iCE 9902 - score: 7 out of 10

Blup:
Bmx-kt2.jpg
This pic by Bmxmen is basically a 3d render of a kitchen. The first thing to dawn upon you when you look at this pic is the "odd" appearance of everything. It seems that everything has been designed for really short people, hehe. That aside, while the objects within the scene are generally simple, they do accomplish their purpose of representation. The textures of the objects are spot-on, although the various appliances like the stove, oven, dishwasher and fridge could do with a little more colour then the beige they are assigned. The lighting is very bog-standard, but I guess that's probably due to the purpose of the pic, although it would have been nice if there was some fairly dramatic lighting effects. But on a whole, the pic is just, well, boring in terms of visual appearance and layout, and the grossly misproportioned objects are no help either. Henceforth I give it a big stamp of "average".

Ci-linux.jpg
Cyberise gives us a pic of some babe in a rather uncomfortable position, all in the name of promoting Linux. While it is a greyscale pic, it does work somewhat effectively. The shading and forms are realistic enough, however, the overall shape of the subject's body looks weird, it just isn't 'bumpy' enough. And where's that other leg of hers. The lower-leg closest to the viewer is well done, as is the hair and face. This pic could have been improved with the inclusion of a background, more careful observation of human forms, and of course, non-blurred outlines. (Which may also be due to the image compression, but nonetheless.) The cobweb in the top left-hand corner is a little intrusive, overall, the pic is above average, nothing earth shattering nor is it too bad.

Di-run.jpg
Another 3d pic to grace the icepack this month and it's by Digital Interface. What is really nice about this pic is the architecture in both the background and especially in the foreground. However, the human figure and hands in the middleground doesn't quite gel with the overall composition. The hands, while actually having some bumpy texture, look boneless. The hand texture itself looks like it came from a rubber glove, (zoom in and see) and unless it was meant to be like that, it looks out of place. While the face is quite angular and wizened, it is reasonably effective, although the hair is cool. It'd be quite a groovy pic if it wasn't for the seemingly out-of-place giant in the center.

Dm-is.jpg and Dm-tbc.jpg
Two logos, and only one of them, dm.is.jpg, is interesting. Work it out for yourself.

Dv-pc7.jpg
Davinci plugs in another pic for PC, and it's quite nice too. The sharp outlines of the various objects combined with smooth and imaginative shading makes this pic a delight to look at. There is a great amount of attention to detail, especially on the art-nouveau-esque forms to the sides of the heads in the center of the pic. A great pic indeed.

Eq-vee.jpg
Egoteq gives us a comic-style pic this month, however, it isn't quite visually appealing as it could be, this is mainly due to the quality of the drawing itself. The drawing of the girl is quite ugly, and full of mistakes, such as the length of the right arm and the appearance of the hands. The colouring is okay, although not carefully done in some places such as the ponytail. The iCE logo is reasonable, as are the ground and sky, but utltimately the pic is less then average.

Fb-swamp.jpg
Ah yes, Funbaby is a consistent performer when it comes to quality artwork. The rendition of the ghoulish-human is excellent in terms of proportion, shading and colour. There is a discrepancy with the subject, unless he was meant to have one arm longer then the other, that right arm of his has been stretched too far. The simplistic background highlights the subject well, it is chiaroscuro done well. Overall this is quite a nice pic in terms of subject rendition, but maybe, there could be a little more to the background.

Nf-ipro.jpg and Nf-wdra.jpg
Necro brings out his usual demoscene-derived style in two pics. The first one, a promo for iCE has some nice lettering, although the face on the right is more of an afterthought. The pic has been scaled up from half its size, and it isn't pretty either. This isn't one of his better pics. However, the second pic of a sea dragon/monster is a darn sight better. The sense of movement and implied fear is quite good. As far as technique goes, the wobbly freehand airbrushing works pretty well, although there are some things that could do with a bit more definition such as the top teeth. The colours are really nice on the tongue and skin. The dripping and splashing water could be a little more 'solid', but then again that could lessen the sense of movement. The seadragon is good, and the promo is ok.

Sd-bfly2.jpg, Sd-brick.jpg, Sd-hood.jpg and Sd-indy.jpg
Shade's highlight of this pack is his butterfly. Its texture, colour, lines and shading are really nice, and do give the impression of realism. Although the two antennae could have been given more care. Sd-brick.jpg has a nice feeling of action, although the colours are a little muddy and some forms needing some more care. The sharp edges and soft shading of the arm don't go together too well, this could have been improved by shading the edges instead of leaving them as they are in the pic. The pic of the hooded man again has some muddy colours, although the actual rendition of the face is good, barring the stubble. The hood looks effective in a select few areas, but overall looks too messy. Some shoulders and a bit of a background would have been useful too. And finally, the rendition of Indy isn't too bad, although it is degraded by the messy shading in some places as well as those horrible eyes. Again, some more care with shading, selection of colours and definition of various elements would have helped. Apart from the butterfly, Shade's pic are pretty much above-average.

Tk-hirez.jpg, Tk-jungl.jpg and Tk-vl.jpg
The Knave's hirez.org promo is pretty nice in terms of drawing quality, however I would have liked it more if shading was less haphazard. The iCE promo is excellent, mainly due to the colouring-in technique and nice layout. The way the flowers are coloured is superb. Definitely one of Knave's better pics. Vision lysergia is another bout of weirdness, and it doesn't look too bad either. Although it somehow seems to be 'neutral' in terms of overall appearance, but nonetheless it's not too bad. Overall, TK produces some good pics for this month.

Ve-hard.jpg
Vesa gives another toony-style for the masses to see. The quality of the drawing is quite good, but the shading seems, well, too soft. Going easy with the dodge tool would have been beneficial. One thing I keep asking myself about this picture, is the guy with the coat having an erection? On the whole, it's above average, if only for the cute spider.

Overall
This month hasn't been all that spectacular for iCE, a lot of average pics and a few good ones, and a few that shouldn't be there. Over and out.

Score: 7