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rashka-jm — Longing - A Wolf Study
Published: 2010-03-27 20:50:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 2167; Favourites: 108; Downloads: 0
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Well, it demanded to be finished, I can't say that I'm totally happy though, but whoever is? It's acrylic, so I can always just paint all over it again if the urge hits me.7x11.5" on canvas paper.
Edit: I fixed my bkg up, and I'm much happier.
The particular image I referenced is by with his permission. [link] My wolf is intentionally much browner.
The whole experience of painting this has been spontaneous and wonderful. It's just so therapeutic and relaxing, despite the fact I'm painting on my floor...and my back will hate me for it next week.
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Comments: 72
gorgeous! nice choice of colouring...so warm yet so cold!
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I think all artists have that same problem of just never really liking anything we do 100%, but then again if we did then we would never see our mistakes, there for never learn and improve. one big endless circle I guess, heh.
I really like how your did the fur, I am still trying o figure out how to make fur look more realist. *sighs* It's a beautiful piece though. I shall fave it!
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Yup! I've gotten infinity better since painting this one. I agree entirely, if we were happy, we'd be content to sit in mediocrity and never get anywhere.
Thank you - fur is easiest when done in layers. I first block in the base colours (fur colours & shadowed areas) then I work the details of the fur. I have some WIPs in my scraps of a snow leopard painting. The wolf was done the same way, only with longer strokes.
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Wow, your WIPs are really helpful. I looked at a lot of your different WIPs and saw what you meant. I found one of a werewolf piece and what you said about the blocked in base colors made a lot of sence. Thank you so much. I'll have to play around with my colors more. You are a very helpful and kind artist.
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I'm glad their helpful! Ultimately, it also depends how you want to paint as well - what works for me, may not work for you.
The concept of an "underpainting" typically is fairly universal though - by blocking in all your colours. I'm sure if you saw that wip werewolf, from "Next" you'd see that laying all the colours made it very easy to go in and detail as much, or as little, as I wanted. Some of those furred spots in the final were done with only a couple of hairs added to the edges.
Certainly 
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Thanks so much! I learned a lot doing studies like this. Concept art here I come
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"smoking is bad for your health...."...but it makes you look cool...add that to an awesome wolf...= TOTALLY SICK...
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the varitey of colors in the fur makes it look very realistic. the mouth and nose area especially came out amazing
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Thank you 
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i'll def have to add you to my watch so i can see the finished snow leopard
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Thanks so much for watching
He's coming along decently, I actually have him in my scraps atm if you wanted to have a peek! [link]
I actually have my other project in my scraps too, it's a big commission! [link]
I tend to put lots of WIP in my scraps, partly for my own reference. I still don't yet know how to paint very well, so it's good to be able to look back at my process to help me with my next
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def is comming along well. can't wait to see it done
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Thank you, I'm working away a little every day at one or two of them. I tend to get discouraged quickly, because I'm still learning so much about painting and colour in general. It's easy to get overwhelmed and frustrated by not knowing what to do next.
I always love seeing painting in the WIP stages! Any chance you'd feel like sharing? The only painting I have fully documented is my wolf study, but I'm doing it with all my colour work and paintings now. I'm hoping it'll help with the learning process.
My closest is full of ugly paintings too! Condemned to the abyss, ruled by the dust bunnies and old clothing. At least we can say we've improved
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when i started painting it was very hard to figure out where to go next so usually had to ask the teacher what he thought. it just takes some getting used to. the way i learned to do it was rather then concentrating on one area for to long you try and treat the painting as a whole. so 1st thing i do is get base colors in on everything then usually i start working on getting the main subject a little more refined. after i get that decently along i switch to working on the background and just keep going back and forth. another thing i was taught if you have a color mixed up already its easier to go and use that color everywhere you need it on the painting. it really just takes getting used to and with enough practice you will know exactly what needs worked on when
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I absolutely hate that part 
With traditional, I definitely spread all the paint I mix all over when I get a good colour - easy way to make it look like you know how to match colours
It's fully how different I am finding working digitally and traditionally, I love traditional infinitely better for the initial under painting, but I find it really hard to spread acrylic paint with 0 size brushes. Digital is the exact opposite, I despise it for getting my initial colours, but detail is absurdly easy.
I can totally understand not wanting to share your wips, they certainly are the uglies. I must admit, I am showing them less and less, since they are reflecting my end product less and less every time lol.
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haha yeah usually i focus on the main subject 1st. if you can't get them right then their no point continuing on with the painting thats for sure. after i get it roughly color mapped in and make sure the main details are how i want them then i feel comfortable enough to move onto the background. matching colors also is something you will get used to with more painting. def not easy at 1st but you will get the hang of it
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Don't get me started on brushes! I own about 60. I use 4 with any consistency
Right now I'm finding working small (around paper size) is a lot more helpful in the learning process. Large can be intimating, small not so much... it feels more manageable.
Running off to my painting class right now, my snow leopard awaits
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i started painting on 15" by 20" boards at school and though it was a pretty good size to start out with. you can get enough detail in there to make it look good but don't have to worry about trying to go into to much or getting everything blended perfect. i use 20" by 30" for the most part now and it takes a lot longer to do details then the smaller board. you can just inditcate them when its small but when its 20" by 30" you have to really go into all of them haha. nothing wrong with using smaller sizes while you are getting used to it if thats what you are comfortable with. then when you think your got that down can slowly start moving up the size
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It's funny you say that, because when I paint small I will spend forever detailing with size 0-1 brushes. When I work big, I do the exact same thing at the end. I find with larger pieces, I actually need to detail less - or if I do decide to detail the whole thing the same way I do my smaller pieces, I need about 90-100 hours to cover all the space. As it is, I take about 15-30 hours to do a 7x10 size lol.
I did a larger piece once for school, but I ran out of time and couldn't finish all the details. I was so mad 
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haha well if the smaller size is what works for you then go with it. its all about personal preference so if you feel comfortable with 7" by 10" its good to stick with it while you are learing. i never thought i would be using 20" by 30" board but i actually really like it. getting faster is something i def need to work on still. doesn't take me to long if i copy a picture but the fantasy art paintings i usually work on and off again on them over a 2 month or sometimes longer period. i spend more time thinking things out for them and looking for reference then i do painting them prob haha.
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DA is retarded and I lost the comment where we were talking about college lol...
I always love it when I have the time to really get a piece right, no matter the size. I find that a really good piece requires time for contemplation and execution. I often like to just come back the next day and reflect on what I did the first day. If I'm on deadlines I try (at the very least) to give it an hours break to consider what I'm working on. Or, flipping it upside down or something for a little while lol.
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that happened to me before to that i lost one. i went to reply and it froze up or something when i went back it wasn't there. i found it somewhere i think mixed in with my comments on my profile page i believe. don't even remember what i put in there to resend it haha. the way i see it is my gallery might not have all that much artwork in it but at least all of it i know i did my best on and is worth a look. less paintings that are high quality is much better them tons that are quickly done without much effort to make your gallery larger. when you have deadlines i know you have to try and work faster obviously but nothing wrong with taking your time right now. the speed will come the more you paint. taking time away from def helps a lot to be able and figure out how to fix things or what to work on next. my fantasy art teacher told us all the time to just get back from it or flip it over sometimes to get a better idea whats going on. he said if you flip it over its kinda like looking at the painting for the 1st time which it really does help haha
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The class im in right now is ALL about speed. It's kind of frustrating, speed isn't my thing. I'd rather my creativity get to marinade and I make the best piece I can. I see the value in speed, but...omg frustrating. I understand it's so we can whip something out in no time, then spend time to refine it. It's about expressing the idea, but I am finding the class beyond evil. I'm sure I'll get used to it and it'll be for the best.
We're not working with paint, but pencil, primas and conte...still - I'm finding it hard lol.
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i've been painting for about 3 years and i'm still not into speed haha i'm not at all into messy looking artwork so i like to just take my time like you and try to get it to the point where i'm really liking it and don't think i could do anymore to it. and i do understand speed is an important factor because the faster you are the more artwork you can do to make money from but i want to make sure i'm to the point where i can do an original painting and not have doubts about what i'm doing with any parts of it before i worry about speed. getting pretty close i think so maybe i will start working on getting faster haha. the class been getting any better for you?
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Still all about speed haha. So no, it's cruel and unusual punishment - but really, that is what industry cares about. If you can't make a deadline, it doesn't matter how great the work is. Most clients would rather have something than our own personal perfections
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Thank you, thats a generous thought
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I'm glad you finished this!! It looks so gorgeous!! The background, the frosty breath, and the emotion and feeling in the wolf's expression are beautiful. You really got the markings down on the fur too
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Thank you! I wasn't sure with making the background such a rich brown/orange with a white, cool coloured wolf. I don't know if I'd repeat the experiment, I was trying for a complimentary of the warm/cool, but instead it looked mis-matched. In the end, I had to fix up the background and go in and take out a lot of the cool blueish gray in the wolf.
I think it turned out alright though, either way, practice is good.
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Well, I wouldn't say that it really affects the picture too much as a whole in any case. I think it looks rather interesting myself (in a good way 
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