Ol' Red

First of all before getting into this critique, I wanted to say that I have watched your work avidly for some time now, and it has been a genuine pleasure to watch someone that was already a fantastic and able artist to constantly improve and better yourself with every drawing. Your journey has definitely been an inspirational one for me.

First of all, I would have to award you very highly for your ambition with this image. For anyone to attempt capturing a reference image so vivid in detail and rich in colour in itself deserves praise, for it shows the assets I believe all artists should strive to have; dedication to spend time on a piece; perseverance to constantly improve; and a passion for the subject you are drawing. Therefore, I have rated you 5/5 for vision.

As I touched on briefly beforehand, this is drawn from a photo reference, which would generally mean a low score for originality. However as I said, to aspire to capture the essence of *LauraDaniel's fantastic image is definitely brave to say the least. But the fact that you changed some areas of the photograph, such as the background and the collar, really made this piece your own. Also, with your charming and natural style of drawing, the dog is brought to life wonderfully, so I have awarded 3.5 for originality.

Technique... where do I start? In fact, where can I stop? First of all, the fact that you are so skilled with the colour pencil just wows me, personally finding the medium difficult to work with. The richness of colour, and how it subtly blends and changes to define the shape and shadows of the subject is really effective to give a three dimensional feel. The amazing amount of detail, particularly with the fur and whiskers, adds to the realism of the drawing. I particularly love the background - helped by the composition - as it draws the focus of the eyes to the dog at the centre, allowing for the audience to instantly recognise your skill and craftsmanship. Referring to the photo you drew from, proportions seem almost exact, having a strong resemblance to Fudge himself. The colours are perhaps even more vibrant than the original, which I think was a great choice because it 'oozes' character and charm - another reason why I am so drawn to this piece. Altogether, I couldn't give you anything less than 4.5 for your outstanding technique.

As I mentioned throughout, you have brought about such a charm and 'love-ability' to this piece through your technique, giving such charm that it gives the subject a sense of personality and character. It really makes you want to cuddle and pamper this dog! Because you have enabled the audience to connect on that emotional level, I have to give you full marks for impact: without words, you have defined why the dog is man's best friend, through one fantastic drawing.

So how could you improve on the slightly lower marks? In my opinion, people that use reference images can still gain full marks for originality, as long as they deliver their own twist on it. I think that if you perhaps added a few small extra details, or perhaps added a more detailed background, I would have awarded five out of five. With technique, I marked just slightly less than full as the dogs left eye isn't quite as accurate as the reference - this is based on myself presuming that you were trying to capture the dog as accurately as possible. My apologies if this was changed on purpose. However, these are just minor things that I personally would have liked to see.

Overall, I really adore your drawing on so many levels. Being a friend, watcher and massive supporter of your work, this is truly one of your best, and I am excited to see what you have to offer in the future <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Big Grin)"/>.