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balaa β Life Is a Magic Thing
Published: 2005-02-20 06:14:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 23159; Favourites: 458; Downloads: 3666
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Description
I'm trying to avoid uploading too much tlk themed work on deviant but with this one I can't resist! I adore the way the background came out in this pic. More importantly I feel a need to upload something....uplifting and simply...happy. I've been depressed for some time, some days going better than others and perhaps in an odd way this picture has been my..therapy! Things are getting better and I'm trying to let myself smile more
. So for any of you that are depressed out there, I hope this picture allows you to smile at least for a few seconds! Trust me it would do us all good to smile a little more and frown a little less!A commission for Tenebrous Feline, my friend Nick, of his char Tau with mate Balaa. He seems to take some sort off odd pleasure in tormenting poor Balaa by singing ghastly uplifting songs about enjoying life. This picture is based on a song of equal name"Life is a Magic Thing" from Ferngully. I think I listened to the song 200 bazillion times while working on this pic. The caption for Balaa is "The things I have to put up with".
A little about the bg. I started with a rather plain simple jungle bg..typical greens, yellows etc. Well after getting all the layers down I looked at it and looked at the pose of Tau and couldn't resist but to spice it up a bit. So I went through the layers just randomly changing the colors to something on the more wild part of the color spectrum....until finally this was born!
Size of bg: 114 mb
Final size of psd file with Merged BG layer: 103 mb
Dimensions: 4450 pixels x 5625 pixels
Layers total 20.
Related content
Comments: 88
No problem! ^^ ::floofed:: I watched Ferngully today and thought of yew! X3
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what is with the "x" scar on his hind -quarters?
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I actually haven't a clue what it stands for or how the char earned it. I was just told about the new scar and asked to incorporate it...so thats what I did
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okies... 
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Hehe! The expressions in this are well defined. Background is nicely done.
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LOL!!! This is so adorable Balaa!! I just love the facial expressions
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Ha this made me smile. The colours are lovely and liven the pic up so much
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I have been fighting depression as well, the picture is so cute!
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cool!!
i love the background and rvrey thing its great!!
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THe expressions on the face are funny. The plant colors are well mixed and came out well. Great job as always ^.^ *hugs*
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ohh god this rocks so badly XDD
it made me smile. this this -> n_______________________________________ _________________________________n
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Hey, cool! It reminds me of the TLK musical.
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That's so awesome Balaa!! Love Tau's expression. :3 And the background is ace, wonderful job!
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Verry verry nice picture. I love the background! This picture looks like it came straight from TLK movie
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Oh goodness. Do I even have to say anything? You know what will come from me.
I absolutely ADORE that background! The colors are absolutely splendid! My favorite is the sharp contrast of the red leaves of the trees to the yellow background. Their trunks are also very impressive. And contrary to what Steve20 suggested, I don\'t believe blurring the trees would be a good idea, since that is what drew me into the image. Perhaps blurring the bottoms but leaving the tops as they are so that the trees appear to be leaning forward, but the brilliant read is a great eye-catcher.
I also love the shading on Tau\'s mane. Very much like an animation cel. His paws are also very well done.
And again, the colors are so vibrant! Wonderful work overall! I love the concept of the uplifting songs with a Just Can\'t Wait To Be King odd-colored background. Awesome.
And Ferngully songs are awesome. My favorite was \"It\'s raining like magic/it\'s falling like starlight/it\'s raining like magic/it\'s raining life! - The forest is breathing/the birds are rejoicing/the trees are all singing/hey, it\'s raining life!\" Haaa - and I can\'t believe I remember that. *lame*
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Well ya know I don't mind your lengthy comments in the least! Sometimes they help me find the positive in my won work..which I should try to focus on more 
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Very very impressive! You border is good, characters are superb, BG is fantastic.
This picture is over all very good, but there are things you could do to make it EXTREEMLY GOOOD!!! I would just love to add some little touches in there.
MY CRATIQUE
The plants far off in the BG are a little too hard - try to soften them with a sight blur, this will add more depth to the picture. Also you may notice in TLK that they add a little mist in the BG to add depth.
MY ADVICE
On this picture alone I can see you have huge potential, I strongly suggest you take time to improve your general skills on your computer drawing package, if you did you would be VERY VERY GOOD. My advice on this web site is - \"Think of Deviant Art as a mass resource for you to improve your art work. You create pictures then post them then people tell you what they like or donβt like about it. TRUST ME! - Because of this site I was able to improve the quality of my art so much that I got accepted into a 3D animation course, which may lead to a career in traditional animation (you know Disney moves βnβ shit)
If you use Photoshop visit: heaps of good stuff that will help you.
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Hmmm well I can't say I quite agree and also may I suggest you try to remain a little more positive and careful of people's feelings when you give out critique. The way you wrote this critique could put an artist on a strong defensive mode ..which you of course don't want when critiquing their work. You want to point out the good things along with the things you believe could use your improvement. However, those should be stated as opinions..not facts as an artist does have their own beliefs on their work and how they intended the final picture to turn out.
Everything done in this piece was done as intended. I wanted the entire picture to be VERY crisp, in a way to represent the liveliness of Tau's spirit, his joy for life. I wanted the foliage, trees, etc to stound out, that was the purpose of not only the bright colors but the sharpened appearance. I considered blurring them but as I see it, the scene would have lost the 'dazzle' effect I was looking for in this pic. I do however appreciate your personal input and the helpful link. I have always used deviant and other online art communities as means for me to grow as an artist.
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Oh dear! Please forgive me if I was at all offensive.
My intention was to dive you an insight into the DA sight and to submit a critique. Donβt get me wrong I friggen love the picture!!! I think your better than me actually.
I was going to ask you if you were interested at being in traditional animation. If you could draw your character at least once every 5.5min you could most probably become an animator at Disney or something.
Also it just occurred to me that in the lion king, when simba sings "cant wait to be king" the BG n shit turns vibrant and solid. So I guess you were right all along!
I need to stick a SOCK in my mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --------- look for Tutorials on making brushes too!
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Nawww no offense taken at all
Ive been looking at your stuff since yesterday. Deviant has been on a really stupid roll of being in read only mode so everytime I went to comment or add you to my watch Deviant screwed me over. Alas lets try it one more time
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Ha cool. Im so glad im in your good books. You seem like a very nice person and I can see that you are a very good artist. I would love for you to comment on my art, tell me what you like or donβt like, what ever. If you want you can request a picture you want me to do or we could collaborate.
DAM! I just saw on your page that you live in the good old US of A. I was going to ask if you were interested in working for Walt Disney. Thereβs a Walt Disney studio in Sydney that im going to look at (just out of interest) soon imp going to be enrolled in a 3D animation course, so later on if you want I could animate some characters of yours.
Thank you for you kindness and your lovely message.
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I used to dream of working for disney..but since they did away or are doing away with their 2-d feature film animation..I kind of have no will to work for them. They have simply lost the magic that Disney once had...since the Lion king, nothing they have released has come close to the artistic beauty of TLK. Its sad really because they had so many extroardinarily talented artists working for them! I haven't a clue where my art will take me..but in the meantime I am just enjoying the journey
With sincerity,
~Ana
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I know what you mean. I hope you end up doing something you love! I hope you look into something were you can use your amazing talent.
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I can\'t tell what I enjoy more about this image: Tau\'s \"song and dance\" pose, Balaa\'s expression, or the fantastic color scheme going on in the background. Work like this is always so refreshing. Plus now I have the rampant urge to go through my VHS collection and watch Ferngully.
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Two reminders that this picture gives me... one is Simba\'s \"poofy mane\" after his dip in the pool (adult Simba) and the second is the background change at the start of the \"Just can\'t wait to be King\" song. (child Simba)
That said, there IS magic in life, and this is a well done picture, nicely laid out and filled with the character interaction. I love Balaa\'s look of disgust in opposite to Tau\'s look of \"look how glorious I am, listen to me sing\". The colors rock, the outlines are crisp and clean. Can\'t come up with anything I don\'t like about this one. It is as typical of your work, pleasing to the eye and fun to view. Do keep it up, and don\'t stop doing the magic things that you do.
k
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Hehe! It put a smile on my face Ana. ^.^ The pose is so friggin cool xD! 103 MB is a bit of space >_> but muahaha! It\'s well worth the space it seems. Kudos once again
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You should totally upload more TLK-style art, because it totally rocks.
...
Totally.
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Actually, I usually think of opposites a lot when someone shows me something cheery so I\'m not sure if this worked for me.
I\'m usually depressed anyway, so no big deal.
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Well I\'m sorry to hear that! I hope you do find something that makes you smile though!
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Ahhh, that is the most adorable and colourful picture ever. ; ; So pretty! I love you TLK art!
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Wow, you\'re right, the background is awesome!
That\'s really cool of you to want to cheer up fellow depressed peeps, and I must say, you went about it very nicely with those vivid, wild colors and character expressions! I can SO hear that song when I look at this. It was one of my Ferngully favorites! I love Tau\'s \"strut\" and Balaa\'s \"bleh\" face. XD Great work!
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The male lion (Tau?) looks like a lovechild of Kiara and Kovu. Confirmation?
This is cute. I like how the lady lion is all \"God I hope he stops singing....\" 
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Hmm, I thought more like Tama and Malka....
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ehehehe No im pretty sure he has no relation to Kiara or Kovu
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