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DeerNectarII β The Messengers
Published: 2015-03-28 01:26:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 434; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 1
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and I have been working on these two characters for what, a couple of weeks now?They are a prophetic pair of sighthounds, Omen (the Ibizan hound) is the harbringer and Ember (the saluki) is his voice and leads people along the paths ahead of them that Omen has foretold. Jolyn is working on a rad picture of them in anthro form.
PrismaMarkers, Colored Pencil, Ink and some watercolor to fill in the sky.
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Comments: 31
Wonderful you're so great at coloring in that washy look so pretty!
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You're the one with the mad shading skills! 
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aww thank you!!!! means a lot coming from you love your work!!
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I really like the art! Traditional when done right always looks way better than digital. The only things I can think of that could use work is the expressions. Im thinking maybe putting some Wrinkles or crevasses around the eyes to exaggerate the features more.
Or maybe even eyebrows? They're always the easiest part of the face to show expressions with.Β
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Good point, their eyes are rather shapeless and just kinda... Slapped on the skull without much thought. Thank you for your suggestions. And I agree about traditional art. When I'm making art I expect to make a pleasant mess. Digital is so... sterile. Can't get paint on your fingernails or smell the solvent markers.
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Haha yeah, Digital is cheaper tho.Β
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No kidding XD have you ever looked up prices on Copic markers? The most popular, the "Copic sketch" markers?
They're over five bucks a piece in many cases. My liquitex paints are the gold in my studio I never touch u.u; I always feel like I need to get better before using them but it's stupid to risk them drying out or getting clumpy, bleh. I just don't get the same joy from Photoshop but I plan on getting Sai which can be used in a more painterly fashion.even so, I feel obligated to keep traditional art alive along with others who feel the same.
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Cool! If I had enough money I'd try learning how to use markers, But $5 a piece is definitely not nice to my Theater wallet, lolΒ
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Well, PrismaColors are great too but still rather pricey. Spectrum Noir has been my favorite "off" brand. You can buy them one package at a time where they come in all the reds or greens or grays... They do bleed through the paper though so they aren't ideal for the Moleskine scetchbooks because they are intended to lay flat so you can draw on both sides of the paper.... Higgins India ink also bleeds, just a couple of "heads ups" but on smooth Bristol board they're great. An old friend recommended coloring in a circular motion to avoid streaks.uhmmmm I think I'm done now XD also, if you use Amazon use smile.amazon.com and you can pick a charity like the ASPCA to donate to on eligible items.
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Looks like the one on there right couldn't foresee how he'd put on his make-up in the morning.
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The "make up" is actually body paint that Omen, the ibizan hound puts on her, so it is different every time. The character belonged to and we wrote their little story before she passed away a year ago this month. silverwing.deviantart.com/art/β¦ this is her interpretation of them, she was obviously an anthro arrist but that didn't stop us from creating these two. That little bit of body paint is actually very personal.
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Hello, again!
The anatomy once again is well executed, cartoony but still looks like it's got a good foundation. Love the texture on the tail and ears, I love the dark reddish grey you used inside their ears. These dogs are meant to be all black but they don't just look like black blobs because of all the different values you used. The details of their jewelry and makeup contrast well against the grey and help tie them into the desert behind them while the characters themselves stand out. I love how you've shaded the makeup on the top one's eye and the bangles. Speaking of the sand, the texture on that is good too. Great shading. The poses convey the energy of the two characters and make them look like they're really moving than than just posing for the "camera" as it were. And small detail but I love their mouths, the pink tongues and the pearly white teeth. So cool!
Onto what can be fixed. I think the sky is kind of dull. The colors you used for it were good, with the muted blues and greens, Β making it a blue sky Β without drawing all the audience attention away from it, but it doesn't have the same texture you gave to the characters and the rest of the background. It just sort of looks like a wall behind the dunes. Maybe do a gradient, or added some clouds to make it more interesting and less flat.Β
The other main thing is that because these two dogs are the same color, and they're overlapping each other, it makes it a little less clear. I can see you tried to remedy this by have the red inside of the ear and trying to give the lower dog's head a lighter outline, and those are good things I just think you could go a little farther with it. There's a couple ways you could fix it. You could use a white gel pen and outline the parts of the bottom dog that overlap with his friend. You could have had the dog with the red makeup be the bottom one so his face would stand out more against his friend's flank. You could have the top dog jumping higher so they're not overlapping. Or you Β could have made the picture wider (or characters smaller) so that the saluki dog is running ahead of his friend.Β
You're a really good artist, and I love seeing traditional stuff, and stuff with animals since I'm not very good at it.Β
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I agree about the sky, it looks like a wall in a hospital, rather dismal. it ought to at least have a gradient rather than being so stale/lifeless, I'm trying to imagine just what I could do if I were to re-do this to where Omen looks like an Ibizan hound and Ember looks like a Saluki, even more-so if my style is cartoony because cartoonists exaggerate features so there's no doubt about what they are. I think one thing would be drawing their silhouettes lightly first to get not only a feel for the anatomy but I could draw them so the overlap isn't an issue in the final piece, you can see how they merge into a dark blob in this piece... weighing down the whole left side. I will be sure to consider my compositions more wisely. I appreciate the time you took to provide some feedback. Got me thinking about some good to things I can try next time around. This is definitely on my "draw this again" list once I feel I've made enough progress I will return to this piece. Thanks again!
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Well and it still a great picture, it's just those 2 things that can be improved. But seeing as how good they look now, if you ever feel like redoing them later that'd probably be really cool to see
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Β Β Beautiful artwork. Dynamic poses. So much movement. Great colors. <- All the things I love
Β Β
I have an issue with the dogs themselves, though. They're not quite true to the breeds you've designated them as. (Oh no! You stumbled on one of those people who read dog breed encyclopedias as a kid!) Longer, finer legs would be the best strategy for creating these sight hounds. They also have longer faces.
Β Β Definitely a very interesting pair of characters, though! And I love your composition. This image captured my interest as soon as I saw it!
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Thank you so much! Ironically I found a dog breed book at a thrift store the other day and I plan to heavily reference some practice drawings. You are absolutely right, I made them too stocky. They ought to look more elegant. This might make a good "draw this again" meme once I improve my canines.
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It will be great to see these drawn again, especially since you chose such cool dogs to work with Β
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;_______; omg this came out SO incredibly!!! I LOVE how you completed this! The background is beautiful!! I love that you went with the sand dunes because I think they add a lot to this piece. The way you shaded the background and drew it in is lovely, I so don't have the patience for backgrounds. I even love the color you chose for the sky. I like how you did Omen's neck/choker reflecting on the background⦠it looks really, really nifty. His collar is one of my fav things in this, it's so intricate! AND EMBER just you know I love how you drew her, but seeing this up close makes this that much more awesome cause I can see so much more detail! The way you did her fur is so pretty because it makes her look so fluffy/feathery and flowy. Love her expression so much, her fiery eyes and the paint markings you came up with! And one of my fav parts of this is how you shaded Omen, his skin looks more foldy and you can tell he's an Ibizan hound and doesn't have as much fur (does that make sense?) while Ember has that more overlay of floof. I love their story so much and all you've contributed to them, because most of their design has been based on you. Thank you again for this, I absolutely adore it and I'm going to try to finish that picture of them soon. You always inspire me with your art. <3
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you inspire me as well, this has been an awesome joint-effort.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply, it's so nice to get some real feedback and I know you love these two as much as I do. Looking forward to seeing your piece completed! it looks awesome so far.
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I also really love that Omen's eyes are gold and glow with his scriptures, and Ember's are orange and fiery. They end up matching. And that was totally subliminal on my part when I made her up see they were meant to be a pair! Again this reminds me of someone's interpretation of them in a painting you would see in a history museum, where people point and say "Have you heard the story of these two?" and most people would laugh and say "what a story" when some people have witnessed them firsthand.
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