Phronemophobia's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[Life goes on]

Oddly enough, this doesn't even come across as a redraw. A redraw typically maintains the same direction of the original and mainly just highlights the artist's improvement rather than the character(s). With this, however, it's more like an actual person whose life suffered through a troubled, awkward phase at some point, found an old photo of herself during that time, then proceeded to recreate the pose of herself in that photo to provide a before and after comparison to really showcase how much effort she has put in to make life better for herself. This is something I've seen plenty of actual people do over the years whether it be about rehab, weight loss, or just highlighting the affects of aging. This is a far more interesting variation of redraw than just the "same energy but better looking" stuff I commonly stumble upon. Your OC grew alongside you. That or I'm overthinking it.

MoeAnguish responds:

I got that impression too honestly, So I'm glad you could also see it. Just didn't know what words to use exactly besides "redraw".

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, btw.

[Alonso]

What a nut. Still, the sort of kid I'd force a shirt on even if I doubt any of courtesy would be accepted... maybe a simple graphic tee would suffice. My child self would certainly agree to the importance of a good, solid stick. Feels like a waste to toss them away, so it was easier to keep them against the home or tucked around something in the yard to prevent them from being broken or lost.

Bertn1991 responds:

Well said. Do these youngins today even know what a stick is? Probably not.

[Off the guard]

I love how the comedically-extreme level of squeezing is starting to undo Pearl's humanoid form. It's like when I had dogs. Once in a while, they'd do something more adorable than usual and my immediate response would be to rush over, pick one of them up, and aggressively cuddle them as if I was going to be able to take in all of that cuteness for myself.

"Why can't I just take myself easy for once?"

Ha! Long ago, I was dating someone who heard me making a similar complaint to the way I was playing a video game differently from everyone else and she was the first person in my life to point out that I constantly do that because I have an uncommon definition of what I consider to be "fun" so I should just stop wasting my time complaining about it. Maybe you suffer from an artistically-equivalent situation? Cami can't make things easier on herself when drawing because a mix of personal pride and strange enjoyment refuse to allow her to compromise those self-imposed standards. That or maybe it's because the stuff Cami draws is far too important to her to represent half-heartedly. Pearl's glory can only be truly appreciated when one completely dedicates themself to creating fan art for her.

The chibi versions are an excellent addition, by the way. Turns an already-great image into a charming little comic.

ICam2k responds:

Pretty reasonable to be frank. That reminds me though, my family has a pair of dogs although my mom usually cuddles with only one (both of them are small breed and have bottom fangs sticking out but one is a female named Sofi with shaggy gold brown fur, got her in autumn of 2018 and the other being male with smooth white fur and brown spots, he was initially named Biri but my mom for whatever reason changed her mind and renamed him Geani, got him in the next following year). She pampered him so much that he pretty much not only actively looks out for her, but also tries to protect her, even from the most minuscule things. I can't count the amount of instances where he would start growling at me and then quickly get close to her everytime I try help her on some tasks.

Feels like just I read a psychology analysis of sorts, even with the small witty joke in the end. Passion probably rings even truer when it comes to that kind of stuff, although the reason where my frustration came from maybe was caused by me witnessing the amount of artists somehow pumping out a bunch of stuff, both complete and doodle comps at lighting speed whereas I always stagger around. Kind of want to know how they're even able to do that without straining themselves.
About that videogame thing, I recall mostly playing videogames whose mechanics and genres appealed to me a lot, but it was mostly the art directions that always caught me eye. I actually never questioned about that though, even when I played niche ones at that, that kind of stuff just felt right enough for me. I think you should be more than glad that we're nerds in a way. heh

They are clever additions indeed. Might try to keep these in mind so I could that again for drawings like this. heh

[Pete Sigh]

What happened? Did Pete have a fight with Jenemazzi? If we showed him this picture and said it looks like he farted out a rainbow, would that cheer him up?

Bertn1991 responds:

I'm sure that'd cheer him up a few notches. He's probably upset 'cause Cappy D's is all out of hushpuppies.

[Blazing Ambition]

The previous drawing, Fiery Ambition, was cute. I liked the little outfit and fun kid energy it had. This version, however, seems like the mom saw that art and decided to recreate it by adding some maturity to the presentation.

Ferrohound responds:

maturity is definitely a good way to put it, she does seem to be quite the sophisticated lady this time around

[Splatoooon Baaabieeees]

While the age gap makes for an amusing Pearl comparison here, I would be lying if I didn't admit that I find all of them terrifying and would very likely punt each one of them far away from me if they got too close. Puppies and kittens are fine, but most everything else as an infant unnerves me.

ICam2k responds:

Guess I did my job then!
There are also chicks, ducklings, quail chicks and um... baby owls and uuuh... oh there are also baby parrot- wait they start off naked like most birds, at least they're not baby rodents!

[Fish Comic #5]

For some reason, the joke here seems familiar.

Fabulous-fishstick42 responds:

everything i make sucks sorry for continuing to post

[Which One Do You believe in?]

Wow. These are... hideous. Not the drawings, mind you. Your talent is doing a tremendous amount of heavy lifting to compensate for Pearl's forgettably bland outfit and Marina's... whatever disaster of two or three themes mixed together. She's like a military alien bikini model, maybe?

"although it was from Shaman King in my case"

That seems oddly familiar. I've seen a few featuring Naruto, Death Note, and various other Shonen characters, but I do recall one with a focus on Shaman King. Not sure where. The only reason to even remember such a thing is because SK isn't a bad series, but it's definitely not one of the more popular ones... you know, like Zatch Bell! Seeing a site with any level of focus on a series such as that one would stand out a little bit (but not enough to recall at this moment). On that strange note, Pearl in this image also seems kind of familiar in spite of how basic she looks. Maybe I saw it in a browser image search long ago shortly after viewing one of your previous works. Asking myself a lot of questions here though I'd hardly call any of them "philosophical."

ICam2k responds:

Well, at least you can rest easy knowing that these outfits didn't make in the cut (even though I genuinely like'em) (or I should say did make in the artbook and not in the games since they can still be seen through purchasing the said book... even though it's only stuck in Japan and not anywhere else and it's still in the process of being translated) and besides, there are worse things to be concerned about like... Bigman in a leotard while he has a bunch of chains' wrapped around him and wearing a bowlcut wig... and he was holding a firecracker. (you wish I was joking, you wish). Funny that you mention that because she is in fact a military ingineer. Or at least she was after defecting from the army after having heard that "heavenly melody", but she still did the Shifty Stations among other technological feats so she's probably a different kind of engineer. And octarians do have such things like floating platforms and UFO like ships despite their technology being built on human scraps. Heck, Octarian" is in fact a portmanteau of "octo" and "alien", so you're not wrong about the assumption despite the jab intent. lol
I've seen Naruto and Shaman King through Jetix, but not Death Note. That would be through Animax after switching through channels out of boredom (this also includes Fullmetal Alchemist). Even though I cherish all these shows, Shaman King is still the one that stuck with me the most. There's just something about it that just stands from the crowd to me y'know? And I know for the fact that I rambled on and on about why I like that anime so I'm going to spare you from the possible repetition here. I do acknowledge that this series is unfortunately too niche for many to get into, so the best it has is the cult following. But that's not enough to stop me from revisiting it from time to time. The memories upon first viewing it from start to finish are just too signifcant too for me. heh
I almost had no idea what Zatch Bell was until I looked up images. I almost though it was some obscure American sitcom upon hearing the title. Never watched it though, is it any good?
Hmm, I always felt Pearl resembled the "radical punk gang" aesthetic upon discovering, but she does seem to allude other character archetypes that are somewhat close to that. Based on my knowledge, most often make connections to Biggie Smalls (same with Marina with 2Pac) due to her OE hoodie and her japanese name "Hime Houzuki" which are names for the two squid species at vastly different sizes that contrast one another.
Life can be an unpredictable rollercoaster. You never know if anything's philosophical or not... nah I'm obviously messing around. Or do I?

[Sneakin' Around The Castle]

Only 76 views? That's shockingly low for a FP piece. Regardless, your colors are as dazzling as always. Definitely worth the long wait. Not sure who is being tossed up in the air by Brighton and Twila or who this Great-Crossover person is, but I'm going to safely assume they loved your gift. On a side note, I'm a big fan of Mario Sunshine (favorite 3D Mario game), so I'm always in favor of seeing new fanart including Shine Sprites.

Hope you've been well, SS. I was wondering about your long absence, but when I noticed you had finally posted new artwork, I didn't have time to leave a comment due to a long road trip I had planned months in advance to visit mom. I apologize.

ShellySunshine responds:

I didn't even realize that this piece was a front page piece until you said something about it. I didn't get notifications about it. It was rewarded over a week ago and I didn't realize it. o_o I figured Newgrounds would have informed me about this, but they didn't and... that's pretty interesting. But hey, good to know more information how the front page works!

I'm shocked that I managed to get frontpaged, but I'm mostly happy about it. I didn't think I would see the day, but yet here we are! Thanks for telling me though, and thanks to the Newgrounds team to frontpaging this! Deeply appreciated!

As for views... I don't expect views much since obscurity and I think NG folks prefers games and movies over art mostly. That and I don't think they do much anyways.

Thank you! The person being thrown is Great-Crossover's mascot/sona! She said it was the best she has had, so I'm pretty happy she's happy with it. :D I love Mario Sunshine too, just not one-hundred percenting it lol. I really do wish Nintendo utilizes Shine Sprites and Power Moons more often, but I guess it will be up to me to draw them when appropriate.

-

I've been all right. Just life things, really. Ups and downs. It's almost summer so my activity tends to dwindle when it's nice and warm out (versus winter where I have more time due to not having as much to do). That, and my art lately hasn't been coming out like I want them to. I have ideas and motivation, but I lose motivation when pieces don't look like they are worth finishing. I do try to fight against that, I suppose.

That's probably why I have been quiet, but I rest assure you I check in on NG when possible. I will admit that I either forget to check, or my mindset isn't in the right spot. I usually make a post if I ever decide to stop using a website for a while.

It's perfectly fine that you haven't had the chance to leave feedback. I figured things on your end are up. It's good to hear you take the time to plan and visit your mom though! I'm sure she appreciates seeing you in person ever so often! I was wondering about you myself, coincidentally enough. You don't have to apologize for that though.

Thank you again!

[Vast tinted water]

Who's the "shocking final boss" mentioned? I thought it was that, um, octopus DJ guy who showed up in the sequel.

Never had any interest in the games since I'm not a fan of FPSers, but I never let that stop me from enjoying a great soundtrack and the remixes inspired by it (especially from both KFAD events). Aside from that, your fanart is probably the only other thing I can appreciate about the series. Still, that in and of itself is worth thanking Splatoon for, I suppose. It brought out the best in Cami's talent and everyone else gets to benefit because of that.

ICam2k responds:

Nope. It was the fat cat that judges everyone in every match! Silly you!
I think the very first time I ever tried out a FPS was through Counter Strike after my brother installed it on the family computer before locking on it indefinitely while outwardly arguing with me to stop watching a Youtube video because it was intervening with the internet signal. I think there where certain maps that were intriguing like the giant house map and the abandoned city. Mostly had fun exploring these with the game's physics rather than shooting. Then again, my brother eventually began playing race based maps that barely had anything to do with shooting as well. Got to find other means of playing games inspite of their respective genres. After that, never once did I get into any of these until Splatoon 3 came around although the first two games still felt interesting. Guess all that needed is adequate characters, bumpy music and several unique stealth based mechanics like ink submerging to really do the trick. heh
Ah, no way, my fanart is still just fanart. I'm not hired by Nintendo to do shameless plugs like this. I do what I do. lol