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GrimAlpaca [2017-12-25 21:22:17 +0000 UTC]

Hello there. Time for another critique on this, from a non-artist's point of view.

Look, you wonder why people like this piece? I'll tell you: in its simplicity, it is both chaotic and clever. It just "works". Look at how purple and blue mingle; doesn't it seem to you the way a mythical creature could see the world? Amidst all of this, a plain, white tray, with an equally colorless cup of bitter espresso and two slices of bread on top.

It is pretty difficult to explain, but this is how I would envision a chaotic deity's breakfast: this way, the background and the coffee cup that's slightly off (and with the coffee not even tilted) immediately acquire a new meaning. Meaning they would lack if seen in a worldly light.

Want my two cents? With the right context, such a piece becomes interesting, instead of being a blatant coffee with some bread on a plate. Don't change anything, for its oddity is the source of its success.

Merry Critmas, by the way.

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Psychosynchrony [2016-10-26 12:07:47 +0000 UTC]

Ok. First of all, allow me to congratulate you for the watercolor usage. I'm quite jealous. Second of all, your gallery is beautiful.

Moving on... You asked about the perspective on the coffee cup. The way you've drawn the cup kind of makes it look like it's about to fall off the tray (or maybe that the mug is asymmetrical?) which, while amusing, is not what I perceive you were intending. Looking at your reference photo, the photographer chose to photograph at an angle for presentation. However, the coffee cup itself is not tilted, it is sitting flat on the tray. Combined with the reflective white of both tray and mug, and the bowl-like shape of the mug itself, it tricks the eye a bit, and that seems to be what happened here.

The tray, base and top of the mug, and surface of the liquid in the mug should all be in parallel planes.

I don't know your workflow. With a scene like this, working off a reference photo like that, I would probably block it out in boxes and spheres to set perspective before doing anything else, then walk away for a bit.

I like the feel of the overall image, particularly of the toast. It's all very cozy.

Hope this helps.

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