Holy cow...that's gorgeous.
Fantastic piece!
money well spent ^.^
Can't talk price 'round these parts, so you might wanna change that.
But nice snag!
*waves hand*
these are not the prices you are looking for...or something >.> but I did have plenty of time to save up, think this one took a couple months for him to get to since he had a bunch of other commishes before mine and that my characters had a lot of detail 
Hmm... yes, that is QUITE squee-worthy! Wow.
I'll second that "squee".
Awesome piece.
That's just jawdropping. Wow.
http://www.virtueverse.net/wiki/Massacre_Melanie -the original Fire/Dark Corruptor -
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=115217
The Guide to BURN
Words cannot describe the awesomeness!
Superlative. 
Dang that's nice! I love it.
*jaw drops* damn, Type R on that one for sure.
MA Arcs - #67636, #92202
deviantart page
Slag Heap: Why you hurt Guardian!? Guardian no hurt you!
oohh an amazing piece, I love his work.
and this means one less person in line in front of me to get another commission from him! 
FireBrandi - Champions lvl 50 Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster - Tier 4 Alpha
Kim Paler - lvl 50 Crab Spider - Tier 3 Alpha
My DA page
That's really a beauty. I dig the light effects especially. But then I am a sucker for wings and shiny swirly light.
Busting heads since 1938
Character references * My DeviantArt gallery * I am an altoholic
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oohh an amazing piece, I love his work.
and this means one less person in line in front of me to get another commission from him!
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>.>
<.<
*runs ahead of Brandi*
That's a great looking acquisition.
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oohh an amazing piece, I love his work.
and this means one less person in line in front of me to get another commission from him!
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>.>
<.<
*runs ahead of Brandi*
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hmmm....
**Aim** **Build Up** **start Blazing Bolt animation**
are you sure you want to cut in line?
FireBrandi - Champions lvl 50 Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster - Tier 4 Alpha
Kim Paler - lvl 50 Crab Spider - Tier 3 Alpha
My DA page
Gratzzz DJ!!! I love the action that was captured! Very well done!!
~*~VexXxa~*~
The City Scoop Art Correspondent/Writer "ART IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"//"Don't hate because VexXxa is HOT and you're NOT." - JOHNNYKAT
It's a nice piece but there are some details that stand out to me that should be noted. I hate to play devil's advocate but I believe there's such a thing as being too encouraging. I submitted a critique on the artist's page as well.
The defending character's not planted firmly on the ground. To defend against an overhead attack like that, she should have both feet planted firmly. The left foot is ok, but her right foot is not on the same plane as her left one. Her body posture is also twisting rather than standing firm against the attack. She should be bracing herself more for that impact. Also, if a wielder is gripping a katana properly, the middle knuckles lined up perfectly straight with the blade of the katana itself. The defender's grip is off-center there.
The attacker's positioning could be more dynamic. The blade doesn't look like it's slashing downward; it should be more horizontal and well... come close to cleaving the defender's head. Here though, she doesn't look like she was aiming for the defender at all; if you follow the path of the attacker's blade, it would have missed the defender entirely. Now, leaping attacks are used because they (should) have greater power than a normal attack; in a leaping downward strike, the attacker (should) be using the momentum of the descent to increase the strength of her attack. Often times, they use two hands for the attack. But here, she's swinging the sword with one hand, so it's weaker. It's like she's not really committed to her attack and well, it kinds implies she's being lazy. The cape doesn't reflect her movement either; assuming she's falling downward into her attack, her cape should be going from lower left to upper right, starting from her shoulders.
Composition wise, I think if you're going to emphasize the "fight within", the dramatic focus of the piece should be the interaction between the characters; the characters should be looking straight into each other's eyes, and that there, would build tension and drama between the two. These two characters however are looking in different directions and that takes away intensity.
You've got alot of light effects there and that takes away from the impact as well. Lighting effects should add to the mood of the scene; not be the center of the attention. Here though, the viewer's eyes are drawn to the clashing point of the swords rather than to the characters themselves. In addition, both characters have costumes with cool-toned colors. The background has a cool tone as well. There's no contrast between the background and the characters, so the characters don't pop. The piece ends up feeling flatter and less dynamic than it could've been.
you and your devil's advocate 
I can agree on some things :3 Though I disagree w/ the one handed sword laziness One could be wreckless while wielding a sword (favorite anime character is a one handed katana wielder ^.^). Also about the knuckles not lining up, could it be the positioning of the katana that makes it look off?
As for the body twisting, would it be acceptable that it was a attack from behind? though the attacker's sword positioning may be a bit off?
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you and your devil's advocate
I can agree on some things :3 Though I disagree w/ the one handed sword laziness One could be wreckless while wielding a sword (favorite anime character is a one handed katana wielder ^.^). Also about the knuckles not lining up, could it be the positioning of the katana that makes it look off?
As for the body twisting, would it be acceptable that it was a attack from behind? though the attacker's sword positioning may be a bit off?
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But nothing about her figure really says she's attacking recklessly. Her body/position looks and feels rigid and conservative.
Good Primer on Proper Sword Gripping - He uses a hammer to demonstrate here too, which is great. Imagine if your attacker in the picture was wielding a hammer. The clash wouldn't look right at all.
I doesn't matter how a sword's positioned, the knuckles will always line up with the cutting edge of the blade, assuming that the wielder has a proper grip. Here, the edge of the katana in your picture is lined up with the back of her left hand, so her wrist is over-torqued. Her right hand and wrist don't appear to match up properly there either.
With the way the defender's body is positioned, it doen't look like the attack came from behind. The attacker would've struck/brushed the defender's wings.
curse your profession >.>
though the cool colors of the characters and the cool colors of the background don't bother me I think there can be exceptions
The Fight Within
My latest commish from http://totmoartsstudio2.deviantart.com/