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FablePaint — Choice
Published: 2005-08-14 04:57:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 4901; Favourites: 75; Downloads: 656
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Description
Two separate entities, the human and the beast, stand at a crossroads. They are the same creature trapped within one body; anxiety, fear, and confusion splitting this dual being forcing it to choose between enigmatic wilderness or enlightened civilization.Maria, a character I roleplay on the BBA forum, is a werewolf. Each night (except new moon) she transforms into Nightpelt, an enormous yet anxious beast, losing her human identity. Though Maria is confident and secure as a young huntress, Nightpelt is fearful of her own body and reluctant to accept her lycanthropy.
I've worked on this since the beginning of summer '05 and haven't finished it 'til tonight (late late night...argg, so tired). I reworked the fur on the wolf 3 to 4 time before I was satisfied with the look. The human took alot of tweaking and was especially difficult because my ability to draw humans greatly improved over the summer, so when I looked at what I'd already done, I was about ready to puke from the horridness. Fortunately, gentle coaching by friends and forum-friends helped to solve any issues that arose.
Nightpelt (the wolf) is based on the Blackblood dire wolves, a breed of wolf created by . Nightpelt and Maria are mine, the picture is mine, blahblahblah random copyright hooplah.
Adobe Photoshop Elements/Adobe Photoshop 7.0
Wacom Intuos 2 Digitizing Tablet/Wacom Intuos 3 Digitizing Tablet
A computer!!
And a lovely wolf calender I used for reference
Were all the tools I had at my disposal.
w00tw00tw00t!! I'm done yayy!!! *collapses in a heap* Now let's see if the contest I'm entering it in will give it a blue-ribbon...(to be updated later)
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Comments: 16
Nice fantastic image!!!! i like much ur creature ! and great textures!!!
I did recently a fantastic creatures draw, if u wanna see it heres the link : [link]
Please comment if u want to know the things u like and the ones u would change
Keep it up!!!
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Woow.....o.o
*stares for an hour*
Geez. This is awesome. >> It deserves first place. >>
Do I have an overactive imagination, or do some of the trees resemble wolves? o.o;;
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This is very well-done... the light and shadow on the rocks and trees really make the picture glow. And I love the little details of the wolf, especiallyly the feet, which are really unique and awesome-looking. You may have used a wolf calendar for reference, but you definitely went on from there in leaps and bounds and you managed to create a not-quite-wolf creature that looks natural and expressive. The posture of the body is almost hyena-like. And I love the glowy scared wide eyes! I'd want to cuddle her, but the fur looks coarse. Yeah, that's another thing. The fur.
I have tried to do fur before. It is f*cking impossible. If you ever make a tutorial on painting fur, please let me know.
The water has a thickness to it, almost like oil, that I really like for some reason. Don't know whether that was on purpose or not, but it fits the mood.
The girl's posture looks a little stiff, and her left bicep looks a little too big for her arm. Why is her hand over her left arm? Does it have to do with the upper and lower arm being at slightly different angles to each other? It looks like she's covering something.
I think I'm out of commentary now other than to say that the moonlight and the trees look reeeeally good. I as a rule almost never comment on 'character' drawings, but not just the picture but the story behind it were unique enough to make it stand out. Amazing work.
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Sorry I didn't reply sooner to your comment. I did write a really nice and long comment back to you the day you wrote this, but accidentally clicked "Cancel" instead of "Send". Dangit...
There is now a tutorial on fur making in my gallery, you'll see it. I've had many requests for that tutorial before.
The oily texture of the water was a mistake, but I kinda like the mistake. It adds to the mood. I was really going for that crystalline black look that water gets at night, but this proves I need more practice drawing liquids.
I had constant problems with the girl's anatomy all throughout the creation of this piece, mainly because my ability to draw humans spiked soon after I began painting in the lineart. So I had to redo it, then redo it again, then again and again (same thing happened with the fur). It never looked quite right, this is the best I got it. She covers her left arm because she was once bitten there and feels very insecure. Holding your arms is a physical sign of nervousness (like hugging yourself because you're sad).
It actually started out as a character drawing, but evolved into something else. It was going to be half this size and half the detail, completed in a 10th the time (no...make that a 20th). But I got side-tracked then lost interest, then regained my interest, then decided to take the picture in a whole new direction and try to use composition, lighting, and environment to tell a story. That's why I spent so much time on the background, because it was a huge part of the piece itself. And thank you for noticing!
I love large comments like your's, both complimentary and critical at the same time. They give me things to think about and they are the reason I joined DA, to hear the thoughts and ideas of fellow artists and thus better improve my own skills.
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All I can say is "Wow". You have to be one of the best artists I've ever come across! *envies*
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Woah, what an awesome piece! Great job gal! Love how the fur looks <3
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Yesss it's finally done! You have no idea how long I've been hanging out to see this finished.
Nightpelt's fur is simply stunning. From the long hairs on her torso, to the shorter ones on her legs, there's such texture there that you can almost reach out and stroke her on the computer screen. Flat shading on 'cartoony' pics looks good, but fine fur always adds a magical element to realism.
I like the way Maria is holding her arm like that, out of anxiety or perhaps embarrassment about her 'furry little problem'. I wonder if you subconsciously reffed from the fan art I made for you, because she's also clutching at herself in a similar manner in that.
I also noticed that you've conveyed the same idea from the BBA Humanized deviations in that her wrap/clothing is similar to her wolf counterpart's colouring - a nice touch.
The background is quite magnificent. The moonlight reflecting of everything makes me wonder if it's been raining, or whether it's a particularly eerie night. How the stream runs down on the centre of the piece kinda indicates two halves, two separate worlds. Whether it's Nightpelts dark, mysterious world in the wild, or Maria's place back with Man, indicated by where the torches are burning.
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Thank you for your comment, you wrote about several things I was trying to convey (the separation, anxiety, etc.) I actually began working on this picture before you drew Maria, almost as soon as I came up with the Nightpelt/Maria concept. The reason why I liked the your picture so much was because that you, like me, understood the significance of clutching your own arms to create an imaginary safe spot (kind of like a more respectable fetal position).
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Ah see? Great minds think alike. 
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Oh, this is really awesome! I particularly love the fur on the wolfie! Interesting perspective on the wolfie form of a lycanthrope... Not what you'd expect. Anyway, terrific job on everything here!
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Just as great as it was anticipated to be on the forum^^ the fur, anatomy, everything. The concept behind it is wonderful. I LOVE the backgrounds^^
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MY BACKGROUND PWNS!! HAHAHAAHA (my mind is lost...this picture stole it from me and won't give it back).
I've gotta post some of the WIP pics in my scraps section, maybe a big ole' sketch dump will do. I think I'll make a foliage tutorial too. It's surprisingly easy once you figure it out.
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That will help my ineptitude so much T.T I've done some backgrounds before, but they take so long, and I don't just scribble grass, I take careful strokes and painstakingly sharpen the pencil every time it dulls at all XD I'm a perfectionist, but no background at all doesn't bother me...
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