Overall

Vision Vision

Originality Originality

Technique Technique

Impact Impact

irst of all, this is an exceptional piece. I must admit, I smiled when I saw this. Your shading is fabulous, (The suggestion of weight on the edge of the pink towel is just mmm, good stuff) your color is mostly good (More on that later) and the interplay of expression on Dash and Celestia's face really sells this piece. Now, you asked for a critique and not a gush (though I am VERY tempted to simply gush) so I am going into my nitpick mode.Vision:Many artists out there can render an epic battle or cute pony, but have trouble with actually drawing a scene. By actually rendering a scene, I mean telling a story aside from "this is a battle" or "this is a cute pony". No such problems here. The picture sells itself and showcases a humorous moment beautifully. It is clear that you started with a story, and faithfully carried it to completion.Originality:There are an innumerable amount of pony beach scenes. I would venture to say that a beach scene is overdone, perhaps even more so to you, KP. You have more happy-pony-on-the-beach scenes then I have finished drawings! However with the inclusion of this priceless moment, (Dash's face! Daww!) You manage to stand out, even from yourself, and make this one memorable. However, I would try a change of scenery for your next few pieces. Perhaps the mountains?The other thing that makes this stand out is the change from your usual style. I can honestly say I prefer your comic-esque lineart to your more painterly approach, and it is refreshing to see the stretching of artistic muscles in an artist I admire.Technique:I feel really bad for saying what I'm about to say, because I am a very humble budding artist. Keep in mind that this is worthy of the MLP comics as is, and I'm just looking for things that you can improve on later.What is the sequence?The ball is stuck on Celestia's horn, in addition to knocking down her drink.What? How?For the ball to be popped on her horn, it needs to have hit it at a downward angle with decent force. I'm going to assume that Celestia was holding her drink in a normal position and not over her head or a couple feet out. With this being the case, there are very few ways the ball could spill the drink and still have the force and angle needed to stick on Celestia's horn. For some reason, this threw me a little. It is a small nitpick (Like all of the things in this most excellent piece) but if this was a storyboard, you would need to work out a better sequence.The lineart on Luna's top back hair is off. The line to the right of the umbrella handle is to thick for the rest of the hair. If this was traditional, it would be ok, but in digital, you could have easily changed it to a less thick and rounded line.The palm that Pinkie Pie is hiding behind is off. It is tilted so the top faces the camera so you don't have to work with extreme perspectives. This is an artist's choice thing, but it is distracting and you are good enough that you could have worked with the perspective, so no excuse there.Luna is a touch too saturated, and pulls the eye away from the center action. However, the main problem is that teal towel she is sitting on. ARGH! It hurts my eyes! You could probably change the teal to something lighter and less...green to make it less clashing. Luna's eyeshadow is a nice shade....Dat ball....I'm just going to go and say it, but that is a solid object, and balls, especially popped ones, are not. After looking at it for 15 minuets (That one by Boccherini. No, really. I was using a youtube looper) as I wrote this critique, a disturbing thought impacts my brain. Wait.....is-is a frisbee? Have I made a mistake? It doesn't really matter. At first glance, this enigmatic pink thing looks like a lazily drawn ball, and not a frisbee. I really don't know how to fix this. Perhaps some circular movement lines to show it vibrating? I don't know.Impact:Now, despite my nitpicking, I really love this piece. There is story, and none the small mistakes get in the way of telling that story. Despite being just a small moment in an ordinary day, this is one of my new favorite pieces of mlp art, and ultimately showcases what this series is all about. Thank you for this and for being an inspiration to all us starting artists.Calebfig (Sunshine Delight)