Understanding value and composition part 2

Value 
I chose this fanart piece of berserk because I felt like the artist had a great understanding of how to control the subtle differences in his grays to achieve an interesting contrasting image. Right away we see a strong contrasting value difference between what is in the foreground in front of us versus the background.

In the foreground we get the darkest values at the bottom of the image that stay in the 7 to 9 range intil we get to the circular form that pops the silhouette of Guts forward towards us. This contrasts heavily with the lighter values of 3s and 4s he uses to show the two main characters embracing each other before the values dip back into the darks, this time going almost all the way black.

A good composition shows repeating elements both big and small to make the piece fit together, this piece has a circular motive that breaks up the foreground from the midground and then we see it repeated in a abstract graphic way in the background. Notice that the darkest values also seem to be around our Guts figure and this dark value connects both the foreground and mid ground characters through the dark value of the tentacles that emerge from his body and wrap around her arm.

Its also very subtle but he makes sure to connect the dark shapes of his hair directly to the tentacles through a single line that intersects both of them. You may think this is just coincidental but if you look at the line arm on the other two characters, there actually is no other dark lines the differentiate the female figure from him or from the background. Instead there are subtle shadow shapes that move in and out of the 3 and 4 range that makes the above image of her and him feel soft and gives it some dimension while at the same time contrasting to the bottom half.

We see this same thing in the bottom  there are no big black inked lines that differentiate one form from the other, instead everything sits and moves in a gradient of grey. It makes it feel like an inked piece but also feels very different.

 Composition
The circular motion of the way your eye shhould move throughout the piece is something I already mentioned but its worth mentioning that the only complete circles are the small ones. So you could say the circular motions are there to lead your eye back from the top portrait of the characters back down to guts, where we see a flowing set of shapes that point towards Guts. We then follow both the blade of his sword and the tentacles that wrap off him and continue in another circular or S shape away from him onto the image of our protagonists kissing. He then keeps the composition in this constant flow state where he points out exactly where he wants you to look.




Color
Color wise there is a gold yellow, orange and blue color scheme that he uses to bolden the biggest parts of the piece. For example the backdrop has a great amount of dark blue and we see the figures surrounded by gold relieve like colors that swoop through the piece behind them.. These colors are again reflected in the soft ambient occlusion shadows we see in the ruffles of her dress and the negative space between them. Likewise the color of his skin is close to the color you find in the serpent that moves behind them, and the highlight on the circle that cuts out Guts silhouette from the background. He then uses these desaturated blues and yellows to render the bottom of the image, using desaturated blues for shadow shapes.