Normally I go into great depth and detail everything (Also, normally am on my mule: White Rabbit) but I just don't have the time to today. But I still want to give some kind of feedback so here goes.
Pond Sailing
★★★★✩
I'll be honest, I don't see myself using this item very much but I do really like it as an item in general. I think it was overall very well done.
Likes: I like the options of shoes with or without the stockings. Nice touch.
I love how the cuffs on the shorts and the shirt are a bit reminiscent of paper boats that kids make to race down street gutters on rainy days. It was a subtle touch that I think was very cute.
All the details in the Background pose really make it and I love how the water was treated and the leaves on the tree and the grain of the bark. Really, just lots of great detail in it. Everything was really well shaded.
That water, I mean really, it's great. The ripples, the subtle illustrations of motion via waves. Just great. Of all the poses, it's easily my favorite and I might have to find a way to work it into an avatar just because it was so well done.
Dislikes: The color choices are a little odd, but I appreciate variety. Honestly, not much to critique on this item, I think. I'm not in love with the hat but I think that's more personal style preference rather than any technical flaws in the item.
Spring Showers
★★★✩✩
Again, another item I don't think I'll use much because it just doesn't fit most of the themes I go for. But not a bad item exactly.
Likes: The boots! I like the pose for the most part (though the bent leg does looks a little unnatural. Maybe if it was positioned closer to the first leg...) and the item is interesting at the very least. The legs look kind of thicker than usual which I appreciate. Dat thigh gap! Although as much as I like the pose, the right leg of the avatar does look a little...weird. Like, the heel of the boot. It kind of looks like the sole is missing on the heel.
Having separate bloomer option is also nice! Thank you!
I like how the top has that little flower motif going on. Helps drive the idea of spring.
The umbrella looks like a weird mushroom flower and I kind of dig it.
Dislikes: That background. *Sigh* I was hopeful after the Sailing one but this one seems to fall flat. Literally, it looks too flat and 2D for me to make any use of.
The color choices are pretty weird no matter which one you choose and the water in all of them doesn't really look like rain water, which is odd considering how the item is named Spring Showers. While the second color option for the background gets the closest to being likable, the puddle is pink. Not clear, pink.
The hedge, though wonderfully detailed with all those leaves, has no depth to make you really feel like it's a hedge and not just a painting of a hedge on a wall.
The gate suffers the same two dimensional-ism, despite wonderful detailing on the wood planks.
The birdhouse honestly feels random to me. And again it offers no depth.
Merlantis
★★★✩✩
I really, really want to give this five stars. I really do. I love ocean and merpeople themed items, so I wanted to love this item. And I do love some things about it. But I also dislike a lot of things.
Likes: The tail! I love the graceful curve of it, the dimensions in terms of where it narrows out and the fanning of the fins.
I love the colors you picked for it, I think they were excellent choices.
I don't love the little flappies on the side but I'll give them a pass based on how great the pose is otherwise.
Beautiful shading and the scales. Omg. I can't imagine how long that took but it just looks so great. I was really impressed with the tail pose, really.
Also the trident (Call it what it is, come on) is pretty cool. I don't know why there is a chain on the end but I like the item well enough to not care so much. Really appreciated the addition of the darker red and black trident for those who want to go a more sinister route with their avatars. I appreciate you guys listening to that feedback. The scallop shell on there was a nice accenting touch.
The Right/Left options for the Fish were great, I really liked that. It would have been nice if they didn't exactly mirror each other but that brings up the complaint of not being able to use the same pose on either side, so I didn't dock on that. I think they were pretty well done, though different types of fish would have been nice. The ocean is abundant in diverse sea life and it would have been nice to see that reflected in the Fish pose.
Dislikes: The gills. Oh god, the gills. They look soooo awkward and they don't really even make sense. I know I've seen merpeople face fins before but these just...they look unnatural and honestly, they don't resemble gills at all.
The Shells...honestly, the shells looked super awkward. They are mostly obscured by the avatar and weirdly clustered. They don't look good with the background, they don't look good without the background. I feel like they were just thrown on last minute and not really organized to work with the rest of the items or stand alone on their own. They are just....there. The placement of them is super weird so I don't see myself using this pose at all.
And finally...*sigh*...The Background.
If you take one side of this background, it looks great. But it looks like the artist literally did that....and copy pasted it...and flipped it to make the other side and.....that just looks lazy. And it defies logic. A reef wouldn't look identically symmetrical like that and kelp would not wave in opposite directions into each other like that. The plant in the back is literally growing into itself, I mean come on. It honestly looks like the artist did a really great job with one half of the reef and copped out in the end. And that's disappointing as all get out. There was so much potential with this pose and it just falls flat. Also, I don't know who did the Wonderland item but don't think I didn't notice the same treatment on that. You can get away with it in Wonderland because shit be crazy there but I'm gonna call you out on this one. Don't get lazy guys. Plan out your items, manage your time, and give it the effort it deserves, because copy pasting something like this just makes it look like you care more about getting something out rather than getting something worth spending money on out. And if you don't care about producing a good product, what's the point?
Post edited for better formatting and readability.
