Phronemophobia's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Who wants beans?]

Still my favorite RPG among the Mario games. I played it so much that I managed to finish it without ever upgrading any of my equipment. Holy shit was that painful near the end. You deal, like, almost no damage to anything and winning is entirely from not taking hits. I wanted to revisit it, but despite being in a protector, the game stopped functioning. Kind of heartbreaking at the time cause I have both a retron and a GB Player on my Gamecube to play it on the television. The other Mario RPGs are fine. I just never reached the same level of excitement to keep replaying them. 100%'d Mario RPG on the SNES and one-and-done'd everything else. Superstar Saga is still the only one to really make me want to revisit it.

Sigh... I blather on too much. Your style fits these characters so well. I would have bought a remake of this day one if it had animated cutscenes created by you. Cackletta, especially. Normally, Fawful takes the spotlight in any sort of representation for this particular game, but you are the first to really make me want to see more of her. Please tell me you might consider more Cackletta art in the future. Everything here is good, of course, but it looks like you give her depictions the same level of love and care as you do for Vector and Wario.

[Summertime Festivities]

The art is great, and I love the inclusion of Chutney's merch, but the first joke I thought of here is far too obvious to make.

[Chill and Cool]

I saw Vector and asked myself, "Why gator so fat?" and, apparently, this is his modern look? Is this like what happened to Knuckles in Sonic Boom?

"It looks like it could fill its role as a new banner too!" - my literal first thought when I saw this!

"I can't just ignore the decade that I lived in." Why not? I do that all the time. I already lived through that decade, so I want something new. Well, okay, once in a while it's fine to be nostalgic but I don't want to grow into one of those old folk who end up thinking life stopped being good after their childhood ended.

ICam2k responds:

That's from Sonic Boom indeed. Until by the second season, they decided to give him a black jacket and took away his headphones.
Yeah, as a matter of fact. I used to have this banner set on dA for quite a good amount of time. And it's not like it's completely gone either, it still has it's place on Twitter, whether that's a good thing or not. heh
Hahah, guess that makes me a grumpy grandma then. I did find and appreciate new things happening nowadays despite the nostalgia kicking in every once in a while.

[Now take a look]

That's an interesting Pokémon choice for a Halloween-themed illustration. It's one I tend to forget about even though Moon was the last mainline game I bought and Marowak was the representative for Trial Captain Kiawe. Was not a particular fan of the monster because I thought its head was slightly too big for its body and those proportions seldom work for me... kind of like with Splatoon characters, I suppose, but not to that extreme. I am enamored by the expression of the Marowak for some reason. Typically, every Cubone's a cutie that you want to pick up and care for and that's no different here. I like how my first thought looking at this had nothing to do with the Pokémon but was "Oh, Cami was able to create a jungle background! I bet that made her happy," and then I scrolled through your description to see you actually commented about the setting for that reason. Guess my first thoughts were accurate.

"It's the 'while the loved ones may be gone, they still live within our hearts' way of saying here... or maybe I'm overthinking things." It's what mom and I have been saying to ourselves this year with the loss of dad, so this doesn't read like 'overthinking' to me.

Glad to see you including the sketch, as well. No reason not to show the process when one can. Every step takes effort and it should be appreciated. That and I sometimes wonder if an artist could take an old sketch years later and try to finish it again without referencing the finished piece to see what changes they make to their work that was not intended originally.

[Cap'n Kevin's Treasure Map - Talk Like A Pirate Day 2024]

The one major downside to this map is the path provided. Right at the start there's really no reason for me to sail upwards when I can just go straight from Backwards J Island to the path right above The Pigeon Kraken. An easy fix would have been to place The Suck Zone right between the island and The Sirens That Make You Watch Every Episode Of Fraiser, Then Eat You. Then again, even if I did go upward, I could land at the island of Fractured Arch near The Pointy Cliffs instead of continuing south so the same problem shows up again. The locations look great but I'm not incentivized to see most of them. Artistically typing, this is really cute. Skull Fuck Island is the best name here, too.

Syrupmasterz responds:

My brain was thinking that maybe it was a timing thing to avoid the sirens while also avoiding sea rocks that the ship would run aground with. Sailing northwest as you approached, hiding behind the salty shores, then perhaps when the sirens went to sleep, you followed the charts closely to avoid rock spikes underwater.

That was my thinking anyways, but I probably just didn't draw enough rocks in the water. :P

[Long drives, longer nights]

A little of A and a little of B. Since I don't sleep well, I find myself waking up to see the sunrise while struggling to straighten up. It was a memorable part of my childhood, too. Wake up before Saturday morning cartoons, take out the trash, make something quick for breakfast, then be unproductive for six hours in front of a TV. Since my workplace has no windows, I seldom get to see the sunset, but it is something I will stop and admire from time to time. There are a few days when I can leave work and see the sunset during the drive. I'd love those times more if traffic itself wasn't so awful.

This seemingly empty neon world of yours is always fascinating to experience through these pieces of art though they always strike me as some obscure location you only happen upon by accident when taking a wrong turn and never see again once you drive through it.

MoeAnguish responds:

Thanks for sharing, and for the review. I completely get you, cause at a certain point life was like that to me too.

And yeah, that's kinda the intent. I don't know what word to describe it with or if a single world exists, but i try to make my location look like those "Save/transition rooms" in video games or at least have that vibe, where you're completely alone and "safe" but you're about to go back to something that's the complete opposite, and you'll likely- as you said - never see that place again. But you'll remember it.

[Now it's time to...]

It's going to be a challenge having a rotten day after seeing this. I love that you have him squeezing out of a Game Boy screen. I almost missed that little detail which would have been shameful on my part considering how often you've mentioned your love of Wario Land.

"I planned to add more, but I was running out of space..." Yes, I noticed a lack of Wario-Man. He's studlier than a snow tire, you know! Outside of that, not entirely sure what else would be necessary for a complete representation of the legendary fellow. Maybe something like his costumed appearances in Mario Party or perhaps you were thinking about his inclusion in other spin-off games, like Mario Kart or the sports titles. There's more than enough eye-garlic here to take in and enjoy without them.

"Heck, I'd even go as far to say that Wario felt like a more proper rival that Sonic, but that's just me." He definitely is. Sonic is suppose to be the faster one who keeps going forward and Mario's more acrobatic and keeps going higher, but both can do what the other is offering with enough practice. Wario, however, is just an entirely different experience from Mario. Why have style and respect when you can just overwhelm something with brute force and mock it afterwards?

"Also just in case, I did draw Waluigi's cap letter wrong." Wario has done much worse to his friend/brother, so I doubt Waluigi would be too upset by this mistake. He'd still be upset though.

ICam2k responds:

Game boy screens are pretty, so are the Virtual Boys. Even when there's somehow a situation where I can't make fanart, if get asked about Wario Land, chances are I would go on to talk about how good the games are and how almost everyone ought to try them.
Dammit, I can't believe I neglected to include him of all Warios, now I'm gonna have to make a whole page of nothing but Wario-Mans afterwards. I suppose the Mario Party ones are a bit more interesting, specifically from 2 were it allowed characters to wear different constumes depending on the board. The mage ones were always my favourites though, even on the yellow fat-man. Can't say that the karts aren't noterworthy though, the motorcycles especially.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way. He can have the worst traits and quirks that rival against the middle aged man's family friendly ones while still gaining fans. It's a win win really.
Crisis averted then, Wario's going to have to pay for my mistake then. heh

[Undertale - Butterscotch pie, with friends!]

I find it amusing that a certain king is missing from this image despite the fact that he likely enjoys that pie more than anyone else here. Also, Papyrus looks so cool. You really captured his greatness... in cute form.

Crisppyboat responds:

Honestly asgore is like as wide as the image and I wanted people to still see at least a smidge of the background so, choices were made

[We're doodleane-y!]

"I tried to draw the whole thing by memory. There has only been very few cases where I used references..." I'm so jealous of people with a clear and confident memory. In nearly all things I discuss, I have to take the time to double check out of fear of mixing up my names, dates, and details, because I constantly make mistakes if I don't. Meanwhile, you made doodles this dynamic, vivid, and accurate with almost no references? Probably not a big deal to you, but that's insane (the good kind) to me.

"This may be because of the reboot... except I'm not quite a fan of it..." It wasn't awful but it definitely didn't convince me that the reboot was worth having. Then again, few have.

"Would you be shocked if I tell you that this is one of the many shows that influenced my style, at the very least the "90s" like?" I suppose if I had a style (or talent, for that matter), it would be pretty similar. Drawing was not something I enjoyed directly. I almost never drew except to show friends what dumb idea or joke I had floating around in my mind. Obviously, the cartoon-y style would work best for that sort of mindset.

"There seems to Warners all around, but I always made enough room for others... and I still feel I could add more." Yeah, you need Ralph, Mr. Skullhead, Slappy Squirrel, The Mime, Baloney the Dinosaur... the ones that matter most.

Is it strange that the comments you provide alongside your art have slowly become more interesting to me than the art itself?

ICam2k responds:

I guess it comes down to memorizing. There would be references needed at the first attempt, but after many tries, you'll pretty get the knack of things to the point were the references thave become redundant. Simplicity is also a factor.

Neither do I, certainly there are some merits that the reboot has and would be lying if I said I didn't get some chuckles on certain aspects. I would've had had different outlook if it wasn't attached to a certain show, but really, I think it's alright.

I wholly disagree that jokes can't work without the style and flair. If some memes or shows are to be considered, then drawings like these should hold just as much punch on their own.

Yeah you're right, next time I come back to this show, I would pour in Baloney as much as I can.

See, that's another good aspect besides art. I get to put out thoughts and notes in the descriptions. Some artists may not do that, but I do.

[Sonics Second edition]

The first image makes me think of Spinball, the best Sonic game, and Vector looks more interested in Sonic's situation with Amy than with his own predicament of currently missing the lower half of his body.

"Oh and there was the hot summer too. I HAAAATED that every time..." I'm the opposite. When it's cold, I bundle up and refuse to do anything productive. When it's hot, I can just drink some water and go back to it (whatever "it" is). Helps that I've lived in the heat most of my life.

"I did make an another Sonic doodle prior to this one, but it has seemingly aged poorly." If you haven't already, you could have just posted that one alongside this one for a showing of your artistic progression. Highlight how you've improved. I usually find the flawed (or in this case, the poorly-aged) art to be more interesting than seeing overly-polished works repeatedly being uploaded.

ICam2k responds:

Kept hearing about Spinball but never got to play it. Others seem to say otherwise, but who knows. I play a bunch of pinball clones, so it may be actually be a masterpiece.
When someone like Vec is encompassed in the world of fiction with no limits, he never has to worry about anything, even where some body parts may be cut off.
Well there's at least one thing, I hate summer and love winter (although I like spring just as much) while you're on the opposite side, which is alright. I actually like hearing different perspectives even when I may not agree some of them.
Not a bad idea actually. I suppose it's more due to the differing style that clashes out with the current one rather than the quality, even there're some glaring flaws here and there. I still may not be up to it, but you might've changed my mind. But hey, I never said that I wouldn't post the older work. heh