Art: Let It Burn

[Cavatica]

Wow, so I guess I don't post a lot of art here, huh? Erk. Okay, well, this is a piece to accompany "The Price That Life Exacts." It's not great -- I didn't have much of a reference for D'nor, so he came out of my head and as a result, he's sort of stiff-looking and I'm guessing wildly anatomically incorrect -- but I like the sketchy, unfinished thing it's got going on. And I'm pretty pleased with the firelight on Xavath there.

Blargh, whatever, here it is. (Click here for the high-res version.)

No sooner had the dragon touched earth than a terrific splitting noise drew the eyes and ears of all present: half a dozen townspeople leaped away as the roof of the ruined barn caved in, spraying ash and sparks. The structure sighed a fresh plume of smoke.

Do we need to tell him to bring water? asked D'nor, releasing his buckles and carabiners. He was met with no reply—only stillness. It stopped him cold. —Xavath?

Xavath was transfixed by the fire. The serrated curves of his teeth glittered in the half-gape of his slack jaw, and his eyes glowed a scorching, restless red. There was no telling whether the source of the light was internal or external. D'nor felt something stir in his chest: an inexpressible amalgam of grief and determination; an urgency—and a strange, primal, alien satisfaction. Xavath's low growl was a purr: it sent a shiver down the rider's spine.

No, the dragon said. Let it burn.

[Golden Talisath]

It’s very nice. I like it, even if you do call it a sketch. Very nice, indeed.

[Hans]

You can say it isn't but I think that's a very good piece Cav. Care to exhibit it in your own Pern Museum Fan Art room?

This was done with photoshop, right? Do you do a real sketch forst and scan or sketch using a tablet?
For some odd reason I like the fact you modelled (most of) the rider's clothing after what is in the DLG.
And I especially like the darkness of the whole drawing and thus the lighting. The only point of critique might be the dragon's teeth, which seem to be not misplaced in an ad for a dragon dentist... but that's minor and doesn't affect the overall quality

And no, you don't post (much) art here

[Cavatica]

I typically do a pencil sketch first, scan it, and paint over it in Photoshop (yes, I use a tablet and have for... gosh, 10 or 11 years!), but this time I did the whole thing in Photoshop from start to finish. I didn't really have a lot of reference for pose or lighting -- it all pretty much came out of my head -- but I DID take my Ramoth Hatching sculpture into the kitchen, turn out all the lights, put a lit candle in front of her head, and take pictures of that. ;> The boyfriend straddled the arm of our couch so I could take pictures of his leg in a mounted position; I really just used it for perspective on D'nor's boot.

But I had a lot of fun just sculpting the thing out of blobs of color, rather than trying to fill in a lot of pre-drawn lines. In some ways, it was actually a lot easier! I would usually have spent a lot more time giving the drawing a more finished and realistic look, but I decided I liked it sort of unfinished, and it kept me from OVERworking the piece, which I have a really nasty tendency to do.

And don't be jealous of Xavath's teeth. What, you think dragons don't floss? ;>

[jube]

Probably use tendons from herdbeasts' legs once they've finished munching on them, to floss their teeth.

I agree with the neck looking a little stilted in this picture but I still like it over-all and thought it was pretty good. Well done.

[Cavatica]

Originally Posted by jube

Probably use tendons from herdbeasts' legs once they've finished munching on them, to floss their teeth.

Exactly!

[Cheryl]

I just realized I hadn't replied yet here or anywhere else you've posted this piece. I enjoyed watching it develop on LJ. The glow of the dragon is just right for firelight.

I'm amazed at how roughed out dabs of color show the form; I know I wouldn't be able to pick the right colors and places to put them to acheive the right effect. The detail of the chest harness is especially impressive, it looks just right.

[Cavatica]

Hey, thanks. I was beginning to think no one was looking. ;>

[Hans]

We have a quiet but knowledgeable bunch here.

[Kat]

I too just realized I never posted a comment. My apologies!

This piece as with any of your work is wonderful. I always look to see if you've posted anyhing new in the Art Forum over on AMCF.

It amazes me the talent people have with the digital media Are the tablets hard to use?? I've always wanted one but wasn't sure how hard they are to manipulate. My few attempts using a mouse in paint were beyond pathetic.

[Cavatica]

Originally Posted by Kat

It amazes me the talent people have with the digital media Are the tablets hard to use?? I've always wanted one but wasn't sure how hard they are to manipulate. My few attempts using a mouse in paint were beyond pathetic.

Using a tablet is just like using a pencil and paper. You set the thing in your lap, you put the pen on it, and you draw. ;> The only thing that gets some taking used to is the pressure settings, which you can adjust to be more or less sensitive. But I can't IMAGINE trying to draw anything with a mouse! Ugh!

[Weyrlady]

I didn't know that you worked in digital media, Cav! That's awesome!

This is kind of off topic, but I really like your dragon's name--very unique. Is he a brown? I hadn't read your story (yet!), but I think I'm aqbout to. You piqued my interest. . .

[Cavatica]

Originally Posted by Weyrlady

I didn't know that you worked in digital media, Cav! That's awesome!

That's about all I work in, these days! Digital media and pencil, that's about it. ;>

This is kind of off topic, but I really like your dragon's name--very unique. Is he a brown? I hadn't read your story (yet!), but I think I'm aqbout to. You piqued my interest. . .

He's a blue, actually. I know the light doesn't show it very well!

[Brenda]

This is very good. I saw it at AMCF and wondered if it was from that story.

The teeth might not stand out as so glaringly bright if there was less blue-white, and more of the orange-y shades shown in the firelight reflecting off the hide.

Is there more coming on the story?

[Samsara]

I too would be interested in more of the story! Wonderful picture too!

[mawra]

Great pic., more story would be great.

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Cavatica

Using a tablet is just like using a pencil and paper. You set the thing in your lap, you put the pen on it, and you draw. ;> The only thing that gets some taking used to is the pressure settings, which you can adjust to be more or less sensitive. But I can't IMAGINE trying to draw anything with a mouse! Ugh!

I use a tablet (Wacom) for converting photos to scroll saw patterns. The hardest thing for me is: When you draw with a pencil, you are looking at your hand and the paper. With a tablet, you don't look at your hand, you're looking at your computer monitor. Gives a whole new twist to hand-eye coordination. I use Gimp 2 for the process. I learned quite quickly how to use "layers" so I could correct mistakes without losing the "good" work.

In my drawings, I don't use a "brush" as much as a "pencil", so I don't get as much of the varying thickness due to stylus pressure.

I applaud your work, Cav. Very expressive.

[Kat]

Hmmm well there goes that then... my hand eye coordination hasn't been all that spectacular..
I guess we could always get one,the husband would be able to use it.
And I could try my hand at it. Of course it's all wishful thinking at this point.

[Allen]

Well, once you get used to watching the curser on the screen instead of watching your hand, it's not too bad.

There's the thing about moving the curser without drawing. You lift the stylus from the tablet and move the curser on the screen. Too far away, and the curser doesn't move.

Our stylus has a couple of buttons. One button, when you press it, will allow you to "grab" the picture to move it. when you're dealing with a magnified image, this is a time saver. You do that instead of moving the curser to the corner "sliders" and pressing on them.

Like Cav, I can't imagine trying to draw with a mouse.

[Cavatica]

Okay, first, I gotta say-- the word is "cursor." ;>

Second: I don't find that there's any disconnect between the tablet in my lap and the screen in front of my eyes. Your brain is generally too stupid to tell the difference between "I'm drawing in my lap and the artwork is in my lap" and "I'm drawing in my lap and the artwork is on a screen." If you draw a line and the line appears, your brain is happy. ;> I'm not sure it's entirely the same kind of hand-eye coordination required for video gaming. It's much less difficult!

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Cavatica

Okay, first, I gotta say-- the word is "cursor." ;>

Second: I don't find that there's any disconnect between the tablet in my lap and the screen in front of my eyes. Your brain is generally too stupid to tell the difference between "I'm drawing in my lap and the artwork is in my lap" and "I'm drawing in my lap and the artwork is on a screen." If you draw a line and the line appears, your brain is happy. ;> I'm not sure it's entirely the same kind of hand-eye coordination required for video gaming. It's much less difficult!

It's only "cursor" if you're not cursing at it for not going where you want it. Then it's "curser". (You're right, of course, J K)

You don't have an issue with it probably you're a lot younger and have a talent for art. I'm older, learned a whole different way many, many years ago, so I have a longer lifetime of habit to overcome. Plus, I've never been an artist, by any stretch of the imagination. My manual skills have been in the field of mechanics and body and paint work.

Not much of an excuse, but hey, it's all I have.

You can see my tablet work in my thread Bragging just a little

[Cavatica]

Originally Posted by Draco

You don't have an issue with it probably you're a lot younger and have a talent for art. I'm older, learned a whole different way many, many years ago, so I have a longer lifetime of habit to overcome. Plus, I've never been an artist, by any stretch of the imagination. My manual skills have been in the field of mechanics and body and paint work.

Well, I'm not sure how much the "being younger" bit makes a difference, necessarily. My dad'll be 61 in May () and he's been using tablets... well, probably almost as long as I have, and that's coming up on 11 or 12 years. But Dad's also always been into computers and shiny new bits of technology, so his brain's probably been wired for that stuff his whole life.

But every art class I've ever taken has been traditional, and of course I learned to draw with finger paints and crayons just like everyone else. ;>

[Allen]

What I meant is that you didn't have as much to "unlearn", to adapt to watching the screen. Like you said, you have had classes, too. I never had the talent to make any kind of art classes desireable. In school, Arts & Crafts was more crafts than art in the drawing and painting sense.

It's like I said, you're talented, there's no doubt. Don't sell yourself and your talent short....... not that I've ever known you to do that. Like I also said, I'm not talented along those lines. So it's more of a challenge to draw like that, if for no other reason than I have trouble drawing in the first place.

Oh, and we got our Wacom about 3 or 4 years ago, and I have maybe 6 months to a year of use on it, spread out over that time. I'm like your dad; attracted to bright shiney new technology. But from the standpoint of taking my computer apart and installing the technology. I installed a bigger hard drive and a disc burner in my first computer, less than 3 months after I got it. I've updated and improved our computers ever since. Different skills....

[Cavatica]

It's probably true. And my parents like to tell a story about my dad sitting me on his lap when I was a toddler, putting my hand on the mouse and moving it around in MacPaint or whatever it would have been in 1985 or so. ;> It's probably more hard-wired in there than I realize!

[Allen]

Like I got an electronics hobby set when I was about 10. Transistors about half the size of a dime, and no such thing as printed circuits. But that set was supposed to be for ages above my own.

[Cheryl]

Totally OT, but for your grandkids Draco look for a product called Snap Circuits. Galen got a set for Xmas, recommended age is 8+ but he's doing fine with it at 6 (though because he's not reading well yet, he's just following diagrams without entirely learning what exactly he's doing/building).

[GinnyStar]

Very, nice image

[Lady Maelin]

WOW!!! Cav....this really catches and draws the eye into it. It really has the mind wanting to know more about whats going on with the story. It makes me wish I had bought one of those art tablets, to play with...someday perhaps....but until then I'll just have to keep working with my pencil and paper, thankfully it seems to work pretty good for me....so far!!!

[Weyrlady]

Oops, sorry, Cav. I read your story right after I made that comment, and realized, "Oh, Xavath is a blue! OK, gotcha. . . " I still like his name though, regazrdless of his color.

I agree with Brenda on the teeth--that firestone must do a number on cleaning. I wonder if it freshens their breath as well! If the orange-y firelight reflects off Xavath's hide, it'll reflect off his teeth, too.

More story please! And I'm glad I'm not the only one who takes so long to write a fan-fic story!!