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Amritha โ Howl
Published: 2011-08-25 17:22:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 1576; Favourites: 124; Downloads: 0
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Description
A wolf throws back its head, its mournful cry echoing through the snow-filled sky.Something of a spiritual successor to this piece:
See it without the mist here:
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I meant this to be a small piece for practice before I returned to school... but, it ended up being a more or less full-fledged work that took me several hours to complete!
I think I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. It's still somewhat painterly (which I like) but I think it's detailed enough to pass.Available as a print.
Or it will be anyway.-----
About 7.5 hours in CS5.
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Art ยฉย *Amritha 2011
Do not use without permission!
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Comments: 35
Hey there, I'm part of the #FeedbackFrenzy crazyness!
I really love the varying depths of the snow and mist. It's really beautiful and almost looks sparkly. It sets the mood well.
The only thing I can really think to critique is the face. The edges look way too clean around that area- there would still be some tiny little fur details.
The shading also needs work around the muzzle, I think it looks too two dimensional. Also I'm more drawn to the neck than the face because it's is darker than the neck area- it would be beneficial to lighten the face up to match methinks.
Beautiful work with the shading in the fur and I very much like that you've omitted the details in the lower left area- makes for a wonderful focal point around the right side. I also adore how this has a tint of blue. <3
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I write this critique as a part of the a.deviantart.net/avatars/f/e/fโฆ " alt=" " title="FeedbackFrenzy"/> week competition.
Pro:
First thing, what I want to say is, that the whole winter atmosphere is wonderfully done. Everything seems cold but soft as snow flakes are. The colors are very well choosen. This blue to green is wonderful..
And I love how you combinate the half transparent snowflakes with this 'snow dust' - it seems like as if a storm whipped up the snow.
The wolf is wonderfulls done, too. His fur seems so smooth. I love how you accentuate the different parts of the fur with all the spectrums of cold blue. Mainly his eye and neck is very well done! His golden eye is great, too, because it's done in a very realistic way!
Improvement
I'm just learning digital painting and so I cannot say so much. But there is one thing, I could imagine it would make it even better. His snout looks in contrast to his body a bit flat. I now, a wolf has not much fur on there, but you can but a bit there and add a few whiskers here. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/hโฆ " width="15" height="13" alt="
Overall Impression
I'm impressed, how soft and cute you let this wolf looks like and in the same moment he is majestic like in reality, because of his greatly done eye, his position and great fur. Everyone have to see all the work you set in this and it's truly great!
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Hi there! I'm here to bring you this critique as a part of a.deviantart.net/avatars/f/e/fโฆ " alt=" " title="FeedbackFrenzy"/>'s event
e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/sโฆ " width="15" height="15" alt="
Will start by first telling you that I absolutely LOVE wolves so my critique may be a little biased...sorry >"<...in a good waya.deviantart.net/avatars/h/e/hโฆ " alt=" " title="heplz"/>
But I must admit, the way you did the fur is very stunning and extremely realistic...I WANNA PET IT AND RUB IT AND NUZZLE INTO ITS FUR AND....ETC e.deviantart.net/emoticons/h/hโฆ " width="15" height="13" alt="
A few minor suggestions on what could be done to improve this piece even more:
ยค 1) After clicking full view and scrutinizing carefully, it becomes evident that there are a few details lacking in the wolf's face: the nostril (due to the lighting) would probably be defined, there should be whiskers off the muzzle, and perhaps a few more teeth? All of these could be easily added in just to make the wolf even better e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/bโฆ " width="15" height="15" alt="
ยค 2) If you wanted, maybe you could give a little more substance to the background (although the wolf does cover the majority of the picture...) You could add a small moon (doesn't have to be full if you don't want it to be stereotypical) that the wolf is howling at (or maybe even not, just in the bg is fine) that'll show some light. The way the mist is drawn automatically made me relate it to snow, so you could also include falling snow flakes if you want.
All in all, this is a very nice and smooth piece that gives off a bit of a lonely feel to it...but that's just me I suppose. I love the eeriness of the mist as opposed to not and really, no words for how amazing the wolf was done. Great job with this piece and I hope to see more from you in the future a.deviantart.net/avatars/i/l/iโฆ " alt=" " title="ilavplz"/>
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Hi there ^.^ For #FeedbackFrenzy , here's MewMewMizuno.
I'll start with telling you how much I love the fur. It looks thick, and warm, and I really want to bury my fingers in it.
The wolf looks very majestic and almost makes me feel humble. What adds to this feeling is the light fog and snow (?) that you used. It gives the work as a whole a slight sense of mystery, and I like that. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/sโฆ " width="15" height="15" alt="
You obviously knew what you were doing when making this. You have a great technique, and it shows that you put time and effort into this work. Compliments are certainly in order e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/sโฆ " width="15" height="15" alt="
While the body itself looks quite realistic, this effect is a bit lost when one takes a good look at the head. Don't get me wrong, the head looks very good, but also a little bit unfinished. For example, I'm missing whiskers. It looks like you still have to add a few details.
Overall, I have to say this is an impressive piece of work, and I hope to see plenty more. Have a nice day e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/bโฆ " width="15" height="15" alt="
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Hello Amritha!
Member of Team 21 here to give you Feedback within the challenge
First off all I want to say I like both versions you did, with and without the mist. The mist makes it looking more like it's a winter themed piece while without the mist it's looking more like something magical is coming out with it's howl.
The colours of this piece are very well chosen and I love the way you painted the fur. It's just excellent with a lot of details.
The mist is pretty well done, it fits to the overall painting style of this work.
What I think is a little odd in this piece is the eye. I can't really tell what it is but it's looking kind of strange to me. I can't really tell is it closed or half opened and is it green a little?
But maybe that's just me ^^
One improvement idea I have for the snout. It looks a little strange to me that there is only one tooth visible and it also looks like it is in the middle. If you compare it to this photograph which should be the same perspective [link] there would be both teeth visible.
All in all an awesome work and I can see a lot of improvement from the 2007 work.
Greetings, Selunia
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Hello
On to the bigger things now :3 I really love the added mist, it gives so much effect on it my mind is in confusion. That eye looks amazing also, it looks like it's closing (or opening) and that's interesting to capture something in-action. Now... the FUR, it's so good. Especcialy around the neck.
You have done quite an amazing work with this, but the head looks too plain, mostly the snout area until the eyes part. And under the eyes the part of fur is a bit too light (the small brushes). You could make those brushed parts a bit darker, and add more fur detail and whiskers to the snout. It would maybe make it better to add some shadows and darken the tooth a very slight amount. You could also try making the mouth a bit more detailed, it blends in very much with the rest.
It's a very awesome work anyways and I just love it. I'll be waiting to see Your other awesome and amazing work on dA and I'm sure You'll be able to refine skills to EVEN better, which is quite hard to do with Your already strong skills.
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Hello from yet another participant of #FeedbackFrenzy !
This is a very lovely painting, very well rendered with lovely texture. And although the concept is simple, I love it. Snow is such a beautiful thing and I think the atmosphere of it adds a lot to this image. For a crit, I agree that the wolf's head could use some work. For some reason it doesn't quite feel to me like he's howling, more like trying to catch snow in his mouth. I'm not sure what can be done to push the howling expression, but for some reason I feel like the half-opened eye and tongue are taking away from the effect. I've been looking at photos of wolves howling and although I know they don't always have their eyes closed, I think the ones that do feel more convincing to me (like this one [link] ). The snow also feels a little unnatural to me, like it's too sporadic. Snow tends to fall fairly evenly; they vary in size but they are rather equally spaced (like this [link] and this [link] ). But again, it's a wonderful image. I understand that this started off as a simple fur study, and I think it's awesome that you accomplished that goal and then pushed the image further into something poetic and beautiful. Very nicely done
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Hey, I'm from #FeedbackFrenzy !
I really like what you've done here; the snow combined with the way the eye is half-closed while howling gives it a kind of sad mood, like you mentioned in the comments. It actually seems like the wolf is hurting.
In the parts where you gave the hair texture, you did a really good job of it. The neck is especially good. For that reason, though, the face does seem a bit lacking in that respect. If you had that kind of detail on the snout and nose, it would take the picture to a whole new level, I think. As it is, the fur does have some texture there, which is good, I just feel like it would be even better with more detail put in.
Also, the wolf's mouth being open showed me a few things. For example, I think the opened mouth would go farther back for a wolf, and the lips(?) would not seem as round when they meet. It is also missing upper teeth and lower teeth that aren't the front ones. The tongue appears to be missing as well. These are little things, but they are still important, and would improve the picture quite a bit.
That said, though, you've got a good picture here, and I can tell you're on the right track here, so keep it up!
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From feedback frenzy team #4~
The gracefully places strokes and the frosted lighting gives this piece a wintery yet soft aura.
The detail and "painty" technique used here is very unique, I love the feeling behind the wolf's eyes really stands out.
You could of given the background a different shade or tone to make the wolf stand out a little more but overall this is a magnificent piece.
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eviri here, from #FeedbackFrenzy #35
Your lighting is pretty consistant and definitely coming from one source, excellant!
One thing that really stands out to me the shape of the wold's head. It seems too small, the skull isn't long enough. Really study pictures and see how proportionate things are to each other. A good way to do this is to use a grid. Place a grid over a stock image and a grid over a blank canvas then you can focus one only one square at a time, it's pretty useful. But always use references.
Great job lighting the different textures, the sharper gleams on the eye, mouth and nose, and softer highlights on the fur!
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Hi! I'm in the contest, and I just want to start by saying that I absolutely love this!! 8D
I think the mist was done quite well and the fur looks amazing! I especially love the shading. You can tell just by looking at it that a long amount of time and a large amount of effort was put into this. Keep up the amazing art!!
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It's quite nice. The fur especially. I've tried doing fur, like that, once. . . it was a poor attempt. XD
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This isn't even the best ever. It was fun to work on though. And you always learn a lot just from trying stuff like this.
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Having time for trying is the hard part.
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The fog and fur on this image is great! Keep up the great work
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amazing job even for just a small piece of practice 
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I'm too dumbfounded to form a rational comment. So beautiful.
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That's gotta be the best, though. When you're just sitting there, thinking, "Oh, I'll just do this real quick" and then it becomes a whole big work all on its own.
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Haha! Exactly. I thought, "I'll just practice some fur and fluff. I wanna make it a little more realistic like so-and-so..." ... and then... BOOM! It was ... awesome. And for once I'm happy with something I've done.
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Well, it's a learning experience. That's never bad.
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wooow!!! It is so sweet!! hahaha
though you should have done the mutt longer X3
the atmosphere calms down my spirit O___O
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Thank you!
Yes, I agree as I look on it again - the snout could've been a little bit longer. Meh, maybe he's just an individual with an short snout?
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