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synnabar — For Obsydian - Final
Published: 2004-06-18 16:52:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 5356; Favourites: 222; Downloads: 542
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Description
This is my half of an art trade with the very patient Obsydian.I usually work from my head when doing art, but as I'm bad at drawing birds (especially the feathers), I wanted to practice and learn, so I used a photoreference when drawing this one. However, anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time following reference (even if it's good for me), and of course when I went to paint it I got bored and put the reference away... which is both kinda good (I would be more creative that way) and bad (I know I got some things wrong).
I learned a lot about feathers doing this, though I'm only partly happy with the wings, and not very happy at all with the neck feathers... but hey, now I know to go much lighter on them, and I needn't outline them so darkly. At least I learned something! I purposely didn't want to paint every feather vein and barb, though... I still tried to stay a bit loose. I need a lot more practice, though.
I painted it almost to completion, and then tried the color pencil thing on top of it, but didn't like how it looked so I went back over much of it again with paint. The knotwork was drawn in Illustrator and added in Photoshop.
Obsydian, I hope you like it!
Mechanical pencil, watercolor, gouache, and a bit of colored pencil on watercolor paper.
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Comments: 46
beautiful,old school-pencil-watercolour-pencil crayon-ink,your skills stand on their own without the modern "graphic" tricks
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I love all your drawings--you do the most amazing anthros!! I wish I could favorite them all but I like this one the best so I'll just fave this one. Nice work!
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Hi! This is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could do watercolor and gauche like that. I really like the color scheme too. Oh-and your gallery is wonderful!
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I simply adore the eye...it follows you. *eyes follows* Are the ears of a lynx, bobcat or caracal?
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he's amazing! you did every single feather so accurate,
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wow!!!! this is GORGEOUS!!! 
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It is absolutely gorgeous. The borders add style to the pic. 
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OOOOOhhhh very lovely! I for one think you di a great job Synn! I love the debth in this picture!
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Wow... This is just gorgeous. The beak looks wonderful... heck, it's all wonderful! -Beautiful- work!
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I cannot get over thie peice!
The realisim of the gesture, and facial expression give it all that much more life!
Thoese wings and feathers are INSANE!
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This is so lovely.. I am now completely ashamed of my own attempts at drawing birds, even though I do see a little what you meant about the things you got wrong having abandoned the reference.
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Wow...gorgeous! I love the face on this guy. You did great on the wing feathers. They look pretty realistic!
The neck feathers came out looking a bit like leaves though, which is why you probably feel a little odd about them. I think it's cause they are all too pointed on the end, and all the same size, and in perfect rows, which overlap in exactly the same spots. I think the neck feathers on a bird tend to "ruffle" a little more, be a bit more random as far as the angle of each feather looks, and aren't so pointy.
But, the pic still looks VERY good, and overall, the feathers simply look stylized (as opposed to "incorrect"). You manage to make all your drawings look great!!
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Yes! That's it! They always come out looking like leaves, which I think is a throwback to my graphic design work, where everything has to be neat and similar. I also should not have outlined them so darkly; something I figured out too late (I did the neck feathers before the wing feathers). Maybe I should have just darkened the whole neck with a wash to soften things up a bit? When I did the wings I defined them through shadows rather than outlines, which I think was a bit more successful, but I still have to fight from keeping them from looking like scales! More practice for me!
Thanks so much for your comments, Xian! I appreciate your critiques - they're very helpful!
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You're welcome! I do feel silly though, critiquing you when you are so darn good!!!! (kinda like me walking up to Michaelangelo and trying to give him a critique!! 
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Absolutely -beautiful-. I love the celtic knotting you used as the framework!
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this looks so...real...i can feel the feathers...almost...and hear the cry....nicely rendered....wonderful pose, the color is great too, adds a regal air to teh gryphon
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I give up! Seems whenever I start to improve on my own artwork, I stumble across an incredibly amazing artist like you. Now I realize I suck again. Regardless, this is an astonishingly beautiful piece, as is all your work that I've looked at!
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Hey, this is awesome! I really dig the warm colors and your job on the beak and ears. The markings around the eye and the eye itself are amazing. I have to agree with you on the feather-bit though as the fading feathers on the bottom right appear to be more realistic to me than the highly defined ones. It's all very cool though - I'm in awe of your talent.
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I liove this, the colors, the pose it's all very good. and the neck does look a little funny but it's much better then I could ever do. Whooh! Keep it up!
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I like it, because it is both referenced, and then not, which makes for some very original and also well-drawn artwork. *thinks to herself* I should try that....
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Wow! That's awesome, Syn. All of the details look so great! I really love the ears and coloring.
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That is amazing....The detail is awesome. Great job.
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Wow....your lucky you have the discipline to use a photoreference for this. I think it helped a lot. When I saw it I just said (with FRIENDS present..not to myself) "Its not fair..."
^^ The attention to detail is wonderful as always
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*jawdrops* Beautiful!!!!!!
Just, stunning! I love it Syn!
Great job with the feathers, and everything! I'm not worthy! *bows*
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i love the eyeball! 
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Awesome!! I think you did a great job overall!! 
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Beautiful job! I really love the golden color and everything, and great detail ^.^
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Wow...
I would love to do an art trade with you one day...
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Actually I think I need to do Gift Art for YOU!
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This was fun, but a challenge, though using a photoreference (for the drawing part, anyway) helped. I learned a lot from the reference, and hopefully I can apply what I learned to a more original painting in the future.
But wait... HEY! What are YOU talking about??? Your work is AMAZING!!!!! O_o *dies*
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whoa.. this is awesome Synn I love the way you did the whole thing in general.
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Thank you, Talyn! I'm not completely happy with it, but I learned a lot, so that's good.
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no problem Synn, learnings good though
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