Cacti Sunset

Instantly recognizable as a quality <img class="avatar" src="a.deviantart.net/avatars/s/y/s…" alt="" title="synduo"/> creation, punctuated with characteristic razor sharp lines, serene color gradients, clean efficient character design and rich expert textures. always vividly imaginative, scoring high on vision and originality is no tough feat for this deviant. i think i've talked with him before on his ability to take something inherently 2D in design and give it meaningful form and depth. the cactusmonster has the streamlined appearance that it could easily have been used in a simple Flash animation yet the full-bodied rendering gives the character real presence. another characteristic element is his mastery of layering ethereal clouds.

i rated the impact a solid but modest 3.5. there are elements, which may be subjective, that seem to have lessened the impact for me. the floating island of dirt has some great details, worms, rocks even a mushroom. the problem is they are lost in the overall size of the piece, these are wonderful details but are just too small to really fulfill their charm. the piece was uploaded rather large for web, which doesn't help. last observation is that the fade to white seems stark to me. this would be a GREAT application for print, like a letter head or some other kind of layout. but a sunset fading in to white makes me feel uneasy somehow (completely subjective, i know)

overall this is simply a marvelous example of you talent and how far you have pushed your style and creativity. great job!