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SeanAshArt — Wolf Study
#animaldrawing #animals #digitalart #digitalartwork #digitaldrawing #digitalillustration #digitalpainting #stilllife #stilllifedrawing #wolfwolves #animalanimals
Published: 2020-01-21 23:34:00 +0000 UTC; Views: 1324; Favourites: 161; Downloads: 7
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Description
This is my Master Study participation in the 'Master Study to Original - January Challenge' of MasterStudiesAndMore , co-hosted by Inspiring-Creation and ThatArtGrind ".Ok this is the FINAL ILLUSTRATION. I am officially done. I am tired of this wolf...BUT it is the first color illustration that I have finished YAY!!!!! . I think it is the first in years...WOAH
Going from grey scale to color was more tricky than I thought it would be, especially with all the fur. THE FUR!!! I did not realize that I would need to go over some of the fur again. It does look a little bit more fluffy in sections than it did before so I am happy with that. I also wanted to push some of the color - in particular, the light. I like when the light hits the fur and I wanted that to be more prominent. I did get lazy with the rocks and decided not to do much with it but I kind of like it (although it could just be the laziness convincing me that I dun good).
I used various methods here. I first did grey scale. Then I did a gradient map. Then colored over. Then redrew certain bits of fur again. Used different transparency methods when coloring. Then added extra shadow areas when the illustration was finished plus I messed with the brightness/contrast...was a lot of learning and I am happy I went through all of it. I realize the mistakes that I made, the double work that I did and hopefully going forward I can work smarter. I will definitely be using this method tho because it allows me to control my colors more and helps me just focus on the illustration in the grey scale part.
I did this drawing without color picking. I realize that I need to work on my color use. Overall I am happy with this illustration and how it turned out. Honestly I think I may like the black and white one a little more tho, lol.
For those who are interested in how to do grey scale to color - here are some videos that really helped me.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhvFFj… (look at the comments on this video as well because they are just as helpful)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB9Jui… (this was also very helpful. Some very useful information given)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUeQsU… (this video show you how to use gradient maps)
Here is the original image: www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h… (the image isolated)
This is the site that I got it from: wallpaperaccess.com/wolf-4k (unfortunately I have no idea who created this image and this site does not do much to help me figure out who that may be. I am hoping that maybe I just don't know where to look)
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Comments: 52
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Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!!!! I really appreciate it. I seem to have a love hate relationship with my artwork. I love it when I look at it at first glance (knowing that I am growing as an artist) but if I stare too long, I start to sort of not like it so much and think that I have a long way to go. It is a good start tho. I know in a year I would look back at this and think I was still amateur....well at least that is the goal!!!
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First of all, this is a stunning work. The fur texture is spot on - well worth the time spent on it! -, the shading is excellent and the color scheme is beautiful. The color are indeed not exactly the same as on the reference, but I do not see this as a bad thing. We're artists, after all! Same goes for the background. The texture is very well done, but it is no exact copy of the reference - and to be fair, I prefer your version. The wolf and the rocks stand out more in your artwork.
To the things you could be improve. This piece is excellent work, but there are some nitpicks, mostly with the proportions.
First of all, the face. The left eye is a tiny bit higher than the right eye, and they seem just a little bit too close. I would also say the nose seems a little bit too long and/or narrow.
The legs are also just a little too short.
I (very) quickly drew a redline - the image shows it better:
However, most of these details aren't noticeable without the lines. Still, this is your main area where you can improve. I would say it's a matter of practice rather than anything else - tracing the outlines of the wolf, as I've done here, will not really teach you anything nor improve your overall art skills.
A last, final detail: The rocks. Although the texture is good, I might have added a more greenish tint to them. Especially the ones in the back, as you can see on the reference. This would create an even greater sense of depth, and make the rocks in the back merge more with the background.
But all in all this is an excellent study, and I love all the details! The fur is extremely realistic, and I love the colors you have used and how well those colors fit together. You definitely should be proud of your work here!
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Hi Becky!!!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and leave such a detailed description of what I can improve on . I really appreciate it and coming from an amazing artist such as yourself, it is truly an honor. I just love your illustrations
I do agree with what you have said. The eyes were a particular issue going in. I could not judge them that well and this was what my brain settled on. I did feel, after finishing this illustration, that the head seemed too big in comparison with the reference but I guess extending the legs could have remedied that as well as reducing the length of the nose. The biggest thing about doing animals for me was trying to get the shape of the animals under the fur so that you could see the depth of it like muscle tone. In that regard I am quite happy that I was able to achieve that.
For some reason I feel like I made my wolf more...masculine. Like the reference has this majestic soft beauty to it where as mine has this strong, kind of in your face look to it. It also looks a bit more rugged - which could be the result of the colors loosing some of that softness. With the legs being shorter, it also adds to the wolf looking a bit more stocky in build.
I do need to work on my colors. I am happy with what I have achieved here but I do need to work on a better way. I feel like I approach this like I am using coloring pencils so I make ticks everywhere to mimic the fur. I should maybe use more digital trickery like this Regal Majesty . I just don't know yet how the frick this is done so I tend to use a round brush with a hard-ish edge - like a coloring pencil. I also need to learn how to use my lights and dark's. I have had a problem with both but recently I think I have been able to better my shadows. My lights are still something that I am learning. This results in all my images looking dark in nature because I don't know how to control the light.
The rocks was just me being lazy . I had the idea that I was going to make it look like the reference but then when I got to it, I smacked some green hues, quite then uploaded I do agree that the background rocks could have blended more....
Thank you so much once again Becky for leaving such a detailed comment
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My pleasure! 
Yes, you are right - your wolf does indeed look stockier and more masculine. And as said, you really need a redline to see most of the differences between the artwork and the reference.
To the coloring. Coloring is indeed a tricky thing - but values are far more important. You can color a wolf purple, and it will still look realistic if you have the values right. (Although, of course, it will look like a fantasy wolf.) There is no need to pick the exact tone of brown, of grey, of green - as long as you have the values (pretty) correct.
That said, I have noticed your artworks are usually quite dark. The simplest trick might be to just have a rule that the lightest color in the artwork should be close to white. (In my case I usually use off-white, as just white might be a little too bright.)
However, this colored piece is already a huge step forward from the greyscale. Another trick might to turn the reference photo into black and white when drawing greyscale. This will make it a lot easier to judge the values and to get them correct.
When it comes to how the red fox was drawn, I can unfortunately not help you. I'm a traditional artist, and I know too little about different digital techniques 
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Hello from ProjectComment
Let me start off by saying that this is an amazing work of art. Nature and animal drawings are beautiful in both their complexity and simplicity. On the wolf itself, every detail is flawless. The texture, the color, the lighting is so real if it feels more like I'm looking at a photograph rather than a drawing. You mentioned that the fur was a particular pain in the neck. Drawing fur and hair in detail is almost always extremely difficult, but you seemed to have mastered the technique beautifully. If you haven’t already done so I would recommend looking up tutorials one easy technique to drawing fur. The color is by far my favorite detail. At first glance we may think certain images need only a small spectrum of similar colors when in actuality a broader array of colors goes into the image. Your description also mentions you using a grey scale in the process. While I don’t work with color very often I find it helpful to draw an image in black and with or in shades of grey to figure out how the lighting will appear before adding colors. The only thing I would've done differently is add a more detailed background. But that is just my opinion, what you have works great. Overall, a true masterpiece. Well done.
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Wow!!! Thank you so much for the compliment. I really appreciate it and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment My goal is to learn an easier or rather a better way to do fur. I tend to do like hatching or like I am leaving a bunch of ticks all over the wolf to create the fur so it is like I am drawing each and every piece of hair (I usually treat my drawings like I am doing it using color pencils so you tend to see all my markings) I want to do fur more like this: Regal Majesty but I think it would help more if I knew how to draw in color from the start and was able to use custom brushes more...I don't really use brushes because they confuse me so I use the round default brush instead Hopefully I can start to use brushes in the immediate future.
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Incredible detail! Nice job!
And just because of my opinion...
...IT'S SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!!!!!!!!
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Wow!.
Wonderful work of art!
I love the amount of detail and the realism of the piece!
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Thank you!! i am obsessed with doing artwork with lots of details in it. Lately I have been trying very hard to do artwork with lots of detail but in color. I am trying to do less greyscales. Hopefully I can inject more brighter colors into my works.
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Ooh, interesting to hear that, honestly.
In this case, the large number of details make the piece more striking in general.
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Thank you so much, that means a lot to me!!!
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You’re SURE that this is a drawing, and not a photograph?! Because I swear that it could be one!!
Brilliant work!!!
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Thank you!!! This is pretty much the best illustration that I have done recently. It took a while to get back into drawing again but I am glad I did.
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Thank you!!! I am still getting used to color. I did the wolf in black and white and would have stayed there but I wanted to push myself a little. I was so spent after I did the wolf in color that I had no more left to complete the rocks. They are still the black and white versions with a hint of color. I think I like it this way because it somehow puts more focus on the wolf...it could be the contrast so it was sort of a happy accident
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thank you!!!!, I am glad that I was able to capture that!!!
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Wow this turned out pretty well!
Pretty nice colorwork and lighting. Such an amazing picture!
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Thank you so much for the comment. It means a lot. It was very tricky and a major learning curve because color is something new for me right now but I am happy that I had success with it.
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Well in that case its even more impressive ^^
And you are very welcome
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Hey Frolic!!!! Hey I did not realize about the 90s rock t-shirt look, it kind of does, lol. Thank you for the compliment, this wolf is by far the most realistic illustration that I have done in a long time. I keep going back to it and scrutinizing each and every detail. I keep going back and forth in my mind on which one I like best (color or black and white). I am pretty happy with the way it came out for both versions.
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Thank you, You may have a long wait before you can brag . Sometimes quality matters and other times, really amazing artists go undiscovered!!! Which is why places like this: www.deviantart.com/givethemlov… are so important.
Why would you be bragging about me when you will become famous for your sculpturing
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woah!!!! That's so cool. I cannot wait to see!!!! I did not know you would be making OC's with plasticine.
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That might be the most EPIC description of any artwork that I have ever done EVER!!!!! Thank you so much for that!!!! I don't know what to say!!!
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I am trying to up my game this year!!!
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Yep about the yellow!!! I got EXTRAcited when I was doing it. I had an idea in mind of what I wanted but I could not achieve it. Only after I finished the illustration I came across an image that had exactly what I was looking for: Huh? If you look at this image you will see the light in the background and where it is light there is like a dust particle effect. I wanted the same effect on the left side of my wolf but it did not work out as much. I was also not color picking from the image so the colors that I was choosing were not as flattering as I would have liked.
I also thought about what you were saying in your study; having the same colors sort of repeat itself in the illustration to create a harmony throughout the image. I tried to add some of that in the background so it did not seem too far separated from the image. It worked in some places and not so much in others but I liked that idea and I have not thought about doing that until you said it so thank you for that bit of information!!!
I had a brush that I used. I am not entirely sure where I got these brushes from because I do not remember adding them. It could have been from years ago because it is the first time that I have used them. The background is the only time I ever used a custom brush on. I think i used 2 different brushes. The original looks like trees in the background that are blurred. I tried to do the same but it did not work too well so I went a bit more abstract with it. I used a brush that had an interesting spread out design, made it big and started making light marks on the background. Then I overlaid that with other colors to make it look more interesting.
I think I like the color version too. I was staring at it for too long and over judging it that I was not sure if I liked it or not. I had to step away from it before I could say how I feel.
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Thank you!!!!. There is sort of a stigma with people going from grey scale to color but I think it worked out quite nicely for me. I am going to be using this method until I have enough understanding of color to use it from scratch.
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Thank you so much!!! It was really tricky trying to put color over the greyscale.
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