The Jellyfish and the Shark

First critique, so I'm gonna give this as good a shot as possible.

Here we have two very contrasting characters. On our left is Nielsen, who has a shark motif, and on our right is Lily, who has a jellyfish motif.

Nielsen inhabits gloomier waters than Lily, and is clearly confined into some sort of regime by the looks of his clothing. His eyes are dull and gray and his entire expression is downcast. His hat and uniform are of dark colors, and given the size of the hat he is perhaps meant to be an imposing figure. But he's not his clothing, and given the longing look as he views the jellyfish in his hands, it may not be a life he had chosen for himself.

In stark contrast is Lilly, living in a bright and happy environment. Her dress gives off an impression of bubbly-ness and it just gives me a generally positive feeling. She gazes outward, either longing like Nielsen or daydreaming. She has a placated and hopeful expression about her, perhaps seeing the world in a different light than Nielsen.

This may explain the differences in the backgrounds. Nielsen's space is dark, and crowded with bubbles. He is clearly not oblivious to his surroundings as his eyes seem to creep towards the bubbles and away from Lily, and he may perhaps be choosing to ignore them or trying to ignore them so he can concentrate on the jellyfish, Lily.

While in contrast we have Lily who is surrounded by nothing but bright, white space. She is looking out into the world and seeing nothing that crowds her space or puts her down, she's flowing and happy about it. Her eyes don't seem to be focused on the shark, Nielsen at all. Nielsen is in fact, clinging on to her and she does not seem to be moved or excited by this effort.

The relationships between these two intrigue me. Nielsen must truly have feelings for Lily, and given his uniform (and an assumed job on my part as some sort of guard) these feelings of love are mixed in with his need to protect her. Lily on the other hand must not realize the deeds Niel does for her, or perhaps she is but cannot fully comprehend them and love him for doing so. It feels like Niel will never truly be happy in the end, his mind will always have to be on the things Lily must be protected on, and Lilly will always be oblivious to it due to her innocent demeanor.

Perhaps Niel thinks that by exposing her to what he does could destroy her innocence, changing her from the happy person he longs for, into a person too much like himself.

Kinda sad really.

Anywho, I like the overall concept of the piece, and the designs are quite original. A well crafted and colored piece and a fine example of Kuriru's technique as an artist and specifically a colorist.

The impact is strong, probably one of her stronger pieces. It says a lot without showing a lot, and you really need to look into it to see all that is going on. It's a great little shot of two very different people who are involved in each others lives for better or for worse.