Awesome and so creative and artistic. I think Blick is referring to "just technical excellence" versus technical excellence AND creative ideas that take something as simple as this to the next level.
I really like this piece. Blick nailed it with the design comments (though I didn't realize that I liked it so much till I read that), and the palette... well, it's the clincher for me.
What I really like about this is the design. When you see helms people draw, they try so hard to make it symettrical. This is obviously not one of those helms and the crooked "teeth", the crack in the forhead, the missing cheek on the left (viewer right) side all give it a lot more character than if you'd tried to make the sides similar. And the subtle green in the palette gives it a nice aged feel. Well done.
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