Oh it's different because it's almost twice the size of the 'as totems' illustrations, and they always get a ton more detail (most of which won't come through in the draft). It's more organic and doesn't follow the same conventions as the 'as totems' series. :)
No, it's got more of the flexibility found in all of the Australian Animal Oracle Deck cards, and for any recent examples, hmm... probably the Peccary/Snake I did recently. :)
I'm very intrigued by the parrot! Of course the pigeon makes me grin. (It's the top knot -- punk rockers everywhere can only dream!) And I'll be very interested to see how the koi develops, because I don't think I've seen another fish (as opposed to a marine mammal) done as an aquatic "As Totem". But the parrot! You've mentioned before that extinct species are much more difficult, and that certainly makes sense, but I'm also very intrigued by the idea. :)
Excluding sharks, I have done one other fish; the Northern Pike as Totem - the scan doesn't do it justice, but it's easily one of my favourites. But that was in 2009! Not many people ask for or request fish.
Extinct species are a lot more difficult, though I seem to find it easier if they're from Australia, or relatively recently extinct (like Thylacine / Thylacoleo). :D
I thought the Koi was going to be the heart-stealer of this batch (seems like there is often one) but no, it's totally Crested Pigeon... and the Paradise Parrot is absolutely glorious. I love the teardrop shapes.
I love all of them! I'm impressed by how clean your lines are at the sketch stage, and how the animals don't look flat even without shading. Do you work on design and composition as you sketch, or have you already decided by this point?
I don't generally draft the totems (though I will sometimes go through a drafting process with other projects), so the composition basically comes in the moment. I generally have an idea of what I want to do (or the totem animal does), and so I get everything down straight onto the illustration board. That's why there's hints of guidelines everywhere. Heh.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-05-18 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-05-18 12:55 pm (UTC)*cough* Um, I haven't had my coffee yet.
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Date: 2011-05-18 01:17 pm (UTC)Also the pigeon's beady beady eyes. If there was nothing else about that bird that screamed "I'm a pigeon," the eyes would do it.
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Date: 2011-05-18 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-18 01:43 pm (UTC)Extinct species are a lot more difficult, though I seem to find it easier if they're from Australia, or relatively recently extinct (like Thylacine / Thylacoleo). :D
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Date: 2011-05-18 02:50 pm (UTC)I thought the Koi was going to be the heart-stealer of this batch (seems like there is often one) but no, it's totally Crested Pigeon... and the Paradise Parrot is absolutely glorious. I love the teardrop shapes.
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Date: 2011-05-19 03:22 am (UTC)<3
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Date: 2011-05-19 06:27 am (UTC)As always: AWESOME!