RIFT: From the Deep

What a wonderful painting indeed! Again, your style has a great combination of detail and stroking that makes it both appealing to the eye, yet deep enough that the it has a realistic feel. Another thing I liked was that you did not make the focus of the image the center of the piece, but had the creature almost coming down towards the mage. The overall unity of the image is also perfect, the colors blending enough that the entire painting appears as one, yet separate enough that you can discern its parts.

As far as the creature itself, I adore the relationship you've made between it and its environment, both in color and in texture. Both share coral shades and an abstract feel that is both jagged and "blotchy". What is also impressive is that you unified the mage's halo of energy with the creature and environment by incoporating highlights of the same color. When it comes to the design of the creature, I can see the inspiration of the angler fish among other deep sea oddities, which goes perfectly with the theme. However, I feel like you lost some creative flare by focusing too much on the head and fins, while neglecting much of the body (it was also hidden slightly by the fins). Yet, that is a minor criticism of an overall wonderful piece.

Extremely well executed, thoroughly thought out painting that I give a two-thumbs up! Superb job!