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Kieraux — . d r o p . o f f .
Published: 2011-11-20 20:43:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 1916; Favourites: 99; Downloads: 15
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Description
Oh mai.What is this? Finished art?
Mhmm. :> It’s not off my To-do list, though. It was a request from my journal that I took way farther than I planned to with any of them. It’s ridiculous, but I’m glad I did it anyway. It showed me that backgrounds are that bad, and if I’m willing to commit the time, finished pictures don’t take too long. I feel improooooved~ ♥
It’s unlikely I’ll do anymore from the journal. Maybe. I’m not sure. I’m just really busy and the free time I do have should be put towards completing owed art. So that’s what I’ll do. c:
I’d like to put a big thanks out to everyone who helped me with this yesterday while I streamed, and kept me going. I probably wouldn’t have finished it without you guys. Unfortunately though, I won’t be streaming today. I have a school piece to finish. :c
I really want critique on this one. Be as harsh as you like, I don’t care. I want to improve. Criticism means more to me than compliments.
Amelia © *Sky-Eagle29
Nakadas © *Shegoran
Art © =Kieraux
-•-
References: [link] [link]
Time: Lost track. Started at 8:00 am yesterday, though with many breaks.
Program:
•Photoshop CS5
•default hard brush with flow & opacity variations
[Sorry I forgot her necklace and back leg fins. D:]
Related content
Comments: 59
I agree with most of your points. The feet ar definitely way off. I’m not very skilled with them and should practice them more. Her front left foot appears to only had three toes because it is turned out so that the fourth is not visible.
Personally, I’m against using blur and smudge tools. I think they act as a crutch for not being able to do hand blending, which is all I did for this, but thank you very much for the critique! c: ♥
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Wow.
Epic.
I love the design of the character, mostly. I don't see the point of those huge... whisker.. things... I should look into that before I critique it first, though XD One thing I can say is that this dragon has good skeletal structure, but you can stand to define the muscles a bit more. There are several muscles over the belly and shoulders that could be more obvious. also, the funny side-whiskers seem to be anchored limply. If they can be moved freely, they should have a thicker base and lots of muscles.
(Muscles are important)
I've never been good at paws, so I'm a hypocrite for saying this... but the paws are kinda limp too. The fingers should be a bit longer if you can stand it. This dragon is aquatic, so webs inside the fingers are a good idea. Little stubby fingers like that aren't going to help much in swimming.
As for the lighting... love. I like the spots on the dragon's shoulder a lot. But remember, if the water is choppy, there should be criss-crossing lines, not just spots. Also, the butt is absent of such features.
Unless these spots are markings, you need more of them on the butt and tail.
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For one, it’s not my character, so I didn’t have any control of the design. xD (spots, feet, etc.)
I do see all what you mean about the muscles, though. I mostly draw feline anatomy and it is my default for fantasy creatures. I really should study muscles more. I tend to avoid them as they kinda disgust me, haha. But future notice has been taken.
I see what you mean about the light too. I’ll admit I didn’t paint water reflections because I was lazy. It was only meant to be an exercise anyways, but if the point of the exercise was to work on environment, I definitely should have attempted. xD
Thank you so much for the critique! ♥
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Haha, you're welcome :3
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I don't know that much about digital painting, so I'll give this my best shot.
First of all, I'd like to say very nice job on having the objects farther away from the front of the painting fade away into blue. The fish look very nice also, although I'd maybe make them not as bright and maybe have more of a blue tint, especially the one nearby her leg and the one next to her neck.
One of the other things that bothers me a bit is the shadows that her dorsal fin creates on her back. I'm not completely sure about this, but I'd think that the shadow wouldn't be as sharp or clear underwater as it would above, and would have more of a soft edge to it.
One last thing would be the left hind leg. It looks smaller that the other back leg, so maybe make that a bit longer.
I hope that helped. Very nice job overall though! Keep up the good work!
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Yeah, I’ve been getting a lot on the back fin. xD’ And I see the leg thing now. I just imagined that it bas bent more than her right.
Thanks for the critique! I’m glad you like it. ♥
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OMG
Okay, sorry to bother you, but I just thought I should let you know.
~FlareDrive Is using this pic as their icon, and also they tried to join the fanear group, so perhaps you should confront them...
I know its not in my right to say anything, so I told you.
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It seems that they’ve changed their icon, but I will definitely keep an eye out. Thank you. C: ♥
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Yes I had just noticed.
You're welcome.
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I love those rocks and fish. The fish are adorable~
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Yes.
The feesh are the only part I like. xD
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I actually like the simplicity of just having these fish to repeat the eye color. c:
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Aww wow! This is so awesome! I REALLY love how you have coloured this! It looks so realistic 0-0
I really love how the tail fades into the BG there :3 really beautiful picture!!
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Ohmygosh. 
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GOD, YOU'RE AMAZING.
Seriously, I'm just blown away by every single thing you submit.
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I likes it! so neat and the fishes add a burts of color to go with the eyes! Great job Kie![link]
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Thank you so much C:
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You're so very welcome!!
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Ignore the link...idk how it got there
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The colors look very beautiful! The fish are a nice touch and recall the nakada's eye. I really like the composition of the picture too!
Now, onto the critiques (I don't write them often, but I'll do my best)! I'm sorry, it's going to be quick, because I have school works to do. -_-
The anatomy, to me, is good in general, but the legs are a bit odd, especially the nearest back leg. It seems too short and flabby (not sure of that word X')), almost like if it missed a joint somewhere. The fingers are a bit too short and look almost atrophied (I'm rude, sorry!) ^^'. I would try to define more the finger joints, and maybe add the claws.
For the shading, once again it looks nice, appart from the shadow that casts on the creature's back. It's way too sharp. Underwater, (tough I'm not totally sure of what I'm saying) the light is refracted almost everywhere, making the shadows very smooth.
Also, the shading seems off on the farthest tentacle. You painted the shadow where the light should light it, instead.
Oh, and to add a little of "spicy" in the picture, I would add some subtle bubbles or dust particles... how you want to call them. X)
But that's a very beautiful piece! It's dynamic, colorful and joyful! <3 I truly like it.
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You’re not being rude! I really don’t take offense with critique! xD I completely agree with everything. ♥
Thank you so much for the critique!
I was actually considering the dust thing when finishing it up, but I suppose I got distracted and forgot. D:
Thanks!
♥♥♥
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You're welcome dear! ^^ I'm glad I could help you with something.
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So I guess someone else wrote it in your signature? X)
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I hate it...
...........
........
... is what I would say if I was stupid!
Haha I bet you weren't expecting that!
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Haha nope.
I really wouldn’t take any offense though if you said you hated it. xD
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You should. It's better than anything I could or can do, so I would be a douche if I trashed it ^_^
I dislike being a douche.
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Hah, this reminds me very much of a painting I did aaaaaaaaaaages ago when I first used Photoshop :>.
Few thing that immediately jumped out at me: The shading gets darker and darker towards the core. Shadow doesn't work that way; it gets darker as the form turns away from the light, but once it is turned away, it stays the same value. It's also quite extreme for the setting you chose. In diffuse light, which means soft light coming from all directions (such as during an overcast day when there is no bright sunlight), the core shadow will only be slightly darker than the lit side and there is little to no reflected light. The cast shadow from the back fin I initially confused for markings, because it is far too dark and if that is the direction the light is coming from, then the left side of the body (our left) should be almost entirely in shadow.
Another thing is that the color yellow doesn't carry far in water and the fish stand out rather awkwardly because of this. Here's a fairly good reference; [link] . Notice how the fish get considerably more blue at a relatively short distance already. This is a fairly easy fix though; simply wash out the fish a little bit using the blue of the background behind them.
Third thing I noticed is it's stance. The pose is rather stiff because three of it's legs are pointing in almost exactly the same direction. It is also barely grounded on the rock it is standing on, which leads to it looking like the character is simply floating motionless. You had the right idea with the tail; now you just need to make the legs and tentacles complement the movement 
Composition wise you actually did a pretty good job, only the head is turned the wrong way. You see, our eyes follow the body down from the tail towards the head, and because the head is looking towards the left, we kind of stay there in a circle covering the left side of the image (because you look up following the rocks and ending up with the tail again), completely ignoring the right. If the head was looking to the right (our right, obviously), with a fish in front of it, and it's tentacle arching back towards the tail, you would have a lovely circle in your composition for our eyes to follow. Ideally, you should also try to position the head on a horizontal third of the canvas, because this creates a balance in the picture that is nice to look at.
All in all I think this picture would really have benefited from proper initial planning (the sketching phase, in which you could have picked a stronger pose and composition) as well as referencing and studies on color and light. It's really good that you're pushing yourself though, because this is quite a challenging picture and it's in overcoming challenges where you improve the most
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I see what you mean with the light. Being my first attempt at diffused light (or conseptualized realism shading in general), I was completely ignorant. Haha. Thank you pointing it out. I’ll have to do more (small) light exercises in the future.
Actually, the dragon isn’t moving, she’s hovering as she inspects the drop off/fish. =Thunderskull and others thought the same, though, so it’s obviously my mistake. I tried to show that she was still by her tentacles looking suspended, but I think the tail, being curved as if moving against water, makes her look like she’s propelling herself. I do certainly agree with the stiffness of the pose. Something else that I think makes it stiff is that while her tail and neck curve, her spine is perfectly straight and ridged. I’ve always struggled with putting motion into my pictures, another thing I need to practice.
Looking back at the picture, my eyes do exactly what you said. xD I actually was planning to crop it right after her left tentacle stopped, but decided against it because the composition seemed too central. I think the repositioning of the head is a perfect solution.
Thank you so much for the detailed critique. It has truly helped me. I can’t thank you enough. You’ve really inspired me to practice more and improve my weak point’s you’ve pointed out to me. Hopefully I’ll do more pictures like this so I can get even more input. I might even at some point redo this picture, just because I like the concept and I now know what I need to change in it. ♥
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You're welcome, good luck fixing this and of course with future pieces, I'll be sure to check out your progress and help where I can :>!
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I always enjoy reading your critiques! And only by this, I feel I learn something every time! Thanks a lot!
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Hey I'm glad you find my critiques useful as well
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