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aboveClouds — Among the Pines

#aboveclouds #canine #clouds #cypress #fantasy #grass #green #griffin #griffon #gryph #gryphon #jackal #landing #owl #pine #pines #sunrise #sunset #trees #wings #latei
Published: 2015-01-01 02:00:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 6583; Favourites: 345; Downloads: 0
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Description April 5th, 2015 edit: The original colors looked a little dull to me, so I brightened them up. I also adjusted the values, cleaned up some of the trees, and added leaves flying around. Enjoy! :>


A Flight Rising Commission for Latei ! It's her awesome owl/jackal gryphon character, Cypress. It's also my final picture of 2014.

But man, this one has been in the works for a long time. I don't know if I'd call it a difficult image, but I had to redo and re-imagine the background a few times before I finally landed on something I liked. I'm really happy that I bit the bullet and changed it, though. My first background was a generic green field with a blue sky, which left a lot to be desired. This version has more of the atmospheric look that I'm trying to achieve in my artwork.

As for the painting itself, I'm still trying new things, and still searching for that rendering style which is quick, clean and, most importantly, looks nice. Whoo~


Artwork © 2014 by aboveClouds
Cypress belongs to Latei

Comments and constructive critiques are always welcome.

You are not allowed to sell this artwork, trace it, or claim it as your own.

Happy New Years everyone!
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Comments: 26

Constrict0r12 [2016-04-02 23:30:08 +0000 UTC]

CA-CAW MOTHER FUCKER!!!!!!!!

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RA-Meenan [2015-04-06 04:57:11 +0000 UTC]

Gorgeous as always.

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aboveClouds In reply to RA-Meenan [2015-04-06 20:24:09 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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GoldenDruid [2015-04-05 21:27:58 +0000 UTC]

Love the improvements!  Those really transformed the piece!

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aboveClouds In reply to GoldenDruid [2015-04-06 20:24:29 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, GD! I just can't seem to stop fiddling with things.

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Enaxn [2015-01-10 23:25:23 +0000 UTC]

LOVE love how much your style has evolved recently.  You have the smoothest, like, most ethereal painting style.  I love it SO so much.  The colors are so DIVINE.  SO. DIVINE.  And I totally love the wat you shaded the treeeees omg. And the grass THE GRASS IS A FOREGROUND OBJECT I LOVE IT.  Best crazy whack angle. I CANNOT. 

The character looks AMAZING too.  I LOVE the way the light shines through their wings, and their crazy happy face!  The little fluff details and the little outstretched toes too and omg.  So many fun well-oainted details.  Absolutely amazing job!

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aboveClouds In reply to Enaxn [2015-01-14 00:23:09 +0000 UTC]

Aw, thanks! <3
I've been reworking my painting style recently. Before, I would work on everything in black/white and only switch to color when I got to the end. Now I'm working *mostly* in color, and then adjusting it at the end. It's a lot easier to make cohesive color choices when I'm starting from 50% color than when I'm starting from nothing. I'm also trying to mind my brush strokes and values more than I did in the past. I still have a way to go with the brush stroke thing (so many messy strokes, ugh), but the values have at least improved!

And thanks for commenting on the character too! Latei gave me semi free-reign on her design, which meant I got to paint me an owl gryph. Aw, yeah. Owl gryph.

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WilliamJCovello [2015-01-02 00:30:51 +0000 UTC]

Splendid work!

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aboveClouds In reply to WilliamJCovello [2015-01-03 00:33:31 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! ^^

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WilliamJCovello In reply to aboveClouds [2015-01-03 15:35:12 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome.

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Corneev [2015-01-01 21:45:02 +0000 UTC]

Great pose yes, loveley work !

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aboveClouds In reply to Corneev [2015-01-03 00:33:39 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much!

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Stygma [2015-01-01 19:56:17 +0000 UTC]

It looks amazing! I love the pose!

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aboveClouds In reply to Stygma [2015-01-03 00:33:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, Stygma!

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Celestial-Rainstorm [2015-01-01 05:49:22 +0000 UTC]

Gorgeous work! I love the light through the clouds! 

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aboveClouds In reply to Celestial-Rainstorm [2015-01-03 21:34:02 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!
I love painting clouds.

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Celestial-Rainstorm In reply to aboveClouds [2015-01-03 23:26:34 +0000 UTC]

You are certainly welcome!

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Agent36496 [2015-01-01 04:00:30 +0000 UTC]

Looks cute

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aboveClouds In reply to Agent36496 [2015-01-03 00:34:04 +0000 UTC]

Thank you.

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Cupp-o-tea [2015-01-01 02:30:36 +0000 UTC]

Woahaaahahaha! That thing is amazing!

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aboveClouds In reply to Cupp-o-tea [2015-01-03 00:34:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you very much!

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WindsCaller [2015-01-01 02:24:47 +0000 UTC]

The background and lighting is beautiful

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aboveClouds In reply to WindsCaller [2015-01-03 00:34:19 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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Zeitzbach [2015-01-01 02:22:29 +0000 UTC]

Love the perspective and how you did the grass.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

aboveClouds In reply to Zeitzbach [2015-01-03 00:35:14 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I've always wanted to paint something super up-close and out of focus like that. ^^

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CrossDevice [2015-01-01 02:08:23 +0000 UTC]

Zygodactyl feet? Interesting

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