Okay, here we go! I'm going to split this into several parts to avoid jamming huge blocks of text in your inboxes and giving each artist a little more spotlight space. I tried to restrict myself to the first few 'pages' (chronological sets of 24, the way I browse) for people with large galleries, both to make things easier on myself and present a better idea of everyone's most recent work. The numbering is just the order people commented in :36  Nerdcorpse, it's pronounced 'meem', you 'tard<3

Meme taken from  Mab
Zodiac
A subdued colour scheme produces surprisingly vivid results when used sensitively, especially when combined with well composed figures and canny use of balanced 'hot' and 'cold', reinforcing the picture's theme.

#1  Barue
Etoro, Baeltzucoatl & Perion
I paired these two as a celebration of "magic realist" creature design. Real world knowledge is clearly being put to good use with both these monsters, along with a fine fantastic sensibility. Fearless use of bright greens rarely looked so good. I always have admiration for people who have the patience, EFFORT and GUTS to get involved with describing a wing feather by feather while still retaining the characteristics of the wing as a convincing whole object. Which brings me to my next selection:

Egret
Strong use of negative space in a minimal composition and a toned ground offsetting the brilliant white of the bird's plumage underline a vivaceous, wonderfully observed nature portrait.

Run Barue Run
Wild, childlike scribbles are not just an exciting and unconventional tool for imparting a sense of motion, but an ideal foil for the measured, delicate ink lines of this very dynamic piece.

For the future: Your attention to detail, precise linework and great compositions are crying out for some forays into landscape and environmental design.

#2  Milligram_smile
-Trade : Java-
Isn't that just freakin' adorable? A nice no-frills delineation of the body, as well.

-Divine Intervention-
This one has a convincing gestural cartoon combined with simple colour accent to produce an effective, emotive image. Check out the use of that cable trailing in from the front of the picture plane as an involvement device.

-Songs For Clay-
Another great pose bubbling with life, this time working in a simple, clean structured backdrop. And again, it's pretty damn cute too!

For the future: Spend some time getting acquainted with the area of the neck, trapezius and clavicle. Explore a variety of facial structures and types. Stay looooseeeee.

#3  Aloiis
One Paw in the Galaxies...
A very cool, low key illustration sustained by an organic, even handed curve echoing through the whole composititon. The soft luminescence is well handled, too.

2007 Reference Sheet
C'est un design de caractère très beau et joli~ ;D Bold and effective. I really dig the reduction of the wings to solid black design shapes put into dramatic forced perspective (a good trick, also seen here!) Just compare with this earlier version of the same design to see an exciting and tangible progression of confidence and skill. Good stuff!

Jungle Croaks
Everyone, especially me, should be doing stuff like this! We're all most comfortable drawing a d00d standing in a whitespace void. Time to get into those colour values and fill the page to bursting. A well judged warm-to-cool recession in a limited range of hues is the key here.

For the future: You're on the cusp of something excellent. Dive in, and bring worlds and characterisation together~


Okay, that's all for this edition. Stay tuned for further installments in this semi-exciting partwork, and enjoy some music in the meantime!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfU-4Y4_akY

http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2064