The New Warrior Cats Cover is BAD… | Art Critique

[@kingcrow]

by the way. i wish i could have addressed more about the designs *themselves* but as i was making this video hurricane helene hit. i live in western NC and my town and loved ones are devastated. if you want to support me, please share this video and the accompanying shorts. they are fully monetized and the money is needed desperately to help myself and others. thank you. some edits since this made it to twitter: - im a professional. i am on the production team for a comic releasing next year. i work in the industry and also have formal art education. - for the love of god please actually listen to the video and not the comments. i said multiple times the symmetry tool itself isnt a problem. using it for a book cover for the ENTIRE figure is. it wasnt a stylistic choice, it was clearly a choice made in a rush. - people are ?? criticizing my nitpickiness on a CRITIQUE VIDEO. IT IS A CRITIQUE. its meant to be pointing out technical issues. that is the point. - the flamepoint issue: i actually checked the wiki and it did say flamepoint at one point, sorry for that misinfo! - again, listen to the video. i have no ill will or hate towards the artist. this is an issue showing the laziness and dip in quality of the series. the artist being a fan does not matter to me, they are still an industry level artist and are subject to fan criticism.

[@deweyr_fisher]

stay safe, sending prayers from central nc

[@inferno_ink_studios]

That really sucks I hope things get better soon where I live it getting so mushy rain from it

[@ana.wordswordswords]

im so sorry. i wish you nothing but the best as someone from georgia. i hope everything works out for yall

[@CottenVee]

I live in Indiana. We weren't affected that much, but we had power out for one night and didn't have power until 1:00 pm the next day.

[@5UMM1T]

aww, i heard about how all the roads got closed there and how destroyed everything is. i hope you stay safe from someone in central nc!

[@riot_drrgon]

The Erin hunters have a HUGE missed opportunity with hiring fans to create official art. I’m sure many artists in the fandom would be ready and willing to create a more cohesive cover for free.

[@Griftyfox]

While it would be awesome, it should NOT be done for free. Ever. Artists deserve to be paid, ESPECIALLY if they’re people who have been supporting the series/fandom.

[@jettash0720]

The graphic novels for the main series are being done by someone who once read the books, the person they're working on it with however hasn't iirc

[@ashfurlover]

This is a fan iirc

[@oliviapope4080]

@@riot_drrgon this is a fan

[@theoneandonlyspider]

⁠@@jettash0720sorry, what does ‘iirc’ mean?

[@jenniferdaly6819]

I feel like the biggest problem is that the cat designs themselves look too plain and flat. They don’t have any distinguishing characteristics that makes them feel different from any other tiger stripe cat or Siamese cat. Tigerstar has amber eyes like described in the series, but is a short hair instead of a long hair cat. Another issue with Tigerstar is that he is missing any form of scarring on his body, most notably his iconic nose scar that helps him stand out from other cats in the series. Sasha looks mostly okay, but I would have made her fur look a bit more messy considering she is inexperienced in the wild unlike Tigerstar. They are lacking true expression in their faces as well, and their designs do not match the ones given to them in the original graphic novel series. Edit: Quite a few people in the comments section pointed out that Tigerstar’s design here looks a lot like his mini figure sold on the Warrior’s website, so the artist may not 100% be at fault for the final design. If that is the case, it stinks they were not allowed to use any other reference images of Tigerstar from the guide books or ironically the graphic novels and were potentially held back creatively.

[@Vortexthenightraptor]

It’s an issue with the original artist, not the recolor though

[@jenniferdaly6819]

@@Vortexthenightraptor The recolored comic itself is definitely fine. The cover is definitely the issue here. It feels to me more like a first draft versus a final draft.

[@ClowncarSupreme]

I interpreted tigerstar as a longhaired cat?? Hes obviously fluffier than sasha, i dont get that critique.

[@jenniferdaly6819]

@@ClowncarSupreme While there are hints of Tigerstar being a longer haired cat in the cover, it’s very subtle at best and really only can be seen on the white parts of his body. Tigerstar is supposed to be modeled after a Maine Coon cat, which are very fluffy throughout their entire body, especially in their ring-striped tails. I feel to pull off the look better, Tigerstar should have more obvious clumps of long hair added onto his whole body, not just the white parts of his body, with an extra fluffy tail. I would also some scarring onto him, since he is a battle hungry cat, especially on his face and back.

[@thistlethefox_13]

The perfectly symmetrical Tigerstar staring at the viewer next to the off-looking flat Sasha just looks so tacky.

[@UltimateCookieQueen]

Yeah, they don't even look like they were made by the same artist. I'm not sure how you screw up that bad especially with shading if its one person drawing both.

[@Raccoonboi634]

Fr

[@sillyguy94]

I like the Sasha, it looks reminiscent of lionking. Majn issue is her eyes. Tigerclaw is very odd though

[@A_Rainworld_Fan.]

These looked traced😭 i really dislike how the cats look like completely different styles, which makes me feel weird.

[@lohialli4205]

Yes, especially if you look their eyes. I thought this is AI at the first.

[@WAVEPOOLSUN]

I love rain world too

[@Neptunedosestuff]

3:28 he’s so evil he doesn’t even have shadows…. What a shame

[@TANGL3_BURR]

There is a reason why ShadowClan is called ShadowClan, after all.

[@bugg_bones]

Sasha's colours (technically not breed, a breed with point colouration typically would be Siamese) are literally soooooo weird here I don't understand. Point colouration is so iconic and easy to draw why does she have a white/cream muzzle !!!! Why is everything so inconsistent I don't get it.... Warriors hire me instead /j unless

[@oakylavenderstudios7399]

while I admit it's really really strange in all of her canon depictions Sasha only has a dark tail and dark ears. This coloration while strange to real life cat patterns, is canon accurate.

[@magicalfox6945]

Well canonicly she is tawny with darker ears and a tail

[@sorrelfox]

I’ve always thought she was either a mostly red sandy/lemon tortie with very little in the way of visible eumelanin patches or a dilute + dense chimera tortie that’s cream and chocolate. This depiction makes me think the former. Either way, she isn’t pointed and consistently hasn’t been…which I agree shouldn’t be the case, chocolate or seal point would make way more sense

[@Lilacskiewcue]

Sasha is just a brown cat. Everyone just pretends she is a color point. If you look at ANY canon art of Sasha, she has ZERO color point markings.

[@blobbertmcblob4888]

It looks more like someone tried to draw a lioness, not a cat.

[@lilaniloxi]

Oh hell nah Tigerstar looks traced and both of them look like stock cat images 😭

[@starstorm1267]

Eh, there are some things I disagree with here. For one thing, the “fur not being fluffy enough” is a completely an artistic style choice. When I saw Sasha, she just reminded me of Nala from the Lion King. You don’t need to draw fluff on every cat, sometimes a smoother appearance for a short hair looks better. The next point is “Sasha is a flame-point” which is…not official to my knowledge. Believe it or not, the design Sasha has on the cover is how she is depicted in the official manga. Remember, fanon designs are *not* canon. And for the symmetry tool, I’m not a professional artist so I don’t have much to say on that. But I didn’t really find these facial positions or posture to be that off-looking? Maybe it’s because I’m not an official artist, but I’m sure the majority of people who read this book are not either. So I don’t think it’s too much of a problem, but take it as you will. From what I’ve seen in the comments, this cover was made by a fan. And while I don’t think that should make them immune to critique or criticism, I do think you’re being a bit nitpicky here. Which is unfair to the fan who made this cover.

[@darksoals]

I wouldn’t look too deeply into the professional artist comment. There’s many ways to be professional and none of them mean you know what you’re doing in all aspects. For example does she mean she was professionally trained in a university with a diploma? Does she mean she’s been in the field for 50 years so she just knows her stuff? Does she mean she’s reached the point where she is used by major corporations for their imaging? Or does she just mean she draws a lot. Because lots of people think they can call themselves professional just because they do something a lot and that’s not how that works. A lot of the examples shown were adopts or oc references which isn’t a great sign. But of course that’s speculative. But being a freelance online commissioner doesn’t make you a professional.

[@delicate1917]

The symmetry tool is not the problem at ALL to me (I think it's actually perfect for book covers) but the off center cats with only one with symmetry tool, OFF CENTER looks horrifying composition wise. Oh my goodness. The amount of detail being different makes them look like they were drawn by completely different artists too! I also think the lack of fluff isn't a problem in itself either (many short haired cats have neat fur that has no texture to be drawn, they're just shiny! Like siamese cats, in fact) but nothing in the piece adds to the smoothness (like coloring and shaping her to match the smooth fur idea!!) Idk it's not a bad piece whatsoever I rlly like the background colors and ivy leaves specially but for a publisher's work in a fandom known for incredibly talented artists? It could be way better

[@JulianOliver]

Exactly my thoughts on this as well! thank you for pointing these out!

[@magicalfox6945]

Why is tigerstar staring into my soul- He looks so odd and unfinished probably due to the symmetry and shading. Also (as you said) The text isn't centered and it's driving my crazy and i cannot unsee it

[@nikirol4051]

The text on the bottom is almost touching the edge, it's unreal

[@EIiM0nz]

The tangent on tigerstar’s tail is killing me

[@bean6803]

I think my issue with this video is summed up by this excerpt in this description: “They are talented, but I do think this cover is unprofessional, and as it is a public work, it is subject to criticism” You are right that, as a piece of work that is being sold, it is subject to criticism. However, this is a drawing made by a *fan* and not someone who draws animals for a living. I looked up their work and they primarily draw people, meaning that this was already outside of their realm of specialty-but Harper Collins had her do the cover anyways, because people have been asking them to hire fans, and she happens to be a cover artist that also did some illustrations for The Rise of Scourge as a colorist already. Heck, I looked through their portfolio and a lot of it is primarily realism, too, and not the more cartoony style of this cover. Funnily enough, they ALSO posted a sketch where Sasha was a flamepoint, Tigerstar had his scar, and both of them were much more proportional. But HC asked her to remove them-showing that you clearly did not do enough research on the subject since you are blaming the artist for decisions made by Harper Collins. That with the sensationalizing thumbnail with the words “BAD ART” plastered across it gives the completely opposite impression to the one you are trying to create. I do not mean to bring age or experience into this, but you are eighteen years old and your professional experience seems to be as a freelancer-which is to say, you are most likely not aware of corporate standards and the process of making a book cover for a company. That’s not to say you’re inexperienced or “too young” but that you, again, probably should have done more research before making this. Lots of creative decisions for the cover were probably hindered by the fact that at the end of the day, the company has to sign off on it. It looks like to me, as an outside observer, that the artist was probably told to draw LESS realistically than they normally did, and the final cat designs ultimately had to stick to what the company wanted for them. They didn’t even put the cover in their portfolio because it doesn’t match the rest of their work. You’re within your right to critique the piece for what it is, but I think slamming the artist for the artwork being “unprofessional” for a bunch of decisions that seem to be corporate meddling is disappointing. For what it’s worth, I think Dani did a good job with what she was given, and you could have critiqued the cover without saying some of the things you did about it (because you DO have some valid points about the artwork in this video). I think you should honestly just have waited until after the hurricane to do more research and give this more time to bake. I hope you stay safe.

[@bean6803]

I also want to follow this up by saying I do believe that you were not necessarily trying to attack the artist-I saw your community post defending her from accusations of the cover being AI, which I think is admirable. I really do just think you should have put more consideration into this before posting it, and you really should have toned down the thumbnail.

[@snmenji]

this is a great response that politely and respectfully addresses the points made in this video. all considered, i have to say i agree more with this reply than the original video, with no ill will to the creator

[@okamiaizawa5652]

Omg finally someone who did the damn research and understands that certain things that were said in the video was wrong. I completely agree with this because after I watched this video I did some research on the artist and found the same things. I think it’s wrong for the title and rude that it’s named “bad art” bc throughout the video they say “no ill intent” yet kinda continues to shame the artist anyway and the comment section is just rude as hell

[@lilplaguedoc6682]

Beautifully said, and I think the one of the only comments here that isn't inherently shaming the artist etc. I couldn't handle watching the whole video, tho to me it seemed much more like someone being shamed because someone else did not like the art style that they were paid to do.

[@snowy2747]

You took the words out of my mouth. It’s fine if they want to critique but the art industry can be extremely unaccommodating to artists. The artist likely got poor instructions/not enough time.

[@katumai9883]

I'm not really sure where you got the idea that Sasha is a flame point since shes never been described or depicted that way 😭 (in all of her manga art shes a brown-ish color and her in book descriptions call her 'tawny') and something interesting about Tigerstar is even though fandom depictions shows him as a big fluffy cat, hes never actually been described or shown that way as far as I'm aware (although I do think in this art he's supposed to be fluffy which, like you said, isn't shown very well) Otherwise I mostly agree, I don't even personally think it looks BAD, just not the kind of thing you would expect to see from an official cover

[@nectarinn3]

It's admittedly a common trend in fan depictions of Sasha, that's probably why

[@weallstilldie]

@@nectarinn3still not a good critique, then, since canon should lead towards prior canon depictions, not fanon ones. so uhh, no, there’s nothing wrong with sasha being a brown point. obviously the canon series won’t prioritize fanmade coloration over already well-used and consistent coloring the themselves books have always used.

[@katumai9883]

@@nectarinn3 Really?? Huh, I've never seen that before, maybe im just in the wrong circles lol

[@NightTheKittenn]

It’s been a trend in the past few years to design the characters absolutely NOTHING like their canon descriptions for… some reason. Not sure where it started and why it’s still happening, but it is a thing. A solid chunk of cats get color-point-ified or turned into tortishells. I saw a brown and white hollyleaf the other day.

[@fanglethefaux8566]

@@nectarinn3 then why is the poster acting like its canon? if theyre going to judge a designs correctness then they should go by canon

[@RobotCupcakee]

I’m not trying to be mean to the artist, but I miss James.L.Barry’s stuff -^-

[@SuspiciouslyCatShapedPotato]

Kinda funny that most of these problems are stuff that my cat drawings from 8th grade didn't have. Like c'mon, I would have erased the other eye on Sasha so fast bc ✨perfectionism✨and even I knew that short hair cats have some fluff. Also like 2 different art styles right next to each other? Tigerstar looks flat and static, like the warriors cover art I remember on the books I read, while Sasha has more realistic anatomy (Ignoring the eye and tail💀) and her pose has more motion and depth to it.

[@LittleLion420]

Who

[@LittleLion420]

Asked

[@peppercrumble]

@@LittleLion420 I asked

[@SuspiciouslyCatShapedPotato]

@@LittleLion420 Apparently 22 people asked. (going off of likes)

[@shan1a_t]

frl 😭😭 im in 8th grade and even I could do better

[@Vitzxx]

Actually, the tigerstar must actually be Erin's fault! He look like exacly like his official mini figure in everything. The artist was ASKED to do that. Pretty weird that it seems like i was the first one to notice

[@kingcrow]

oh this is interesting!

[@jenniferdaly6819]

@@Vitzxx That actually is a really good point! If this is the case, the commissioned artist could have been forced to design Tigerstar in a more limited way, and was not allowed to reference any of the past artwork of the character from many of the guide books or graphic novels that could have spiced up the final design for the cover. I still don’t know why Tigerstar’s nose scar was not included though, considering the mini figure does have that feature. (At least I think so from what I’ve seen.)

[@EIiM0nz]

Personally I can excuse the lack of tufts on tigerstar, you can still achieve a big,intimidating look without it.

[@Hallowssss]

Ofc, fans complaining after every new cover and art. Nothing new there. Let’s stop talking a load of bullshit and appreciate we are getting this at all. Like these are the smallest things that we don’t need to care about? I feel so bad for this artist as their work is getting shit talked. Imagine having ur art called “unprofessional” and “disappointing”.

[@Okay-AJ]

Not gonna lie this cover looks like one of those children colouring books where they make the lines look so obvious so kids can colour the characters and the background. As well as the soulless artwork itself 💀

[@Ava93x]

I feel like the "fur is not fluffy enough" thing is an unecessary point ngl

[@fanglethefaux8566]

legit, gotta be the stupidest point ive ever heard in all my years of being a warrior cats fan

[@duckiidex]

idk if im dumb but im pretty sure sasha and tigerstars tails are both copy pasted... they look the exact same.. i dont like this cover either, the background looks like they just used a asset tool and called it a day :(

[@duckiidex]

also i can excuse sasha being the wrong colors simply because from what i know those are popular colors to use for her in fan animations

[@-Thunderstorm-]

These comments are so sad, finally a fan gets to make a cover and everyone talks shit and makes fun of them, i hope this is the last time the erins get fans to work on the books since nobody deserves it, im happy i usually stay away from the artists in this community and just stick to yt, you guys dont even remember the canon version of these cats and yet still criticise them.

[@DominiqueRamseyArt]

Aside from the text placement and lack of shading, this is more so textbook art school critique. I do not know if the inside of the GN is by the new comic artist or the previous one, but something that iv'e learned in client work is creative liberties can be taken and it still work. I see artists all the time who do not have any technical skills getting repeated client work. I do wish that space on the left was filled with more ferns, because a composition does not always have to be centered for it to work but the negative space has to tell a story too

[@jerboarat]

Yall r so obsessed w fanon designs that you forget these are their actual canon designs 😭😭

[@Pineleap]

Exactly, sasha was NEVER a flame point, dont even know where they got that from

[@oryxarisu]

because fanon designs are better and i’d personally like to imagine them look like that 😭 this manga is just rlly old and the new cover makes it look like it’s for little kids to read …. i’d be embarrassed to read this in public. We want something better, these designs r choppy and weird, but ofc the erin’s won’t listen

[@jerboarat]

⁠@@oryxarisuI absolutely agree with you but it’s not a valid criticism to say the designs are bad. The artist had no say over these designs, they even tried to make Sasha more canon but it was rejected.

[@TRU..]

@@oryxarisuIt’s the Erin’s designs, not anyone else’s. They can design /their/ characters as they please.

[@oryxarisu]

@@TRU.. i know. Like i said, the designs are old and erin’s wont listen. It’s not the artists fault, the artist is pretty talented but the erin’s did not want them to draw in their own art style…

[@sunndunes]

omg yall dont like anything

[@Kttyclippp]

That's not tigerstar that's stripedbigcatplasmaball

[@VictorMakezVideoz]

I do agree that the cover looks bad, but I disagree that using the symmetry told is 'lazy or unprofessional' it helps keep the art looking consistent for doing something front viewed. There is nothing wrong with the symmetry tool. Yes this artist used it poorly but there is nothing inherently bad with using the symmetry tool.

[@kingcrow]

i said all of this in the video on purpose. i have no issue with people using a symmetry tool and i said that. i just think that using it for a *book cover* is a little much.

[@VictorMakezVideoz]

@@kingcrow Well you specifically said that it was unprofessional and that's what I disagreed with

[@puppiekit]

@@kingcrow I do not understand why you would not want a symmetrical face on a book cover. If I saw a non-symmetrical front viewing face on a book cover that would be a BAD impression to me

[@FireflyOnyx]

This whole thing about the symmetry tool being unprofessional comes out of the art community online. In the art industry, if your art application gives you a tool you can effectively uses as a shortcut with better results, you are encouraged to use it. For example, the circle tool or the perspective tool. It would be unprofessional not to use the symmetry tool here.

[@F0XCORE]

It really doesn't look that bad in comparison to how ugly the manga was tbh. In my opinion, from multiple references of real life cats, Sashas positioning does seem correct since she's approaching from the side, they simply desided to use a stylistic choice in making her slim-furred. There are no official breeds ever stated, to my knowledge, in the Warrior's universe. Just simply their markings. And even then, Warriors is all about creativity, which is especially shown in multiple cover works where there may be lack of markings or addition of markings and colors not otherwise stated in the allegiance. If you were more focused on going on original artwork, then Tigerstar would just be a tan cat with brown stripes. I also must say that I have never heard of being unprofessional for using the tools that a medium has given you. I even use it myself, and offer Symmetrical Icons as a commission option, which people are happy to buy. You make a few valid points, but I don't agree that it's as bad or "unprofessional" as you make it seem in your critique.

[@cangergaming8716]

Wow! You seem intelligent and know a lot about art!

[@noytc]

Bro I'm gonna be real with you, this is so disrespectful and incredibly nitpicky. Sasha NEVER had point coloration, and has only ever been described with a dark tail and ears (also flame point is a fur pattern/color not a breed)- also the fur thing, like, is literally such a nothing burger. This just feels so mean-spirited and for what, saying Tigerclaw looks like a "messed up cat". I'm not sure if you intended this, but this whole video just feels like trash-talking for the sake of trash-talking.

[@satsumasaga]

Agreed. The cover looks respectful to Don Hudson's original work while still having an updated look. Whatever someone thinks about Don Hudson's old work, he's not the one doing the coloring and we don't really know what goes behind this process. The designs in this full-color version are going look pretty much like how they were in the original manga, that's what they recently did for the Rise of Scourge one and I haven't seen anyone complain about that book's art. Sasha isn't confirmed to be any cat breed nor has she been described as a color point, that's just a fanon thing. She's always had a surprisingly consistent look in the official art. ETA: Danielle Weires, the colorist, shared some concept art on her Twitter where Sasha had a more realistic colorpoint look and Tigerstar was drawn as a long-haired cat ("hello new warriors friends, here are some tigerstar and sasha sketches I did a while back when finding out i was also going to be doing the cover."). I assume the publishers didn't want the designs to look too different from the actual comic designs.

[@duckiidex]

If im honest, no its really not, yes some things may be personal dislike, but for a cover for warriors and from what know about the art in the book its NOT good and low quality. The cover itself has so many obvious errors that couldve been easily fixed. The background looks bland and made of asset brushes (which done right can look good, this does not) the fact that sasha is shaded but tiger has none at all is probably one of the most obious easily fixed errors along eith everything being of center. Theres so many errors and while ik sure the artist didnt mean to make any errors and no ill will towards them; its not the quality youd expect for something like warriors

[@cooldude1907]

also worth mentioning the artist that created the cover said on their twitter that they tried to make her a color point, but they weren't allowed to

[@Explosionsboomboom]

Strong agree! Yeah the cover isn't perfect and I think Tigerstar could have been done better(really though, I think what would fix the uncanny feeling would just to be to redraw the head without the symmetry tool), but I think Sasha looks cute. I don't know, I don't really like the idea of nitpicking someone's art, no matter the reason. I think the cover is fine

[@Pineleap]

EXACTLY

[@trash752]

while i don't want to make it sound like you're not allowed to have opinions on things, some of these points were just... not relevant. it felt more mean-spirited than anything. i thought we were past the era of acting like people using built-in-program tools for their art makes them bad at art. what kind of complaint is that the symmetry tool was used? im not going to blame you for the comments in this comment section since it's not your responsibility what other people say, but the amount of people calling it ai-generated is. gross, i think.

[@inukoinu.k9]

still better than the original release /hj i mean, have you seen how high Tigerdude looks in most of the pages lmao

[@Vortexthenightraptor]

Tigerdude lmao

[@albytross8681]

Yeah, I don’t really like any of the OG warriors comic art besides Scourge’s but I think Sasha’s and skyclans had some of the worst lol

[@Senswii]

i have not heard anywhere that using the symmetry tool is unprofessional in the art industry, in fact its actually encouraged to use tools like that for things like reference sheets and clip art and can cut time to focus on other things. i would even say a lot of webcomic artists would use this to save time on drawing panels while i get that what you might be trying to say is that the piece looks uneven with the front face looking a little different stylized compared to sasha's face this point doesn't really stand on its own at all with your reasoning edit: this isn't even going into how weak the points further in the video are and your accusations on the artist and assumptions about how cat designs should work are the only thing letting this video have any substance, both of which can be easily disproved based on sega's comment

[@SaturnSkyez]

damn you got warrior cat veteran/professional artists and animators telling you that your critique is wrong.... You've also mismanaged this video to allow those to shit on the artist, acting as though they are not a fan of the series. hope you can use their words to improve on this if you want to continue doing critiques like this, and honestly I'd recommend a follow up/replacement video considering just how much was said in this video out of carelessness/lack of information

[@oliviapope4080]

this video is so unnecessary. the artist is a fan, like we wanted. did you not think about how the artist would feel if they saw this? this community is already filled with so much negativity and you’re contributing to it.

[@mckaylamutnansky7176]

Technically, from researching her colors, her colors are right apparently by the books standards - and it was supposed to be a color point cat (most likely a siamese). To be honest, the real thing that bugs me is her face - almost all color points have like a mask in a way or at least have some coloration on the nose. I also fully agree, this cover is horrible, they really could have done better.

[@wingedfool8392]

as someone who didnt even know the Sasha and Tigerclaw manga got a new cover I fully support this video

[@abcdefg163AJ]

They forgot to make him fluffy and just made him buff instead 😭

[@Pineleap]

Your points about tigerstar were somewhat valid but as for sasha, the only argument on sashas look that made sense was about her eyes

[@Pineleap]

Like i agree the art is definitely rushed or was made to be drawn in ways that werent suitable, but there are better arguments for that rather than “oh her paw looks weird” (despite the fact it is pretty accurate to a real cat paw) and telling them their sasha design is wrong (when if anything your proposed design for sasha is just absolutely wrong?!)

[@Pineleap]

And the point about the tail? Jesus have you not learned perspective

[@Pineleap]

AND JESUS CHRIST STOP YAPPING ABOUT BREEDS AND COAT COLORS, TIGERSTAR IS NOT A MAINECOON AND SASHA IS NOT A FLAME POINT. IM GOING TO RIP MY SKIN OFF 😭😭😭😭

[@jerboarat]

I think the eyes look rather cute. Warriors isn’t known for having proper anatomy anyways

[@LittleLion420]

I dont know, Sasha on the new cover doesn’t bother me but something about tigerstars design pisses me off

[@justmonika9542]

“Professional Artist Reviews” Right…

[@fanglethefaux8566]

frfr 😭😭

[@transdimensionalantics8526]

She never claimed to be a professional art reviewer 😂

[@ashfurlover]

This is so insane considering a fan made this cover, just like everyone asked for! It’s an art style and you don’t have to like it but making a whole video making fun of someone’s art style is insane

[@wilczus222]

Just because a fan made it does not mean it's exempt from criticism. Especially when styles on the cats are so different it looks like a Collab!

[@-Thunderstorm-]

​​@@wilczus222yet most criticism is invalid since most is just "How I would do this" instead of helpfull stuff. like most of the criticism is just the symmetry tool or Sasha not being a flame point dispite never being one or tigerstar not being "fluffy enough".

[@LittleBarracuda]

Lol "its not bad anatomy its just my style" vibes from this comment

[@wilczus222]

@@-Thunderstorm- That's not most of the criticism. That's 20% tops. The rest is actually useful.

[@-Thunderstorm-]

@@wilczus222 none of the criticism is useful since the decision wasn't made by the artist it was made by the Erin's.

[@WyvernsFlame]

Why is his tail so not fluffy😰😰😰😰💀💀

[@NightTheKittenn]

They honestly look like two clip arts of cats pasted next to each other its wild. I actually don’t mind the repeated leaves like at all, but Tigerstar not having shading and things being off center is very… well. Warriors is a MASSIVE franchise, there’s genuinely no excuse for this kind of thing. They can spare expenses to make a nice looking cover. So many artists in the fandom would have leaped at the chance to make one.

[@Spleenchomper]

If youre a professional artist, why are you making fun of other peoples, less experienced, art? Just because someone cant draw extremely detailed realistic cats and make sasha a beautiful amazing color point siamese doesn't make them a bad artist? Also this is made by a fan I'm pretty sure, so youre just hating on some random person minding their own business, and no it doesn't look traced or ai generated, you're just trying to get more reasons to hate on it even more. I feel like everything warrior cats does this trashy fandom always gets upset about it and has to complain

[@kailathefox]

Maybe because this is a book cover that's being approved and sold while looking like shit? Like, lmfao. I could have done better at 14, this is honestly disgraceful to the series that they'd do this. They're not a horrible artist, but they sure as fuck are not book cover worthy. Not to mention the lack of canon detail. My question is why are you so mad people have opinions? People are allowed to like and not like whatever they want, that doesn't make it hate to the person that did this, they just hate what was put out. That's not a bad thing, so why are you upset?

[@Spleenchomper]

@@kailathefox it feels like fandoms are always upset when the creators don't pay attention to the fans but when they finally do, and in this case, getting a fan to do it, everyone is upset and calling them absolute dogshit artists even though it's what they all wanted, also how is it lacking canon detail?? Tigerstar is a brown tabby, and sasha is just a pale cat with brown ears, if you're gonna say it's because they missed the face markings siamese have or whatever sasha was never described to have that I'm 99% sure and also the artist drew them like that anyways to stay true to the original manga, and this opinion is just mean? It's just being extremely mean and hateful, am I bad for trying to defend innocent people who don't deserve being attacked like this??? Sure the cover doesn't look amazing but it's still good, if someone was hating on the original artist who made all the old covers for the books everyone including you would probably be upset at them, so why does hating on this person get a pass? Also good job supporting younger/inexperienced artists, they must feel extremely happy, I mean god forbid someone have an art style that isn't super realistic cats or moonkitti

[@bean6803]

@@kailathefox To be blunt, one look at your deviantart shows that you definitely would not have been able to do better at 14, let alone 18. You probably also shouldn’t link your tumblr to your channel when one of the first posts scrolling down is a stonetoss comic. People are allowed to have their own opinion and I fully believe that king crow meant no harm, but I found many of their critiques to be lackluster because a lot of their complaints come down to creative decisions made by Harper Collins. One thing I disagree with the OP of this thread on-the artist is not inexperienced, but the style of this cover was outside of their usual wheelhouse. The artist for this particular cover has a portfolio of mostly human artwork and realistic animals, and they do make STUNNING cover artwork for books-but not cats. HC chose to hire them anyways because they were a fan of the series and had previously done colorist work for them. They also posted sketches of their initial, rejected design concepts to Twitter that were much less toony and looked closer to what king crow wanted for their designs. Many of the things mentioned in this video also came down to broad generalizations, like the notion that using the symmetry tool or copypaste/brushes is inherently unprofessional. That with the thumbnail and the framing of this as “bad art” and “unprofessional” does make it look like an attack on the artist, unintended or not. I don’t think crow had any malicious intent when making this, I just think they probably should have done a lot more research and given it some time before posting the video, seeing from the runtime and the pinned comment that it was very hastily done. As you said, people are allowed to have opinions. The OP of this thread is of the opinion that this video wasn’t great. Why are *you* mad about that to the point that you will aggressively defend an opinion that is not your own?

[@kailathefox]

@@bean6803 holy fuck I am not reading all of that I work 84 hours a week lmfao

[@kailathefox]

@@Spleenchomper "being mean and hateful" I don't hate the artist at all, I just don't like their art. End of. Sue me and everyone else who doesn't like it. I'm not harassing the artist, nor do I care that much, I work 84 hours a week. Cry harder dude write another novel about how hurt you are for the artist IG.

[@Lamb2th]

I’m also a “professional artist,” and no real friend of the medium would put other artists down for something as trite as using tools. Lighting can be better, sure. Don’t like the eyes? Fair. But is it any question to you why people don’t chime in with their own works when the fandom talks about the artists like this? You’re complaining about the LEAVES? Be lucky someone even cared to keep the love in this series after this repeated behavior. It’s okay to not like it. It’s okay to want something different. But they’re the ones actually doing it, please volunteer if you think it needs change.

[@okamiaizawa5652]

Not tryna start drama or anything. Take it how you want it. There’s a lot of “I would’ve I would’ve I wouldn’t” My opinions: it’s just an art style, whoever commissioned them would’ve said something for it to be changed so why is it a problem, if you don’t like it then **redraw it** yourself, the video you’re basically shaming and putting down another artist for their art style bc you don’t like it and to add onto that your comment section is honestly rude, it’s rude let’s not fucking lie. Again MY opinion.

[@ortrist7044]

When a ‘professional artist’ can’t get basic things like shading and simple anatomy right, people are going to call them out for it. And It’s truly a crappy drawing

[@okamiaizawa5652]

@@ortrist7044it’s not even bad tbh. You don’t really know what progress or what stage this artist really is with their tbh. Again like i said even if it was commissioned the commissioner would’ve asked for things to be changed. :/ i just don’t wanna shame an artist for doing what could be what they be still working on in their art progressions anyway I don’t find it right to shame or even put down the artist bc the whole comment section is just putting them down

[@Rai-heri]

TIGERSTAR DOSENT HAVE HIS SCAR-

[@LockytheLimeHare]

This cannot be official. No hate to the artist but This can't be real.

[@milescore]

just because you say “no hate to the artist” doesn’t mean what you said isn’t blatantly disrespectful

[@Skykristal]

Im not part of the wc fandom, this just ended up on my feed but oh boy. As a little personal art piece, sure. But a book cover? I agree with your points entirely, this is not a professional art piece whatsoever. No consistency, no harmony. Im sure the artist can do great work, but that ain't it.

[@blobbertmcblob4888]

Tigerclawstar is canonically long haired and Sasha looks more like someone drew a lioness, not a cat.

[@kittengutz]

Why can’t they just hire the people who worked on those warrior cat maps they can obviously portray the character better and their art styles really pop too.

[@angorahm4640]

Sasha looks like she is from the Lion King 💀

[@ancap737]

If this was some kid making fanart... that's one thing. This is a real cover. Wow.

[@snipecv]

no way this is actually real ohmygosh.. youre telling me even the TEXT isn’t centred!??

[@maxhissingrats5196]

Fire/flame point are not breeds of cats btw

[@Impositivelygay]

Yes yes yes. Theyre coat patterns that any breed can genetically have (although siamese cats without colorpointing are referred to as oriental shorthairs) , even persian cats can be colorpoint(often called himalayans however) or even ones without fur such as the canadian sphynx(its visible/recognizeable even on a furless kitty). So that was pretty unprofessional in this video

[@Polarisarts11]

I think the cover is beautiful and a much bigger step up from all of the other covers. I feel like this video is extremely nitpicky. So what if Sasha's eye is just a teeny tiny bit off center? that doesnt ruin the whole cover, nor is it very noticable. A lot of the things you pointed out here seem to be a style choice, and you have to understand that as a comic book artist, some things may need to be compromised as the artist must draw every panel by hand. Personally I think that this cover is a great example of a mixture of realistic but also toony style. Things can not always be 100% amazing, but for once i think this cover's pretty darn close, much better than those realistic covers that look AI generated.

[@kingcrow]

the point of this video is to BE nitpicky. the issues i pointed out may be small to the average person, but im not looking from an average persons perspective. the whole point of this video is to give my opinions amd critiques as a PROFESSIONAL who is IN THE INDUSTRY. you can like this art all you want, but from a professional standpoint, it is subpar. also, this cover artist and the comic boom artist are likley different people. and even if they werent, the whole point of covers is to have extra effort put into them, ESPECIALLY for graphic novels, so that they are EYE CATCHING and get you INTERESTED. this cover just makes me feel like the whole novel will be bad.

[@Avanti998]

Tigerstar looks like an owl.

[@daydream0lol]

You didn't do your research correctly, sorry.

[@Hello_silly]

Its not that bad tbh

[@GH0STYMI]

Profissional artist? 😭😭😭

[@FFlightRisk]

I also wanted to mention that the leaves in the foreground are most entirely symmetrical, with only a few deviations.

[@Darko_Wolfo]

I'm 17 and I know cat anatomy better and I'm not even that GREAT or professional at drawing. I'm disappointed with this cover, plus it's not the nice style I'm used to with Mangas. If I was a recolor, I'd expect it to be exactly like the NON COLORED version , like scourge re color. This is just odd and I do not like it at all. I completely agree with you 😭😭

[@AshKetchum442]

Sasha looks like Nala from Lion King

[@lunekitten]

this just feels a little mean spirited and nitpicky im not gonna lie chief the point you make about fur tufts also seems especially strange to me? tufts of fluff on cats seem to be mostly a fandom trait if that makes sense. illustrators have *Been* using smooth lines to draw cats. i think she looks fine smooth like that, she doesn’t read as bald or anything.. hell, wayne mcloughlin’s cats were mostly smooth and they definitely still read as having fur. i think your eyes just got a little used to fandom artists drawing cats with fur tufts ? its fine that you would do things differently, but that doesn’t make the original inherently wrong

[@jettash0720]

At best I feel like this was done as a commission for them by a fan...which isn't a bad idea in itself, but there are professional illustrators and cover artists out there for a reason... And if the artist here IS a professional, then at best it looks like they put this together as the initial idea and whoever deals with that side of the Erin Hunter team went "yep, that's great, thanks!" just so they could get the book out quickly. To give the benefit of the doubt, there may have been a deadline issue involved somewhere...but who knows (something I feel was DEFINITELY what caused The New Ultimate Guide to turn out the disaster it did...)

[@templecatt]

remember guys, always judge a book by its cover LOL

[@m0us3.b0neZ]

“the erin hunters” I’m crying

[@screamingartist2673]

i mean its better than the old one

[@Cabelcrod]

This just reeks of nepotism how much y’all wanna bet someone’s precious nephew drew this thing?

[@gutznblxssxms]

its giving deviantart recolored base

[@Wendigo-Bait]

Tigerstar is really giving uncanny valley with that symmetry bs

[@TrashPandaArt2007]

It’s so bad!I remember reading the manga a few years ago and being shocked by how odd the art was I mean the amount of bad anatomy and eyes oh god the eyes!And he’s an amazing artist but he draws professional comics with humans not animals specifically cats who are notoriously complex.I mean warriors is known for having an amazing art fan base so why not give a fan the chance to do a cover!

[@lennoxwilliamsart7387]

Normally I'd say this artists need a LOT of practice to deliver a professional cover, but since I got a look at how bigger companies work and comission marketing material ... the deadlines are often "please do it yesterday" and what they want is often times not what looks good. Especially with Sasha's wrong breed. It the the person the artist was communicating with was professional or would know their source material this would never have had happened. But since WaCa kills characters 3 times, has them be kittens and warriors as the same time and all of that ... I'm just sitting here and wondering what war the artist's "fault", what was poor communication, what was the one to do the typography and what was the fault of the person who made the briefing ... I always feel bad for the artists when some customer essentially butchered the thing and the artist's name is associated with it. I hope the artist gets the change to see this video and learn from it :) Thank you for being constructive with you criticisms and not attacking the artist! (Yeah, I know it doesn't feel stupid to type this sentence, but after what I've seen the last few months this way of critique doesn't seem to be the given anymore)

[@Kitte-y24]

Listen, I am NO professional artist (far from it) but to me this artwork just makes the already bad enough Warrior Cats name even worse

[@Blu_Jay_Wcue]

Tigerstar looks hella soulless, I'll say that. Like- no life at all in those eyes

[@CottenVee]

Sasha being an Angelfluff ahh ripoff 💀

[@oryxarisu]

i wish they just … redrew everything. all of it. it’s so bad.

[@Mrrow-x3f]

The cats look like they have human features it’s so uncanny

[@Golden_rettriever_fren]

My curriculum has a math book that has a very flat art style in it and so when I looked at this, I immediately thought that this looks like it was supposed to be in my MacBook seriously I wish they could’ve let some fans do it. I get that you know they want higher professional artist, but I feel like at this point the fans do, better art depictions of what the cats look like not whatever this is

[@-Thunderstorm-]

A fan did make the cover.

[@xsummerx7191]

Tigerstar's tail is PISSING me off.

[@krikk9315]

Honestly it kinda looks like AI just with a few fixes, cause I've tried to find artist of the cover and, thinking it was artist that made manga colourful, he have kinda different style and obviously knows how to draw felines at least. So a) it's ai b) Erins asked him to make cover look like that

[@krikk9315]

Sorry, she*

[@clndstnz]

The artist is a fan of the series you can find on twt and not an "AI artist," they likely were asked to draw it like that since this is usually what is true when a person is commissioned by a company/label.

[@bandamkaliz]

You need to do this but with Owen Richardson covers. I don't want to offence the artist. It's just that his cats designs are different from what is described in books. Also fur tecture is so blurry and they are look the same.

[@therianropywow]

is it just me or does it look ai generated lol-

[@Sunniflowerr]

Tigerstar: }:[

[@pfanty_]

i dont mean any hate to the artist but i cant believe erins are actually publishing a book with that low quality

[@Waskotorowy]

Never let us fans cook again 🗣️🔥🔥

[@nenakarra2579]

Some people like you need to go outside.

[@FairyHeart-jn1oc]

It doesn’t look too bad i guess

[@Banansly]

They prob just colored it bc they didn’t wanna do a bunch of brand new lineart

[@Lost_MindWCUE]

3:07 He looks like a grumpy toad

[@bluepeltwarriors]

Hey I just realised that one of worst mistake! Look at Tigerstar's tail! If he is a fluffy cat, then why that tail that looks like a singe yarn!

[@Evonyy]

This cover was rushed

[@TheMaskedRubi]

NOOO THEY MADE TIGERSTAR CROSSEYED

[@Rocket_and_Wolverine]

I prefer the old one definitely

[@KatzeKiara]

Someone should redraw this....

[@chaseashley6775]

Tigerstar looks so ugly on the cover.

[@Egg.is.Scrambld]

im not buying this book 😭

[@Abstract_Seer]

Normalize using the Polish covers, they are the best

[@veinfish]

yes. i will always love the polish covers. they are beautiful

[@amethystkitten8671]

It looks traced and possibly AI...idk

[@lemonn403]

The artist is a real human being named Danielle Weires who has been posting art for years. How would you feel if someone said this about your art?