[Art/Sketches] Australian Magpie, Sacred Ibis, Arabian Leopard & Rough Collie

[moonvoice]

A bunch of sketches
that are ready for inking
and all with client approval.
Looking forward to all of them!
Though it's personally satisfying to be illustration Australian magpie again.


Australian magpie - which is not actually a Corvid.





Sacred Ibis





Arabian Leopard





Tricolour Rough Collie

Comments

[redsixwing]

Oh wow, Arabian Leopard is awesome!

I am loving Sacred Ibis, too. The cloudy background is going to look so cool...

[moonvoice]

Hee, I am looking forward to the cloudy background + the stars. I've been waiting for this composition to come to me for *months* and then it just did. Longest I've ever had to wait, I think!

[tree]

oh, magpies. they get such a bad rap, but i love them.

[moonvoice]

I love Australian magpies. Most of the people I know locally love them too, so thankfully I don't hear much about them getting a bad rap!

[silverjackal]

With this lot it is impossible for me to pick a favorite at this stage. You know I think the collie is *stellar*, but the Sacred Ibis and the Leopard... :D

[moonvoice]

I'm really happy with all of them. That Arabian leopard took some doing though. The big cat faces, especially when they're a bit more angular and pronounced, tend to require several work-throughs.

Birds on the other hand, birds are easy!

[paleo]

Thoth!!!!

Is Sacred Ibis already spoken for? I may know someone who would be interested in him/her.

[moonvoice]

All the illustrations are already spoken for, since I'm downgrading to commission-only 'as totem' artwork (unless it's for one of the upcoming totem books); but if you want, feel free to show them the sketch and refer them onto my commission information if you want. :)

[darakat]

Collie!

[moonvoice]

Yay collies! :D

[lifedominant]

You know, I've been meaning to ask you something. I've noticed that many of the 'as totem' paintings have a band of black with the orbs through the center. Is that merely for aesthetics or is there some symbolism to it?

[moonvoice]

The circles tend to represent chakra or energy wheels; with a predominant energy feel that I get from the animal. Usually it's a combination of one or two colours, but it can vary.

The black band is more of an aesthetic choice. I like it as a way of singling out energy flow (i.e. sometimes it supports it, adding focus, and sometimes it flows away from it, indicating contrasts of energy), and to create a negative space to balance out the very fine details, which can make the illustration very busy, very quickly. :)

Hope that helps some!

[lifedominant]

Thank you very much! It definitely helped. :)

[moonvoice]

Is your icon a saluki? He's very handsome!

[lifedominant]

Yes. They're one of my favorite breeds of dog. I remember the first time a picture of one. I was like "O.O Oooooo....preettyyy."

[moonvoice]

That's so awesome! Salukis are beautiful. I love all the sighthounds, but especially the ones that have feathering (salukis, deerhounds, borzoi and wolfhounds particularly - afghans take it a bit too far for me). I've never seen a saluki in 'real life' though, which is a shame!