Earthquake Drogon (asking for post-mortem)

[fuuryoku]

Below is my entry to the last ArtOrder Challenge. I think it's a solid piece, but reaction has been lukewarm. I was hoping if I posted it here I could get some feedback on how to push it towards awesome.

(This was the brief(quoted from ArtOrder):
• The catastrophic force that you will be using is "earthquake".
• You can choose how you show that elemental force.
• Create a catastrophic dragon that follows the basic body style shown in the Volcanic Dragon
• Create a unique head profile/silhouette, and other body elements that create a easily identified dragon (from the other catastrophic dragons)
)




-Fuu
http://www.thomscottart.com

[Venger]

Initial response on this -
It seems a bit floaty - I'm not getting a solid standing from it (think its the placement of the rear leg - the front and rear legs don't seem to be taking any weight)

You're not been consistent with your own creation - the size of the exposed arm isn't reflected in the hidden/bent one. You'd see more of the upper arm.
The end of the tail needs more distance - at first look it seems at the same level at the chest and bent arm, looking like it emerges from the shoulder.
The 'energy glow' on the neck makes it look twisted (it doesn't have to be centralised but at the moment I read it weirdly)
The wings look twig like, which doesn't help sell the size.

As I said, initial comments and these are just my opinions, so feel free to ignore

[PsiBug]

So close to awesome already.

I thiiink...
The style of the dragon looks great. I like the rocky hide and the energy glow.

1) the brushtrokes on the background are a little sloppy.
2) the shape and placement of the tail is awkward but the body pose looks good to me. The tail looks a bit like a bone protruding from the dragon's chest area. Possibly let the tail extend off the left side of the canvas and back in (either behind or in front of the dragon)
3) possibly define the eye spot a little more clearly
4) the far wing could be defined better. possibly angle it so we see more of it especially some of the glowing portion. It just looks like a bare twig sticking up.
5) maybe make the most white-hot part of the dragon's blue energy focused near the heart or mouth. right now the brightest spot appears to be at its butt.
6) this is a biggie. you have a tall rock shape at the left and right borders of the image making the composition seem very cramped and confined
7 ) consider making the claws look more uneven like stone instead of typical dragon claws
8 ) The ground behind the dragon turns into some unfinished looking pattern. Maybe make it look more like the foreground. possibly add outcroppings or uneven terrain back there. Doesn't have to be super detailed but could be more consistent to the ground in the foreground.

Hope some of those thoughts are helpful.

[fuuryoku]

Venger: Facepalms at the foreleg. Can't believe I missed that. I thought about bulking up the wings at one point, but didn't want to deviate too far from the body type of the example dragon.

PsiBug: Do you think maybe no eyespot at all would work? I wondered over the eye size a lot while painting it.

Thank you both BTW