Death By An Arrow Makes the Art Happen

Tommy's

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2006

[Bone]

Mo/

26 Apr 2011 at 08:04 - 121

I've totaly missed those photographs, but WOW. That bearded dragon is one of the prettiest shots I've seen in a long time, the color, the blur, the focus, everything looks just fantastic!

And about the accident.. Perhabs I'm making judgements too quickly, but what a jerks, it was an accident, you are terribly sorry, and they don't want to talk to you? Bleh. I'd paint them a middlefinger with 'forgive me' written underneath it

If not that then perhabs a Pinguin or a kitty kitty? This person has a lot of cute animals too, perhabs you can find some inspiration in them

InfestedHydralisk

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

The Netherlands

None

26 Apr 2011 at 17:21 - 122

Well, I would get pretty mad aswell if I have to go to the hospital ad my car is damaged just because someone wasn't paying attention.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

26 Apr 2011 at 21:10 - 123

^^^
yeah, thats exactly why I want to do something for him. He was actually probably one of the nicest people you could get into an accident with. I literally have never felt this horrible in my whole life, considering it was all because of something so stupid and easily avoidable on my end. It all comes down to the fact that I was momentarily absentminded at possibly the most dangerous intersection, during rushhour in the rain, in our town.

And its not necessarily that they dont want to talk to me, but I can only assume they dont. Look from the shoes of a 70 (yeah that just makes this better doesnt it ._.) year old man:
-careless teenager
-Came out of no where
-what the hell was he thinking
-Now i have to make a hospital visit even though I really don't feel like I need to (his words, not mine)
Its essentially exactly what IH said, and I would have honestly been a lot more angry than he was if someone had come out of nowhere infront of me.

So yeah, really doesnt make me look good. At all. I can only imagine what his family thinks, and considering its a complete stranger I have to assume the worst outcome possible and proceed from there.

ANYWAYS. Back to the art. Ive actually seen that artist's dA page before and depending on where I go with this I may have to take some of that puppy-dog eye effect ._.
Looking through some of the links (and other works from the same artists) I think I've rooted it down to three primary ideas:
-The flowers with the bee, and the farmhouse in the background
-Two kittens playing on a curb
-Something Panda related. Because Pandas are sort of seen internationally as a symbol of peace and serenity :x Which is kind of what I want to portray. However, I'm not too sure how well this would turn out pencil/grey scale, or watercoloured.

Ill do some thumbnail sketches asap and post them up here, then go with the best one.

Edit:
Ok, here are my ideas.
Option 1: Field of flowers w/ bee upclose, barn in background.

Option 2: Kittens

Option 3: Panda

InfestedHydralisk

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

The Netherlands

None

27 Apr 2011 at 00:23 - 124

I vote for 1!

Morag D

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2007

UK/Austria

[bone]

27 Apr 2011 at 07:55 - 125

I like option 1, I can see it in nice, happy, warm summery colours - perhaps like in one of my favourite Van Goghs?

it'll be lovely!

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

27 Apr 2011 at 20:23 - 126

Alright, well after asking some people I know as well, it seems option one is the way to go. Tomorrow I wont have any time to work on it, so I'm going to get as much as I can done tonight along with my essay (due friday >.>).

Ill put up pictures of my sketch and potential first coat tonight if I get the time.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

02 May 2011 at 02:50 - 127

The sketch has been finished, I added a pathway leading up the the barn. Played around with some perspective stuff but I think I've got the composition nailed down. I'd put up a picture, but 2H doesn't show up that well in pictures

Im also thinking of doing something a little different with this one; I want to try to get it finished as quickly as possible, so as motivation I was thinking I might film the whole process (thanks to a tripod we found in my house I can use to setup my camera) then turn it into a timelapse?

It would mean Id have 2-3 hours (likely have to dump the card once or twice, but the battery would likely die out quicker) to try and get it finished, and I think it'd be good motivation. I might do it some day this week once I finish some of my projects (three due thursday, though 2 should not take very much time) but if not, it will be done on the weekend

Thistle Xandra

Site Contributor

Join Date: Aug 2010

02 May 2011 at 23:13 - 128

ooh, a time lapse WiP would be so cool to see! Looking forward to seeing it!

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

28 May 2011 at 02:48 - 129

Don't worry, I'm not dead!

Still 3 weeks of school to go before exams, and ive got around 8 assignments due before then. So i still don't have a whole lot of time for art right now; once exams come and summer starts, I think I'll finally start the anatomy work I wanted to do... a month or two ago >.<

In the meantime, however, I got a new lens for my camera. So heres some things I took when I tested it out

I really like this lens; I'm finally able to take pictures of bigger animals that I can't get within half a foot with as if I was just as close as some of the snakes in the terrariums ^^ <another red panda day celebration is occuring june 12th at the zoo, so I hope to get several shots while I'm there :3>

Now that painting I planned to make for the guy in the accident literally could not get started until this week; I've had so many projects and essays for my (stupid) anthropology/psychology/sociology class that I am now accustomed to a 6 hour sleep cycle (i actually had a semi-free night last night, and felt guilty going to be at 12:30). My parents kind of agree that it seems a little... innapropriate (not the best word for it) to send it now that it's taken so long. So I may end up keeping it in the end.

BUT ANYWAYS, heres a quick progress shot for where it's at:

I half-started the bee, and then had to leave. So thats what the thing on the flower is

I am filming the whole process like I said, but I've had a few... technical errors along the way >.> My camera heats up after about 20 minutes of recording so it has to cool down often, and I tried switching to my low-quality camera for a bit so theres a visual/perspective change. Then sometimes i forget to turn the camera on

Does anyone know of any free video editing software they could suggest (with Windows XP)? Stuck using movie maker which can't use .mov files -_-

Aeronwen

not so much fell as.....

Join Date: Jan 2009

bone

28 May 2011 at 08:59 - 130

Soz I know nothing about video editing.

I would still send the pic though - when is it ever inappropriate to give a gift? Especially something awesome made by yourself.

Can't wait to see the time lapse ...but school work comes first. Take care of yourself.

InfestedHydralisk

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

The Netherlands

None

28 May 2011 at 12:00 - 131

I use Sony Vegas for video editing (you'd have to pirate it though).

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

18 Jun 2011 at 02:46 - 132

Exams are this week, and then school is done. Then... then i can art again q______p (not to mention I never have to suffer through Anthro/Psych/Soc again...)

Just some current updates:
o Im aiming to finish that painting tomorrow, yes I have had that little time :/
Im still recording the video process, though it will likely be horrible; the camera has shifted positions several times... and I even changed cameras for a while (overheating). But i'm too far now to just delete it all...

o I learned my zoo has a photo contest open to members; unlimited submissions as long as they arent digitally enhanced/4x6 prints/meet subject matter. So, likely, throughout the summer I'll keep trying to improve my photography and put in what looks best

o As soon as school is done (my last exam is friday morning >.<) I'm gunna get around to drawing again. This will more likely start out as sketches/drawings instead of paintings to work on some fundamental things (anatomy, posing, action, composition, speed, etc.). You know... the stuff I thought I wanted to start... in March. '____.
o Lastly, this summer (and after some time sketching and the above point) I'm gunna try my hand at some kind of commission. Whether its cheap sketches, or drawings, or working on painting I want to do atleast some commissions. It'll be good practice for working on people (as well as I need the cash for my HoM. I need Obby armor... and 124 zkeys =.=)

So yes, theres that. Heres some of my latest photography to bide that wall of text

Thinking of submitting this as a botanical entry to the zoo contest; i like the colours.

Also, unrelated but something thats pretty much gotten me through the past week
~ the zoo is fairly confident one of the red pandas is pregnant and is due this summer. Progestrogen levels have spiked, she has created several nests that she constantly changes and moves around. Some of the best news I could start the summer with :2

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

25 Jun 2011 at 02:35 - 133

I ACTUALLY HAVE THINGS TO SHARE Q.Q

Finished my last exam this morning, so I thought this was the best time to start anatomy-ing. My plan is to try and get in an hour of drawing bodies/parts of bodies each day, focusing on specific things. Ill try and post what I do each day, but if I can't I'll just catch up in the next post.

Today i just sort of went introductory, aiming at the torso. Then i tried to add in some rough arms and those went pretty badly xD Just keep in mind the focus is suppost to be the torso

I wont have a scanner until sunday night at the earliest, so today and tomorrow will be very yellowy-light bulb tinted and taken with my camera

Also, i have... well theres this. I don't like the way it came out (also, i couldnt get good lighting. even outdoors.). at all. I thought it was done, then realized i completely forgot to do shading. It got way to drawn out but its out of my hands so... obligatory post:

*leaves before anyone can see the painting*

Tommy's

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Dec 2006

[Bone]

Mo/

25 Jun 2011 at 10:41 - 134

I really like your watercolors, they are very peaceful and easy on the eye.

Also, good plan on the anatomy. I'll join you once my exams are over!

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

26 Jun 2011 at 12:18 - 135

The next time I work on watercolours im gunna try and focus more on environmental details i think... like shadows, for starters >.>

Hopefully exams finish quickly then

BlackXI

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2011

In a house

Me/

27 Jun 2011 at 17:15 - 136

Wow really neat watercolor painting! How long did it take you to finish it? And it is always good to study your anatomy, when shading always focus on your direction of light source ^^

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

27 Jun 2011 at 17:25 - 137

Probably a few hours (id say 3-4 at most), but its hard to tell because it was probably done over a spanof a few weeks (whenever I had time between assignments and studying).

Ill keep the lightsource in mind; right now my primary resource is photos i can find around the internet but (hopefully) i'll eventually get some more references or find a way to convince someone to let me draw them (which I'm almost certain 95% of the people I know would be creeped out by that. I need to find that 5% >.>)

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

02 Jul 2011 at 04:30 - 138

As i predicted I havent been able to upload them each time I do them, and I had a change at work where I now work 7 hours everyother day, so its hard to find time everyday to do this. So I'm going to aim for everyother day (or 'days off') to work on this.

Second Male Torso:

And Female Torso [NSFW]:

When doing this one I realized two things
1) I've never drawn a woman who wasn't martha stewart.
2) I've never drawn a naked woman.
So hopefully I didn't completely screw up ^^

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

02 Aug 2011 at 04:29 - 139

So this week is kind of busy for me, surgery friday. But it's followed up by 5 days of good rest and milkshakes/chicken-noodle-without-the-noodles-or-chicken soup so I'll most certainly draw in my down time

I want to work on my female bodies more, the one skeleton-muscle guide was really helpful so I want to practice using that strategy more.

Finally figured out why I couldn't edit in .RAW; my photoshop needed an updated plug-in. So i tried my first raw editing from a zoo trip today; it is an arctic fox getting it's summer coat, so s/he has a much more awesome colouring than usual.

This week we may or may not do a workshop topic simply because I've had some emergency family things to deal with followed by my surgery, and Tommy also has a congested week.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

24 Aug 2011 at 14:33 - 140

Open the flood gates!

I apologize for not posting more this summer, but we've had quite a few family problems (deaths/hospitalizations) and I've been working nearly everyother day. But heres what I've been doing lately

Here are some little sketchs I pulled out on night (morning? 2:00am or so)

This is a graph.

This is an ostrich

Both took about 20 minutes each, referenced from photos.

So this just sort of got pulled out of my brain. It was suppost to be a spider o___O But then I turned it into a yeti

2-2.5 hours on/off for a few days, I changed the legs about 30 times. :| No references, but the anatomy isnt too bad.

Also, two nights ago, I decided to whip out my water colour sketchbook. Ive only used one page, so I feel like ive been wasting it. No point in not sketching some watercolour down too.

Dont know the time it took, was watching TV at the same time. No longer than an hour and a half though.

And lastly, the Toronto Zoo's photo contest is closing up on friday, so today I'm getting my prints and dropping them off

It's unlimited submissions (hooray

) and for 6 categories - Funny, Close Up Animal, Full Body Animal, Kids, Botanical, and Judge's Choice. Scanning through all my pictures for the year thus far, these are the 19 I'll be submitting (some are admitedly worse than others, but its unlimited submissions so why not try them)
Here is a link to my shiny new Flickr page, all of the submissions are here
The compositions of some are mainly my concern, as a few really nice ones have little things in the background to distract focus

/phew. As always, PLEASE tell me how and where I should be improving. I take it all into consideration, whether it be my drawing, painting, or photography. I feed on constructive criticism

Morag D

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2007

UK/Austria

[bone]

P/

25 Aug 2011 at 09:02 - 141

I is stalking ur FLICKRRRRRR *mwahahahaaa*

Aeronwen

not so much fell as.....

Join Date: Jan 2009

UK

bone

R/

25 Aug 2011 at 09:14 - 142

DBAA sorry to hear about your sad summer. I love those sketches, particularly the ostrich.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

25 Aug 2011 at 13:50 - 143

@Morag Thank you Maybe I'll have to update it more now o__o

@Aero Thank you for the kind words Hopefully it all starts getting better once school starts.

I started reading some books with tips on drawing animals which go through similarities in anatomy, so the ostrich and giraffe are my "before" sample

I need to add one more photo to that flickr, i put one more in on a whim before printing and very glad I did :3

Shy Guy

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2009

...

W/

26 Aug 2011 at 01:09 - 144

That photography is simply amazing o_O Awesome stuff man

Do you exclusively use the t2i with the lense it came with? o:

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

26 Aug 2011 at 03:26 - 145

Thank you for the compliment Shy Guy I appreciate it ^^

I've only had my camera since March, so I've only had the opportunity to use the lens it came with (standard 18-55mm, with IS i believe) and a seperate zoom lens I got for my birthday(Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS). I didn't get the zoom lens until the end of may or so, so some examples of the standard kit lens would be the Bearded Dragon, Moon Jelly, and Pink/White flower in that Flickr set.

I can only speak for animals/plants myself, but the 18-55 is pretty good for smaller things you can get close to, like lizards in terrariums. The zoom lens (which rarely leaves my camera now O has provided all the other pictures in those sets; its very helpful for getting that upclose feel from a distance. On Tuesday I actually realized that I can actually use my zoom lens to take pictures of animals in terrariums (which i thought i wasn't able to) and managed to snap the Emerald Tree Boa picture there on flickr. You can compare it to this exact same Boa, taken with my 55mm lens.

Sorry for that longwinded response, hope that was helpful for you Thanks again for the kind words; positive motivation is always helpful for a budding hobbyist

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

01 Sep 2011 at 05:42 - 146

Alright; so it is september 1st. You know what that means?
Halloween is coming!

Does anyone know what is happening with the workshop this year? The properties of my sketch from last year says it started at the beginning of october, just curious to see if thats the idea for this year
Hoping to really go above and push myself this year, got some neat ideas in store :3

Verene

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jan 2009

[SOTA]

D/

01 Sep 2011 at 16:52 - 147

I honestly have no idea what's going on with the workshop this year but if we're going to do it we need to get started ASAP. Problem is I haven't seen Tzu, Minami, or Perynne around in ages

I'll gladly take over running it for this year, if none of them pop on to do so in the next week or so, though.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

02 Sep 2011 at 13:58 - 148

Hmm... Have you tried PMing any of them? I know Minami stopped by sometime this summer when we were hosting the workshop, don't know just how busy she would be though. Tzu is also more active over at GW2G I believe, though i dont frequent there much myself lately. Don't know where Pery is though

Hopefully something happens soon I would offer to help myself, however I know I won't be of any assisstance for the first week or so, when its all starting up. :/

Verene

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jan 2009

[SOTA]

D/

02 Sep 2011 at 22:41 - 149

I'll shoot them each a PM and see what's up.

Aeronwen

not so much fell as.....

Join Date: Jan 2009

UK

bone

R/

03 Sep 2011 at 07:55 - 150

Quote:
Originally Posted by Verene
I honestly have no idea what's going on with the workshop this year but if we're going to do it we need to get started ASAP. Problem is I haven't seen Tzu, Minami, or Perynne around in ages

I'll gladly take over running it for this year, if none of them pop on to do so in the next week or so, though. Good for you Varene, Its quite a commitment.

I will start looking to see if I have anything for prizes.

Last I heard Tzu was incredible busy irl, she said last year she wouldn't be running it any more and sent all her stuff to Minami.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

06 Sep 2011 at 22:28 - 151

So I know I keep flooding this thread with my photography instead of my drawings, but that will all change I assure you.

In the meantime, there are no words to describe today. So here is a picture, cause those are 1000 words each. School starts again? Think I might have forgotten all about that thanks to the trip to the zoo today.

Morag D

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2007

UK/Austria

[bone]

P/

07 Sep 2011 at 09:23 - 152

oh my. that just says it all. I totally agree XD
AND I WANNA CUDDLE THAT (red) PANDAAAA :3 They are like the cutest things EVAR

Verene

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jan 2009

[SOTA]

D/

07 Sep 2011 at 13:09 - 153

Ahhhh that is so cute <3

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

08 Sep 2011 at 03:37 - 154

I don't know what it is, but they're just the most awesome things to observe in person. Though, I'm clearly biased on that o____o

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

01 Oct 2011 at 02:10 - 155

I wanted to wait until I had a few hours in a row before I started painting my halloween piece soooooo more photos. Not a busy day at work today, and I had my camera with me... It was extremely overcast and about 6:00-6:30pm at night (getting dark around 7:30 now), but I like em.

Tomorrow I should have some form of update on my halloween piece, so check the workshop for it

Edit: If I get more non-busy days this week while im working, I'll try and get a picture of the falcon aswell. It comes by everyday and takes some fish from the ponds, and I always see it flying over head. Unlikely I'll get it, but one can hope

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

13 Oct 2011 at 20:41 - 156

Right-o, so for those of you not following the workshop (is that even anyone? :S)

Here is my submission First acrylic painting, like how it turned out. About 21x34in in size, painted on cardboard binder inserts. HERES HOPING FOR A MAD KING GUARD!

Everyone participating in the workshop; good luck with your entries! Deffinatly going to be some allstars this year.

And some more photography (going to update my front pictures and shtuff) because... well, red pandas are just so friggin awesome. Thats why.

As always, everything is on my deviantart

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

20 Oct 2011 at 03:15 - 157

Another shhhtop by. Didn't have a ton of homework (for once), so I drew an old man fading into a sand dune. Or atleast, it was.

Close enough. With a little more work It might actually look good enough to paint over digitally... :S we'll see. I didn't draw a face because the one I had looked bad. Very very bad. It made it all less epic. So no face here.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

25 Oct 2011 at 00:31 - 158

So i found a website called pixelovely, which rotates photos at different time intervals. Ive done a few days of doing 30 mins each day, and so far I think this could be pretty helpful. Lot of work needed to get the 30 second sketches in though >.>

anyone know other resources like this? I ask because I've already hit a few repeats, after such a short amount of time. A lot of the stock may be recognized as well; its MJRanum from deviantArt.

satomz

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2007

Green and Pink

R/Mo

25 Oct 2011 at 04:05 - 159

I used to go to posemaniacs.com/ a while back every day. Some parts are not translated, but most of the contents are available in English.

That aside, your red panda photos are quite dangerous. I almost died of cuteness.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

11 Dec 2011 at 22:08 - 160

Woah. October 24th? Has it really been that long :|
Actually, that makes sense. Thats two days before the worst unit of chemistry started.

Anyways, SO. I keep speaking of these other projects in the wintersday thread so, here they are:

1) MY cat died last friday. It was incredibly sad, and it sucks big time. Moonshine was 13, and we've had him since I was... 4. So, I literally can't think of a time where this cat wasn't in my life. Animals (as you may be able to tell from... all the photos...) are kind of important to me, so this was excessively more difficult to overcome. So i took time off school for a little bit (i was non-functional for a few days and needed to catch up on school work) so I decided that I was going to make a painting of him. It's the least I can do for all that he did for me. So I'm using this picture:

And this is where my sketch is so far:

Edit: THOUGHT I SHOULD MENTION! Those lines are simply where his fur changes value, thats why there are so many. theyre a guideline for when I paint.

I feel like there are some minor discrepencies that need to be solved before I start painting; I'd really like to make this is accurate as I can. The biggest one I can think of right now is - is the shape of the face too round/tall, and not ovular/wide enough? Its one of those things that I can't tell if its because I'm so used to his face that I just 'notice' something is off, or what it is. But something is off somewhere.

2) My brothers Christmas gift, which will be much easier to complete. He wants me to paint the back of his lab coat with an Aperature Science logo, and the combustable lemons from Portal 2. He's going to give me an image of exactly what he wants, and then I'm going to stencil it in with fabric paint. Should only take a few hours of a saturday or something, so I'm not too worried.

3) Wintersday workshop! How I'd really like to join in. My painting of Moonshine takes precidence over the workshop as I'd rather not enter the workshop and make a bad painting than finish both, mediocre paintings. Just wouldnt be right.
Thinking something involving the big wintersday tree.