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pica-ae — The Magpie

Published: 2011-08-20 12:22:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 2540; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 0
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Description My entry for ^ChewedKandi s Vector Art Contest: Self

That is me

Well, at least basically

I took a crappy self portrait, which I hell won't show, and started turning me into a magpie. Since that is my last name, it was pretty a pretty obvious choice
But I did not want to do a realistic self portrait, since I have already done that and that would have been boring

I had wanted to start it like a Body Paint, so the base shapes were all solid dark grey blue colored. Since magpie feathers shine in different colors i tried some ways to apply that effect and ended up with multiple colorful blends

The feathers are brushes i created based on some sketches I made [link]
they started out being with an outline, but I later moved away from that concept and used transparencies instead

For the eyes I wanted to add something around them… you know how animals almost have a sort of leather like texture around their eyes (or noses as a matter of fact). I wanted to use that and I think it looks quite awesome

There are some flaws, like the "leather" not being really connected to the "skin" but they way it looks is the way I want it to look
I used a very limited amount of layershading, thus making it harder to "connect" parts
The wings are probably done all wrong, too

Applied some SVG Gaussian Blur filter for the feathers in the front.

Oh yes, before I forget: After I had started doing my concept and vectored, I realized it reminded me a lot of "Black Swan". So I watched the movie again and probably some of the movies "feel" flew into the illustration. Awesome movie, really!
Instead I am turning into a magpie and not a swan

There is no stock involved really… The feather shapes were sketched after looking at google search results, same as the magpie colors. The body and face is mine

Okay, I think that is all and enough said… Just some close up for you to enjoy now



Hope you like it
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Comments: 34

sparkpenguin [2013-04-19 07:37:21 +0000 UTC]

wow-- the concept behind this was executed so beautifully, really stunning to look at and i LOVE the magpie-inspired palette!

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pica-ae In reply to sparkpenguin [2013-05-19 20:21:28 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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Asher-Bee [2011-09-11 08:11:45 +0000 UTC]

wwwooooooh O_O

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pica-ae In reply to Asher-Bee [2011-09-11 10:16:37 +0000 UTC]

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Vashtastic [2011-08-21 23:52:02 +0000 UTC]

i love it!

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pica-ae In reply to Vashtastic [2011-08-22 06:55:58 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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annajordanart [2011-08-21 16:45:39 +0000 UTC]

Loving how the final piece turned out :] Very mystic!

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pica-ae In reply to annajordanart [2011-08-21 19:03:08 +0000 UTC]

thank you I am glad it has a mystic touch

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Voltonwarsled [2011-08-21 04:53:33 +0000 UTC]

Waaayy cool

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pica-ae In reply to Voltonwarsled [2011-08-21 13:21:47 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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SRaffa [2011-08-20 20:57:11 +0000 UTC]

Striking and dramatic; unique and entirely compelling...

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pica-ae In reply to SRaffa [2011-08-20 21:53:24 +0000 UTC]

Thank you I am glad you like it

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GinkgoWerkstatt [2011-08-20 19:53:00 +0000 UTC]

Ist es ein Pinguin? Ist es eine Elster? Nein, es ist SUPERANNE!

Sieht toll aus! Da ich ja nun bei meinem neuen Job auch jeden Tag mit Vektoren arbeite - wer hätte sowas jemals gedacht - hatte ich auch schon überlegt, ob ich mich bei dem Contest mal mit einbringe. Aber ich glaube dafür reicht es doch noch nicht ganz

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pica-ae In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2011-08-20 20:06:21 +0000 UTC]

haha danke

oooooh macht' wenigstens spaß? bzw was machst du den genau (sorry falls ich es überlesen hab )
naja, contests sind der beste ansporn an die eigenen grenzen zu gehen

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to pica-ae [2011-08-20 20:11:05 +0000 UTC]

Naja muss mich da noch einleben. Ich bin jetzt bei nem Werbeservice wo nicht nur die Designs sondern auch die Anfertigung gemacht wird. Sprich erst das Design am PC basteln und dann je nachdem VK schneiden, Plakate drucken, Schilder herstellen oder Autos bekleben.

Ich weiß, aber hab momentan noch so viel anderes, was erstmal gemacht werden muss und dann ist Zeit bestimmt vorbei D:

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pica-ae In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2011-08-22 07:33:00 +0000 UTC]

ooh sowas kenn ich hab ich mal ein praktikum gemacht
autos bekleben hat sogar spaß gemacht und als ich das gemacht hab, wusste ich noch nicht mal was vektoren sind hab's auch tatsächlich erst Jahre später rausgefunden

ja, das stimme leider immer aber es gibt ja immer contests

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GinkgoWerkstatt In reply to pica-ae [2011-08-24 16:57:44 +0000 UTC]

Hab bislang nur zugeguckt, keine Ahnung ob ich mir das wirklich zutraue
Aber hab heute Stempel gemacht, das war interessant!

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pica-ae In reply to GinkgoWerkstatt [2011-08-25 10:12:16 +0000 UTC]

ist nicht so schlimm

hehe, ist doch super wenn es einen wenigstens interessiert was da passiert

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DomiSM [2011-08-20 12:57:20 +0000 UTC]

So beautiful, Anne!! Really love this...your eyes are stunning and I love the whole colour scheme!
I haven't even started on a self portrait yet, not sure if I'll get there So sick again right now, all I want to do is hibernate until I feel better!

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pica-ae In reply to DomiSM [2011-08-20 13:33:31 +0000 UTC]

thank you

oh noes sick is no good! Hope you get better soon

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DomiSM In reply to pica-ae [2011-08-21 10:42:30 +0000 UTC]

Thanks hun...me too

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pica-ae In reply to DomiSM [2011-08-21 17:06:48 +0000 UTC]

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alexandrasalas [2011-08-20 12:33:34 +0000 UTC]

Awesome colors and a great concept.

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pica-ae In reply to alexandrasalas [2011-08-20 13:08:46 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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alexandrasalas In reply to pica-ae [2011-08-21 03:36:54 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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pica-ae In reply to alexandrasalas [2011-08-21 10:51:05 +0000 UTC]

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BaB-Jane [2011-08-20 12:31:09 +0000 UTC]

OMG Awesome!!!!!! O___o
Looks like a superhero thingy

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pica-ae In reply to BaB-Jane [2011-08-20 13:15:50 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

now I look at it, it has someting Batman like
I mean, with that colors you'd have to be a slightly dark sided hero

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PatrickRuegheimer [2011-08-20 12:26:38 +0000 UTC]

Looks pretty epic but imo I don't like the textured stuff around your eyes.
Otherwise it looks kick-ass! ;D

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pica-ae In reply to PatrickRuegheimer [2011-08-20 13:31:25 +0000 UTC]

thanks well, I can't please everyone

but you mean, that there is some dark area at all or the way i added texture?

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PatrickRuegheimer In reply to pica-ae [2011-08-21 11:46:03 +0000 UTC]

Sure, I just wanted to write something more than 'awesome'.

dark area plus texture, looks kinda weird with that gradient. :0

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pica-ae In reply to PatrickRuegheimer [2011-08-21 12:49:10 +0000 UTC]

don't worry

mh I guess it's a bit weird that it's the only spot I applied a texture
so maybe it appears kinda there for no reason

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Charlene-Art [2011-08-20 12:26:09 +0000 UTC]

Really neat concept! Good luck! I like the morphing into a magpie element

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pica-ae In reply to Charlene-Art [2011-08-20 13:18:02 +0000 UTC]

thank you

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