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Zedrin — Celestia by the Spring
Published: 2012-08-30 00:08:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 28807; Favourites: 1805; Downloads: 3556
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Description
I did this just as a personal thing, so I could get a print made to have signed by Nicole Oliver when I go to Canterlot Gardens. Wish I had thought of to do something like this for Everfree with a Luna print, to get a signature from Tabitha St. Germain.Spent 3 days working on this and several hours. Before mergers there was like 92 layers. It was a chance for me to revisit water and diffusion.
Thank you MLPDrawingSchool for your help and feedback, really helped me to bring this piece together. (Also thanks to my friends at SFS for giving me preliminary feedback.)
This one is formatted for wallpaper, 1080p. If you'd like to buy the full resolution as a print yourself, you can get it here: Redbubble
-Critiques appreciated-
edit: thanks for all the favs and feedback. I literally poured everything I had into this piece, so I couldn't be happier.
small update: Well, looks like Nicole had something come up, so sadly she won't be able to make it to CG. Ah well... If she happens to go to another con that I'm able to make it to, I'll just have to bring it with me then.
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Comments: 102
The divine goddess of the sun itself in all her glory taking a relaxing bath in her very own spring, I bet this is near Canterlot or something. I can have an idea about all the hard work that was done to make this one look just the way it is: simply awesome. It makes me feel lucky to see Celestia without all those things she usually wears, it sure feels good to walk around without them just like a normal pony in a random day. The style used on her magic mane while being wet is amazing, the combination between her upper body and her lower parts is quite good too, mixing them all together with the water and make it look realistic is a true test for all artists, mastering that one technique in particular is indeed hard. Even the rocks look quite detailed too, after countless hours of hard work, the final result was worth the patience, I do think Celestia herself would feel proud of having this moment of her life captured in all its glory to have a good look at her most innocent self. Nice drawing and superb skills!!!
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Stunning. This piece has so much detail and effort put into it that many will look and only Celestia relaxing in a pool with a waterfall and miss on the little things that really pull everything together. I love how there are several separate streams in the waterfall, it adds depth that would otherwise be lacking.
The texture on the rocks is very good, and I love the fact that you weren't afraid of putting some of the rocks in the foreground to give that extra bit of depth to the picture.
The water distortion is simply phenomenal! The fact that the distortion around her forelegs is much more pronounced than that of the water around her flank show how her body blocks the current from the waterfall and calms a small area of water. And bubbles!
Even the little fringe of plants with a hint of brown suggesting a tree there to cast the sunlight into those tasteful beams. All of those little things really pulled the scene together for the focus.
Your rendition of Celestia is stunning. Some may argue about being able to see individual hairs, but I think that without those details her wondrous mane would seem flat and lifeless compared to the rest of the picture.
I'm forced to drop a half tick on originality only because I've seen a fair number of Celestia in water/by a waterfall pics prior to this one. Otherwise, top marks for you!
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Just a half? I would've dropped more. xD
Thanks for the feedback, though. The foreground rocks I do feel I could've inserted into the environment a bit better, tbh.
The water distortion actually wasn't too hard to do. 
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An absolutely beautiful drawing!
The distortion of the water is a subtle but very nice touch that makes it feel quite real and believable. Same with the light rays. Aside from how you captured Celestia's sort of natural beauty, I really like the background. Because of it's smooth look, it adds a lot to the drawing without being distracting. The waterfall in particular is very pretty!
Overall, it speaks wonders of calm and contentedness - Celestia's expression, slightly ruffled-looking mane and wings spread in the water, along with the setting make it a very relaxing and peaceful drawing.
Again, spectacular drawing! Perhaps one of my all-time favorite pony drawings. I would definitely buy a print of this! e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b… " width="15" height="15" alt="
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This piece was one of the greatest things I have seen from you. You said you poured all you had into this piece, and I must say, that's how it looks. You didn't skip one tiny detail, you did the water well, the rocks were textured, the underwater things were done great and her mane has so much detail within it. In your first drawing, I was hard-pressed to find criticism for what you did (Still using it as a wallpaper) and now, I just feel like I'm pushing myself through a steamroller to do it. The only problems I had were, in fact, the mane, for starters. (Maybe a little too much work and the strands, but that could just be to keep it in theme, so feel free to ignore this) and perhaps the ever-so-slightly unnatural wing size. All in all, I'd give it a 9.8.
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This picture has a wonderful and calming setting, a spring in which the water is realistically drawn and shaded, which applies to every rock and blade of grass. The feathers upon Celestia's wings are shaded astoundingly in the same fashion.I like the way her hair sparkles and pools out around her, it makes her very calm and believable.
However, the hair was given a lovely texture and shine in which the wings were not. The wings should probably have a feathery look to them, and there should be a few more bubbles where the water falls of the ledge. Finally, if she is relaxed, you could possibly show her eyelids closing.
Overall this is an amazing painting that needs only a few minor details adjusted.
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Wow. First, let me say this piece caught my eye right away! Good job on that.
Vision: I like this piece of art. I can tell the theme of the piece well.
Originality: I can't give you THAT many points for originality since there are many pieces with princesses in water, but extra points for the awesome waterfall!
Technique: I just LOVE the hair. The sparkle gives a nice touch. And the eyes look amazing as well! The horn looks a teeny bit long and the wing comes from an awkward place though. The part where the wing touches the body could be a little higher. Also, the wing looks a bit too long, or maybe thats just me. The feathers kind of look... unfeathery. I don't know how to say it. They look really poofy.
Oh, and I LOVE the texture of the background. It really adds a nice effect to the picture. The bubbles were a very nice touch! Your anatomy seems correct to me, too.
Impact: This is sooooooooooo nice; I love it! ^_^
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I don't critique very often, so excuse my rustiness XD
I'll do pros and improvements:
Pros:
- Celestia's anatomy looks wonderful.
- The shading is great! Her mane and tail look really well done and I can tell you put a lot of time into her.
- The composition is good and works very well.
- The background is laid out well (If you know what I mean)
Improvements:
- I'm no expert at drawing water, but to me it looks a little... flat and sort of blurry. Maybe if you added some more defined ripples around Celestia and around the waterfall, and boosted the colour balance/saturation a bit, it might look less flat and fit in better as the rest of the scene is quite vibrant.
- The mist near the 'end' of the waterfall is very thick and blurred for the angle the water seems to be coming from (It basically looks like a small waterfall), maybe lower the opacity of it in places so we can see where the waterfall and the pool meet.
- When a subject is in water, the water tends to leave a 'ripply' effect near to the pbjects/things placed in the water, Its quite hard for me to explain, so I recommend getting references of people or animals in water so you can see how it reflects off someone.
Overall this piece is beautiful and visually appealing, I really like it and I think you are a wonderful artist. Next time, I would say to try and define certain things more and blur them a little less, although this looks really good, It could look even better e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/h… " width="15" height="13" alt="
~Xifox
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Thanks for the objective feedback! I do feel that the water around the edges of the body and rocks was where I got a little lazy, in hindsight. D: Water is also a weakness which is part of why I chose this arrangement for the piece, so I could get some crash-course practice and force myself to improve.
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Its no problem! I'm glad I could help ^^
I think water is a weakness for most artists, me included, but for someone who's weakness is water, It's pretty darn good
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This picture is just perfect. the Detail is perfect, the lighting is perfect, the shadows, the colors, the effects, everything is perfect. I especially like the younger Celestia tone and the eagerness and curiosity. This just shines as a cute and even epic in my perspective. The hair is fluffy but just, ans the eyes are very calling. The wings in the water is something I would never see, and the people at Equestria Daily will love this.
Yeah son, I just e-mailed this to Equestria Daily! Prepare to get famous! Congrats bro, you just won a watcher, and my personal favorite. celestia is one of my favorite ponies just my her design, and you just blew it even higher.
Kudos-
Brony78
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Lol prepare to get famous xD? Dude he's Zedrin I thought he already was xD.
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Thanks for the praise, but do note no piece is perfect. xD And thanks for the note to EQD!
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One has a gentle and calm feeling,
but it is beautiful.
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Glob. Anytime I see wet Celestia, I can't just help but fav. Her hair is utterly beautiful.
I especially like how it glistens in the sun.
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Beautiful.
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I'm an art retard, but I really like how you did the refractions, especially with the running water.
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Gracie! Water is a might challenging. Admittedly I cheated a bit on the refractions, using a bit of clever masking and a filter. xD
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Well it looks good regardless. :U
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Celestia always has a Guardian, the Guardian is her protector, know of her innosence, the Pegadragon from her vision, the Seventh Element of Harmony...The Jersey Devil AKA John Leeds. (Fanfiction)
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I love seeing this picture. I'm a huge Celestia fan.
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It's absolutely a wonderful piece. I can only find three things I'd have done differently on purpose (though if I'd tried it I would have messed up the whole thing by accedent): First, the wing shoulder joint seems long and unfluffy. Yes, that's sort of cannon. Yes, I think it could look a little smoother, and less like a pool noodle bridging the wing and body. Second, there's too much depth in the wings for my taste. Maybe it's because of lighting I don't understand, but it looks weird. Third, her eye seems more catlike - perhaps it's too short?
Again, that's the only three things I can nitpick, in an otherwise fantastic piece. I wish I could art like that.
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A few people have commented on the wing, actually. Think the joint may have been too thick and too far forward. As for the eye, I don't really see the cat-like shape, unless you mean more about the overall shape as opposed to the pupil.
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The overall shape. Comparing it to screenshots, I think it's more the middle/front isn't quite as tall; from left to right, I think it should open faster/steeper, and then taper. Compare the eyes on [link]
I think it makes her look like she's squinting or tense, but the rest of her expression doesn't back it up.
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Well, I'm not going for 100% show accuracy, though I think the thing is I didn't make the eyelashes long enough/give her enough of an eyelid. The pupil in the show is exceptionally large, so I wasn't aiming for that, a slight size reduction to me seemed more feasible.
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That is BEAUTIFUL! I honestly have no idea how people can draw like that. I'm just happy that you're willing to share your talent with the rest of the world. Thanks for letting the rest of us indulge in some crazy awesome artwork!
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Gosh, You have improved incredibly since the first drawing I saw from you.
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I look back to 4 months ago and I'm blown away myself to how much has changed. o-o
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This is so gorgeous! Great job, I love it! The hair and wings are drawn beautifully <3
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