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Luthrai — Treasure Hunter
Published: 2009-07-23 08:35:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 6962; Favourites: 302; Downloads: 183
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Description
There's actually a lot that I would like to go through and clean up, sharpen, add detail to, etc., etc., etc., nit-picky-perfectionist-artist-whine-whinge-whinge.However, this is as close to finished as it's going to get for a while. Probably a long while. Maybe forever.
....I'm trying to think of something else to say.... but it's 4.20am, and I need to be up for work in two hours. So. Yar! Dragon's tryin' t'find some treasure, aye!
(and if anyone thinks that the reef shark in the background is threatening the dragon in any way, they are very incorrect).
Ship is loosely based on the East Indiaman Batavia, built in 1628 and shipwrecked on her maiden voyage. Sucky, eh?
Ideally, the image was supposed be taller, and there's rigging and such on the last mast that would be visible.
Credits:
-Photoshop CS3
-Some brushes used from `Dianae 's ossim brush tutorial .
-Fish referenced from Schools of Fish Stock Pack by ~GuardianYashu .
-Photos of the Batavia found from Model Ship World which has totally gone on my favorite's list.
-Storm dragon belongs to The Prime of Ambition
-Oh, and my sweat, tears and blood. And sleep-time. (ie: image = mine)
Related content
Comments: 49
Awesome job, I would of liked if you actually finished it, ah wells still looks great nevertheless 
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O.O I had to do a double take there. awesome job. I didn't actually even notice the shark until I read the description
but yes, awesome job. 
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Wow looks really great the work I love the way you colour and the idea is really well made )
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Oooh, how lithe and graceful. I adore your sea atmosphere. Did you use a smudge effect to create the light that comes from the surface? ^_^
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Less smudge and more layers of polygonal lasso with a massively feathered edge. Maybe a Gaussian blur thrown in there as well. (I can't remember exact details at this point, it's been a while).
>^.-.^<
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Wow, I never thought a person could achieve such a smooth effect with polygonal lasso o.o
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this is amazing, i love the muscle structure on the dragon and all the details
well done
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Really amazing concept, here. A deep-sea diving dragon searching for treasure...really nice 
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Wow, thank you. Though I should mention that the initial storm dragon concept came from *slyeagle for our webcomic (I think I mentioned it on a previous picture... just not this one.) I just kinda prettied it up a little with bits of biology.
Thank you for the great comment.
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This is completely epic! The anatomy and detail in the dragon is amazing!
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The image, so far, is gorgeous. Love the ambient lighting (underwater effects can be tricky).
I think what most strikes me, and still does, is the snapped main mast. I like the splintering and slight twist of the upper material.
I wanna keep myself from getting nitpicky and suggesting a little more splayed and twisted material. I understand it's a difficult game to decide what's enough, and what's too much >.=.>;
Overall, can't wait to see this completed!
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This deviation has been featured on our dragon club #DragonSpirit-Club as part of our Weekly Feature and this journal entry .
Very good background there.
Congratulations!
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Wow. Just.. Wow. This amazing piece certainly could use a bit more recognition. This is so.. Immersive! (Not like the water, har har.)
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This is an awesome pic, loving the background and dragon itself, it's as if you spent some good time on this 
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This is awesome
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That's quite the compliment. Thank you very much. >^.-.^<
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Also the link to The Prime of Ambition here is broken--it should be jaadrih, but says jaadrig.
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Fixed. Again, thanks. No one's ever caught that (including me)
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Eh, I still found the link and read it all. Great webcomic you and Sly have there
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It looks wonderful, the atmosphere in it is awesomely done
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BTW, tell Elaine I want her to bring back a print of this, too.
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This is so gorgeous and awesome that I don't even know what to say about it. I just downloaded the full version and sat and marveled at the musculature and all the little details on the ship and drank in the underwater ambiance.
However, I do agree that the lighting is a little odd. I don't think that losing some visibility would necessarily be a bad thing, as it might add to the sense of things lurking in the shadows. Or if the depth is fairly shallow, it might benefit from some sunbeam action filtering down. Not that you should trust my advice on lighting - I am very weak in that area.
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For some reason, I decided I wanted it to be a slightly deeper wreck... maybe because I didn't want to deal with ripple reflections? Or because I really love the intense, obscuring blue you get from some ocean photos... Maybe it was both.
Anyhow, yeah, I left the light to be as unidirectional/diffused as I could, and unwisely picked it to be behind the dragon, so his head was left in mush. And I like his head. And his neck. Then I looked at it and went, "Uhm... That doesn't work." I had been hoping that some iffy visibility would be all right and add to the whole ambiance-thing, but I didn't like how it turned out. Hence the iffy light sources. I put it on the list of "Things I Want to Fix." ....it's getting to be a big list. ...I'm not very good with lighting, either, so input is welcome. >^.-.^<
....also, the lighting that the background implies doesn't quite match the dragon's.... >.> *adds it to The List*
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I really wish I could have a print of this, and of Sly's most recent piece. You guys kick my ass at art. Don't look at the underwater pic I did. It's hideous! You would laugh at my pathetic lighting and cartoony fish that I didn't bother to reference because by that point I was just too tired to care anymore.
I assume you and Sly are having your own copies printed for Connecticon... How much are you charging for those, how big are they, and can you ship them? If I were to buy copies, I'd rather have them direct from you, so you get more of the profit than dA does...
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Depends on the size. I'll have some 8X10s for $10 and 4X5s for $3.
I won't have that many of them, as my batting average for a 3-day con is 10 sales total, 4 small, 6 larger.
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Assuming I haven't lost my job by then, put me down for an 8X10 of both Treasure Hunter and A Hole in the Earth.
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Treasure Hunter comes in 8x12" and 4x6" which I've been selling for $12 and $4, respectively.
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Your print is 2" longer?! Are you trying to one-up Sly?
I still want a print. Bigger version is good.
Are you guys back from Connecticon yet? How did it go?
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so how deep was the wreckage of the Batavia?
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Y'know, I don't know. Well, I do know, but there are three excavation sites on the reef that the Batavia struck. I can only find the depth for one site, which is between .5 and 2 metres (according to this site ). So I dunno about the other two.
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I did consider the shark briefly and dismissed it as being out of its league. The light sources are unusual to my thinking, like there are some serious reflections about. But I think it's marvelous and pray you sell out.
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The light sources are unusual because without them, there's not enough contrast for much to stand out and it becomes a muddy, watery mess. It's one of the things I want to fix for the finished-polished copy. I didn't even want to put the reflections in but that whole "visibility" issue sorta won out.
And yep, the shark is totally out of its league. Not the fishes' league, though... *nomnomnom*
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So you ended up changing how you did the ship? It looks awesome, especially considering that you were doing this while you should have been sleeping!
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I do lots of things while I'm supposed to be sleeping.
Yeah, I kinda had to change how I wanted to do the ship. I'm still not entirely pleased, but I think that's because I had to find a variety of photos to work off of for the angle I wanted.
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Yeah. It would have been really hard to do it the way you wanted to.
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