These look lovely. I adore the regal pose of the male and the movement that is quite apparent in both.

In my opinion, there are only a couple of small things that look off. The first being the insert points for the wings, especially on the female, it almost just looks like it was stuck on. I feel that it would look a little more organic if the beginning of the wing blended into the body a bit more. On the male, it is hidden by his mane a little bit but still looks just a little off.

The other thing that sticks out to me is just how much bigger the male is to the female. His hooves almost appear to be bigger than her head! I feel like overall she could use just a little more of a beef up, especially in the chest, tail and feet regions. She is very slim which sometimes makes traits harder to see.

On that same note, I know you said you will be scaling down the babies but I cannot help but notice that the male baby is smaller than the female baby, which given their adult sizes being opposite of this, seems a little strange to me.

Overall, these are a much, much better version of the kelps and I cannot wait to see them implemented!

Oh wow, so much improvement!!

I think the first thing that really caught my eye though had to be the female's smile. It reminds me a lot of the old version of the Zolnixi female that was sort of like a half-U shape, which if it was to be seen from the front with both sides showing would likely look like a cat's mouth. By comparison, the male has a very straight-lined mouth which looks more fitting to a horse.

With a closer look, I'm also a little bit confused by the fins around the head? For the male the fins come out ahead of the jawline, while for the female it seems to be tucked in under the jawline. I prefer the placement on the male since it feels more 'fin-like.' Having a fixed point along the jaw would limit the fin's movement, unless the Kelpari went around rearing its head back and forth to move. >_>;

Comparing offspring to adult, I sort of miss the feminine curls on the female hatchling's head fins. They show a major distinction from the male hatchling, but for the adults the shape of the head fins is almost identical.

I'm also a bit uncertain about the fur?? Around the hooves it clearly looks like fur, but for an aquatic creature I really don't see that as... practical? I always saw the Kelpari as more of a smooth-skinned creature like a shark or manta ray, or maybe short-furred like a seal. The female's hooves can still fit the short-fur well enough, but on the male it looks more like a Clydesdale horse. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE how this looks! But after thinking into it at a practical standpoint, with wet (probably stinky) fur on the land and how it would be a potential disadvantage under water? I'd rather see Clydesdale Hooves as a mutation rather than a must-have on all Kelpari. (Is it bad that I sort of miss the flipper feet? Granted they were a bit too 'froggy'...)


Like many others, I'm also a bit uncomfortable with the hatchlings' faces. They really do look too... human. Actually, the hatchling female looks like a more cartoony version of the adult female Sylvorpa with mystic Head Fins. I really think a full muzzle would be a more ideal basis for them. It may not be quite as 'cute' but it wouldn't be so... unnerving. The 'eyebrows' on the hatchlings really drives a lot of the human aspect as well, though not quite as bad as the jawline and lack of a muzzle.


Overall... Glad to see that the back legs are gone! They always felt a bit on the 'clunky' side before and it was hard to see them as an effective swimmer. The added wings/fins really fix that problem; they look like they'd make excellent gliders underwater!


If we are getting optional wing/fin traits and tails, I would honestly LOVE to see these function like the Aeridini. Genes and mutations working together in pairs (g1 on tail, m1 changes tail; g2 on wings, m2 changes wings) is so much more effective and organized than having three genes overlap and layer all over each other. It's the main reason why the Aeridini is by far my favorite species.

They look so elegant and regal now. Definitely love the touch with the wings, both as an "on land" explanation and with how they resemble fish fins to fit with the theme.

It has wings in its hatchling stage, so I'm assuming the wings in the adult stage is not a mutation. If so, it's going to cover the genes. It's covering a proportion of the male's body and a larger proportion of the female's body. It's also hiding the details of the tail. Have you tried sketching this with its wings being spread upward? It won't cover the genes and some of the mutations that way. Or have you tried sketching this with its wings located in its head in place of its ears, like siren's wings according to siren's description in Greek mythology?

I love how it looks though. It finally became a pretty species. And they removed 2 of its hooves. I can make a Capricorn Zodiac Sign project out of this one. Or a siren! ^_^

I'm so looking forward to my Kelps being reborn in new line arts! AHHHHHHH

They look amazing!!!!

OMG! I loved Kelparis before and now I love them even more! <3<3

As for critique, I have to echo some of the other users in pointing out how the babies' faces sort of plunge into the uncanny valley. The tiny snouts, frontward-facing eyes, and eyebrows make them look like a different species from the adults.

Also, something I'm not sure had been pointed out yet, but the adult female's wing appears to be sprouting from her shoulder muscles instead of being tucked behind her scapula like the male's. Actually, it kinda looks like the babies' wings do this, too. If it's meant to be a sexually dimorphic trait, it's a really odd one to have.

Not really a criticism, but part of me misses the weird flipper feet. They make more biological sense, but I can see why you'd want to get rid of them from an aesthetic point of view. Can flipper feet be a mutation? XD

They look so awesome!! Im so excited because Kelparis are one of my favorite sylestis!

They look so much better. I'm so happy they no longer have those weird looking webbed feet up front.
With the adult female it seems like her body is very skinny after her wings where it flips to see the under of her tail. If the fin is on the top marking where her back starts it's a very small area to her stomach.
And I'm with everyone else on the babies. My first thought when I saw them was that they would look good in a my little pony cartoon. I understand they are not horses but as they're meant to look similar I believe the babies would look much better with longer muzzles.

oh my god , the babies are so CUTE!
I've always thought the old design is kind of just a water Qitari. Now they are more unique! love the redesign!