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VGiselleH — War Horse
Published: 2010-04-20 23:44:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 912; Favourites: 24; Downloads: 14
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Description
Since I'm really busy right now I wasn't allowed (by myself) to start any new art. So I decided to sneak behind my own back and work on an old unfinished piece instead. I totally fooled myself succesfully.I'm starting wonder about my sanity.
Anyway, it's Geaven! He was so in need of a new image D: I started this one over a year ago when I decided I wanted a new image of him to use in my signature at UV [link] but yeah, I lost interest in this image at the time.
It's weird background, I know. It's even weirder when you know it started as a grassy meadow and somehow morphed into this...!
Oh and the title doesn't fit either, I know. It's what I called the file and I couldn't think of anything better O.o Besides, it's kind of funny that the image and title are contradicting.
EDIT: I forgot his black wing tips!! >.< What is it with me and forgetting those black tipped feathers??
...must fix some day...EDIT 2: Added them.
Geaven © Me
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Comments: 27
This is amazing I love the darker tones almost a midnight blue effect making the horn and hooves stand out so much better.
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I'd never quite looked at it that way, but you're right, it does have a very nice contrast! And thank you ^_^
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Great job. and I love the golden hoofs and horn!
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Thank you! And hardly anyone comments on the gold on my unis, so I'm glad you did ^_^
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Glad you like it ^_^
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I don't know... I think "War Horse" fits. (never minding the fact he's a winged unicorn)
To me, this one has an "Onward to Battle" feel about it. Could be the strong dark colour- but this character seems like a warrior/protector of his clan (herd).
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He is/was. In his old herd he was a Guardian, meaning he and others like him protected the herd. Where he lives now he still refers to himself as a guardian, but his role is more general now in the sense that he simply tries to create a safe place to live and uphold the peace (and generally fails because we're mean like that).
I like how you got this "onward to battle" feel from it. I sort of wondered if maybe this was a scene before or after an intense battle, possibly reflecting on what happened, or preparing for it.
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Cool. Yeah- we are. But lets face it, a story where everything is peaceful and goes the way characters want would be
a) Boring
b) Short
Again- could be the dark tones, but I'm thinking heading INTO battle. It's the dark sky in the background that suggests that to me... Think it brings up "It's always darkest before the light" kinda feeling.
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But lets face it, a story where everything is peaceful and goes the way characters want would be
a) Boring
b) Short
Everything we want a dangerous situation to be in real life, but not in a story.
As for it being a pre-battle scene, I suddenly had an image of him primping in the reflection of the water to practice his scary face for the bad guys in battle
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Ya- you know, somehow that image just doesn't seem to carry the same atmosphere of the one you did.
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Somehow I get the feeling his chest is a bit small compared to his usual massive body. Also a bit of a poor compositional choice to have the tail edge meld with the trailing edge of his wing, it makes the whole pose a bit confusing to the eye.
He looks suitably fierce though! And the hair is really well done! 
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Griatch
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Well whaddaya know, his chest really is small! For him anyway. I don't know how I could have missed that in the sketch. I upped the size but now the rest of his body looks small. I'll have to catch this sooner next time.
I wasn't happy with the wing tail position either, the problem is that the wing grew in size at the last moment. I changed it a bit now to cover the tail more so to smooth the transition and hopefully take the attention away from that part. Did it work?
Thanks for the comment! ^_^
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The tail is better!
but the chest ... it's still damn small compared to the size of his neck and head. Alas all the change did was to make you notice it more; I'd suggest changing it to the previous look, that at least didn't stand out as much, sorry. ^_^;
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Griatch
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Nu uh, no changing it back (besides, I forgot to back up the original so it's lost>.> ). I changed his whole body instead. Still a relatively small chest compared to what it's supposed to be, but bigger in general!
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Lol, fair enough. 
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Griatch
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I apparently messed up anyway though *points at dd's comment above* All your fault ^_~
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..when did the end of his tail turn blue? Did I just miss that somewhere along the line? o.O
Hardly an in-depth comment or critique, I know. 
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Uh yeah, the tail tip >.> It was always blue and then I'd go black-happy on it while coloring. I suppose you make a good point though, to be consistent I should keep the tip mostly black *does so* There ^_^ Thanks dd!
Oh btw, I almost forgot the (hint of a) back wing and when I noticed this I immediately thought of you
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Alrighty, an actual comment with (possibly) at least something useful buried in it. Also, I shall take that "thought of you" as a compliment of the highest order, just because I can.
The apparent texture of his body here is a nifty departure from your usual style, and the water is very nicely done. Also, of course, I like the colors (how could I not?) and the mane and tail have a very natural feel. The feathering isn't quite there yet, but I would also imagine that it's much tougher to get, being so much shorter and connected to what are, essentially, equine knuckles. The tailtip is much less distinctly blue now, which I think matches previous depictions of Geaven a bit better than the original. Kudos!
The potentially useful things (I make no promises):
--The horn's spiral appears to stop about three-quarters of the way down, where the horn itself goes fuzzy and undefined. It looks like it could be a possible side effect of a forelock position change somewhere along the line, if I had to guess.
--His chest has a very sharp outline compared to rest of his body, which I think is a direct result of edits based on Griatch's comments; I don't recall noticing it originally. My main issue with this is the sharp contrast to all the other body outlines, but also lighting. The chest should be in shadow, yes, but he's above a lake that should be reflecting some light up on his underside (as seems to be already occurring a bit on his legs).
--The chest also looks a bit funny with the pose now, as if balance has been shifted just a bit out of whack somewhere, but I can't pinpoint anything specific on that and I'm not sure now if it was that way before or if it's due to the fixes.
--His cheek-to-chin profile transition seems unusually heavy-handed here, though that may just be because I'm accustomed to seeing Gaeva's profile and it's merely a difference in body type.
--I haven't gone picking colors to check, but my eyes are telling me rather persistently that the underside of his wing is in far more saturated blues than any other part of him. This might be an intentional effect of light filtering through feathers, I admit, but it keeps drawing my attention so I thought I'd mention it.
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I also like the background, but there are two things that stuck out.
--The blue-to-sand fade, while fitting the picture, has absolutely no connection to the shoreline. Logically I would have expected the sand to be blue and darker along the edge, where it would be wet, and fade to dry sand away from the water.
--Geaven seems a bit disconnected from the background as a whole, which I think is because there is no indication in the sand that he actually exists there. There are no hoofprints showing how he got there, and no indentations where he's standing currently. Even bugs half an inch long leave trails in sand, generally, and Geaven is a big fellow. Without something in the sand, it looks like he's either standing on cement or just a ghost.
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It was a compliment, you're in my head giving directions ^_~
You caught me on the horn, that was a stupid mistake, caused by the changes indeed. Quickly added the lower spirals. The same goes for the chest outline and shape. Fixed those now as well I think.
His cheek to chin transition is supposed to be a bit rougher compared to Gaeva, or that's how I tend to draw him, but I haven't done a lot with him in style, so it may just be a bit of practice to make it look more natural.
You're right about the feathers on his wings. In an old Gaeva image of her flying I managed to get this great looking effect of the light sort of shining through the feathers that I've been trying to replicate ever since, but can't seem to get the hang of. That's what's up with the colors there. I changed it.
As for the background, I'm not touching that one, lol. It became a beach by accident and I didn't touch that. As for his hoof prints, maybe he flew there ^_~ ...No? Ok then, hoof prints added. Those are harder than they look...!
Thank you dd, this was very useful. And like with that back wing previously, you caught the silly horn mistake this time, lol. I can always count on you to point out the to me invisible obvious ^_~
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Me giving anyone directions is a dangerous way to start the day.
Horn looks good. Chest is still a bit different than the rest of the body, but I think the difference is all in the shading/lighting now -- sharpness is gone, huzzah! Anyway, it's much less obvious now, so I approve.
Light is tricky anyway, so I can only imagine it would be especially tricky to capture when it's filtering through feathers first. Here's to hoping you figure out what you did, somewhere along the line!
The addition of hoof prints really help tie the background and foreground together, I think. Nicely done.
Last but not least, you're welcome! Always happy to help. ^_^
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Guuuh, I have always loved your 'painting' style. It all just works so well together, shading and the detail in the hair and wings and everything~
I also loves the grainy feel in the sand. <:3
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Thank you so much ^_^ I kinda like the sand, but I'm not sure it looks like sand, it just...feels like sand, or maybe the other way around
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