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More from Thornwolf
Families come in all shapes and sizes. Some have both parents, some have just a mom, some have just a dad, but no matter the size it's comforting to know that no matter what life throws at you you will always have each other.
Toofs the sabertooth and his two cubs enjoy the day together while other families play near their rocky home.
A commission for
spottacus
This is my final commission on my plate after 5 years of having a continuous queue of projects, so it's a bit of a bittersweet way to end, as I'm very proud but relieved at the same time. This is by far the largest and most complex drawing I've ever done to date, and in real media that makes it even more complicated for me, but I, and most importantly the commissioner, am pleased with how it turned out.
Spottacus had requested something family related to represent himself and his two children. Tender moments like these are very underrepresented in furry art and I was honored to have been asked to draw it.
This piece took 18 months to complete, but the majority of that time was spent psyching myself up to even get it going, which is why I will no longer offer pieces of this complexity as commissions. People don't often realize how much emotion is involved when creating a piece of original artwork, and with each stroke some of that emotion is represented in the piece. If I listen to music or watch a movie while I work, I will look at, say, a foot, and know "oh I was feeling X way when I drew that part" or "I was watching Y movie when I colored in that face". In real media you don't get that magical "undo" button that you have in digital media, so "having a good day" is exceedingly important to get to work, for me anyways. This piece is a culmination of a bunch of really good days, so I'm glad I can put that positive energy into such a sweet image :)
I did a lot of things I never have done before in this image, so I'm happy for the learning experience, but also happy that I can kick off my hiatus feeling accomplished in a big way.
Thank you spottacus for being an amazing commissioner and a joy to work with.
20.5 x 16" - Watercolor, colored pencil and acrylic paint on hot press watercolor paper.
Toofs the sabertooth and his two cubs enjoy the day together while other families play near their rocky home.
A commission for
spottacusThis is my final commission on my plate after 5 years of having a continuous queue of projects, so it's a bit of a bittersweet way to end, as I'm very proud but relieved at the same time. This is by far the largest and most complex drawing I've ever done to date, and in real media that makes it even more complicated for me, but I, and most importantly the commissioner, am pleased with how it turned out.
Spottacus had requested something family related to represent himself and his two children. Tender moments like these are very underrepresented in furry art and I was honored to have been asked to draw it.
This piece took 18 months to complete, but the majority of that time was spent psyching myself up to even get it going, which is why I will no longer offer pieces of this complexity as commissions. People don't often realize how much emotion is involved when creating a piece of original artwork, and with each stroke some of that emotion is represented in the piece. If I listen to music or watch a movie while I work, I will look at, say, a foot, and know "oh I was feeling X way when I drew that part" or "I was watching Y movie when I colored in that face". In real media you don't get that magical "undo" button that you have in digital media, so "having a good day" is exceedingly important to get to work, for me anyways. This piece is a culmination of a bunch of really good days, so I'm glad I can put that positive energy into such a sweet image :)
I did a lot of things I never have done before in this image, so I'm happy for the learning experience, but also happy that I can kick off my hiatus feeling accomplished in a big way.
Thank you
spottacus for being an amazing commissioner and a joy to work with.20.5 x 16" - Watercolor, colored pencil and acrylic paint on hot press watercolor paper.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 1092 x 829px
File Size 966.7 kB
Thank you! And yeah as an artist who works with both I will say that digital is easier for me and much more forgiving because of the ability to edit. Something like this, if I screw up I have to really work hard to fix it or start over, hence all the psyching up it takes XD
The composition rocks, the cloud rendering and rock rendering are very well done. You used watercolors very well here! Not the easiest of mediums. The salt left on the rocks adds a lot of interesting texture. Did you use only transparent pigments? The colors are very well blended, any opaque pigments create 'mud' when mixed. I recently learnt that the hard way ;__;
All the characters are excellent, but the smilodon family is extremely enchanting. I like how you captured youth in the eyes of the cubs, that's an important element when drawing young characters, not just reduction in height. The little guy chewing the bone is perfect, I imagine a cub sabertooth doing that sort of thing XD
Overall, super awesome! You should indeed feel accomplished: what a lovely piece! :3
All the characters are excellent, but the smilodon family is extremely enchanting. I like how you captured youth in the eyes of the cubs, that's an important element when drawing young characters, not just reduction in height. The little guy chewing the bone is perfect, I imagine a cub sabertooth doing that sort of thing XD
Overall, super awesome! You should indeed feel accomplished: what a lovely piece! :3
I'm not sure what you mean by transparent pigments, but I used tube watercolors and diluted them a lot so they're transparent. There's a lot of layers of putting paint over paint over paint in this, I very rarely just am able to watercolor the correct color (nor am I brave enough) so I start off with light to dark and just keep going on top of on top of on top of. For example, the yellow highlights started off as a really watery bit of saturated yellow, then I added some orange to that watery yellow and went over it again while it was still wet so it would blend in parts. And yeah a lot of times things get too dark too fast if you directly apply. I haven't mastered that yet.
Thank you very much! I really wanted to show that they were a toddler and an older infant respectively and not just smaller smilodons (smallerdons lol)
I appreciate the compliments :3
Thank you very much! I really wanted to show that they were a toddler and an older infant respectively and not just smaller smilodons (smallerdons lol)
I appreciate the compliments :3
Interesting! Watercolour isnt easy, but knowing the properties of the pigments youre using really helps. Best explained here: http://www.winsornewton.com/main.aspx?PageID=104
No problem :)
No problem :)
This link contains the colour chart and properties of each pigment of this brand. I find it quite useful! http://www.winsornewton.com/assets/.....awcenglish.pdf
Ah this! Okay yeah, actually that's the brand I use. That and Daniel smith. But most of this was gone over with very transparent yellow and layered from there, leaving the whiteness of the paper for the lightest lights. Yellow kind of brought out a luminescent quality in parts so I went with that for th sunlit layers.
Ohhhh Thorn D:
You're right, this is such a tender piece <3
Each time I look at it I notice more and more beautiful detail.
I can't keep my eyes off of the Sabertooth family, especially how the little one at his father's feet looks up at his (younger?) sibling almost in a worried/cautious way. Such a small detail, his eyes, but such a nice feeling THERE alone <3 (and I'm glad you posted a detailed shot of this section in particular! I don't know HOW you had the patience...)
I also love the wild dogs :) I think this is the first time I've seen someone depict their coats in a VERY nice way, most other artists tend to make them rather unnatural, but this is gorgeous :D
Also, I want to comment on the nice layout you've chosen... I think this scene looks very natural and flows well, with nice rocky outcrops and the fields with mountains in the background... you must have thought a long time about this feature.
I really wish I was able to attend FC (bloody Australia not being connected to the world XD) JUST so I could see this in person. As an aspiring traditional artist, this piece was really REALLY lovely to see, and it's super rare that I ever see a piece that makes me want to leave a comment on it. Thank you for sharing this piece with us <3
You're right, this is such a tender piece <3
Each time I look at it I notice more and more beautiful detail.
I can't keep my eyes off of the Sabertooth family, especially how the little one at his father's feet looks up at his (younger?) sibling almost in a worried/cautious way. Such a small detail, his eyes, but such a nice feeling THERE alone <3 (and I'm glad you posted a detailed shot of this section in particular! I don't know HOW you had the patience...)
I also love the wild dogs :) I think this is the first time I've seen someone depict their coats in a VERY nice way, most other artists tend to make them rather unnatural, but this is gorgeous :D
Also, I want to comment on the nice layout you've chosen... I think this scene looks very natural and flows well, with nice rocky outcrops and the fields with mountains in the background... you must have thought a long time about this feature.
I really wish I was able to attend FC (bloody Australia not being connected to the world XD) JUST so I could see this in person. As an aspiring traditional artist, this piece was really REALLY lovely to see, and it's super rare that I ever see a piece that makes me want to leave a comment on it. Thank you for sharing this piece with us <3
This turned out so amazing, wowowow! I can't imagine how many hours you ended up pouring into this but the end result very much shows it. I love all the details, how vibrant it is and your use of watercolor makes my knees weak. I have to say one of my favorite things are those clouds, they look so effortless, though I know they weren't! Just fantastic work. I hope you are as proud of this piece as you ought to be (Also hurrraaay to seeing it in person *GLEE*)
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