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Paivatar — Blackbird
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Published: 2015-01-21 17:42:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 1009; Favourites: 95; Downloads: 13
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Description
An experiment gone wrong :-/Related content
Comments: 44
I like it though, I see nothing wrong with it! Lovely linework and colors you chose!
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Thank you! It's definitely one of my better "mistakes" 
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Not all mistakes are bad. I think this is a lovely example of a good mistake. I like all of the black around the edge, and I think this turned out to be a nice piece.
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When I made this it was very disappointing how it didn't turn out how I wanted it to, but when I look at it now it was probably better this way. You're right, not all mistakes are bad 
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This is beautiful! Did this involve some literal cut-and-pasting?
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Thank you
Nope... just very thick layers of black ink to cover up the watercolor mess underneath. What you don't see doesn't count, right?
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Well, this isn't what it was supposed to be
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Featured in our journal
On the wings of Spirals + Swirls
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You are sincerely welcome!
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Thanks! It was an experiment almost gone wrong
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I think it looks amazing -- doesn't look 'wrong' at all. Even the blotch just looks like a faraway cloud, gives a strong sense of depth
I once asked a poet who wrote street poetry for a living, if he ever ran out of ideas or got stuck. His answer really stayed with me: he said that he never got "stuck", because he would just push past it, and it would yield something new and unexpected. I always try to remember that when I'm unhappy with a piece of work.. maybe I just need to keep pushing. And I'm so happy you did, with this piece!
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Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you like it!
The more I look at it the more I'm beginning to think that this is the way it was supposed to look, despite my ill-adviced plans and thoughts ahead of time. A couple of different teachers in art school told us that there is a form or essence of something lurking in metal or stone, or whatever you're working with, that just wants to come out and _be_, and I think this is the world this bird wanted to exist in, no matter what I thought his world should look like. I'm glad I didn't get discouraged and throw out the "failed" unfinished piece, since pushing myself worked out so well
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Indeed
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It came out quite nice, even if it's not what was intended.
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It was quite a successful accident, I guess
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I really, really like blackbirds
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But OMG what a beautiful misstake! If only mine came out this way! <3
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Well, it only looks like this since I didn't want to throw it out after my initial experiment went horribly wrong. All those swirly curlycues and inked details are an attempt to make it look tolerable
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That is such a sensible and wise approach!
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What I'm not mentioning is the godawful frustration I felt, and the desire to throw my watercolors into the trash when the underpainting failed quite magnificently
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Oh! I know THAT impulse! Sometimes only my loathing for cleaning stops me from throwing things around!
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Still looks awesome to me. What were you trying to do?
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The colors came out too saturated, and that black blotch right by the bird's wing really bothers me. I'm glad you like it, though.
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Haha, I thought the colors were appropriate, but that might be the result of spending too much time on DA's "popular" page. Regardless it's pretty impressive you could push a failed experiment this far. Best of luck on your next work!
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I stay away from the "popular" section and generally stick to the "undiscovered" instead. I've found a lot of awesome stuff there! I've been working on pushing myself recently, and with this it was a fruitful rescue operation
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Thank you!
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Thanks! It's nothing like I wanted it to be, but I guess it's ok for a failure
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