#004 Charmander -[Flame-Born]

This digital painting of Charmander by =Taluns is a piece that combines the pokemon's characteristics and the artist's unique style to create a very intricate and well-executed piece of fan art.

While looking through some of Talun's other pokemon fan art, is occurred to me how different their style was from the norm; the large, heavily detailed eyes and proportions of the starter pokemon in their artwork are definitely not something that I usually see. Despite this, the use of details such as texture, lighting and intricate design of the details in the background and foreground make the art dynamic and altogether beautiful. This piece is no exception.

What especially impressed me was how Taluns managed to create the fire so well; the combination of red, orange, and yellow hues that swirl together are an interesting take on fire but nevertheless work exceptionally.

This also proves beneficial to the lighting, as there are several strategically places light sources in this picture. the one located from the foreground fire, combined with the facial expression of the Charmander itself, gives the artwork a somewhat menacing look. The sunrise background highlights the Charmander and focuses attention on it.

Now, I do have suggestions for improving the picture further, namely some anatomical aspects of the Charmander, and the flow of the fire.

First of all, the Charmander's arms are simply too short and lack elbows/ joints. It doesn't look appropriate to have them this way if the legs are far longer and bend with multiple joints. I would highly suggest making them a tad longer and adding elbows or wrists.

Also, there is the matter of the fire being blown out of the Charmander's mouth. From the looks of it, Taluns attempted to keep this fire inside the edges of the artwork, causing the fire to bunch up at the top and not flow properly. It's unnecessary to mind keeping the fire inside the edges, as it would flow upwards exactly like the foreground fire. Allowing the fire to do so will remedy this.

Overall, I think this fan art is fantastic. This piece of art, as well as others in =Taluns's gallery, is definitely worth a look.