Mermaids

Vision

This piece is very beautiful. It has a lovely romantic feel in a fantasy setting. Mermaids playing in the water, a string of pearls, a sunset. It's all very lovely.

Originality

No negative critique here. I love the combination of above and below the water surface. The backward curve of the woman and the motion of the water is very appealing. The slant of the water adds additional interest. The male's tale is also very intriguing.

Technique

The technique is overall good. Crisp lines, smoothly blended and balanced colours, and a good representation of water all lead to a very pleasing image. There are two things, though, that really bother me.
1. The anatomy in the partially hidden arms is off. The woman's forearm, for instance, appears elongated. If the fingers were a little less tense around the male's neck and allowed for the palm to move back a bit, it would be much better. Also, the male's hand does not seem to be attached to his arm at all. One could argue that his forearm is completely hidden by the woman's body, but this would cause either an odd bend in the forearm or else an elongated upperarm. If just a small line of wrist was visible at the woman's shoulder, that would go a long way towards solving the problem.
2. I do not spend a lot of time under water, but it is my observation that disturbed water in the sun casts lines of bright light on objects underwater. There are no such lines in the merefolk's tails.

Impact
The impact is overall excellent! It made me stop and look. ^__^ Granted, I was searching specifically for vivid colours like these, but the point is, I opened the link. I docket a half-point, however, for the scan quality. I'm not sure how you managed this, but there is a vertical area of overlap and ghosting in the lineart. I would expect this to come from piecing two scans together, but usually that cuts horizontally down the middle of the image rather than vertically. It's a bit of a puzzle to me, but whatever the cause, the ghosted lines are distracting.

Overall, the image is very good. I love the fact that the skintones are not specific of any particular race. Thank you, also, for giving them a spine befitting a fish for their tails, rather than giving them "knees".

~D~