Overall

Vision Vision

Originality Originality

Technique Technique

Impact Impact

This is my first official critique, and I am also a major Princess Luna fan, however I don't let that obscure my view on art, style, and so-forth.First off, this piece can not simply be looked over quickly without missing anything, as there is so much detailing that to fully appreciate this piece, one would have to look over it for at least a good 15 to 30 mins, if even to an hour, if you wish to observe every detail, tid bit, and part that when into making this as a whole.The theme, setting, and ambiance sets the tone and ground for what this piece delivers. It is like a foundation that has been carefully measured, marked, poured, and gone over with to give a solid base to work with.A dark, blue tinted night that holds the haunting of what hides in the darkness, a full moon that tries to shine its light through scattered thick clouds, and a thick mist on the ground from which horrors of the night reach up and through to grasp those who wander about lost. This setting gives our Night Princess the base to shine through and present her self to others with her duties and responsibilities to the citizens of Equestria. Luna shows her self as the defender of the night against those who use the night and darkness to haunt and harm others. She stomps and drives off those that reach through the mist, and opens the clouds to let her moon light shine to drive off those that hide in the darkness. She fights and defeats the stuff that nightmares are made of.On the image of Luna, we have her as a warrior, dawned in armor with her symbol as a crest on the front. Her lack of crown shows that this is not the time to show her self as a ruler, but as a defender of her ponies. The armor gives the image of strength as a fighter, and does show that even one as strong and powerful needs to protect her self. it is simple, but hints at some elegance which doesn't sacrifice function for fashion. This also looks to be the vehicle that holds a tremendous power as shown through Luna's appearance its self.As one looks further into the Princess' image, we see her face, eyes, main, and tail, along with her wings. Each of these show the true power of the Night princess as she does battle. The face shows focused determination. A drive to fight and defeat these creatures. Her eyes look and shine like the crescent moon, with the twinkle of stars spotting lightly in the reflection. Her main and tail glow at some parts while fading into darkness with distant stars spread throughout, making her hair look like a nebula in deep space. Notice also how the hair is swept about, a moment paused as she is moving quickly in her fight. And finally her wings, though not as elaborate as her main and tail, are still vital to her image here, not because of her being an Alicorn, but as it also adds to her image against those she fights. It makes her appear bigger, more threatening, and gives her the readiness to take flights and redirect her attack at a moments notice. The feathering is of a more classic design and is smooth in texture and blending with the other feathers.And though Luna does draw much of the attention to her in this piece, one must not forget to observe the detailing of the gryphons below her. It would be easy to forget that this is a battle that takes place in the sky, as the gryphons have an almost undead look to them, giving to the thought that this is on the ground.This is indeed a work of art and deserves great praise and recognition.