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Wall of Venom Amiable Life Lessons


1. Kitties Invasion!
primary goal - clutter / cuteness
Why is the girl in this avatar stone cold? A cat's core body temperature is roughly 101 degrees, you would be sweltering underneath that fortress of feline. Sweat, or reddened skin would have made for a more accurate portrayal of the theme. The way the two cocos are awkwardly fusing together on top must be producing some chemical energy, at that.

Regardless of your theme, live it, breath it, don't let anything, any short sight, any slight of hand, detract from it. It doesn't matter how easily approachable it is if you take the extra step to make it accurate.

And in this avatar design, it was not. And for such a mundane theme, this is crippling.

Verdict 2/10.
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2. Zhen's Animal Adoption
primary goal - Zoology I guess

Pander to the lowest common denominator. Rude remark. Punch line. Lulz.

I may dislike this avatar construct, and find it beyond help,
but I won't let it put a damper on my day.

I don't need to tear avatar this apart,
in order to be at peace with the world.

Verdict: 1/10.
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3. Bad cop/good cop?
primary goal - Minute Accents

Minute accents: learn it, love it. Its one of the few innovative features remaining in the matching genre. This one is especially innovative in its accents, as they items uses are not conventionally slits of color, but simply appear to be, peaking out from underneath the layering.

The pink heartstring, however, is a bit of a stake in the, well, heart. It is far too large to suit the needs of the pink accents, which are easily the most minute of the avatar. Further, the boots lack in black/white contrast, compared to the rest of the avatar. And many old and tired matching practices can be spotted, all through out the avatar: hair clips on hats, an awkward shirt pin, etc. etc.

But over all, a fair representation of the only thing matching has going for it these days.

Verdict: 7/10.
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4. The Nuded Mexican
primary goal - Non-fiction

As much as dubious disclaimer is dubious, we have to wonder: is this an accurate representation of the story we've been told? If he was in a scrap, why are there no signs of injury, abrasion, dirt, sweat - anything? If he ran into the woods, wouldn't the first stage of fortiblahblah been perfect for the avatar?

As lovely as a good bit of inspiration may be, it is quite a shame when it that inspiration goes so underexecuted.

Verdict: 2/10.
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5. A Time for Tea and Civility
primary goal - Layers, tea, and civility

Little things about this avatar construction feel under executed. The spot of skin in the chest suggests a shirt wasn't considered. The blank, dull, white leggings suggest the pants options weren't exhausted (I personally would have utilized an egyptian wrap).

For an avatar that relies on its layering qualities, far too many things suggest there wasn't a meticulous attention to detail. From that we may, regrettably infer, that the layering of the seracila skirt and resort cloak was just a lucky break.

Exhaust your options. It doesn't matter if don't switch out, or add anything in the end. Consider all your layers for that perfect addition, and you'll find your avatars shining just a little bit more.


Verdict: 5/10
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6. Comic Book Heroine
primary goal - Match-a-theme

This avatar construction exhibits matching, layerings, and theme in their most juvenile form.

The layers are heavy, but this doesn't accomplish anything. It doesn't skew the lines of color so that the densities of each are perfectly replicated throughout the avatar. It doesn't produce an interesting cohesion of items to create a single, unified garment. The head layering is particularly awkward, looking little more than a bulbous mass of color, indistinct in shape and character.

The avatar as a whole is so utterly passionless. The theme collapses the moment you remove the cape from play. But if you keep the cape, it just plain looks ridiculous.

Its a crying shame that the avatar world is arrested by the lowest common denominator of matching. This worship of overplayed color schemes, layering for the sake of layering, and tacked on themes will rend avatar makers of their potential for time immemorial.

Verdict: 4/10
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7. Music of the Spheres
primary goal - Music; genre: Spheres

I wanted to say something novel and interesting, but moon boats were the original reason I took my twenty week hiatus from the critiquing circuit.

I've got nothin'.

Verdict: n/10
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8. Mediterranean Musician
primary goal - Music; genre: Cultural

Taking well worn themes and then executing theme in the flavor of a unique and underplayed culture has produced some of my favorite avatars of all time.

This avatar has its downfalls, yes. I'm surely not the first to be jarred by the scathing whiteness of her headband, against her warm color palette. Her eyes look like fuzzy black catapillars and her blush seems odd and distracting.

But the progress, the step off the well-worned path is an amicable undertaking, and a testament that there is far more to be achieved beyond these crippling comfort zones the avatar world refuses to forgo.


Verdict: 7/10.
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9. Sailor Riyo
primary goal - Theme-a-match

I mean, you've all heard my diatribes on overdone color schemes. But this color scheme is particularly jarring. How on Earth did it become so revered? Angelic blue and black look terrible together. As overdone as black and red (or black and gold; or black, red and gold) are, you can make them look good. Angelic blue and black are a recipe for disaster.

And I wish that little ramble was to say, its a good avatar design held back by its bad color scheme. Its just any old, boring avatar design. The gold accents are haphazard, they have no sense of binding force - just forcibly shoved into each specific area, like placeholders. And the black is cripplingly heavy on the bottom. The angelic blues are off shade from one another, ranging from near white in the middle, pronouncedly aqua on the top, to muted, chalky blue near the bottom.

Granted, there's something about the color of the hair, that specific yellow, that suggests this could be reworked. If the golds/yellows could be matched to that color standard, and either the angelic blue, or the black was removed (completely), you could have yourself a very satisfying color scheme, which could be the corner stone of a great avatar.


Verdict: 2/10.
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10. Captain Morganna Dragonne
primary goal - Munnies

I think the indistinct sense of motion in this avatar's construction is what I dislike the most. The hair follows a complicated sinew of motion, then the goes cape that way, the sam brown another, while the feather cap feels as stiff as a board. The character in this avatar seems pretty stoic about what appears to be the pre-cursor of a hurricane.

This awkward sense of motion makes the peripheals of the avatar excruciately ugly, which is a shame, because the core of the avatar is passingly interesting, kind of sort of layered nicely. Worry not, though, as if you had cleaned up the perimeter of the avatar, you can rest assured its qualities would still axed the lazy, easy fix usage of dainty feet.


Verdict: 3/10.