[Merekat]

Hullo! I finally finished her! Yay me! Took forEVER. Ah well, happiness is in the details, right? Hope you like Savannah:



Aaaand, speaking of details, you guys know how much I love them:





This piece in particular is a new thing for me for a lot of firsts: 1) first attempt at a landscape EVER, 2) first attempt at drawing a gun EVER (no reference at all for either design or coloring) and 3) merely a second attempt at doing anything in direct sunlight/daylight. It's the weirdest thing. I went back through all my stuff and didn't find any other scenes during the day. Hunh.

Ah, well. Enjoy! Comments are certainly welcome! Keep 'em coming!

[InDepth]

Absolutely Beautiful!

[Jezebel]

Merekat... whenever I see you work I want to pass out! You are truly kickass and I think I look forward to seeing your new work more than any other artists on the board. You are right up there with Agent44 to me.

GREAT stuff, I can't wait to see more from you!

-Beth

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Take off your clothes. It's OK - I'm an artist.

[url=http://div.dyndns.org/FOO!]http://div.dyndns.org/FOO![/url]
http://div.dyndns.org/beth/photography

[burn0ut]

wow thats nice!
Sence it was your first time at drawing the gun, good job, but theres alot of perspective problems it looks like..
but man... overall your picture rocks!

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-stephen

Trial n Error.

[Krazy]

this is absolutely one of my faves i love how rendered the rock is and how beatiful the girl is man you r the bomb...do you have a tutorial on how you work? it would be cool if you have the process of making this pic...but hey if you dont its still really awesome...love the angle too its also a sweet pose great jobworth all of the time you put into it thats for sure.

[Merekat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by burn0ut:
wow thats nice!
Sence it was your first time at drawing the gun, good job, but theres alot of perspective problems it looks like..
but man... overall your picture rocks!

---

aw MaaaaaaaaahnNN! It's like a Picasso reject! It's convulsing as I stare at it!!!!!Geez! How the heck did I miss that plate by the tip twisting at the opposite direction as the back part???? And the stupid metal pieces on top going the same way! And here I thought it was just the ammo clip (as someone so lovingly pointed out earlier tonight) was off. Dang, the barrel isn't even straight. It's droopy! I'VE GOT A DROOPY BARREL!

;{ *grrrrrr* Must...fix...

...later...must sleep now.

*pant pant*

eh. it looked better in the sketch. Anyway, thank you everyone who has posted so far. Please, keep the questions (if you have any) coming, and I'll answer them soon...just, I gotta go to bed now. ;}

Thank you all! I'll comment more specifically tomorrow...*yawn*...

[ZenDrag0n]

wow

[Seph|roth]

Wow, really stunning work !
I love the way you did the rock texture and the face is absolutly beautiful

My only crit would be that there seems to be a very big contrast between the foreground with is exploding with details and the backround that is somewhat blurred. I understant that further something is in distance, the more you'll have a hard time making out the details, but perhaps you should render it just a tad bit ?
Just my 2 cents..

Well, besides that little thing, its really an impressive image, keep up the nice work



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- Seph -
Listen Without Prejudice

[Sergenth]

Fabulous picture!

Nice pose... it looks like she really is leaning on her arm and her raised leg.

Wow, there's a lot to see in the details too My three favorite details are:

1) the squinting eye in the sun,

2) the curve of the metal around the screws

3) the rock textures (yum)

Man! I can hear her scraping the bottom of her sandal on the rock... that's how real it seems. I'm guessing there is a gusty breeze blowing by the cliffside, eh? I'm there!

My only crit is with the sunlit eye in the smaller version - that highlight over the bottom eyelid is too centralized and it looks wierd zoomed out... add some bright coloring all over the bottom eyelid on a new layer, zoom it out, and see if that bright speck is toned down a bit.

Also, the dark shadow created by the skrunched eyebrow makes it look like there are two competing pupils in her eye socket area (again, on the zoomed out one). Please don't hate me for these crits - they are propbably very nit-picky and frustrating to fix :P

[Awetopsy]

gorgeous work my man.. kinda refreshing to see a big gun toting woman with out big breasts that are popping out all over and filling our view.

I like this peice alot. only thing is that some of the lighting on the arms and legs dont seem to quite match up.. but who am I to talk... :P

-awe

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I think Im wearing out my CTRL-'z'
http://noelsart.cjb.net

[duckstab]

So this is the reason I haven't seen you on ICQ eh? EH?

Sigh, once again another smashing peice of work Merekat. Your skin tones amaze me. I love the hair and the eyes, they're stunning, much like the rest of the peice.

Can't say much more...*adds to the pile of good things*

Toodlepip,

duckstab.

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An ether eating Eskimo would gag upon your sight, convulsed into oblivion from laughter or from fright.

[::Dino::]

Great work ... Your attention to detail freaks me out

[eetu]

whoa.

wanna post a bigger version ?

eetu.

[red com]

niiiice, im impressed, i really like the clothes, thats some nice pixels =)

[red com]

niiiice, im impressed, i really like the clothes, thats some nice pixels =)

[Hightop]

WAOW.... really love the detailed version of the gun...
Really great stone texture...

one question...
In what size did you do the pic?
Is it in the size of the detailed pics or what..... if it is.... what screen rez do you have on your computer?

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Hightop

As i turn and look into the sun
the rays burn my eyes
happy happy happy
everybodys happy
now like a turtle the sun looks
-------------------------
dbl design

[Merekat]

Well. I'd like to say I got some sleep, but that dern gun kept me fussin' in my mind for another hour at least...*grrr*

ANYway. ;} 'Morning! And now to the proper responses...

Indepth, ZenDragOn, Dino, red com: thank you. ;}

Jezebel: really. ;} me? wow. I'm glad you like my work so much. I'm a favorite! that made my day... ;}

Burnout: *sigh* thanks. ;} Now I just have to go do some plastic surgery on the poor dear gun...I can't believe I didn't see it. Geez. So ThAT's what they mean by stepping away from it for a while...

Krazy: thank you! I worked quite a while getting her personality across. ;} tutorials? um....well, I didn't save that many steps on this piece, but I suppose that I could show what I have if everyone wants to see them. they start when the pic is about halfway done.

Seph|roth: I have been toying with the idea of either blurring the clouds (in somewhat focus) or rendering those first bout of green hills. I might do the hills now. thank you. ;} glad you like the rocks. I spent a lot of figurin' time on them. ;}

Sergenth: those are my favorite places too! :} I love the little dimples around the screws. Me and details...heheh.. I was so mad, tho. Because of her leg, there HAD to be a shadow across some of the BEST details of that gun. *exhales in frustration*

hmmm...you might be right with that highlight...I'll look into that when I fix the gun. ;} thanks!

Awetopsy: heheh... that's WO-man. ;} And perhaps that's also why she's not (forgive the pun) busting out. heh. I dunno, I kinda like to keep proportions in reality. ;} but thank you for your kind words. ;}

Ducky: yuppers! Sorry, m'dear. I've been meaning to get to chat with you, but Savannah is a jealous type. She demanded SO much attention. I'll catch you on ICQ soon. ;}

eetu: perhaps I will once I fix a few things. That's why I love this forum so much. So many great artists with valid opinions. Stay tuned!

Hightop: I think this pic is about 9 x 11 inches, but definitely at 300 resolution. I like making my work at print quality. that way, if anyone (say, publishers) want what I've done or want to commission new stuff, it's already at high enough resolution. thank you. ;} I'm pleased with the rocks, too. ;}

Thanks, everyone! If there's any kinda questions you have in particular, or tutorials you'd request, let me know. I love reading posts. ;} Makes the work day more fun....

Ugh...back to drawing kitty litter now... *whimper*

Aren't there any lovely gaming companies or fantasy mags out there who want a girl who loves to draw cool stuff????? ;}

[Gecko]

I think the pic loses a lot when downsized. The face closeup is beautiful, and looks really great as a stand-alone pic. I like the face itself more than the actual pic :).

I recall you were using mouse, right?
If you're not doing this for print or other insane-resolution-demanding reason, I'd suggest you didn't work so huge. Saves a lot of time, and the result doesn't really suffer since you can upscale any detail that gives trouble, and after fixing embed it back to your pic.

What takes away from this pic is the contour-like darkening towards the edges on the skin, especially the legs. Also the clothing goes really dark, even black in the seams and the contours, giving it a somewhat paper cutout look.

The rock is really pretty. Both of them are, even if I misunderstood the upper one to be a tree trunk for a sec.
About the landscape, your sky is very green, while it normally is more bluish, giving shadows a little hint of blue. Other than that, very simple, not much to crit about.

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Gecko
[email protected]
GeckoArt.Net

[Bugscratch]

Merekat.... I can't believe it. This is by far the best I have ever seen on this board.
Her face is so real and so beautiful....if she'd really exist I would immediately fall in love with her. Everything on the face is perfect. I love those eyes. The mouth is also great.

A personal question: How old are you ? (Now don't say anything wrong, otherwise I'll become extremely frustrated for my lack of skill....)

As for critics, everything important has been said. The background should really be worked on, and the image really looses a lot when downscaled.

How on earth did you get so good ? A tutorial would be very much appreciated.

God. That face.
Awesome.

-bugscratch

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mailto: [email protected]

"Every intelectual has two countries of origin: His own and Syria."
---Syrian Pavillon @ EXPO 2000 ---

[This message has been edited by Bugscratch (edited February 05, 2001).]

[Dives]

groooovy
gotta love it....
if there are any flaws i don't care

[agent44]

This is great. I love the pose. First time drawing a background and gun? I'm impressed. you do some nice work.

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agent44

[sacrelicious]

Wow, really cool. I love how much detail you go into... amazing.

P.S. Did anybody ever see that car commercial? "Bob... Twelve men. One boat. What could be better?" Hilarious.

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Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

[v1510nAry]

mazingly wicked

detail is sw33t ,
won't be able to do better till im 19

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- Inspiration never ends .....
- [email protected]
- ICQ# 47507088

[Merekat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gecko:
I recall you were using mouse, right?
If you're not doing this for print or other insane-resolution-demanding reason, I'd suggest you didn't work so huge.

---

oh, I agree, handsdown. But most everything is with the intent for print, so I kinda consider it a bit of a time-saver in the long run. ;} I never know when I will change my mind.

quote:

---

What takes away from this pic is the contour-like darkening towards the edges on the skin, especially the legs. Also the clothing goes really dark, even black in the seams and the contours, giving it a somewhat paper cutout look.

---

"you're right. and when you're right, you're right. ...and you're right.---Jeremy the Crow. The Secret of Nimh" ;}

I'll be taking care of that too, in my revisionary post. THANK you for pointing that out. I couldn't figure out why it was looking odd in some places. ;}

Bugs: wow. thank you. ;} and for the record, I'm 25. honest. But I'm no Mullins, so don't be thinking I don't strive for things, or don't have to keep practicing or learning. :} Damn, I'd love to have a job like his...

I would consider a tutorial if people really want one. There are so many good artists here. I'd hate to think I was preaching to the choir, you know? ;} Guys, lemme know if you really want a tutorial and on what. I'll see what I can do if there's enough demand for it. ;}

Thanks, again, everyone! ;}

[Frost]

Dang that's nice! Perhaps a little too saturated for my liking, but damn nice!

(Frost adds Merekat to his haunting-after-suicide list...=)

[travis travis]

Holy crap!

That's an extremely awesome piece, I'd love to see the whole thing in bigger size, great details are obviously lost in digital resizing. You should do tutorials.

[nova]

*makes a new folder in her Artists directory.. 'Merekat'*

beautiful.. you've got a style that I've been trying to pick apart for a while.. insane



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-nova

[Capt.FlushGarden]

Hey this one slipped through my "sijun topic scanner super ultra flex thingy"

Wow! You are the best merekat...I kinda wanna be you right now...

(hey everyone! did u know that merekat is really goodlooking?!?)

Lady who knows all about photoshop, is dancing with me, cheek to cheek....there's nobody here, there's just u and me, la la la...

[Bugscratch]

Me. Want. Tutorial. Definitely.
*too stunned to form intelligent sentences*

-bugscratch

P.S.: God I was relieved to hear that I still have 6 years to go to get as good as you. My wish to make art as a profession wouldn't have survived another Isric blow....

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mailto: [email protected]

"Every intelectual has two countries of origin: His own and Syria."
---Syrian Pavillon @ EXPO 2000 ---

[This message has been edited by Bugscratch (edited February 05, 2001).]

[AdezJ]

love the pic!!! just one thing isnt her hairhold a little bit too low at her forehead, it might just be me! link the full scale version please!!


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Adezj -Oops! that wasn't me!