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Cola82 โ€” Unfinished Octopus

Published: 2010-11-21 04:43:37 +0000 UTC; Views: 1717; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 34
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Description Another one for the books. I started this project like two years ago, and I was very excited about it. I drew lots of thumbnails, ultimately picked this composition, worked on the colors, and then I don't know. I picked at it for a long time. I was working on it as recently as October when I redrew huge segments of the image because I was no longer happy with it and spotting flaws everywhere.

At a certain point in working on an image, it becomes a huge psychological burden. You don't love it, and working on it is a pain in the ass. No matter how much people go "Awww! But it's so BEAUTIFUL!" you know better. It isn't up to your standards, and having it around is stressing you out. The pressure to complete something because other people think you should is only going to further kill whatever creative energy you had left.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not excusing laziness. There are projects languishing in my photoshop file that are unfinished simply because I'm a lazy bastard. Projects that will not suffer if I put my teeth together and actually work on them. This is not one of those projects. It is dead. I hate it. Posting it now is my way of saying that it is done. DOA, if you will, but done, and I never have to look at it again.

I'm not worse for having tried, though. So thanks for all the lessons you taught me, Octobeauty. I'm sure I'll put them to use creating something that brings me both joy and the true satisfaction of a job well done.

I just can't do that with you watching me from the corner of my work folder.

Scrap later.
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Comments: 19

pinkplaidrobot [2010-11-23 09:11:35 +0000 UTC]

*LOVE* ^_^

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Cola82 In reply to pinkplaidrobot [2010-11-24 04:55:28 +0000 UTC]

: D

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DaceyRose [2010-11-23 02:49:19 +0000 UTC]

This ia AWESOME. O.O I love it!

I can see how this would be absolutley hair-pulling inducing, wow. I'd have gone crazy before it was colored THIS much.

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Cola82 In reply to DaceyRose [2010-11-24 04:55:43 +0000 UTC]

Haha! I did a couple of times! ;D

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DaceyRose In reply to Cola82 [2010-11-24 18:43:46 +0000 UTC]

Heehee, you, go crazy? Never.

>.> Not me, for that matter. <.<

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Elyan [2010-11-22 20:49:12 +0000 UTC]

come back to us you are ssooooo awesome *whistling voice*

yeah seriously... uhm this is very cool if i wouldยดve to complaint on something its the struckture of the tentacles which is too plain for my liking but thats everything.
very nicely done

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Cola82 In reply to Elyan [2010-11-22 22:44:45 +0000 UTC]

Oh, there's a ton wrong with it. Torso is too flat, the hands look weird, the shoulders are too narrow, the suckers don't make physical sense (couldn't figure out how to color them). There are lots of reasons I gave up on this. Have at it. XD

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Niklix-Broomsbane [2010-11-22 02:29:53 +0000 UTC]

... I heart you so much, cola.

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Cola82 In reply to Niklix-Broomsbane [2010-11-22 22:44:58 +0000 UTC]

Haha, thank you!

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shakedown [2010-11-21 17:26:13 +0000 UTC]

This is pretty cool and I'm glad you decided to share. I love the supportive tentacles.

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Cola82 In reply to shakedown [2010-11-22 22:45:10 +0000 UTC]

Hehe, yes, they were a big part of the original idea. ;D

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shakedown In reply to Cola82 [2010-11-23 00:41:39 +0000 UTC]

Clever, I love it! I'm glad you posted this and I'd love to see more of your collection you haven't finished.

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mistformsquirrel [2010-11-21 14:45:50 +0000 UTC]

Hehe; I totally understand what you mean Cola ; My work isn't nearly as good as yours, but I've had the exact same thing crop up many, many times. (Including my current painting project, which is rapidly going from "exciting and fun" to "oh god, why am I doing this to myself?"

Still, it really is a good picture! (Course that said I know full well that for every flaw an audience can see, the artist can find 10 usually ><)

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Cola82 In reply to mistformsquirrel [2010-11-22 22:46:13 +0000 UTC]

Pffft, one doesn't need quality comparisons. These problems are indeed universal. I hope sharing the burden makes it a little easier to work through. : )

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mistformsquirrel In reply to Cola82 [2010-11-22 23:52:03 +0000 UTC]

Yeah hehe >_< It really does.

I'm just about done with the piece I was griping about, though it'll probably take 2 more hours at least to get it where I'm happy with it. (We'll see if it gets those though.)

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BlueRibbonWinner [2010-11-21 07:39:49 +0000 UTC]

Haha I drew a octopus just last week. Although she is nowhere near as pleasant looking.

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Cola82 In reply to BlueRibbonWinner [2010-11-22 22:45:22 +0000 UTC]

I'm sure she's cool. : D

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Okk [2010-11-21 05:17:56 +0000 UTC]

Alas. She is a fusion of two of my favorite things: cephalopods and pretty girls.

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Cola82 In reply to Okk [2010-11-22 22:45:31 +0000 UTC]

Those are some good things.

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