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model88 — He needs my help...
#antarctic #arctic #aurora #faerie #fairy #fairypixie #freezing #pixie #winter #polarlandscape #southernlights #pixiesprite #pixefairy #auroraborealis #landscape #nightsky #nighttime #nighttimescene #nighttimesky #northernlights #sprite #trouble #winterlandscape #aurora_borealis #northern_lights
Published: 2017-05-15 13:09:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 1417; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 0
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Description
Lily learned long ago that flying close to The Lights was like being massaged inside and out, though it tickled sometimes. It also caused bright pops and sparkles and the air around her to glow. This made Lily feel as though she were part of The Lights and she enjoyed being amongst them. Chenelle was enjoying her wings again. She was excited to experience The Lights as Lily had and tonight was that night.
They chased The Lights and enjoyed such ecstasy as only pixies can know. Chenelle noticed something odd down in the snow. It was a person. Which was not so odd even here. But this one was alone, face down in the snow...
Chenelle swooped down for a better look. It did not look good... She was curious to see if they were still alive. Cautiously she floated closer. She mused to her self that before knowing Kendra this would be foolishness. Even though she also knew going to check on this person now was foolishness...
She flew close enough to see if they were breathing. Despite the scarf and goggles she was suddenly shocked to recognize his face. His face... And all at once, all of those events, her painful Demise, and a new wave of missing Kendra hit her. And though he did not move, when he saw her he began to cry.
She flew back up to Lily. "Lily. He needs my help." Lily just looked at her. "He needs my help. Please go with me. I may need your help. He is one who caused my Demise."
Lily thought about all of this in an instant. "Ok. But let us go carefully."
So they went down in a dizzying and beautiful way like a pair of falling leaves. Lily stayed out of sight but close enough to get Chenelle out of any possible trouble. Chenelle alighted on the snow in front of him. He began to cry again and he tried to talk but was so cold he couldn't. Chenelle kissed him on the forehead then stepped back and said, "We meet again."
[next panel]
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What would you ask a pixie?I am quite possessed by this story of mine...
(updated July 15, 2019)
What would you ask Chenelle about herself, or about pixies at large?
Chenelle
Yes it is a scrappy pic, but it is so fun and genuine...
Ecstatic pixie!!!
I totally need to do a finer version of this piece...
* * * * * * *
Three years I have known Chenelle.
And this journal is now three years old.
And it has become so large, DA's servers cannot quite handle any more additions
Thank you all for walking with us. This journal started as what I thought would be just a passing whim. But you have all embraced it to life like a Velveteen rabbit. Thank you...
Truly I appreciate every thought, q
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A special shout out and very large thank you to !!! She drew her interpretation of this and it is AWESOME!
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Yes, I decided to not draw the faces as a stylistic choice. I have found when I try to draw the faces on small work it really doesn't turn out well. And I could have done a lot better with the figure in the snow. I was getting tired but did not want to leave this for another session (I did this in a few shorter sessions and a total brain out today). Little over three hours of work total.
As always, (re)learning about drawing while actually drawing. But still I am pretty happy with it. There are other 'fun facts' in this piece, but due to their 'smallness' they sure aren't obvious (or not obvious yet?). I did try to render the wings, in motion even! And , I did try to render your awesome creation
. It is going to take a lot of time and practice on my part to render it well. But I am committed to it! I am also excited by the digital effects. In my hands they look a little hokey like a B movie. But a 'good' B flick, LOL. Maybe I should do this in claymation... Hmmm...
Here are the rough and the speed paint with my 'extra thoughts':
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EDIT: When I originally posted this I forgot to include 'the playlist'. Strangely I have playlists for these ridiculous stories. I am up to three at the moment...
If you should happen to listen to the playlist, "Syrinx" by Joshua Smith really captures this scene, especially their chatter and falling like leaves in a dizzying and beautiful way. As well as the beauty of the place. I will curate a lot of these other songs over time as I am able to put out more of the stories.
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Comments: 25
Hi, here from @ProjectComment
Even though I am a photomanipulator and not a digital artist, I think I can give you some useful tips.
First of all the scene: I like the winter setting with the northern lights, because it is magical and opens many possibilities to play with colours (for the northern lights for example).
Here I see you set yourself on a yellow-green colour, which is the most realistic one. Since you have so much snow however, the reflection of the light showuld have been visible on the snow, see this example:
https://unsplash.com/it/foto/EvKBHBGgaUo
There you have green areas on the snow also.
Regarding painting the snow, you already got a quite soft look, still I would suggest you to have a look at this tutorial: I tried it myself and I managed to get a nice result even though I am not a digital artist
To make the landscape more dynamic you could also add some small slopes (like in the photo I linked you for example). This helps you also in having areas for the light reflection and areas in the shadow. The combination of the two will give a nice depth to your scene.
I see also that this is quite an old work of yours (2017), so maybe you already learned some tricks on the way :)
One last comment on the overall scene is that it is not balanced: a lot happening on the top left corner and emptyness on the right side. It would have been enough moving the fairies a bit more in the middle of the scene.
Hope these comments help you further :)
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@Olgola Thank you so much for this detailed critique! It is greatly appreciated and they do help. <3 You definitely saw my "working on this piece thoughts" here.
I had not thought of the aurora reflecting on the snow so that is a very helpful point. The reference you provided definitely shows that well, thank you! I will also take heed to the shadowing resources too.
I was torn about making a more dynamic background or not. Where this scene takes place is equally harsh and desolate. It would definitely lend itself to more of the rugged peaks, etc. to be found there. I think I opted for desolate because it was more in line with my skills at the time (lol) and also some thought to the layout not getting too crowded. But I would definitely like to show some angular and terrifying background in other scenes I will do in this tale, thank you!
More on layout: you are spot on about the layout being unbalanced. I was trying to convey two stories at the same time which I know now confuses viewers. Story one is the pixies having their discussion and the other story is the person face down in the snow. I actually now often only show the pixies in the upper corner as the separate piece it is/should be. I will definitely work more on what is the center of focus of the story and the visual pieces that tell it.
It is an 'oldie but a goodie". I'd like to think that maybe I have learned a few more tricks and have become more observant. Truth is, I don't really know. I am more a wordsmith than a visual artist but I really do enjoy learning to 'speak visually'. I will definitely continue to work at it and also look forward to any and all critiques and advice you may have for me in the future. Thank you!
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Hello from @ProjectComment . I will try to give you some balanced critique on your beautiful work here.
Firstly I love the colors, and I can instantly feel that we are in a fantasy environment and something magical is happening. So excellent work on that.
I read the story excerpt to get a better idea of what is happening and I have to say I really like the story too. I would like to see what happens next! Very interesting.
The illustration portrays the story almost perfectly after reading the story, but for a little critique, I might wonder if you can focus more to make the illustration tell us the story without having to read at all? I often consider that my job as an illustrator. It's a useful guideline to keep in mind when drawing, and I know a lot of professional illustrators use this guideline. That's how I learned it : )
Again, I love the colors and I love the effects with aurora and the sparkling feeling. But if I can nitpick on the technical aspects I might suggest a few simple concepts. (1) The sky is rarely "pitch black", even at night, it might be very dark blue. And you could have some subtle colors mixed about the sky. I have learned to think of the sky like "misty color clouds", always many colors bouncing around. (2) I think you could zoom into everything and add a little more detail. Some more shading around the edges of things. And some bright highlights where the light is bouncing off of the corners of things.
That's about all. It's a lovely illustration and I hope to see more like it!
Thanks for sharing.
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Hello! I greatly appreciate your well written and detailed critique. And that you mentioned it comes to me via @ProjectComment ! I joined that group in hopes of getting feedback and critiques to help me improve and now I am!
Your notes are spot on and confirm many thoughts I have had about the piece since I did it.
I especially appreciate your advice to "tell the story without having to read it". I agree I was trying to tell two-ish parallel parts to the scene in the picture. First, the conversation between Chenelle and Lily (the pixies above) and secondly, the plight of the man in the snow. Point of trivia: I often consider the pixies part of this its own separate piece and show it separately most of the time. I can see [now] where trying to tell too much in a picture can muddy it or confuse the viewer. :/
I love the concept of "misty color clouds". I will experiment wth laying down and blending/smudging for "black" so that it will a little less black and more color/palette appropriate.
The other challenge I seem to have is the 'casting' with pixies. They are pretty small so I have a hard time with matching proper perspective in a lot of scenes. I will work more on 'upping my game' to work on more close up shots to bring the pixies into better view and the details of whoever/whatever they are next to.
Again, thank you so much for your time in writing this and actually reading the piece too!
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This is awesome! May I recreate this scene because I really like it
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Aw beautiful story the artpeice is wonderful! I love how you kept the back ground blurry to create depth and i love the sparkles and light around the fairies! This is amazeballs!
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Thank you so much (and thank you for actually reading all that!) More stories to come...
The same phenomena that makes 'The Lights' has a similar effect on pixies so it is fun to watch (and draw). Lily and Chenelle tell me it makes a sound very like falling snow.
Thank you for commenting, I appreciate it!
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Cant wait for more stories! And oooh i would so be a pixie just to experience being near "The lights". Dont mention it i love interacting with all the nice people here on DA ^.^
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Now, I'm so curious. I can't wait for more 
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Thank you! There is more in store... And as dumb as this sounds, I appreciate you actually read it!
You and Julian getting along?
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I'm curious about how this person caused her Demise and why she is being so nice to him. Accidental demise maybe?
Things are settling down with Julian. He is such a sweetheart, but his curiosity and controlling nature sometimes cause problems. The other day I was on the computer for a long time trying to catch up on messages. He landed on my keyboard and accidentally pushed enter. So, my friend received a 2 part message because I wasn't done typing. I explained to him what I was doing and he gave me a 20 second countdown to finish up because, "It is a beautiful day and it is my responsibility to care for you. That includes making sure you get enough sunshine."
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Lol, glad you are both getting along.
And you will learn all the story over time...
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I'll be here patiently waiting
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Great piece! I like the texture of the snow!
(Textures... another thing I should practice one day maybe)
"The Lights" look great too! Maybe the artwork could have sharper details, but I do understand if blurry was a choice.
Keep up the good work and have a nice day!
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Thank you so much! And I appreciate your critique. It is 100% spot on.
A lot of times I just draw 'how I think it should be'. I really need to be more diligent in using and studying references. Luckily, I have actually seen The Lights so I wasn't quite winging it so much with that (now the rendering of The Lights on the other hand...)
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You're welcome! I just wanted to share my thoughts on your drawing!
Yes, using references should be common sense, I mean... When you draw something, you don't always know the details of how it look so avoiding references is just deprive yourself of great help.
You have seen The Lights? Really?
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Yes, I was very lucky. I saw them during a solar flare event in a most beautiful place.
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Wow, I wish I could see these beauties.
But that's fine if I don't.
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If you want to see them some day, surely you will. It will be a bit of an adventure, but the rewards are always worth the work.
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Usually I don't have motivation, so I think I don't have many chances to see them.
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Perhaps one day you will be possessed with ' I want to see The Lights.' And you will!
But equally, if you are content that is better.
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