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RiverRaven — Bloodred Sunset
#cat #female #malta #sunset #siderian #blackmystica #metafeline #fantasy #originalcharacter #originalspecies
Published: 2016-07-11 22:12:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 1223; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 0
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Description
I am really at loss for words... Not by surprise but by the simple serenity of this picture. I saw this scene with Malta, and nothing was really happening so I don't know what to say here that adds to this picture. It was good to practice a more extreme light condition!
This is Malta, the mother of my 'main character' Yava (who is a point of view character in the graphic novel by BlackMysticA that is currently in progress). Malta is a true Icelandic siderian, one of the few. Her grandmother is the coordinator of a metacluster called Boiling Bay , but she is probably import Icelandic xD. The paternal line of Malta goes further back into the Icelandic lineage.
Family
Grandparents (as far as they are known to me): Ragnar (father of Fannar) and Gaëlle (mother of Sivana)
Parents: Fannar (father) and Sivana (mother)
Sibling: Ragna (sister)
Partner: Axel
Offspring: Ravn and Yava
Grandchildren: so far, Falco, Winther , Torstein/Torben by Yava and Sevrin by Ravn. (There are some sketches and even character sheets available, by me or Mystic, but not submitted online yet...)
Personality keywords
Honest, straight to the point, patient, sympathetic (not to be confused with empathetic), conscientious, self-disciplined, even-tempered, not too serious around others and pretty easy to interact with, but can be very sharp or intense when she thinks it is earned, thinking on her feet (very smart and quick!), meticulous.
Voice and manner of speaking
For an impression of her voice, the first 20 seconds or so of this song are perfect (and some interviews like this one ). Linda Perry, yes, I know it is kind of cliche to take a famous person as a voice reference, but it just fits her perfectly. Actually the initial voice inspiration I had for Malta was the singer of Wicked Wisdom, such as this metal song , but it was way too screamy so I had to find her normal way of talking...
Disclaimer
Malta is a female siderian, a fantasy feline species created by BlackMysticA . Mystic was inspired by tigers, Eurasian lynx and Oriental cats to create siderians. Malta was initially inspired by cheetahs, but that later shifted towards the lynx spectrum of the current siderian anatomy.
Malta is a character of mine, adopted by Mystic in the reign of siderians, and accepted family member of main characters in her next graphic novel, Predator Control, featuring the famous Stian.
BlackMysticA is currently working on another graphic novel, Theory of Mind . Go check it out and support her!
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Comments: 26
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Hey! You're my "target" for ProjectComment's comment tag: fav.me/da4hhk0
My tag was "Dark" and I chose this picture because of the dark shading and character. The mood seems, while like you said very serene, also a little dark and sad or melancholic, probably because of the dark colors and dramatic lighting. Somehow, it reminds me of a farewell.
I really like the way you did the lighting (and shading). This kind of lighting looks great but is hard to do and you made it look pretty realistic. Some places, particularly the long parts of her fur, look a little too blurry though. Drawing even more individual hairs and strands would take a while, but it would probably be worth it. The picture also looks a little muddy in some places. The light during sunset usually produces even more saturated highlights, so you could have made more of the darker highlights more orange instead of a darker desaturated yellow, like you did with the fur on her back. You could have shaded her body a bit more. The sunlight would barely reach it, but with the minimal shading it looks flat compared to her face. The area between her left cheeckbone and the long fur thufts also looks a little hollow.
Though this race seems to be created by someone else, her individual character design is interesting, both her personality and appearance .(I always like characters with a lot of piercings and/or green eyes. ) I don't know too much about animal anatomy, but I think towards the right, her head curves upwards a little too much. Her right eye doesn't look as rounded as the other one and the shadow underneath seems a little too dark, at least around the outer edge. Her snout's shape looks just a tiny bit off to me, maybe it curves back a little too much, but I'm not quite sure. (If her head is supposed to be slightly tilted, her eyes don't align properly.)
The background itself looks good, but especially the trees aren't drawn in the same style as the character, the texture is just completely different, less sleek(?), and that makes her look a little out of place.
Those are all just minor complaints though, overall this picture has a great atmosphere and, at least in my opinion, is one of your best works so far. I hope I wasn't nagging too much and this could help you at least a little.
This one's next, and first, in line: waltervan00.deviantart.com/
Your tag is "Speed"
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Wow that exceeds the 100 words easily! Thanks a lot for the detailed critique - not nagging at all! I'll take it into account in my next paintings 
Yep, the trees (and birds) are from a brush, I didn't really paint them by hand. That's why they stand out. I hoped that I edited them well enough to blend into the whole of the picture, but I could maybe edit the stamps a bit more in future paintings (paint some details on it, something like that).
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Glad it could help you
I guess you'd just have to make them a bit smoother, less like a chalk brush, so they match your style.
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Allright, thanks for the tip!
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Gosh this is so beautiful...I love the contrast of these hot colors to Malta's coldness if I can say it that way...And the intentity of that look on her face there...that is such a powerful expression it gives me chills...And I really love the soft glow on the edges of her fur there aaaarg! *grabby hands* This is one of my favorite pieces you've done recently and that's a lot of awesomeness to have to pick form lol!
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Thanks!!
Yeah Malta can be very cold - I just experienced that myself, considering that I felt like Malta for a moment (I actively sought her out.. I just had a very short argument with Mystic and I sort of had the feeling that I had to stand my ground against Stian in a bad mood, so Malta is then my perfect candidate xD. It's all over now and we're both back to normal!)
I had a hard time drawing her fur, to make it long enough! When I showed my WIP to Mystic, she pointed out that her hair was not nearly half as long as it should be. I also did this wrong with Kjeld over here (making him look young). And I also heard that Mystic gave you that same comment on your recent drawing of Stian? Apparently, long hair is incredibly difficult to draw...?
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Ah wow...I see. 0.0 indeed feeling the strength if our characters can help us feel stronger I think. (At least for me anyway) sorry that happened, but if know you guys are good friends and worked it out. Just a minor bump in the road.
oh, glad I'm not the only one to make that mistake hehee! Indeed she did have to correct me there, I guess I am afraid if making it TOO long and thus making the character look stupid or something lol.
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Yeah it felt good to have a 'guide' at that moment. And yes, of course Mystic and I worked it out
When I am drawing long hair, I tend to think "well, this should be about long enough" and when I look at a reference, it turns out that I am not even halfway there xD. Maybe I should focus on drawing short-haired siderians, lol. (But now I started a new idea with Yava... if someone has a difficult fur..)
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I can imagine so. And aw good, I figured you would though. ^^
Hahha no kidding! I think I have the same sometimes lol. Ooo...curious about this idea with Yava???
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Oh I have a quick sketch here, but honestly I don't know how to proceed.. I want to practice more with backgrounds (and foregrounds), but maybe this is a bit overboard with all the plants surrounding Yava: sta.sh/01cqb4k5g782
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OK SORRY TO FREAK OUT IN ALL CAPS BUT THAT IS LOOKING SO PRETTY RIVER, OH MY GOSH ID LOVE TO SEE THAT FINISHED!!!!! I don't think the plants are overdone, this looks like a snapshot from a hidden camera deep in the forest ARG just the place one would hope to catch a sneaky glimps of our pretty lady aaaahhhh! I really love this!!!! Also just the pose looks so natural and again-like a quiet snapshot if her doing regular cat things in the woods. I LOVEthat kind of thing! AND ITS YAVA.
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Thank you 8D now I have to find some more inspiration to continue with this.. but I will finish it someday xD
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Spectacular! (:
Look at that beautiful background!
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Thank you!
Also thanks to your feedback!
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A very beautiful and powerful drawing of Malta! 
Ah, she has always been amongst my favourite Siderians aesthetically (well, they all look great, but that doesn't stop some personal favourites). You draw her beautifully here as silhouette-like, and the backlighting and shine on her fur is gorgeous. I also really love how her vivid green eyes stand out so beautifully, and contract with the red and golden hues of the background - which is beautifully drawn too, love the trees!
Haha, I have always loved how Malta's fur frames her face like that, a wonderful drawing of a great character! <3
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Oh thanks! I never realised she was one of your favourites (by exterior, at least)!
Ha the trees.. that's a kind of a cheat - those are made with tree brushes.. But I hope that I processed them well enough to make it look like a part of the painting rather than as tree stamps. (That also accounts for the birds in the background.)
Thanks for the kind comment!
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You're very welcome indeed!
And well, all Siderians as a species look great, but for some reason she always was one of the ones who stood out to me, just something about her look. ^^
Ah, well you did a really nice job with the editing as they blend and fit with the rest of the painting very well. 
So from what I have seen of others who do use brushes, it takes skill to use them WELL and integrate them with the painting as a whole - so well done!
You're very welcome indeed!
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Thanks
You are not a bad artist - stop thinking that 
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You're very welcome of course!
Ah, I think pigs will dance the flamenco before I consider myself even half-decent . 
I try not to compare myself, but that's not always easy - and considering pretty much everything I encounter is better than anything I could do, I still feel pretty awful.
Trying to get better, but I don't exactly have much to work with.
Ha, funny you should mention "style" - others have mentioned this before and I personally don't really see myself as having any particular style or uniqueness. Always find it odd when people say I have a "style"...
As for a learning curve, I think my anatomy has improved a bit and some other tiny things, but I think overall I am not really moving forward much at all. Stupid lack of time resulting in lack of practise...
Anyway, even if I may not see things the same way, thanks for your kind words nonetheless, I just have to keep trying harder... MUCH harder. :'D
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Haha well I think I can name at least 3 different artists right now that are not nearly as good as you are! But I won't, since that will be unkind to them
It's good that you see improvement in your own art 
Yes, style, because each person has it's own signature, a way of handling the brushes, choosing color palette, scenery and atmosphere etc.
Ha I completely understand the 'lack of tme resulting in a lack of practise' part! And you say that you have to keep trying harder, but I think you just have to keep drawing at your own pace and don't force it.
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Hehehe, artists I'm better than - are they under 3 years of age? 
And not a lot of improvement admittedly, but some is definitely better than none, I think...
Indeed, I notice a lot of people have their own very unique look to their art that can be recognised right away, and some are more subtle... though I guess personally I just never found anything distinctive to the way I draw, and it seems to lack any quirks or flair that I see in many other artists.
Hahaha, oh yes, that is THE biggest issue. 
Though you do give good advice there too - forcing anything in art is always a bad idea - not only does it kill productivity but you probably won't like the result of it either. (which of course further kills productivity). I will hopefully have a bit of time again in a month or so - I get stuck at a GP practise in the middle of nowhere for a month. :'D Hopefully they'll be nice enough and I might see some interesting stuff, but yeah, I will be stuck in hospital accommodation for a while on my own - bad for some things, but *hopefully* good for study and drawing! ^^
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Omg it's amazing ~!
Shading is so nice
And background is beautiful (ﾉ*ﾟｰﾟ)ﾉ
Awesome work ^^
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