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DarkWolf's Fanart Thread

DarkWolf91 · 427 · 63821

DarkWolf91

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That's a lovely drawing! :) Are you planning on uploading it to DA? I like the background too :D

Thank you! Yes, I do intend to submit it to DA. I've been procrastinating because I want to use its original size, and I forgot to save it that way the first time I cropped it :lol

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Wow! :blink:
I only have a small window up for firefox because there are other windows up on my screen which I didn't want to be overlapped by the firefox window. So I only saw the left part of the image before I scrolled to the right, and I swear that I was expecting a screenshot (hadn't read the text before). That background is awesome!
Same goes for the shading :yes
As for hopefully constructive criticism I think the proportions of Ali's legs (breadth rather than length) could be worked out a little. I like the idea of Ali and Petrie interacting. Imagine some conflict between Ali, Cera, and Littlefoot, perhaps Petrie would be the best to turn to. Odd as it sounds Ducky might be too kind to be a good adviser in conflict matters. Maybe Petrie is not the best adviser either, but I imagine him to be very capable of sympathizing with Ali in such a situation (especially when it comes to quarrels with Cera).

Thanks very much!
Ah, you're completely right about the legs... It seems whenever I fixed one problem with them, it created a new one :p Oh well! That's what practice is for!
I believe you're right about Ducky, too. She certainly has her own peculiar brand of wisdom, but to be an effective adviser I think she'd have to be a bit less ambivalent in her judgements. I could kind of see Petrie on the other end of the spectrum, though- all too eager to completely side against the offending party. Definitely sympathetic, to a fault :smile

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thats very good work DW! nicely done!

Thank you, Nick! Much appreciated!



Sky

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Naaw... too bad you don't want to work on it any longer. =/ It would have been even more awesome. ^_^
But seriously, it's a lovely drawing! :lol:

I especially like the background with it's fine details.  :yes


Chiletrek

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Hello:
 I like that pic very much, and I agree, it has very good details and the colors seem right to me.
 Keep it up!


Pangaea

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Oiiiiieeeee!!!!! How did I forget to comment on this?! :blink:

It’s wonderful to finally see more artwork from you, Darkwolf. :yes (I can’t believe it’s been over eight months! :o)

As usual, fantastic work! :D The background in this image is astoundingly good. This could almost be the background for a LBT film cel. The ground has the realistically patchy appearance of a dinosaur-trodden field, and the distant vegetation encroaches on the mountainsides in a very realistic manner. The waterfall, too, looks just like something out of the backdrop of the Great Valley from a LBT film.

I especially love the tree. I can never seem to draw realistic trees, but yours in this picture looks nothing short of marvelous. The bark looks unbelievably gorgeous, with the texturing and shading like what you’d expect to find on a real tree. The fact that neither the trunk nor the branches are perfectly straight gives the tree a very natural look. The technique you used for the leaves is simple, but the way they are lightest around the fringes of the crown and become darker towards the center is both realistic and beautiful.

Somehow the rocks comprising the mountains don’t look as distant as I believe you intended them to. Those on the far left, in particular, look rather close up. Nonetheless, they are incredibly natural-looking, and I absolutely love them.

The only detail of the background that I don’t really care for is the bush in the lower right-hand corner. It doesn’t seem to cast a shadow, and the leaves, especially around the edges, don’t look as good or as realistic as the tree’s, in my opinion. Still, by this picture’s standards, not as good as the rest of the background is still not bad. :yes

Great job on the characters as well. :) You’re right that, apart from Ali giving Petrie the dinosaur equivalent of a goodbye kiss at the end of LBT IV, these two really never interacted at all. I don’t believe I’ve seen a lot of fanart of Ali, but yours looks pretty good. Even if not all of the parts of her body are perfectly shaped, I thought you did excellently getting her proportions right. :yes You did a great job on her eyes as well; to me her expression looks distinctively “Ali”. Even if this picture had no color, I think her eyes would still identify her as Ali and not Littlefoot.

As for what could be changed, Malte already mentioned the legs, so I won’t spend time on them (unless you want me to mention specifically what I think could be changed, for future reference). I think Ali’s snout should be a little deeper, with more of a slope to it, and the upper corner of it looks a little too sharp to me. Maybe the the stripe leading up to her neck should be a bit wider, and the left side of her neck more curved. Finally, the bumps that form the ridge on her back should be separate, like segments, rather than all connected.

As for Petrie, he’s very good, too. I like his expression, and the way he’s holding up his wing in a gesture; it does look like he’s giving advice to Ali. :lol He appears to have only two claws on each wing, and his tail looks a little long and upturned to me, but other than that, I can’t find much to critique.

You also did a good job on the colors for both Ali and Petrie. (Have I ever mentioned how accurate you are in selecting your color palette for the characters? :wow)

Wow…comparing this to previous reviews I’ve left on your work, it’s amazing how much more comprehensive I’ve become in giving art feedback. :blink: I guess I can thank all the reviewing experience Ptyra and Sky have provided me with. :lol I hope you don’t mind the huge nitpicky review. :oops

I already mentioned this on your farewell/greeting thread in “Lands Unknown”, but have you heard that pokeplayer984 is making a LBT tribute video (and hosting a contest) featuring fans’ artwork? Maybe you could submit one of your pieces. I’m sure it would be a fantastic contribution. :yes

Anyway, again I’m glad to see another art piece from you. Hopefully you’ll be able to post more soon. :smile



Pronounced "pan-JEE-uh". Spelled with three A's. Represented by a Lystrosaurus.


DarkWolf91

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Thank you so much, Sky! And Chiletrek as well :)

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I especially love the tree. I can never seem to draw realistic trees, but yours in this picture looks nothing short of marvelous. The bark looks unbelievably gorgeous, with the texturing and shading like what you’d expect to find on a real tree. The fact that neither the trunk nor the branches are perfectly straight gives the tree a very natural look. The technique you used for the leaves is simple, but the way they are lightest around the fringes of the crown and become darker towards the center is both realistic and beautiful.

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you :lol
I have a huge fascination with trees. I get a lot of smart comments from my co-workers because I'm constantly staring at them :p I've spent quite a bit of time observing/doing artistic studies- there are thousands of different ways to draw a single tree! It's fantastic! I'm so glad you like the one I've rendered here!

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Somehow the rocks comprising the mountains don’t look as distant as I believe you intended them to. Those on the far left, in particular, look rather close up. Nonetheless, they are incredibly natural-looking, and I absolutely love them.

Ah, yes, the rocks. I intended the ones on the left to appear much closer than those in the center, however, I neglected to correct for scale. Sooooo as it stands, the rocks in the far background would be massive, while the ones in the midground are comparatively small :bang
Ah well. You live, you learn :D

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The only detail of the background that I don’t really care for is the bush in the lower right-hand corner. It doesn’t seem to cast a shadow, and the leaves, especially around the edges, don’t look as good or as realistic as the tree’s, in my opinion. Still, by this picture’s standards, not as good as the rest of the background is still not bad. :yes


AH! I completely forgot to block in that shadow! Man, that didn't even cross my mind :oops Haha, my bad.
As for its rendering, yeeeeah, it's been bothering me a bit too. It's kinda flat and distracting. Unfortunately I forced myself to say 'Enough is enough' before I could sneak into re-working it :smile

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I think Ali’s snout should be a little deeper, with more of a slope to it, and the upper corner of it looks a little too sharp to me. Maybe the the stripe leading up to her neck should be a bit wider, and the left side of her neck more curved.

All very good points! I'll keep them in mind.

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Finally, the bumps that form the ridge on her back should be separate, like segments, rather than all connected.

Actually, it's kinda funny, but I'm certain I knew that when I drew this. Somewhere along the line I got the 'continuous ridge' idea stuck in my head and have been drawing Ali/Littlefoot with it ever since, with complete subconscious disregard for that particular area in reference pictures :rolleyes One day I'll probably quit doing that :p

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He appears to have only two claws on each wing, and his tail looks a little long and upturned to me, but other than that, I can’t find much to critique.

Whoops! I could've sworn it looked like he only had two claws when I referenced him, but upon re-checking he clearly has three. My bad :smile

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(Have I ever mentioned how accurate you are in selecting your color palette for the characters? )

Why, thank you :) The color palette is a very important element for me. I usually spend a bit of time cross-cheking colors in different screengrabs and considering lighting factors before I begin. Glad it looks alright!

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I hope you don’t mind the huge nitpicky review. :oops

Ah, Pangaea, I absolutely love reading your reviews! Thank you for taking the time to write them :)

And as for pokeplayer's tribute video, wow! That deadline came up fast :lol
I'll see what I can do :smile



DarkWolf91

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Don't have time for much nowadays :bang
But here's a quick one! I was working on a more LBT-ish look for my Campylognathoides character. Might switch up a few of the colors, he looks a bit too pastel. And I'm thinking I might modify a few of the more generic 'flier' aspects of the design. Ah well, we'll see.



Sky

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That's a nice drawing. ^_^ He looks kinda cute.  
I also like the dots on his wings. :smile


Pangaea

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I love it that you’re doing more work on those character concepts you drew way back. Obviously you posted those long before I started reviewing people’s artwork on this forum, so I never told you how much I liked them, especially the three pterosaurs in this thread. And in fact, the Campylognathoides character may have been my favorite. :^.^:

I have to agree with you about the coloring looking too pastel-y. Also, were purple and lavender always the colors you had in mind for this character? Personally I think yellow, yellowish brown, and maybe some blue highlights would look good on him. Also, in your earlier drawing, it looked like he had a stripe on the upper part of his face going past his eye. I thought it looked really good, and I think you should bring it back. :yes

To be honest, I don’t think he looks as good more heavily LBT-styled. I thought he looked cuter with the pointier beak with teeth closer to the front, and the furry neck that connected further back on the head. I’m all in favor of experimenting more with his design, maybe seeing if you can draw him with some of his original characteristics and still make him look like a LBT character. For example, the little black-and-white pterosaurs that attended Littlefoot’s hatching in the first LBT had furry necks; maybe you could look at them to get a better idea for how you could draw this feature.

I do like the spots on his wings (I think you should keep tose when you change his colors), and the wider tail vane with the patch on it (I always thought Rinkus’s was too narrow), and how you’ve drawn his feet differently from other LBT flyers’. The little crest looks good, too. Finally, just an observational comment: It looks like he’s wearing short sleeves! :p :lol



Pronounced "pan-JEE-uh". Spelled with three A's. Represented by a Lystrosaurus.


DarkWolf91

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Thank you, Sky! :smile

And thank you for the suggestions, Pangaea! I agree that he doesn't look quite so good this way. I'm working with another variation on the design, and should hopefully have it up soon!
As for the colors, I wanted them to somewhat reflect his character, but the specifics of that character are still quite hazy. I was trying for something quiet and soft, which is why I went with the blues/purples. Once I finished I didn't feel like that suited him, though. Now I'm looking for something a bit more quirky. I plan on testing a bunch of variations, but I think yellow may work quite nicely!
I'm glad everyone seems to like the wingspots! I couldn't resist them :lol
The feet I'm quite happy with as well. And, hey, what do you know- he does look like he has sleeves :blink:



DarkWolf91

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Here's the sketch I did for Pokeplayer's tribute!
Kinda quick and messy, but ah well :smile



Pangaea

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Quick and messy maybe, but it still looks nice! :smile (It is one of the pieces I voted for. ;))

There’s a lot going on in this picture that gets my imagination going. Petrie’s posture and expression, and the fact that he has his back to the water, makes me think that Ducky has invited him in for a swim, and he’s saying something like, “Nuh-uh! There no way me gettin’ in the water!” :lol Guido, meanwhile, looks like he’s seeing how much Ducky is enjoying herself, and is thinking, “Hey, this looks like something I might want to try!” This is evidenced by the fact that he’s on all fours at the water’s edge and seems to have a curious expression. Ducky looks like she’s having a great time, but for some reason I have the suspicion that she’s going to splash Petrie. :p

Unless Petrie’s sitting down, his tail is probably not high enough off the ground, but besides that I really can’t find much wrong with him. The capelike effect of his wings is well done, and that’s a great profile drawing of him :yes (It occurs to me that maybe the inside of his mouth shouldn’t be visible from that angle, yet I think he actually looks better this way).

Besides being hugely oversized compared to the other characters (an artifact, no doubt, of your hurriedness to complete the imageĆ³perfectly understandable), Guido’s tail is extremely thin and his face looks a bit droopy or jowly to me, mainly along the mouth and below his right eye. Still, I really like his expression, and the way you drew his head at that angle in general. His feathers are also very good: the plume on his tail looks very close to the way it does in parts of LBT XII (confusingly, it seems to change shape at times throughout the movie :confused); I love his wing feathers, especially those on his left wing with their upward-arched angle (even though his they seem to be rather limp in the films when he’s not gliding); and while those on his head are a little too narrow at the moment (though at the front of his crest he should have a single thin, hairlike feather sticking up), I like the way you drew their positions as well. :yes

Ducky’s hand has only three fingers on it, and she doesn’t appear to have eyelashes (though I imagine you would have added them later if you’d had the time). There’s something about her head that looks a little off to me as well, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. :confused Maybe her lower jaw is too pointed. :huh: That aside, I really think you did well drawing her head (you even have the little knobby point on her beak), and I like the swimming position you put her in.

Even the sketchy opposite bank and the trees in the background look good. There’s something I really like about the tree on the far right; I think it’s the straight-but-not-too-straight trunk and the shape and positioning of the branches. Apart from that tree, the trunk angles and irregularly-shaped branches of the trees give me the impression that they are very old, and make me think that the background behind them ought to be a very dark and dense forest.

Thank you very much for posting this image. I hope you find the time to finish it someday. :)



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DarkWolf91

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As always, Pangaea, thank you so much for your extensive review! Great insight! I wish I had time right now to respond to every element individually, but to make a long story short, you've definitely gotten me interested in cleaning this piece up :smile
Thanks again!



Pangaea

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Quote from: DarkWolf91,Aug 22 2010 on  03:14 PM
As always, Pangaea, thank you so much for your extensive review! Great insight! I wish I had time right now to respond to every element individually, but to make a long story short, you've definitely gotten me interested in cleaning this piece up :smile
Thanks again!
That's great to hear! I'm very excited to see the eventual revised version. :DD

And you're very welcome. :) It's hugely rewarding to hear that my comments are so appreciated.



Pronounced "pan-JEE-uh". Spelled with three A's. Represented by a Lystrosaurus.


DarkWolf91

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Another re-vamp of the Campylognathoides character I was working on- I'm thinking of calling him Nathan :smile
Liking this design a lot better (thank you to Pangaea for the suggestions!), but I'm probably going to do a lot more messing around with the paint-bucket tool as far as his color scheme goes :p
We'll see!



Pangaea

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Argh! Totally forgot to comment! :bang Sorry about that.

This version looks much better than the last one (and I’m glad you agree). :yes The new colors are a huge improvement (more on them in a moment), and I like that he looks fuzzier now. :DD And it’s great that you kept the patterns on his wings and tail vane; those still look good. He’s also much better with the fluffed-out neck. :smile You might want to make his hand claws a little pointier, and give him more distinct heels so that you can tell that he’s standing on his toes.

As for his colors, personally I think that the shade of blue that you used looks good, and like the color of his body as well. None of his colors look bad to me, though if you’re going to experiment further, I think he could look better if his wings were a little closer to the yellow end of the yellow-brown spectrum. Also, maybe it’s just me, but his beak, feet, and forearms look almost a little greenish; you might want to tone that down a bit.

While I’m glad that you brought back the markings around his eyes, I have to say they make him look a lot like he’s wearing goggles. :blink: :lol I suppose this might be considered appropriate for a flyer, :p but to make it clear that these are natural markings, I’d suggest having the blue stripe be almost as broad as the blue “spectacles” right where it meets them, and taper to a downward-curved point on the side of his head, like what you had in your original drawing. That version also had the stripe extending onto the beak in front, which on one hand would further lessen the appearance of the pattern as protective eyewear, but on the other hand might not work well for a LBT pterosaur whose beak is distinct from its face (though you could still try it if you wanted).

Another thing I would suggest is to round out the back of his head. I think he looks great with the highest point of his head being the area between his eyes, so you wouldn’t want to give him the kind of domed cranium that the last version had, but a gentler arc from his forehead to the base of the first fuzzy tuft on his neck, its peak being no further out than where the tip of his crest is now. Of course, in this picture it looks like he’s leaning his head forward; if his neck were straight I might advise differently. In any case, giving him a rounder head and nape would allow for more room to show his eye stripe trailing off, as well as making him look closer to both a LBT-style pterosaur and your original concept drawing.

By the way, I think Nathan is a fantastic name for a Campylognathoides! :smile I’d say you should definitely go with that. :yes I’m amazed that I never thought of that name for a creature with “gnatho” or “gnathus” in its scientific name. :!



Pronounced "pan-JEE-uh". Spelled with three A's. Represented by a Lystrosaurus.


DarkWolf91

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Pangaea! I read this ages ago! So sorry I haven't had the time to respond to your awesome critique yet :bang
Anyways just wanted to offer a meager little thanks for all of your fantastical support :smile As usual, wish I had time for something more involved. And there are a lot of little problems... notably the size of the wing-arms :oops
But here's a doodle of your Dinosona!



Pangaea

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Wow! Looks great! Thank you, DarkWolf! :) Did you just make this today? If so, it amazes me how fast you completed it. :!

I can't stop marveling at the tail feathers. :o You did them incredibly well. :yes (It took me ages to get those right.) And I'm impressed by how accurately you matched the color scheme. :wow

For some reason the face reminds me of Pterano or something. He looks older than the Microraptor equivalent of 22. :p It's probably the eyes (especially with that wrinkle under them that's usually associated with older LBT dinosaurs) and the corner of the mouth.

Again, it was very kind of you to draw this. Thank you very much! :DD



Pronounced "pan-JEE-uh". Spelled with three A's. Represented by a Lystrosaurus.


Kor

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That is some very great artwork that you have done there.  Thanks for sharing it with us here.


DarkWolf91

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Thank you! Yes, I did the sketch veeeery early in the morning and promptly completed it after a bit of sleep :p I like the tailfeathers as well! And I take specific care when it comes to color selection, I'm glad you found it accurate :smile

As for the age, forgive me for leaning towards a worryworn appearance :lol
The mark under the eye I referenced from the design, but I believe I made the shape a bit too pronounced! It seems obvious now, though I didn't notice before :blink:

And thanks to you too, Kor!