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Shinymane1 — Mystical Depths
Published: 2012-08-06 19:10:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 679; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 17
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Description
(Added water webbing and chin mark)A gift for
For their wonderful drawing of Aquanova
[link] Artist's Comments
I just love this character. Orca-SS (Starscream) reminds me a lot of Loki from Avengers (even though I haven't actually ever seen the movie haha), just one of those evil characters who completely fails all the time, but is incredibly cute in the process. I don't think I conveyed his personality much here but that isn't my strong point
This gave me such trouble at the start. By screwing up the layers I had to start his shading again from scratch. It also took me ages to get his fluke correct right from the lineart stage too. I also think his belly marking is a bit too far back according to his ref sheet but oh well. It would have been a pain to change so I decided to leave it. This was a hell of perspective and light source challenge! Thankfully though I think I managed to turn it around.
Brownie points for spotting Nemo, Marlin and Dory
Music (and art) Inspiration
[link]
[link]
Info
Photoshop CS4
Mouse
9 layers
About 4-5 hours
No reference (apart from ref sheet for SS [link] )
Commission information is here if interested
[link]
Related content
Comments: 25
beautiful!!! 
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Thanks! 
Had to start the shading of SS again as I screwed the layers up too!
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This is wonderful.
Thank you SO much for submitting to SOS
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Thank you very much, I appreciate it
And no problem at all
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...
Thank you so much! 
There are a couple tiny errors I spy (he's missing his chin marking
Nemo, Marlin, and Dory - wouldn't that be an interesting conversation, them debating the fact they've never seen an orca quite like SS? Meanwhile, he's totally oblivious, too busy staring in outrage at whoever dared take his picture and caught him in a somewhat-playful pose.
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You're very welcome!
Oh gosh I completely forgot about his chin marking on the ref sheet, I'll go put it on if you like?
I'm happy with the background myself, the inspiration from the other artist's waterwork gave me some great ideas and colours to play around with to make the water look more interesting! I could also see in the speedpainting how they'd done it too which helped a lot in furthering this piece
Hehe, nice idea there!
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Only if it isn't any trouble. 
The background definitely reminds me of Julielin's work. Between the colors, texture, and lighting (very evocative of "Beyond the Sea" and "Shadow Souls"), I can see clear evidence of her influence in this work.
Proof positive that last minute ideas can be good ones. ^_^
Yes. I could go on a long rant as to the details of his psyche and why he is the way he is. But it's just one theory out of thousands, and more exposition than this iteration of him really needs. So, to settle on retaining the core ideals of the character is better.
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Nah not at all. I've added the water webbing I forgot too
I had to turn my head a few times to draw the markings this way round, which will explain why some of them look a little off
Indeed, those pieces are fantastic too! But my main inspirations were 'Air' and 'Lavendar Blue' for this piece
The corals were pretty much last minute aswell. It looked like it had something missing to me without them. Thank you, I'm glad you think so!
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*looks at both versions* Just when I thought it couldn't get better, it did. O_o
Phenomenal coloring job aside, my hat's off to you for drawing him from the side/pose you did. I know, his markings are a virtual pain to get right, even from the most ordinary of angles. And even his anatomy is completely accurate, with that thinner-than-average-bull look.
Looking at them now, I see what you mean. No, I don't mind. ^_^ Your backgrounds aren't boring in the least. But still, I'm glad you saw it the way you did, as reason to want to improve, rather than reason to be discouraged.
Even by comparison to average black-and-white orcas, this is colorful. Most artists think, "orca = pacific northwest" where the overall colors are blue, green and black. It's very nice to see some pink, bright green and blue here.
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Hehe, I do that a lot, I tend to forget the last few details
I don't even know what struck me to draw him in this pose, it just kind of happened
Oh I love pretty scenes, and seeing speedpainting videos motivates me to try them myself
Hehe, that was my own touch, purple and blue (as you'll have figured) more often than not find their way into my paintings
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The more I hear, the more impressed I am. No reference? Very cool.
If you have a method that works, stick with it. Especially when the results benefit.
Maybe it's my monitor that makes the purple look pink.
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I tend to work with references, but sometimes not to test myself. Thank you, I'm very flattered
Maybe, as it does look purple to me
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Do you have any other non-reference-based works in progress? Looking at some of Aquanova's art, to this, you only seem to improve with each new try.
^_^
Yeah, I see purple and pink, when I look closely. Me and my cheap Acer monitor. Sometimes, I'm surprised my paintings don't turn out as fifty different shades of technicolor chaos.
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Not in progress no, but every piece with Aquanova was non reference based
My horse breed pieces are too, the Mustang, Shetland and Quarter Horse ones. Thanks again
Ah well, it is a light purple to be fair
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Ha, I saw the fish before I red who they was XD I was like "OH FUSHLIES"
This is a beautiful drawing C:
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