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B0RN2BWILD — Healing Waters Merman Warrior
Published: 2009-06-17 14:48:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 2963; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 224
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After quite a number of long hours.. Here is my submission for the merman contest. Gheesh I had trouble figuring out What am I looking at when my eyes tell me 'this figure is a man'. It's not easy unless he looks like Ariel's Eric or something.I always have little stories with my mermaids and alot are that she's pining away at some great fighter merman who's away somewhere. (Maybe play alittle too much EverQuest) Well here he his. He's done fighting, alittle too torn up to continue so he's at the hot springs giving his tail a dousing of healing potion. Kinda looks like my boyfriend (Without the blue hair) It's the only male picture around I had that night. He's gonna kill me!
He was going to be all blue but I though he would look like an opmpha loompha from Wonka's so I chickened out on the blue skin.
On Arches med cold press 140 lb paper with W&N premium paints. 8x10. That wonderful blue is a new discovery of mine. Grumbacher Academy paint has a Cobalt Blue Hue available for pretty cheap. It works alot like the real cobalt I have from W&N but 1/10 th the price. Real Cobalt paint is VERY expensive. I'll have to work with it alittle more to figure out if it's good for backgrounds. My really great backgrounds have that cobalt in it and it's terrific looking and terrifically expensive. So we'll see.
This watercolor painting is this bright. I spent quite awhile getting the scan saturation and lightness right to the original. Some have asked if I screw with the scanner to get watercolor this bright. It's really the paint I've chosen over the years. EBay sales go for the really bright, colorful paintings so that's what I do. I really don't have a pastelly pasty kinda personality so I'm uneasy about pale pictures.
This is posted on EBay now. 6-9-9) for 5 days. I'll see what kind of response it gets. If good, I'll paint more mermen. This was a real challenge.
I'm asking for critiques. If you have any specific insights on how to make this figure a manly figure I'd love to hear it.
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Comments: 40
I usually find males hard to draw especially after drawing females for a long while (Mine usually end up looking like girls). Not to mention male fae creatures are hard to get just right when we are use to seeing their female counterparts and we don't want them to be feminine.
He's pretty manly and having a beard helps e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b… " width="15" height="15" alt="
I didn't notice the tear in his tail at first because of the green healing fluid, but then again if he's trying to heal himself, that's where he needs to put it.
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Yes, I agree with your critique. Thank you for taking the time to respond. I really didn't want the figure looking like a woman with a beard. The model is a rather fair and short individual. His hands are small. Probably what I painted into them. The abs were going to be hinted at so no counting done. It was an after thought, after darkening the 'six pack' that I really didn't proportion or even count the ripples. I do try to look at what I'm painting to figure out if the overall model looked okay. I've painted some models with extreamly small heads that looked rather stupid at the end. Or if I put too much poof in the hair they look like they are all 'head'. I really feel there is something wrong with this picture. I know now that he has no sideburns. (oops) I think I should have cut away more of the back hip to make his look like he is sitting instead of adding a minimal curve to the forward hip. occasionally my sitting merms are leaning backwards so I'm trying to fix that. Thanks again for taking the time.
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No problem! I forgot to mention the model factor after I submitted my critique. 
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OMG, that is one of the 'thoughts' I am beating to death lately. I can be so thrilled while painting something and then when I scan it and take a look at it on my screen I can see some things that I really should not have painted in. Two of the biggest things that look stupid after painting is 'hair around the neck make it look pencil thin and fingers that are close together look all squished.' I will fix things as I go now. Models with too small heads, beady eyes, big noses etc.
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Usually highlights and shading fix things like the hair in front of neck and fingers etc. but it is amusing when it's just how the model looks. I remember I had a drawing teacher talk about the "roundness" of the buttocks and we had a male model that had a squarish shaped butt. Needless to say the teacher fussed at the students about body proportions because he thought we were drawing the male model wrong.
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Some teachers need to have thier teachers certificates revolked. It is so hard to unlearn something.
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well he also owned a pool so he could have his own pool boy
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yeah, he's very intimidating but a good teacher though.
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Oh, I thought he sucked as a teacher
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nah, he was a good teacher, just scary and wanted male models drawn with cute round bottoms
He even got upset this one time when Tom the male nude model tried to keep his boxer briefs on because it was cold in the studio. It was pretty cold in there, I couldn't imagine being down to just my birthday suit in there.
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Hm... I think that if you made the arms a little longer and the ears lower, it would look almost perfect! (Feel free to dissagree with me. ) I love the coloring of this one and the background too. I also love his tail!
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Thanks, I'll go look at it again.. Oh, I forgot his sideburns so his ears would have looked lower with them.
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No proplem.
Yah, they would have. That would have probably made him look more masculin too.
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hmmm something's wrong with his sides.. or his body.. i dont know, maybe its just that im used to seeing mermaids from u.. 
maybe if the nipples are lower down his chest, maybe it would look manly.. again, not sure.. 
im currently drawing a man now, a boxer, and his body is really buffed and muscled..
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I'm thinking that I should have shaved off more of his back hip to make him look like he's sitting. His stance is awkward. ..Oh and those nips, well one was in an entirely different place so I made them larger so I could move it over. (His boobs were looking alittle crosseyed!
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i've stopped drawing that boxer i was tellin u about.. it feels like he's lookin at me every move!!!!
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Damn haunted artwork. Hate them all. I always have an eye out for any DevArt I can fav for a '
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hihi yeah sometimes i take a picture of myself and use it as reference.. 
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That's how I got my Devart ID pic. I was taking mermaid 'shots' of myself and figured I'd upload some for my ID. I havn't done it lately but it is tons of fun when I do. Kinda like a personal Cosplay. What happended to you mermaids yesterday?
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uhmmmm they had awkward poses.. 
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Know what? I used to draw in the hair before painting. What I do now is "comb" the hair in with the brush leaving the white highlight. I'll go back when it dries and give it a light 'golden highlight' wash all over and then blacken up where it should be recessed and leave it alone. Seems to always come out good when I don't want to draw stylized hair.
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Ooooh i'll try that! have to practice..
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Also, when I finish with the flesh tones and I'm all done and it's completely dry, I give it a 'Sunbath' with a very diluted amber/pink color on top so they have a healthy glow.
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a sunbath.. okay.. check!
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Nice work on a merman! 
I am no expert by any means, but one thing to think about next time, would be to make his eyebrows thicker. Thin eyebrows are usually associated with females or a more feminine look, and thicker eyebrows are associated with a masculine look..
Another thing to think about is side-burns too? You already have the facial hair (good idea!), and thick sideburns with long hair, just helps to enhance the masculinity of a guy since long hair is also something generally associated with femininity (usually). It's just a thought. 
This is lovely!!
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ha ha Ooops forgot his sideburns! I used a picture of my very fair boyfriend for the reference. His hair is over his ears so I was trying to remember what he looked like when he ties his hair back. His eyebrows are so very pale he looks like he has none at all. I guess I was too cautious when I painted them in even alittle more. Thanks for the input. Really appreciate it.
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That's ok! If you keep doing mermen, you can keep that stuff in mind.
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We'll see how it sells. Alot of men buy my female mermaids, I don't know how male ones are going to fair. The economy is so bad and I'm making such little money that if the subject doen't sell then I can't afford to spend the time on it. (sigh) I know I'm not alone though.
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No, you're not alone. 
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Very nice colors
and the tail looks great!
To me, the anatomy seems to be a little stubby, but that's all
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The model is a shorter person.
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I thought the tail looked alittle confusing. Can you you tell at first look that it is torn?
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I think it's good!
and it took a split second, but I saw it
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Okay. I'm over-looking at this and it's unsettling for some reason, maybe cause it's a male. dunno
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I'm thinking he's alittle stiff. (Guess it's from fighting)
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