miku__Deep Sea Girl

<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>Vision<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>
Miku's pose is actually a bit more complex than what first meets the eye, what with the subtle twist in her body changing the angle from her feet to her head. I'm actually stunned by the simplicity of the strokes involved in painting her skin. There's not a huge contrast, and it gives her skin a pearly, very smooth cast to it. And the background, wow, even though I see what I think may be a coral reef stock photo, the bubbles, ripples of water, and light refractions on the whales (and the whales themselves of course) do add to the underwater effect. I'm a sucker for teal green and blue color schemes, but even so, the underwater light is simply stunning.

<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>Originality<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>
Miku's not exactly *junefeier's own character, but the artist didn't go overboard with fishy details, like an exquisitely glamorous tail (hey, no tail at all!) or a massive amount of fin and flipper I see in a lot of mermaid-related pieces. Plus, I've never thought a simple short black strap top dress like that could look so good. <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h…" width="15" height="13" alt="" title="Heart"/>

<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>Technique<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>
The strokes are very clean and fine. *junefeier has well-defined Miku's figure without overbearing on shading. Though the light source is somewhat ambient _{(front of arms/back of legs, even if there was refracting light, most of it diffuses underwater)}. However, the very mysterious nature and glow of the scheme fits in nicely. I'm not sure if anyone would really notice unless they looked closely!
I also adore the way the strokes become less focused and more 'painted.' Miku's hair, the 'fish' in the background, and the patterns on the whale's underbellies are a great example. They keep the focus on Miku rather than the background, though still in harmony with the rest of the scene. <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Smile)"/>

<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>Impact<img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="17" height="16" alt="" title="Star!"/>
In a word: Fantasticabulous.
I'm simply stunned by the beauty of this, and I feel like I've summed up enough of my opinion in the previous sections. (Plus, long critique is getting long.)

A wonderful piece overall, and I really look forward to seeing more of your works on the front page. <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s…" width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Smile)"/>
=FullMA