Looking back II

The detail on this piece is fantastic. The fur detail is lovely, and my eye is immediately drawn to the fox's by the leading lines in the fur and the shape of the fox's mouth, and given that the title of the piece is "looking back", that's very appropriate. The high contrast of the piece gives it a dreamy, ethereal feeling, and the sage expression on the fox's face makes me feel like the "looking back" the piece is referring to the idea of looking back on one's experiences to find wisdom. Looking at the fox, I can just imagine how soft his fur would be. I love the meticulous detail of the nose and mouth, very realistic. The eyes are soft and wise, and their upward tilt implies that the viewer should be wondering just what he's looking at.

The high contrast does have a little bit of a drawback. I feel that there's a bit too much white space, and it overwhelms the fox a little bit. I find my eyes wandering up toward the vast empty space instead of down toward the fox, whose pale colors cause him to tend to blend into the background, despite a lack of actual background. While it's fine to not have a background (like I said, it gives it a very meaningful dreamy feel), you shouldn't let the white space overwhelm the subject. The balance of the piece is also a little strange. For this pose, the rule of threes would dictate that the fox's head should go on the rightmost third of the piece, since he's looking over his shoulder to our left. His face sits down and right of center, which is a bit awkward to the eyes.