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blayrd — Devil Ray
Published: 2005-06-12 09:08:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 9541; Favourites: 222; Downloads: 419
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Description
...just felt like painting manta rays? I was looking at random pictures and saw one with a funny marking on the bottom that kinda looked like a skull. Given that manta rays are also known as devil rays, this just came out- after lots of references. Originally I wanted it to be a pretty big project, with a coral reef at the bottom and proper water, but given my current workload that'd be rather unwise. Such things take me an infinity because I have little practice and therefore am bad at them. Note the more-than-cheap background. Turned into more of a test+several speedpaintings (the background guys). I like the leftmost ray best.Took about eight hours, I think, using a relatively large hard brush for everything, until the last touchups.
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Comments: 41
Imagine if there was a manta ray with that on it's hide !
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It has been my pleasure to feature this piece:
[link]
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3.2.1.AWESOOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!!! and I love how you went with the name devil ray going that it has a skull-ish marking.
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Yeah, I remember coming across a ray with an irregular white splash on its belly way back when and going "heey, if I squint, that could almost be a skull!" It did fit the name rather well
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One day I should do a repaint of this. I quite like the concept, but the technical execution is... well, four years out-of-date, ha.
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Yeah, I understand... still, the idea shines through.
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ITS DA JOLLY ROGER MANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If Manta Rays really looked like that, it would be CREEPY.
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As a thumbnail, I, like a couple of the others thought it was an altered photograph at first! I adore the skull idea, great concept and great work.
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When we went to hawii, i got to go snorkeling with these guys, it was so amazing, i loved it. Awesome picture!
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Now THAT... is too cool. I thought it was a Photomanipulation at first.
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Freakin' awesome! I like manta rays...they're just so cool. I dunno...
Hey, do you happen to know if they, in fact, go faster than you usually typically see them on the "nature shows"?
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Ehm. They're pretty fast, but the actual speed depends on the subspecies, and the comparison depends on what nature show, heh. Though I assume they go faster when required? You could probably find out on the 'net, though.
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lol. Sounded like a stupid question, huh? I just like the picture, lol...
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No it didn't xD Glad you like it!
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Ahh! X3 I LOVE manta rays... they're so beautiful when they swim. :3 And you completely captured the movement with the poses of all of them! >X3 You must have studied them really hard to get them this realistic!
And the idea for the skull on the bottom is fantastic! ;D Very creative, and it turned out gorgeous (if not a little creepy x3)... and look on the bright side! ^^ Cheap backgrounds are better than no backgrounds at all, hmm? X3 And at least it looks like water... 
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Thank you vereh much ^^They were all extensively referenced except for the skull-design, so I can't really take all the credit, eheh.
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Wow, this is so creative and wonderful! I personally like this version better, the composition is nicer and the picture doesn't feel so narrow. Can't tell you how much I love this.
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equally as cool. I can see the diffrence but both are good
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I like this one better, to tell you the truth. The placement of the other rays looks a lot more natural here and it feels more real than the other version. If you want the looming version to come off better, you may want to take out a a background ray or two, as it's really crowded with the foreground ray and all four other ones crammed in.
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