes it look plain and detached from the rest a little bit.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown looks like a flat object instead of circular. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, so that flat crown differs a bit. I think Blizzard would probably have the angle tilted a little bit, so the viewer will have a more interesting view and will have a better understanding of the shape/form of the item: examples 1, 2, 3, 4 (even this 4th one, where the item in flatly facing forward, the artist managed to move the camera a bit higher up so the viewer can see the circular shape of the circlet, and understand how it adheres to the head of the wearer).
Concept: 20/25
It's good, I like the royal jewelry idea. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease. I understand some people may find this fire theme monotone with the small color variation but I don't have a problem with it.
Technical note: 48/55
Proportions, shading and materials were all very good. There is the small shading problem with the crown as I mentioned above.
You made a sweet background with nice embers emanating from the equipment, while not making it too exaggerated. This is really cool.
Except on the ring icon, it does look a bit exaggerated there imo. It has to do with the fact that you went for very little color variation on your icon pack: 3 of the 4 icons are just gold and red (with white highlights) over a red&black background. This is not a problem in itself because the similar colors were used in moderation, however the ring icon has too much gold-yellow on the fiery sparks, making it look too much like the same thing. Perhaps it was intentional, however artists generally recommend using contrasting hues, even if very little (e.g. if the scene has too much red/hot colors: instead of making your dark grey with an hypothetical 15/15/15 RGB, make it 15/15/25 RGB, so it has slightly more blue in it). This would've been useful with your background (not only the black color, but also the reds and yellows of the sparks), the slightly different hue would differentiate it from the gold color used on the ring, making the overall aspect feel "fuller" because of the wider color range, even though minimal. On a personal note, I don't mind the use of warm colors only.
Good icons, Darkfang shows great control of his drawing coloring techniques, they look readable in small size and are also good looking. They suffer from small color variation and the crown looks a bit plain without the background effects as seen in the other icons.
Total: 86/100
Exarch
Consistency: 8/10
The pack starts with nice icons (helmet and shoulder pad are good), but the ring and the sword don't keep up with the quality of the first two. Still I consider the icons to be consistent regarding the design of the pieces, materials and colors.
Blizzard style: 5/10
Blizzard icons don't go overboard with information/details as your ones currently do. However the shoulder pad and helmet aren't so off. Framing is similarly good as Blizzard's.
Concept: 20/25
I like the originality of the equipment designs. Over-the-top ornaments with small faces oriental-style aren't new, but the way you did feels refreshing to me. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 36/55
Proportions, shading and material rendering (making metal look like metal) were all good. Good job.
The bad sides of your design were already pointed out by yourself in your final post: the amount of details.
It seems you tried to express too much at the same time for such small 64x64 icons. E.g. the minute details drawn on your shoulder pad and your sword were readable in the big sketches, but they become just noise when sized down to 64x64. Also, your sword is really hard to read - I didn't understand what it was just by looking at the icon - I had to read you say it was a sword. However, in your early B&W concept (before adding the colors and the flashy background) it looks good and understandable.
The blue highlights are good on the shoulder pad and the helmet, but look weird on the ring. Makes the ring look a bit flat. It's better to give a little bit more of love to the highlights when making them, by using a smaller brush and making it carefully run with along with the shape silhouette (something more like this).
Last but not least, the background has shapes of red (like a lava explosion) over a gradient of colors, which is again, more information for the eyes to decipher. The equipment alone had enough of information to see, since it had a lot of details. Because we're talking about detail-heavy icons, I would go for a much simpler background. On the contrary, using this lava-explosion background wouldn't be a problem if the icons depicted simpler objects such as this one.
Clearly Exarch has good control/skill with drawing his stuff, however they were pushed down by the excess of details + flashy background + flashy unconvincing highlights in some of the icons.
Total: 69/100
The pack starts with nice icons (helmet and shoulder pad are good), but the ring and the sword don't keep up with the quality of the first two. Still I consider the icons to be consistent regarding the design of the pieces, materials and colors.
Blizzard style: 5/10
Blizzard icons don't go overboard with information/details as your ones currently do. However the shoulder pad and helmet aren't so off. Framing is similarly good as Blizzard's.
Concept: 20/25
I like the originality of the equipment designs. Over-the-top ornaments with small faces oriental-style aren't new, but the way you did feels refreshing to me. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 36/55
Proportions, shading and material rendering (making metal look like metal) were all good. Good job.
The bad sides of your design were already pointed out by yourself in your final post: the amount of details.
It seems you tried to express too much at the same time for such small 64x64 icons. E.g. the minute details drawn on your shoulder pad and your sword were readable in the big sketches, but they become just noise when sized down to 64x64. Also, your sword is really hard to read - I didn't understand what it was just by looking at the icon - I had to read you say it was a sword. However, in your early B&W concept (before adding the colors and the flashy background) it looks good and understandable.
The blue highlights are good on the shoulder pad and the helmet, but look weird on the ring. Makes the ring look a bit flat. It's better to give a little bit more of love to the highlights when making them, by using a smaller brush and making it carefully run with along with the shape silhouette (something more like this).
Last but not least, the background has shapes of red (like a lava explosion) over a gradient of colors, which is again, more information for the eyes to decipher. The equipment alone had enough of information to see, since it had a lot of details. Because we're talking about detail-heavy icons, I would go for a much simpler background. On the contrary, using this lava-explosion background wouldn't be a problem if the icons depicted simpler objects such as this one.
Clearly Exarch has good control/skill with drawing his stuff, however they were pushed down by the excess of details + flashy background + flashy unconvincing highlights in some of the icons.
Total: 69/100
~Nightmare
Consistency: 10/10
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown looks like a flat object instead of circular. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, so that flat crown differs a bit. I think Blizzard would probably have the angle tilted a little bit, so the viewer will have a more interesting view and will have a better understanding of the shape/form of the item: examples 1, 2, 3, 4 (even this 4th one, where the item in flatly facing forward, the artist managed to move the camera a bit higher up so the viewer can see the circular shape of the circlet, and understand how it adheres to the head of the wearer). The way you tilted the amulet is a good example of how a little touch can make it more interesting and make a better use of the small 64x64 space.
Concept: 20/25
The fire and ice duality is an interesting concept. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 50/55
Proportions, shading and materials look very good. There is the small angle complaint with the crown as I mentioned above.
The background is very nice and rich in minute details, and at the same time it isn't too distracting or overwhelming. Good job. You also use the traditional clash of blue and red complementary colors in your composition, as most artists do and recommend. On a personal note, I find the contrast of full blue&red kinda cheesy in fantasy art nowadays (I mean, it's everywhere! Look at this 1, 2, 3, 4), but that's how the industry rolls.
The amulet icon has had the background blues painted over the shadows that would help delineate the shape of it. I understand it's supposed to be glowy, but the shade of grey supposed to be used in the shadows is not consistent throughout the entire amulet.
The crown icon has too much unused space for my taste, on top of my complaint about its angle. This isn't too much of a problem however because the icon emanates sweet blue and red effects and they're a joy to look at.
The icons are top notch, good stuff. ~Nightmare has great control of drawing techniques, painting, composition and everything in between. I could only complain about some small details.
Total: 89/100
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown looks like a flat object instead of circular. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, so that flat crown differs a bit. I think Blizzard would probably have the angle tilted a little bit, so the viewer will have a more interesting view and will have a better understanding of the shape/form of the item: examples 1, 2, 3, 4 (even this 4th one, where the item in flatly facing forward, the artist managed to move the camera a bit higher up so the viewer can see the circular shape of the circlet, and understand how it adheres to the head of the wearer). The way you tilted the amulet is a good example of how a little touch can make it more interesting and make a better use of the small 64x64 space.
Concept: 20/25
The fire and ice duality is an interesting concept. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 50/55
Proportions, shading and materials look very good. There is the small angle complaint with the crown as I mentioned above.
The background is very nice and rich in minute details, and at the same time it isn't too distracting or overwhelming. Good job. You also use the traditional clash of blue and red complementary colors in your composition, as most artists do and recommend. On a personal note, I find the contrast of full blue&red kinda cheesy in fantasy art nowadays (I mean, it's everywhere! Look at this 1, 2, 3, 4), but that's how the industry rolls.
The amulet icon has had the background blues painted over the shadows that would help delineate the shape of it. I understand it's supposed to be glowy, but the shade of grey supposed to be used in the shadows is not consistent throughout the entire amulet.
The crown icon has too much unused space for my taste, on top of my complaint about its angle. This isn't too much of a problem however because the icon emanates sweet blue and red effects and they're a joy to look at.
The icons are top notch, good stuff. ~Nightmare has great control of drawing techniques, painting, composition and everything in between. I could only complain about some small details.
Total: 89/100
PrinceYaser
Consistency: 10/10
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown horns does not give a satisfying 3D appearance, even though they have shading. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, and that flat crown horns differs a bit from what I would expect from a Blizzard icon.
Concept: 20/25
The concept is good and is well executed throughout your icons. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 40/55
Proportions and shading look very good. Your metal materials are particularly a joy to look at.
The background is kinda over-the-top, but it seems that was the intentional. On a personal note, I preferred some items as you showed them in your last WIP before the final entry (without the flashy background), because they seemed more realistic (I mean the armor and mace-staff icons) - but again, this is a personal thing and not general advice.
As I mentioned above, the horns of the helm look a bit flat. It's not really clear what exactly is causing this feeling, perhaps the way the base of the horn attaches to the helmet. Some complex shadows are hard to execute, so there's a lot of observation and trial&error until we get them right. I recommend looking for the teeth on Blizzard's Mask of Death icon if you're gonna try something similar in future.
In the ring icon you kinda went for a realistic shading but there is one problem: a bright line separating the different planes of the ring. It is surprisingly always the same hue of bright yellow! Instead, it should reflect different intensities of light, according to the direction it's facing. You know how to do good light reflections on metal surfaces because you did it correctly in the other icons.
The icons are good. PrinceYaser's main strength is drawing nice metal surfaces with and good, believable reflections. His framing is also good, making good use of the icon space. However minor flaws were noticeable regarding reflections and 3d shapes.
Total: 79/100
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 9/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons. However the crown horns does not give a satisfying 3D appearance, even though they have shading. Blizzard icons typically aren't shy when it comes to depicting 3D volumes, and that flat crown horns differs a bit from what I would expect from a Blizzard icon.
Concept: 20/25
The concept is good and is well executed throughout your icons. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 40/55
Proportions and shading look very good. Your metal materials are particularly a joy to look at.
The background is kinda over-the-top, but it seems that was the intentional. On a personal note, I preferred some items as you showed them in your last WIP before the final entry (without the flashy background), because they seemed more realistic (I mean the armor and mace-staff icons) - but again, this is a personal thing and not general advice.
As I mentioned above, the horns of the helm look a bit flat. It's not really clear what exactly is causing this feeling, perhaps the way the base of the horn attaches to the helmet. Some complex shadows are hard to execute, so there's a lot of observation and trial&error until we get them right. I recommend looking for the teeth on Blizzard's Mask of Death icon if you're gonna try something similar in future.
In the ring icon you kinda went for a realistic shading but there is one problem: a bright line separating the different planes of the ring. It is surprisingly always the same hue of bright yellow! Instead, it should reflect different intensities of light, according to the direction it's facing. You know how to do good light reflections on metal surfaces because you did it correctly in the other icons.
The icons are good. PrinceYaser's main strength is drawing nice metal surfaces with and good, believable reflections. His framing is also good, making good use of the icon space. However minor flaws were noticeable regarding reflections and 3d shapes.
Total: 79/100
Sharkarsh
Consistency: 10/10
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 7/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons for the most part. However, although your style of painting is good, it is way too clean when compared to Blizzard's, which make your icons differ.
Concept: 20/25
The concept is interesting and well made. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 42/55
Proportions and shading look very good. Your materials do look nice and convincing for the most part.
The background is not exaggerated or distracting, yet it is visible enough to give a bit of flavor to the image, which is great. The effects of the blood and ghosts emanating of the sword are awesome, they're marvelous to look at - and also make good use of the limited icon space.
The biggest complaint here is that the materials are kinda unrealistic in some areas. You pulled the metal parts really well on the sword, but the armor sometimes look toy-ish due to the clinical clear aspect of the black&yellow surfaces (specially on the helmet). You go from the brightest hue to the darkest hue in a clear, predictable way, it looks like a computer-generated gradient. Hey, add a little bit of grunge/noise to it! Look at how the Blizzard artist did various small nuances of grey on this shield. Even though it's just a plain plate of metal, he did not paint it by uniformly decreasing the light grey to the dark grey, instead he did various irregular back and forth movements with the brush, leaving little visible "strains" of various shades of grey crawling over each other. When drawing wood or rough concrete, we add a lot of this "grungy feel" to increase the appeal of the texture to the eyes, however it's useful in metal textures too (not all cases ofc, e.g. your sword looks really good as it is). For comparison: look at how the colors are clinical clear in your metal armor/helmet and look at how they're grungy in this samurai helmet.
The icon set is beautiful. Sharkarsh's icons show he has great control when delivering 3d shapes, drawing light behavior, and also he has made clever use of the icon space. A good use of the colors also made them interesting and not too monotone. I only wished his metal textures were more convincing and a bit less plastic-like.
Total: 79/100
Overall quality is consistent in all icons, the equipment depicted looks like it belongs to the same collection, the light reflection patterns are similar in all of them, and so does the coloring and the materials.
Blizzard style: 7/10
Framing style and quality of the art matches with Blizzard icons for the most part. However, although your style of painting is good, it is way too clean when compared to Blizzard's, which make your icons differ.
Concept: 20/25
The concept is interesting and well made. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 42/55
Proportions and shading look very good. Your materials do look nice and convincing for the most part.
The background is not exaggerated or distracting, yet it is visible enough to give a bit of flavor to the image, which is great. The effects of the blood and ghosts emanating of the sword are awesome, they're marvelous to look at - and also make good use of the limited icon space.
The biggest complaint here is that the materials are kinda unrealistic in some areas. You pulled the metal parts really well on the sword, but the armor sometimes look toy-ish due to the clinical clear aspect of the black&yellow surfaces (specially on the helmet). You go from the brightest hue to the darkest hue in a clear, predictable way, it looks like a computer-generated gradient. Hey, add a little bit of grunge/noise to it! Look at how the Blizzard artist did various small nuances of grey on this shield. Even though it's just a plain plate of metal, he did not paint it by uniformly decreasing the light grey to the dark grey, instead he did various irregular back and forth movements with the brush, leaving little visible "strains" of various shades of grey crawling over each other. When drawing wood or rough concrete, we add a lot of this "grungy feel" to increase the appeal of the texture to the eyes, however it's useful in metal textures too (not all cases ofc, e.g. your sword looks really good as it is). For comparison: look at how the colors are clinical clear in your metal armor/helmet and look at how they're grungy in this samurai helmet.
The icon set is beautiful. Sharkarsh's icons show he has great control when delivering 3d shapes, drawing light behavior, and also he has made clever use of the icon space. A good use of the colors also made them interesting and not too monotone. I only wished his metal textures were more convincing and a bit less plastic-like.
Total: 79/100
Wildfire
Consistency: 10/10
All your icons are nicely framed in a way that they nicely occupy the space of the icon, except the necklace because it is kinda small and far from camera. Bring it closer to the camera next time, man! Background and materials are consistent too.
Blizzard style: 5/10
Blizzard icons give a bigger emphasis to lights and shadows (and it also helps better depicting a 3d object), and the this aspect of your icons can be improved. Framing is similarly good as Blizzard's.
Concept: 20/25
The Wildred (kind of a wild earth-themed warrior thing) is nice theme. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 34/55
Proportions, framing and amount of details are all good.
The bad sides of your designs are the 3d shapes (on the ring and the helmet) and the materials that sometimes don't look too metallic. Your backgrounds are good, don't look too exaggerated and fit well with the scene.
The ring looks like something is weird about its inner part. When trying to draw a shape that ends up looking weird (like rings, they're difficult sometimes), I always turn to google search. I look for reference images and try to imitate light/shadow on them. The inner part of your ring should be similar to how we see it in this real-life ring example, but it isn't. Another thing that would help giving the correct 3D feeling to the viewer is to make parallel straight lines like this in the inner part, so it'll emphasize the cylindrical shape inside of the ring.
The helmet and sword need more dramatic lights and shadows on their metal parts! When drawing metal surfaces you are encouraged to make really intense lights and shadows. For example, look at the metal chest armor made by PrinceYaser in this picture, and the sword made by Sharkarsh: they weren't afraid of making very bright highlights and dark shadows on their metal objects.
About 3D shapes, it's the same thing: the less afraid we are to make highlights/shadows, the better our 3D shapes will look (examples 1 and 2).
I think you may already know all this because know you've made good icons before.
Also I really liked your necklace icon. In the big WIP picture we can see it has big quality: good highlights/shadows, good texture on the materials, etc. The white thingies between the orange rocks look very nice and realistic. Too bad it became too small in 64x64 icon and we can't see your drawing closely! I think this icon would greatly benefit from zooming in. Framing it in a way we could see the necklace closer, showing the details.
Wildfire sure knows how to draw, he did good compositions and his necklace icon was good (although veery small), but my main complaint is that the shadows and highlights were too minimal. This also affected the 3D feel of the icons.
Total: 69/100
All your icons are nicely framed in a way that they nicely occupy the space of the icon, except the necklace because it is kinda small and far from camera. Bring it closer to the camera next time, man! Background and materials are consistent too.
Blizzard style: 5/10
Blizzard icons give a bigger emphasis to lights and shadows (and it also helps better depicting a 3d object), and the this aspect of your icons can be improved. Framing is similarly good as Blizzard's.
Concept: 20/25
The Wildred (kind of a wild earth-themed warrior thing) is nice theme. Also, modders may find utility for these icons with ease.
Technical note: 34/55
Proportions, framing and amount of details are all good.
The bad sides of your designs are the 3d shapes (on the ring and the helmet) and the materials that sometimes don't look too metallic. Your backgrounds are good, don't look too exaggerated and fit well with the scene.
The ring looks like something is weird about its inner part. When trying to draw a shape that ends up looking weird (like rings, they're difficult sometimes), I always turn to google search. I look for reference images and try to imitate light/shadow on them. The inner part of your ring should be similar to how we see it in this real-life ring example, but it isn't. Another thing that would help giving the correct 3D feeling to the viewer is to make parallel straight lines like this in the inner part, so it'll emphasize the cylindrical shape inside of the ring.
The helmet and sword need more dramatic lights and shadows on their metal parts! When drawing metal surfaces you are encouraged to make really intense lights and shadows. For example, look at the metal chest armor made by PrinceYaser in this picture, and the sword made by Sharkarsh: they weren't afraid of making very bright highlights and dark shadows on their metal objects.
About 3D shapes, it's the same thing: the less afraid we are to make highlights/shadows, the better our 3D shapes will look (examples 1 and 2).
I think you may already know all this because know you've made good icons before.
Also I really liked your necklace icon. In the big WIP picture we can see it has big quality: good highlights/shadows, good texture on the materials, etc. The white thingies between the orange rocks look very nice and realistic. Too bad it became too small in 64x64 icon and we can't see your drawing closely! I think this icon would greatly benefit from zooming in. Framing it in a way we could see the necklace closer, showing the details.
Wildfire sure knows how to draw, he did good compositions and his necklace icon was good (although veery small), but my main complaint is that the shadows and highlights were too minimal. This also affected the 3D feel of the icons.
Total: 69/100
Judging Pastebin Links:
The Panda The Panda (Wildfire)
Poll thread | Contest thread
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