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awaicu — Structure and Function
Published: 2011-12-04 19:21:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 3781; Favourites: 171; Downloads: 107
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DOWNLOAD FOR FULL VIEWEDIT (5/8/12): Uploaded some better quality images (the ones I took for my IB exam). You still need to download them to see all the backwards writing.
Series of three large-scale pieces (size 22x30 inches) for my IB Studio Art class (looking at the relationship between structure and function). Materials are: coffee, tea, beet pigment, cranberry pigment, natural hair dye, charcoal, graphite, pastel, gold leaf and black india ink (applied using a cut feather quill). Paper is hot pressed watercolor.
Above: Quick snapshot of my work in progress, done on the floor using a piece of cardboard as a hard surface.
Artwork and Character belong to *awaicu
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Comments: 110
Thank you so much for writing an awesome critique! I really appreciate it and I loved reading all of your feedback for this piece!
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This is definitely an impressive piece, to have created a creature and developed its anatomy (and with natural pigments!). Not knowing much about detailed muscle structure, I can't offer a lot of critique in that respect. The only suggestions I have are, a) If this is a flying creature, would the front/chest muscles have to be larger and more developed for wing movement, not only to be able to get off the ground, but also to maintain lift? Birds have large breast muscles, but they are also much lighter, having hollow bones, and I don't think there are any real-life animals that have wings AND four legs, so I'm not sure what the flight mechanism would be for a creature that walks on the ground as well? b) The hind legs seem a little too sharply bent, almost stooped, but that may just be the way my eye sees it.
Those are just kind of general impressions. Overall, this is a great piece of work. I hope you continue to explore this side of your imagination!
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Wow. 
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Wow, thank you so much for your comment and all your kind words ;u;
Beets are my favorite, they have such vibrant colors! Although after a while, all the natural pigments tend to fade D:
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You're very welcome! And that's kind of a pity; maybe the right fixative would help? I know that most things can be treated with waterproofing solution.
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Well. . I think it's more of an issue of the beet cells degrading and such, but I should try to find a fixative that works with it C:
In a way, though, I kind of like the idea of it fading out over the years, kind of a pretty effect :3
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Fair enough. In the end, everything is transient, and is all the more beautiful for it, too.
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Now this! This is an incredible example of using media of the past and media of today to create interesting pictures!
Let's start with the skeleton. The sun shape in the background looks lovely and blends in nicely; it doesn't take the attention away from the skeleton. The same applies to the other two pictures' backgrounds
As for the skeleton, it's really well drawn. It looks realistic and you've definitely done your research! The proportions are right and everything looks very functional to me. All I'd wish is a bit more attention to detail because I feel some bones here and there haven't been drawn as carefully as others. But it's quite understandable, too, that not everything can look perfect, especially the smallest details
I also feel the hip is a little... Flat and I can't figure out why the other shoulder and front leg can't be seen behind the rib cage. I might just be failing to understand the pose and perspective, though.
Next we have the muscle part
The best thing about it in my opinion are the wings. They look phenomenal! You definitely knew what you were doing! You've been able to clearly define the differences between a bat wing and a lage bird wing (so to say). Not to mention the nice technique you've used for coloring.
Yet again, the proportions look right and as far as I know, the muscular structure is awesome. So well done
It was mentioned somewhere in these comments already that they liked the colors you chose for this part but personally, as much as I love purple and lilac, there is something a little disgusting about looking at that much muscle and stuff and seeing it be of that color... Again, this is just a personal preference but I would've preferred red.
There are also some, hmm, "shaky" lines, more apparent with the wings and tail in my opinion. I don't know why they look like that... Maybe the paper was a bit crumbled by the "wet" media or your hand was trembling. Well, if you could've done something about that I suggest you do it next time. However, this is just a minor detail that bugs me a little but doesn't really take away from the overall picture.
Warning, I'll be a bit more critical about the last part.
You've used your media in an amazingly beautiful way
The design of this beast, though, is my biggest issue with these three pictures put together.
The unsymmetrical wings... I imagine they'd be very inconvenient. Some of the feather structure looks a bit odd to me but they're colored in a pretty way. I prefer the bat wing but it looks kind of out of place on the back of a beast of this sort.
However, these wings that don't really seem to work together or on the back of this being for that matter are excusable when considering that these pictures were for your art class and what you were supposed to study
I like the canine face, the mane and the red fur
Even though I'm not too keen on the appearance of the beast, I still think this is a superb piece of work that shows you have an unusually amazing grasp of skeletal and muscular structures, animals and working with lots of different and even unusual media.
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Wow. I am so sorry that my reply is so late on this! But thank you SO MUCH for this amazing critique! You really mentioned everything and it has been extremely helpful to read! I agree with all of your comments except for the one on the character design since there is a lot of personal meaning behind why the design looks like it does. Otherwise, I will try to work on everything you mentioned! I am glad you caught me on the shaky lines although I am not sure how to avoid that working on a large scale with bottle ink and a turkey feather for inking. I will try to think of something though! And would you happen to have any suggestions for a suitable material for the muscle piece since you mentioned not liking the color? I couldn't think of another natural pigment that I could use aside from the beet pigment. :U
Anyway, thank you again for this simply amazing critique! I think it has been the most helpful one I have received on this piece and I really appreciate the time you put into writing it! 
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I'm very happy if i could be of help
Ah, yes, personal meanings
Unfortunately, I can't think of anything for the lines, either. My only own experience of inking was pretty desperate and I admire your hand for being able to draw this!
Hmm, my knowledge of natural pigments is very, very limited, but if you want any suggestions, it might be interesting to experiment with different kinds of plants. Also, I like the beet color but not that much in this particular context
But! I'll get back to you if I think of something
And once again, you're very welcome
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Well, thank you once again! It has truly been an honor to receive a critique from you! And yes! Please let me know if you think of more natural pigments I could try out! I always love experiments! C:
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Please tell me how you use coffee and tea as color!!!
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Well. . . In these pieces I used hot pressed watercolor paper, so I needed to stretch the paper before I used it. Usually, you would use water to do this, wet the paper and then tape it down to a hard surface. I decided to use tea instead though.
It's pretty easy to use, just brew a nice large cup of black tea (I had a mix of teas from a friend including Black Mango, Earl Grey and Lychee). Once the brew is nice and dark, I just painted it on with a brush and left the paper to dry. After that, I just drew the piece using a pencil and inked over the top with waterproof india ink and a feather. Then, since coffee is a little darker than the tea stain, I used that to shade in the bone structure. The other two pieces are done mainly with beet pigment instead of coffee (red beets for the muscles and golden beets for the final piece of Awaicu).
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What a lot of work! I like the natural pigments a lot. And your form and structure seem very well thought out.
Bravo!
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Thank you! C: Haha, glad you noticed the natural pigments, most people don't read the artist comments and then either ask or just assume I used conventional materials ^^
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I love the anatomy drawings, and this one is VERY good. I love the muscles and bones of the wings. Very good job, yes sir
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Thanks for your feedback! I am glad that you think they are good c:
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Thank you! I am glad you think so
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I think your art is all very awesome! So therefore I will try harder to become like you!
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Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback!
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this is an amazing piece. To think you could make an actual animal into a fantasy-like creature like that is awesome! How much time did you spend on this?
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Thank you! I am glad that you like it c:
This is actually three different pieces that connect, so each one took around 7 hours. Probably around 21 hours for all three of them then x.x
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woah... that must have taken a lot of concentration 
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Haha, yeah, I wanted to give up on it a few times because it took forever <.<
Haha, that is exactly what you are supposed to think looking at it, so I am glad
Thank you
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This is reaalllyyyy cool to see one of these done traditionally
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Thank you o3o
I am glad that you like it
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May I ask, is there a reason the words are written backwards?? XD I was just looking and admiring and the words caught my eye and I had to ask!
Anyway, on to the critique. So...no I changed my mind, I also want to make a real quick comment about your pigments...*ahem* AWESOME. I appreciate you adding the materials for what the pigments consist of.
Critique! These are fantastic. I mean the detail work and general coloring...I could almost believe this animal actually existed. It isn't very often someone displays their characters under such a large microscope! (Or x-ray in this case XD) From what I can tell, you got every single major bone and all the bones in the phalanges even. I think at some point an image that provides a super close up of the entire animal (one piece at a time) would be wonderful. There are a lot of details I would like to see closer.
Seeing as it is your own character, I can't really think of anything I could say to improve what you have done. She is from your mind. And since this is more of a study, going into detail about shading and such really doesn't apply as much.
I will say that I think my favorite thing about your completely skinned fursona would be the wings. Especially the black, feathered one. Even from such a distance I can see almost every single feather and the lighting/coloring/shading is fantastic and just about mesmerizing. Every time I look I see something new (and I think I have gone back to look after every sentence has been completed, at least!)
Well...I think I pretty much got everything I needed say! This is amazing and beautiful work.
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O3O Thank you for letting me know what you think c:
I am really sorry that I can't make the image any bigger than this ;-; I have tried . . but it doesn't work. .
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XD I understand. Oh well, we can still appreciate what we see!
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I hope you don't mind if I drop a comment instead of using the critique system (: It's easier than having to rate with those silly stars!
I LOVE how much work you put into this. I've been meaning to do something similar for my own character.
The only things I can point out are minor flaws in the anatomy. One thing I noticed is that on the skeletal design, the far (left) front leg bones from the wrist to the elbow seems shorter than the other leg.
The visible back leg on the final finished piece seems a bit oddly dented, like the muscles or bone are protruding out too far, but that may just be an artistic choice?
I'd also expect a creature with such huge wings compared to it's size would have more solid support for the wings in form of muscles (shoulder or abdominal). I'm not sure exactly what, since I haven't really spent much time with flying critters myself, but maybe you can check these out: [link] [link]
Also, a thing I am curious about: Since the left side wing is different from the right in that it seems to have more bone and slightly more muscle, and be slightly heavier (taking into consideration the weight difference between feathers and skin), is the left side of your creatures body built differently to adapt to the difference in weight and functionality?
Overall, really interesting design! I always love seeing interesting in-depth works such as this (:
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Wow, I didn't even catch those things! It's a good thing you said something about it
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Haha yeah, when you've trained your eye for a looong time, that's when you start to notice the little details (= Keep at it!
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XD yes. Something I'm still working on. I'm a lot better at it than I used to be.
In fact, normally I do catch a lot of those things, but I'll read the other comments that I can reference back to.
D: I was slacking this time 'round!
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Thank you so much for this! I love getting awesome critiques
I am not an expert on anatomy, so I expect that there are tons of flaws (including the fact that the creature herself is. . well. . not feasible in real life). But thank you for pointing them out taking that into account - the links were very helpful as well!
And yes, I think the other side would look a little different. Awaicu isn't actually supposed to fly on these wings either though - the wings are far to small for that ^^ She just glides off of tall cliffs.
Thank you again for a wonderful and very helpful critique! 
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