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isibis7 — Squirrel
Published: 2010-01-26 03:48:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 1127; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 14
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Description
Piece done for an internship portfolio. I needed a few more animal illustrations...ref for the squirrel is by ~Momotte2stocks
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Critique: My main concern is with the way it fits into the background. Does it stand out a lot? Is it too disconnected from it? Thank you.
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Comments: 77
Thank you very much for your input, but I would like to point out this piece was drawn in 2010
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Anatomy of this squirrel is great! However, the painting looks a bit unfinished. Maybe that is why you have the impression that it doesn't fit the background. Try adding more contrast in color, but also details to make the painting more interesting and eye catching, and they, and the shadows also, will bind all the elements together 
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You are quiet right, the background looks very different, and it was up graded since. Thanks for the comment.
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#GimmeFeedback
Such a lovely little peice. the anatomy is good and the fur looks soft to the touch. I would of loved to see light more details and shading with the background and around the squirrel but overall a lovely simple peice.
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Thank you for your feedback.
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Yeah, it stands out. Even though every element in the picture has their own colour, they interact - add something green to the fur, use more warm colour of the grass, somewhere it might be even slightly reddish. Don't be afraid to experiment with colours!
Also all the objects are in the same surroundings, so the lighting and the shadows should be done the same way. Warm light, cold shadows, you know. Or vice-versa. You didn't shade the grass at all, right? ) Even under the squirrel )
But I like the lighting on the rock and the squirrel! It looks as if the sun was shining through the leaves of the trees )) Well-done! And by the way this common effect connects the squirrel and the rock. If only you did the same with grass )
Important:
If you want to gain an effect of a sunny day, make your light spots bright and warm and your shadows dark and blue with hard edges, because the sun shines straight to the area. If the sky is covered with clouds, the rays will disperse and the shadows and light would be soft. So here we see a VERY cloudy day, despite there are spots of light on the fur and the rock. I'd recommend to turn it into the bright day )
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:
This is a really lovely image, especially due to how smooth the brush strokes for the fur are. They've both very clear and realistic looking.
I think that the squirrel does stand out from the background, though for the most part it's in a complimentary way. If it were to blend in with the background too much then it would take away from the image. That being said, I do think that the leaves could do with having a few more varied tones, just to bring the piece together as a whole and since I usually view backgrounds as darker. A few darker tones in the background as a whole would also be nice, more or less just to touch it up a little since the colours blend into one another a little too much.
Overall though, it's fantastic! 
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Yeah it stands out. The squirrel has bright, warm colours so its separate from the calm background.
A very nice picture.
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Cool, this is great. It looks very real. I think it really stands out from the background and the squirrel looks more realistic than the background. But it still works. I wouldn't have really noticed too much if I wasn't thinking about that. Nice work
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Hello!
I don't see any problem with the colors. If had to though, I would add a little bit of dark edges to the animal. Another thing I suggest is making the hands look like actual hands of a squirrel, at least for the left hand of the squirrel. The right one is fine from what I can tell.
You did a good job. 
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I love the realism of the squirrel; the fur has a great satiny texture to it, and the facial features are perfect, especially the bright little eyes.
My only general suggestion would be to give the picture a bit more depth by adding some darker tones. The squirrel does stand out from the background; if anything, the background needs to be enhanced. The whole picture is really made only of highlights. It seems too smooth, too bright. The grass is almost overwhelmingly GREEN,for instance. It's more the impression of a grassy background than an actual grassy background. Similarly, the rock seems almost invisible because there are no shadows to give it solidity. Adding some dark greens/grays or even blacks to the background would help balance the tones, and more clearly define the features of the rock and the blades of grass. It might also help give direction to the lighting in the scene (is it sunny or cloudy? Hard to tell without shadows).
For reference, try lying out on a lawn or field, or even among the weeds in someone's driveway,and looking at the way the light and shadows mingle together. Maybe even bring some colored pencils and make test patches of all the tones you see there. See if you can build up a mental image of the texture, then go back again and look at your painting. Adding clarity and depth will probably make a big difference in the way the squirrel projects from the background, too, since the grass and stones really make a nice frame.
Anyway, hope that helps. Very nice work.
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Thank you so much. Its a shame I can't try the grass thing right now though... -_-
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I can't really find much to change with this painting. The proportions and color are great. The only thing that might have mad this better would be making the paws look more like hands. They need a little spacing between the digits. I love the slightly faded background!
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So, I think the overall composition is pretty good. The placement of the squirrel is eye-pleasing and its body position (along with the stick by its tail) creates movement. However, it could be argued that the stick leads your eyes off the picture, but I don't think this is a problem. I don't know if you intended this, but I like how you put emphasis on the squirrel by making it so detailed and the background less so. The only thing I suggest about the background is to add more shadows. The squirrel is great the way it is, and you portrayed the anatomy and details wonderfully.
For your question: For the background you used mostly cool colors and less detail and the squirrel has warm colors with lots of detail. This creates a ton of contrast in my eyes. I do get the sense that it is too disconnected though. The most obvious way I see to fix this is add shadows! I think this would place the squirrel in the background and add repetition between the subject and background. Also, the colors are so light that it seems awkward without shadows.
This caught my eye and I really like it.
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All in all a lovely picture, but I guess, you are afraid to use black! I think you really can improve the pictures character, trough adding some black in the shadows. Another point is that the grass and the squirrel seems to be two completely different parts! You can to sth against this trough adding some green in the squirrels lighten parts and some orange reflections in the gras! Keep on working
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I wouldn't go for black, I'd rather use - depending on the to-be-created atmosphere - dark blue or a deep purple for the grass in the background. The squirrel itself actually needs more contrast overall:
I can't seem to figure out where the lightsource is located - even if it is a very diffuse light, try adding more (crisp) highlights to the squirrel's fur, so that it's possible to see single strands of hair
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I really like the squirle but the backround to to bright if you were to bring down the colour tones to darker greens and browns you would be fine. hope this helps :3
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The squirrel does stand out, but I wouldn't worry about that - they really are so brightly coloured and striking. A few more shadows in the background would probably work well to make it look more detailed, it looks a bit flat now.
The squirrel's tail looks too flat, they are really fluffy and squirrels don't curl their tail like this, they almost always wear it up their back when sitting like this. but that's just a nitpick from a squirrel-watcher 
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Thanks for all the advice, and I have to agree with you that the tail position is uncommon, but I was working from a picture this time and didn't want to change it around too much...
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I LOVE the shading on the squirrel. It looks excellent! The background does look a little disjointed, faded, and too late. I would maybe add more shadows to bring it out some more, and make the light green spots in between the green plants a darker shade of green so that they pop more. Other than that, it looks good.
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Thanks for the advice, will try!
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Tis looks beautiful.
Due to the colours contrast, the squirrel stands out alot. However, I don't think that it is disconnencted.
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It stands out quite a bit from the background simply because of the different colours but I think you could put more detail in in both the squirrel itself and the background - a few individual hairs/blades of grass here and there make it look like you've made something incredibly detailed when in actual fact you've just put said details in a few key spots.
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Hmm... yes that would work.. Thanks alot!
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Nice work you have there, i think the anatomy and the detail on the squirrel look very realistic and belieavable, what I would do here is to darken the background, it is a bit light and takes away the attention from the squirrel. I Would also reccomend heightening the contrast, atleast on the background. using deeper shades in some areas, but the squirrel looks fine without it too.
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Ah yes I'll try that thank you ^^
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I agree with some previous comments that the background could use some deeper shading or, if the subject is ment to be in bright sunlight lighten up the area thats supposed to be in the sun. Other than that if it is for a portfolio you might wanna fix where the grass meets the rocks in the background. Love the detail in the fur too!
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Thank you for your comment ^^ I really do have to look more closely at that grass spot you mentioned, thank you again!
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Oh my goodness, how cute! 
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Really loved the way you've drawn the squirrel. The hair, the eye and the colors used in it looks really vibrant and nice.
But about the background what I feel is that the squirrel doesn't look like fitting in it. Maybe adding a darker shade of green will do the job.
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I have to agree with you, I did the background at the end and really fast, so thats probably why, but thank you for your input. ^^
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I like the realism, and the way it really does fit in with the background. The only thing I might change is adding some more darker values. The shading can go darker, and it will help. But I have to say also, the fur and eyes on the squirrel are stunning!
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