[Socar MYLES]

It's a cat.

Okay, now that I'm through pointing out the obvious.... I had to paint this TWICE, from sketch to details. I was just finishing it the first time when the computer crashed, and it was lost along with everything else on my hard drive. I could either wait up to 2-3 months for the data-retrieval company to MAYBE get the original version back (which they said was unlikely, since I was actually working on it at the time of the crash), or start again.

So I started again.

Anyway, because of all this, crits are still appreciated, as always, but please don't totally rip it down. Can't take it after all that drama!

[Awetopsy]

oh my Socar... you are just getting better and better all the time.. I love the trees. although I find the cat a little too subtle.

but beautiful work... as usual.

[latsami]

wooooow ! socar myles posts here *o*
I luv your work ! ;__; and your tutorials at epilogue.net are cool ! =)
anyway, really nice pic ! one day I'll reach at your level ! *o* (hopes make us live XD)

[Gimbal8]

It's very pretty. I like all the earthy tones. And I love the cat's pose.
In fact, that's exactly what cats do when you try to bring them back in the house after they snuck out (assuming it is an indoor cat that is). They sit there just out of reach and let you kneel down and sweet-talk them while you try to inch closer. Meanwhile they pretend to be all calm, sniff stuff nearby and act all innocent. As soon as you get close enough the move out of reach again. Bad kitty!

Andromeda[*]: Cats are nocturnal? Ha! My cat is asleep 24/7. The only time my cat is awake is to move to a new sleeping spot (Or to wake me up for food).

[Andromeda]

LOL !
Yeah well ... theyre -supposed- to be nocturnal ..

my cat does roughly the same thing, shes queen around my house.
shell sleep in the middle of my bed and refuses to budge. shell make sure to stretch herself out as much as possible so i cant sleep anywhere on the same bed.
usually end up sleeping on my blanket on the floor.

^ wonder if thats Socar's cat ... it looks pretty ...

[Andromeda]

I've never really commented on your work before you know. =] ...
non that i can remember anyway.

But i lurve cats... so i just gotta say that, THAT is a beautiful piece of work ...

oh wait ... i think i did comment on one of your works before .. and i said the same thing "i lurveee cats" ... yeah .. i think.

=] hehehehhe...

anyway ...
(puts on black suit and hat *cue sad-sad music) im sorry for the lost of your hard-disk... i hope they'll manage to save your data ...

[oh and i was also gonna say that its beautiful how you set a night-time scene with such warm bright colors. somehow i just get the feeling that its night-time , since cats and fireflies are nocturnal creatures. the contrast is just brilliant)

[ August 09, 2002: Message edited by: Andromeda[*] ]

[blok]

that's a nice pussycat socar!
Can we see a little close up from the fur,
a like to see those great strokes a bit closer. thanx

[Socar MYLES]

Hey, thanks for the replies, guys!

Awetopsy - Thank you. I am trying to improve something with every picture...this time, I was working on texture. You're right--the cat DOES rather blend in with the surroundings...I'm not sure if I think that's good or bad yet.

latsami - Yeah, this was the first art forum where I started posting. Thank you for the compliments on my art and my tutorials--glad you liked 'em!

Andromeda - No, it is not my cat, unfortunately. All these animals I've been doing lately are other people's pets--I had a sale on pet portraits a while ago. Painting THIS gorgeous kitty made me wish I had one, though. And thanks for the compliments, too!

Gimbal8 - Thank you! Your description of cat behaviour made me laugh--although I've never had a cat, I've seen 'em do just that to their owners.

blok - Thanks...and here is a close-up of the fur, as you requested:

[blok]

Thanx socar i like those big close-up,take it into photoshop, and zoom in and zoom some out. It's great fun

[HaRdC0rePixxX]

terrific. i really like the way you rendered the vegetation and the fireflies. beautiful colors and lightning.
now, some remarks (details, really) : maybe the background needs more depths levels, feels like there's a "wallpaper" (it's not that disturbing, i'm just trying to describe the overall thing) just behind the fore trees (it looks like there are 3 seperate depths levels right now : 1. cat and left trees, 2. right trees, 3. background). i just think that the "depth gradient" should be more progressive (not talking about color but about elements).
last thing, i'm not sure about the scale factor between the cat and the trees (since the bottom of the left trees disappear under the pic and don't touch the ground).
hope it doesn't sounds too harsh.
it's a great pic.

[FSME]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Socar MYLES:
Anyway, because of all this, crits are still appreciated, as always, but please don't totally rip it down. Can't take it after all that drama!

---

I somehow can't imagine "ripping" your pics... it just doesn't work.

Cutie!

[ August 11, 2002: Message edited by: FSME ]

[J Bradford]

Love the texture on the trees, the way the cat is posing with the diction of it's eye seems kinda funky, but that could be me. Has a good focal point in the middle, then I look at the cat.

[Socar MYLES]

blok - Haha...sounds like fun.

HardCore - Hey, thanks. Glad you like the rendering. About the crits; I was aware of both the problems you mentioned. The first one (the flat sky/forest) I don't really see as a problem--I like that effect. The second...yeah, that was a grade-A flub. Those trees look totally pasted on. I really wish I had used a different layer for them--it would've made it the work of a couple of minutes to fix that. I've really got to start using layers.

Anyway, I didn't think your comments were harsh at all--crits are welcome any time. I just put the "don't totally rip it down" bit because I didn't want the "Oh, man, this is the worst picture you ever did!" stuff I sometimes have gotten here when I posted a painting that wasn't quite as good as my others.

FSME - Oh, you'd be surprised...it happens. Thanks, though!

J Bradford - Thank you! Do you mean the right eye looks funky, or the left? I couldn't really see the cat's left eye (our right) on the reference, but I drew in a glint for it anyway. That might have thrown things off. Not sure. I suck at drawing from reference.

[ceenda]

"Oooh ja, I am liking to this very nice."

I'm curious about the intended main focus of this pic. Not sure whether it's the cat, the mist and haze or just the general atmosphere of the piece. Only crit I'd make is that it might be nice to have some very faint hint of trees going into the distance. the way the forest kinda *stops* seems odd initially.

Nice work as usual Socar! :]