Hi Everyone!
A few days ago I stumbled across the Art Explosion contest, and the theme was Spirit Animal, which seemed interesting so I decided to make something for it :)
I've liked deer ever since I was a kid, mostly because the name Hart is also the word for a type of deer. Honestly, these days deer generally annoy me since they like to stand in my driveway at all hours of the day. But at least they look pretty.
So my original concept was a standard deer with some leaves tangled in his antlers, but my sketch looked too much like a mounted head so I kept sketching things and eventually wound up with a kind of creepy tree-creature deer. And that's what I decided to go with.
And the anatomy is not so much deer-like anymore, but I also used to draw a lot of dragons when I was little and this deer-creature is now reminding me of that so it's all good. Here's a progression of the lineart.
Everything digital is done in Krita, btw.
Then I painted it. I'm getting better at remembering to take progress shots, but I forgot to take one early on which I'm sad about 'cause honestly it looked really bad. The creature and trees were more reddish-brown and forest-green colored like normal trees should be and it was just terrible and I wish I had saved it somewhere.
I also had problems because at some point I decided that I wanted the creatures's horns/back to be a light source and that made dealing with shadows confusing so they're more artsy shadows than realistic, haha.
I'll also mention that I usually try to avoid using green since my monitor severely under-saturates green and cyan so sometimes something that looks grey-ish to me will actually be like crazy bright. But I wanted this to have green and turquoise, and it looks only somewhat crazy bright on my phone, so it is what it is.
Here's the final thing again.
Now my only problem is that this creature turned out pretty sleek and cool, but I'm more of a scruffy mess like the actual deer that hang out in my driveway. So I'm not sure if this is really my spirit animal anymore, haha. But it's a spirit animal. Like a plant-spirit animal. And I'm not even completely sure if the contest is still active, but this was fun to work on either way, so thanks for the prompt @juliakponsford :)
Hi alnhart,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
Thank you! :D
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 0/3 - need recharge?)
Excellent step by step images and explanations.
I had not heard of Krita before now @alnhart
If you animate your Spirit Animal Deer, it could be a character in an upcoming Avatar movie!
Best of luck with the contest!🎨
Yeah, Krita is a good open-source art program. It's free and can do lots of things.
Thank you for your compliments, I'm glad it looks like it could be in a movie! :)
My pleasure and thank you for sharing the name of freebie software!
hi dear @alnhart, this is amazing !! i really love your design, i love this deer / lizard with its paws that maybe wonder if the water is cold !! congratulations on your work and on your curie vote
Thank you! The water probably is cold! I'm glad you and others like it :)
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Nice pictures, your step-by-step well explained. I loved how your drawing looks with a lot of depth and good composition. I congratulate you on your art and curie vote. Good luck in the contest.
Thank you! Having a good step-by-step and art composition are things I'm working on so I'm glad you like it :)
Hello @alnhart
This drawing is great, you make me remember a scene from a movie because the space moved me to it, I like the explosion of talent that has the platform and how it combines to bring the best to the readers, also the colors in pastel shades gives a delicate touch to your work. You are excellent in this art, I congratulate you and wish you good vibes for what is to come.
Greetings.
Thank you! I'm really glad you like the art, and I'm also glad to be here on steem and I hope I'll be able to post many more things in the future :)
Congratulations on the great artwork that did it. In my assessment it is very delicate and incredibly original. I hope to continue seeing your artistic explosions because you have a great talent. A big hello @alnhart
Thank you! I hope to post lots more things in the future :)
I like it a lot!! Congratulations!!
Thanks!
😍
:D
This is a fantastic piece. I love the whimsical-and-fantastical features of it; it looks like something that might appear in JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. Awesome!
!tip
Thank you so much. Looking like something from Tolkien is quite a compliment :)
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Well done. This is really creative.
Thanks! :)
Congratulations @alnhart, your post has been featured in the latest Curie Author Showcase.
On behalf of @curie I thank you for your time and for creating amazing content. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Ivan (@curie curator)
Wow, thank you! I'm really glad you liked my work and I'll try to create more cool things in the future :)
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Hi @alnhart. What a beauiful interpretation of a spirit animal. I'm so glad you decided not to proceed with a standard deer with leaves int its antlers. This version is so much more in the mood of spirit filled animal as though the deer started out as normal, but then something changed him. Maybe being in the spirit filled world or some other occurrence.
The extention of the antlers and feet is what brings out the spirit quality as though he could float through the forest. And by adding a spirit interpretation to his surroundings, i.e. trees, your art truly does bring out the magical or spirit like world in which the deer lives.
It seems as though the deer gets it spirit energy from its antlers.
I don't know a lot about art, but I love magical qualities brought to art and writing.
Thanks for sharing, and good luck to you in the future. Have a spirit-filled day, and take care.
Thank you! I just saw this comment and your words really make me happy. I'm glad it looks kinda magical and that you enjoyed it :)
I can't stop looking at the image, it gives me that feeling of carefully observing the details and understanding the artist's position, I am in love with your work and especially with this
Thank you so much!
Late to vote, though I'll vote if you reply with a comment I can vote.. but loved it, wanna pet it :)
That's fine, I'm late to comment, haha. Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it! :D
I do, I want one to pet... I have a friend stag, I feed him after I've gained his trust.... kind of had that vibe. I'm a fellow illustrator too, though I've shared more of my music around here than illustrations, guess I should change that and share more of my drawings. pd. YOUR RATS drawing, still not over it... but well that's a crazy thing of mine, I adore them
May I use this picture for my next round of "The 31 Sentence Contest," latest round found here?
Yeah, sure. That contest sounds difficult, haha
Thanks.
It is. Some thought that it was going to be a breeze until they sat down. lol
Maybe you will give this exercise a shot sometime.
It does sound interesting, maybe I'll see if I can come up with something :)
This is outstanding artwork! Not that I'm an expert or anything, but this is one of, if not the most beautiful fantasy drawings/paintings I've ever seen! Congrats for your Curie - you deserve it!
Thank you! That's quite a compliment and I'm really glad you like it so much :)