Please critique. I enjoyed thinking about big shapes first and enveloping it and getting to details later. Pr

Mandalas are pretty surreal in their own right. They use them in Art Therapy because it taps into the subconscious; outside of your own control. When you make shapes as you think and choose colors, etc, the mind will play itself out in front of you. Most art is that way actually. I adapt lots of styles but a major theme of mine lately has been how Science is magic that is understood and magic is science, yet to be understood. That, to me, is very surreal in its intersectionality. What do you define as "Surreal" in your own words? Are you talking of the classical works?

It is not in the immediacy of the product but the joy of the process that humans feel joy. The cave paintings reveal this. As you draw, your neurology releases cortisol, decreasing stress. You will not escape stress at the push of a button but by the textural livelihood of producing things... That satisfaction may work for a soulless enterprise seeking speed, yet we all know how boring formulaic productions have been. Yes, we need filler at times... not everything can be a masterpiece... but the ones who think outside the box escape, continually, the neural networking. Albert Einstein himself expounded that knowledge is subservient to imagination. That is how molds are broken. No A.I. will predict a Ramanujan, born of the wild... As for being a brand... yes and no. If you were to distill the flavor of yourself to a billboard, then what flavor is "neutral grain liquor"? Craft brewing has it beat in flavor... unless you enjoy the flavor of Everclear on its own and don't drink for effect. Walt, at times criticized, knew the necessity of constructing himself. So too did Stanley Martin Lieber. Yet it is like a magician's hat... Who really is an actor? If not the characters, what is the character of one that takes characters on and off like costumes? That is the issue of Hollywood and why it's being decentralized. Eventually, turn this way and that... where is the reality of it? Why did Robin Williams despise his fame so? Why did Pablo Picasso die unfulfilled and wanting to have chosen a different path? Fame is as pointless as Ozymandius' sneer as he lays half-buried in the sand. Yet we require some measure of payment and transaction for our time spent... Yet we require some explanation of our use of resource; Time itself is very valuable. Leonardo was struggling for money his entire life as a forward thinker. Michelangelo, his rival, was idealistic early on and the Platonism wore away as he aged... Yet between them both... QUALITY always reigned supreme above each flaw. The authenticity cannot be beaten. The honesty is what it is. Glad you touched on the Momento Mori. I will add that Buddhism is about "awakening" not a central figurehead. Additionally, you must dive through the wave of suffering to extrapolate the joy. The avoidance of the cessation of suffering is to never attain the kernel of true joy. That is why Sengai laughed forever after he drew the Enzo circle. There are those that see it and those that do not. I wouldn't advise pulling the knife slower or deeper... But I would cherish that feeling of life in your cold baths... For what is it not to feel? The weight-lifter pushing his body to failure, intentionally tearing muscle and pouring on acidic chemicals... Seems pessimistic if you take it that way. Yet Voltaire will always say, "the best decision of any day is to decide to have a good day". So what is the decision when you look at such abject reality? Bugs Bunny said it best "Don't take it too seriously, you never make it out alive". There is no time like the present and those who have neared death itself will know it best. After 3 times, dressed and greeting that point of no return, I cannot forget the lessons it presented. Cherish each moment... the present is a present... each second, a treasure. Never forget that butterfly effect that all of us have. To simply smile or nod, affect a positive result, however small... Extends... exponentially. And it is always a joy to simply peak behind the curtain. Aristotle's Poetics... Theory of Forms... Jungian Symbolism... That eternal collective unconscious mind that even the artists decision cannot avoid as they scrawl upon paper... Art never dies because everything is artfully done. Industrially... Quadrant-wise... Leonardo has Michelangelo beat... The art of science is The science of art... All things interrelated... So give it a go. Money is just money. Think of Richard Williams outside that gate... There he waited, adamant... His heart bringing about those large corporations to do what never was done before... He didn't do it for money. It is true though that we cannot be everywhere at once. That is why we make posts that speak while we are away. We make videos that talk after we are talking about something else. We are all like explorers reading the epitaphs of travelers before us. Yet everyone wants to make money. Games... Comics... Movies... UI UX Assembly-C PCB It's all the same etymologically speaking. What is amazing is that this renaissance era, does, yes have growing pains. But imagine the Polymathy... Imagine the level of dexterity a decided human will be as we grow to discern how to handle this influx of data? MAYBE! ahahaha Maybe we'll even see DLC get handled correctly in games and have some Pulp Fiction resurrection too! Time will tell. Hang in there. Your teachers are humanist and likewise that will never not be needed. Aristotle taught Alexander the Great. Epictetus taught Aurelius the Emperor So you will survive. Clusters of students will always abound. The means of distribution are just flooding. Virtues remain even in the Virtual

Iterative turn arounds of things to be understood readily by the 3D artists is a great thing to strive for! These are wonderful designs! I'd admonish to not readily cite your source of inspiration however as it is somewhat like leading a jury as a lawyer. The better thing is to let the work breathe like it is wine in a decanter. Extrapolate from many, many sources and no one will know what you are making up like Frankenstein anyhow! The colors are very fun! Next level would be to either use shape or color to indicate the intention of mood and purpose within the framework of your story. All things have story, so just enjoy making one up and reverse-engineering which designs help best to illustrate it! I sense a willingness to integrate many colors in armor here and it may be that the world itself is similar and denotes camouflage or that it is culturally open to remixing itself from wherever this character arises! I enjoy that this feels more akin to Planet of the Apes than Avatar itself. The photo-work meshes well in your painterly style! If rapidity and concept is your focus, give me the rounding forms and blue-printing. If style itself is the selling point, develop yourself to be "on model" in many directions; like a swiss army knife. If both is your aim, be unafraid to show a spread of illustration, breakdown, and even verbalization where needed, though on page would be best given that directors cycle through so much work at such high speeds. The concept art community is odd. It translates through to marketing illustration but it is first and fore-most about prototyping and drafting. Technological speed is increasing, so perhaps also integrate your thematic core. If you can produce anything at the snap of finger, what topic and feel would you choose? Individuality, in this manner, will be a boon as tech increases. However, keep in mind that concept art is about testing before spending time and resource into production. Help a producer answer the questions of "why" build out this thing and it will go over swimmingly! You're doing great! Keep going!