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Yakra โ The Minstrel
Published: 2006-04-19 11:27:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 1364; Favourites: 43; Downloads: 123
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Description
Medium: Gouache on WasliTime: 1 month (1 month on this?! What on earth was I doing?!)
I've kind of realized I hate making commissions. I never know what to make, and I hate making something knowing it'll be gone even before its complete. -.-' To make things worse... the person commissioning me wanted to make paintings on the 'beauty of the creation of God'. Does this qualify?
*feels like making airships instead*
It looks like a greetings card or something...
And I can see soooo many faults. (First one to point out the biggest glaring fault gets a... er... sketch! [nothing else I can offer!
]) I regret putting the orange on her cape. Somehow... I wanted her to be skinny and boney but she really doesn't seem like that.Since I was thinking of making a series which do you think I should continue with?
- The story of King Yazitra XII and the water goddess (well it was originally going to go with that - the city at the back is Toile, Yazitra's city)
- Tree of life (all silly pretty fairies and bards)
- The moon! (and all sorts of craziness! Yip... I love starry skies and moons
)[Random complaint: I think my miniatures may qualify as... 'pretty' but I find them lacking the er... life other paintings may have? Em... don't they look so... plastic?
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Comments: 38
I was wondering if I could use your painting as an inspiration for something, I'm doing this thing when I take art from my friends and create my version of there painting.
I haven't uploaded anything yet but will soon
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I adore the leaves on the tree...the colors on them are so beautiful.
I have no critique to give because I could hardly ever come up with something so pretty myself!
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I'm surprised you actually like this. I didn't when I first made it. It's now grown on me too.
The comissioner didn't like the colors either.
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Oh, just one thingy: is that a star against the dark side of the moon...? 
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Heh heh heh... I wonder if anybody else noticed that wayward star? Yes.... it is more than a wee bit weird!
Actually, I had made the crescent and even the star when I decided I wanted to outline the dark side too. That actually led to the revelation that the star was inside the moon! Sooooo...... *shall declare this weirdo phenomenon a -starry eclipse?* XD
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this just became another of my hot favourtites, amazing colors, so truly Japenese, i belive you have a great talent to make the Japense scratch their heads at their own game .. keep up the good work
and umm i added you to my msn .... see if you got my request ...
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Are you kidding me!?!?! This is gorgeous and the orange cape totally works! You did an awesome job 
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That was a very trippy commission. It sounds more like a subject for meditation than anything else. That considered, this came out insanely well. I really don't see a single flaw in this. The atmosphere is so peaceful and the whole thing is really beautiful!
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Now that you mention it.. it does sound like a meditation subject! XD It just seemed like such a bother... (like all commissions do! XD) that I just slapped paint on the wasli and got it over with. I guess that's why I didn't like it too much either.
You all have kind of convinced me otherwise. Thanks!
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*needs to commish you* xDDD
Lovin' the tree~<33333
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I'll make you something for free one day! Giftie! XD
I'm sooooooo lazy though....
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Plastic? 0_0
We need pretty paintings! And Im not talking about the cliche flower vases and idealistic landscapes sort, now those are silly. Pics like these are like windows into another world. If you're maybe thinking its too 'escapist', I wish I could find that essay by Tolkien on how important escapism(specifically the fantasy related sort) can be for our sanity sometimes. Besides, minimalist/abstract paintings and installations are so... well relatively unexciting 
Really beautiful! And I love how everything looks so glowy and magical! Especially the pearly irradescent colors 
o_o;... Okay, thats quite a lot of typing
Plastic...? 0_o
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Nah, you pretty much answered my question.
But there's also a very fine line between cliche flower vases and overly pretty girls. Especially with the 2d stylization of everything in miniature, everything become sooo... decorative! (Even aside from miniature, most of the most gorgeous anime drawings you see around here... they're pretty but... I don't know they're lacking something. I'm afraid of being like that.) It all depends on the viewer... what do they see? This could be the 'idealistic landscape'?
Ah I'm just blabbing and making no sense now!
I really don't like minimalistic art very much. Not everything's boring, there have been some intallations/paintings that I do like. But I've lost even more respect for minimalistic/abstract miniatures since I've learnt most adopt that 'style' since it's the easy way out - splash tea wash on wasli, draw a figure, it looks cool enough and you can make money. I'd rather force people to look at the 'other' place! (and not talk about the problems of this world. [this is very mean of me to say so actually, since most of meh friends have trotted down this path])
(And now I'm actually moving away from my plastic-ey concerns and moving onto other panic attacks soooo.... *shuts up* )
Basically, at times I feel its too decorative, and actually misses out on the emotion (if that's what you can call it) other mediums can convey.
Mweh! You'll have an amazing thesis jury! You can convince a person very well!
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I think its that very fine line you spoke of that seperates an installation from being an 'undraap'. Thats just the way art is I guess
You're painting might be idealistic, but its still not cliche.... Y'know the chara design, city/architecture, stylization, color palette and stuff, its the stuff you thought up, as an individual. and thus it has that personal stamp thing of individuality. *has started rambling~* And yay for pretty pics and things, as long as there pretty in an unstereotypical sort of way. Prettiness used the right way can even make a person cry with joy, think Final Fantasy; Advent Children! @_@
You'r very right about minimalistic stuff...now *thats* escapism*cackle* no straining the brain to think up visuals
OOh! And look
[link] I don't agree on some of the things regarding fantasy and painting not working that well though
Won't you're panic attacks leave you be. Oh speaking of panic attacks, did you have to mention the word that must not be mentioned. Me? Convincing?
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I've decided! First a moon pic and then a Yazitra one. Who cares if the commissioning person dies of impatience by then! XD
(Funny signature by the way!
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Awesome pic! I really like the different colors you used for the leaves and I think you should continue doing the series with The story of King Yazitra XII and the water goddess.
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I think I might just continue with the King's story. I feel like making his clothes! XD (Stuuuupid reason! 
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Thats not a stupid reason. If thats what you want to do thats cool!
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Wow it looks so beautiful... that night sky.. amazing job ^.^ and the castles in the distance.. 
She does look skinny by the way.. o.o and the orange looks good on her..it gives some nice contrast ^_^!!
Also the harp!Looks ..magical! O_O
Okeey another fave from me :'D!! Just love your work sooo much~
Hmm who is King Yazitra XII ? o.O; *is curious* go on with that one!!
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Yep! She tells a story about what befell in the city of Toile! The castle looks detailed?! 
I'm making a lot of mistrels these days aren't I?
I might actually go ahead with Yazitra's tale. If nothing else, I really want to make a single painting of him atleast!
King Yazitra XII is the current ruler (or whatever you can call current in this world
His story though is when he saw a dream about the water goddess and decided he must have her as his wife. (Toรฎlians look up to Aquina (and Luna) loads since they say when she danced in the waters it was actually in the place that is now Toรฎle.)
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This picture is really beautiful. I love the suttle backgroud that seems to go on for quite some time. The detail in the tree is also lovely. The simplisity of this piece really adds to it. One suggestion I might point out though is her body's posture. It would seem more natural to have her leaning into the instrument- almost hugging the harp. She appears stiff. And the other small detail is her hair. The natural flow of her hair should have more waviness. Other than that though, this piece is beautiful. As I have said before, I love the simplicity, the almost minimalist appearence. Great work! ^^
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Em... after going through all of your comments, I'm actually starting to be ok with this painting... 
(and the hair! XD Yeh... technically she has a veeery bad haircut, neh? If one strand is soooo long its poking out of the painting! *blames it on persian stylization! XD* )
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Glad that you feel better about the painting and I understand what you mean about just feeling as if you can't something drawn. Happens to me all the time.
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as much as I would love a sketch, and would love to give you useful crit, I can't find much wrong with this 
she's skinny and boney enough, really oO looks willowy to me, and that's what I imagine an elf to look like normally
I love love LOVE the background here... the cityscapes and the water and the sky <3 Technically, the grass might be a little too bright green for a nightscape, but it doesn't bother me on a subjective level and doesn't stand out too much.
I love the gradient in the leaves of the tree too, and you put something in this pic which I really love: Bordering! Well, not really. More like 'suggested' borders, and things like the leaves, tree stem and her hair coming out of it... I love things like that! I always want to try something like this myself, but I end up forgetting about it and thinking about it only when I've FINISHED a pic. Bleh.
I'd love to see all of the pics you have planned, I'm sure they'd all look beautiful! The moon... well I love the moon too XD; the tree of life sounds interesting as well, and the pic with the water godess would definitely be great, knowing how you handle blue and watery stuff in your paintings so wonderfully. I'm babbling nonsense. I should say something that makes sense. Like don't think about it, just draw/paint it!
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Ah well... you got close to the biggest blah I made in the painting! But you couldn't find it so no sketch yet! (actually.... no one seems to have noticed it yet... maybe I'm just paranoid? 
Ok I'm really surprised you like the leaves because that's one of the things that bothered me in the beginning the most. Somehow, I found the colors too light and well... weird. (I settled down and actually started liking them later though...) I know the ground is actually too bright for a nighttime scene (or twilight as I was thinking) but... hey! In miniature paintings the sense of light and dark is usually woonked anyways, and I wanted a slightly magical feel. But does it give the magical effect I wanted?
All the pic I have planned? Eh heh heh heh...
(aaaannnd... I'm sure whichever topic I choose, blue is sure to creep in! >.>
I might make a moon one next. Let's see...
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lol it's okay about the sketch (I actually felt like an ass because I'm always eager to crit, and I've experienced that some people don't appreciate that - in their eyes I probably seem to always want to find something to nag on, which isn't true. I want to find something I can point out to help them improve, but I guess sometimes I just don't know when it's appreciated and when not. So I felt even worse when critting your piece - especially since you mentioned the sketch. I would've loved to get a sketch but didn't want to seem like an ass who's BOTH eager to nag and even wants to get something for it, you see?
It MIGHT be that you're being a bit paranoid about the pic. People just see your pictures differently than you do! That's why many people post their work to get crit on errors they themselves might not even notice! Or why people post up tons of pics, but the ones that people like the most are those pics of which the creator didn't even think anyone would like. In that case, there's often just something about the pics that the creator doesn't see - one tends to ignore thing or get used to them the longer one occupies themselves with it. I might draw a pic of a woman, and get one of her legs completely twisted, but I don't notice it. Instead, I'm paranoid about the facial expression. In the end I would upload it and people would comment on the twisted leg and I'd say "omg how could I not see this!?", but some might also say they like the facial expression I stressed so much about - it's sometimes just a matter of personal perception.
As I said - the light ground is fine and I've noticed the flawed physical logics of miniatures, so yes - why care about it
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Oh dang, this just blows my recent submission away!! 
SO PRETTY. I love the moon! It looks really mystical somehow. The border around the picture gives it a very contemporary look too. And I love the harp. And the tree. And the colours. Dammit, I love everything!
Hmm, I vote for the 'tree of life' theme. It sounds like there's a lot you can do with that.
UGH. I WANT TO RIP YOU TO SHREDS AND STEAL YOUR TALENT MWAHAhahahahaaaaaaaaa~
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>.> Your submission is much much better than this!
I WANT TO RIP YOU TO SHREDS AND STEAL 'YOUR' TALENT!!!!! XD (let's exchange! I would love to have your cg-ing skills! XD)
But thanks! ^.^ I did want a slightly er... 'mystical' look. Kind of like pretty magical stuff and all (even though there's no magic here! Only a... minstrel!)
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I really like this, I think it has many great qualities...I can't find much of anything to critisize! It's beautiful! If I had commissioned it, and you gave it to me, I'd prolly love you forever. So no worries! Damn you are so good! Don't beat yourself up (though as an artist that is impossible not to do. So just be more gentle with your self!)
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That's so cool. I love everything about this piece. It gives me a calm feeling.
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That's a fast comment! Em... thanks! (hey! someone actually likes this?!)
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