Airmail

"Hew/Airmail Airmail"
Author:	Alvin Hew
Origin:	07/14/2009
Resolution	1100 x 825 px
Score(As of 9/3/10):	4.70/5
Awards:	Daily Feature Weekly Users' Choice Monthly Feature
Author's comments:
Service with a smile! This one took about two full days worth of work. Painted with PSCS2.

Airmail is an award winning illustration in the Art Portal which shows a fantastic scene. It was submitted by Alvin Hew, one of the more popular artists on Newgrounds, on July 14, 2009.

Presentation

Air Mail is a fantasy illustration, depicting a goblin-like creature armed with explosives riding atop a large hawk. Considering the flames around them, the goblin's concentration on the ground below, and the fact that the bomb he's holding is lit, they appear to be attacking someone or something. The hawk is not paying particular attention to the ground and has various harnesses and straps on it, suggesting that it is simply a beast like a horse to attack the enemy upon. The illustration is dominated by warm colors, especially red. The red fire casts a glow on the hawk, and creates a shadow where the goblin sits. Despite portraying a fairly serious scene, Airmail is fairly lighthearted, as shown in the innocuous title and the goblin's grin.

Reception

Airmail is one of the best received pieces of artwork in the Art Portal. As of September 2010, it has a score of 4.70/5 and an average review of 9.9/10. Furthermore, It won three prominent Art Portal awards: Daily Feature, Weekly Users' Choice, and Monthly Feature. This makes it Alvin Hew's best received work, despite the fact that he has five other award winning submissions. Oddly enough, it was never featured on the front page. Meanwhile, the official submission of Airmail on Deviantart was featured in the "BestDrawings" collection.[1]

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