DSG 1366: Creature: HIDEOUS DEEP-SEA MONSTROSITY IS CREEPILY KNOWN AS "THE MERMAID"

[William b. Hand]

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[ This is by no means human-looking on any level other than accidental... ]

[ ...But, there is a certain disturbingly humorous rationale for the moniker. ]

[ Now -- no nudity, per sé... ]

[ ...But, there might be some strange organs that vaguely hint at the traditional notion of what a mermaid looks like... ]

[ ...Making them that much more distressing in mental comparison. ]

[ This should be a :wtf: kinduv creature. ]

Creature: HIDEOUS DEEP-SEA MONSTROSITY IS CREEPILY KNOWN AS "THE MERMAID"
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[benkashmir]

good topic, my first try at it

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/mermaid.jpg


second try.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/mermaid3.jpg

[PlasmaErnst]

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc38/PlasmaErnst/mermaid2.jpg
edit
Mitze: im glad you like her face, nice work on that back
sometimes i get crazy about dsg, so had to do another one, sorry
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc38/PlasmaErnst/mermaid3.jpg

[Mitze]

benkashmir great pic love that jelly effect and white bone tecture.

PlasmaErnst great pic too love the face.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f162/mekese2000/merman6.jpg

[Sudsy]

IMAGE LINK (http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn191/SudsySutherland/Daily%20Sketch%20Group%20Sumissions/DSG1366_27MAY08.jpg)

Sailors mistook manitees for mermaids when they came to the New World... So this follows the idea of a creature that in bad lighting would look mermaidish while at the same time being a bit more vicious than the manitee...

...and could go a long way to explaining the squid marks on dead whales and the absence of squid that large (until recently anyway... alternate history perhaps...)

[iambanana]

benkashmir: Nice colouring!
Plasmaernst: I really dig the first concept, although you could've done more to suggest the creature lives underwater.
Mitze: Yours is my favorite so far. Really creepy.
Sudsy: The form of your creature isn't so easy to grasp. Also, the smudge-tooling doesn't look too sharp. Read up on some basics on how to draw digitally. Or better yet, wait with digital until you've drawn a bit more with a pencil.
Here's mine. Not quite what I was going for.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc46/fluffeluff/dsgmermaid.jpg

[shiNIN]

my still very sketchy entry, it was much fun :)
IMAGE LINK (http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/shinin_mermaid.jpg)

[shiNIN]

maybe I went too far from a mermaid in the end... :(
and now I've mixed edit with reply... I think I need to go to bed...

[Der Kapptin]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/THEKAPPTIN/DSG/1336-mermaid2.jpg

Feedback is greatly appreciated as I really want to improve my art-making abilities.

shinin: I don't see a strong connection to the "mermaid" idea, and it could use more time put in probably. However, I do like it. The lighting in the bg works quite well too.

Sudsy: I don't know if he's meant to be see-through or what, but I think he needs to be filled in. Pretty cool creature, but needs more work on rendering.

My favourite so far is Mitze. Definitely cool & creepy.

PlasmaErnst: Awesome. They look really good. Not sure if they're creepy enough though, they are kind of like sea dragons.

benkashmir: Looks good. Interesting how the black lines sort of turn into big dark veins. I think I'd like it better on a dark ocean background, as currently it's hard to imagine what it would be like to see it underwater - and I think that's somewhat important.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/THEKAPPTIN/DSG/1366-mermaid.jpg

I added "feelers" on the head to make it more mermaid-like, but I'm not sure if they're an improvement. I'd really like to hear some educated opinions on that if you can spare the time.

[Volchiha]

Okay, this is my first ever DSG, hooray...
Also, my first ever painter sketch... please be gentle.

Awesome stuff so far, I feel like mine is very constricted. Hopefully more DSG entries will put me right... :steph:

[D0mo]

Volchiha, I love yours. And everyone else's is so good! I love DSG!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/Dansama/Mermaidcopy.jpg

[longineus]

some really inspiring ones on this topic
anyway,heres mine,im not exactly proud,but its late here,so...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/longineus/mermaid.jpg

[Virinun]

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk101/Virinun/mermaid03a.jpg

[SteFuunie]

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/makofuuit/sc000b9aec.jpg

[William b. Hand]

I partook.

Will comment later, but this took me longer than I wished (as per usual) and I just gotta sleep now.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/wbhandny/MERMAID.jpg

[Psychostrat]

my version... maybe to mermaid'ish lol ..was on meds.. http://psychostrat.com/pics/1366.jpg


kickass looking picture you have William .....

[medamaybe]

Yay, my first post on the forums. Therefore, obviously, also my first DSG entry. :)

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll79/medamaybe/DSG1366_by_meda.jpg

[Ninja9]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2h5pv8y.jpg

Quick sketch, 10 mins.

[Sudsy]

I've been adapting to my tablet with its smooth surface devoid of the wonder tooth pencil and paper provide. I've got a long way to go. Here is my pencil sketch done prior breakfast and work! I'm a tad out of practice on the creature side of artwork, but I'm having fun doing this random assignment stuff here!

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn191/SudsySutherland/Daily%20Sketch%20Group%20Sumissions/DSG1366_pencils_small.jpg

I appreciate the critique! I'm very familiar with the use of pencils, just a tad out of practice I'm afraid! The joys of parenting and working full time right now don't lend themselves very well to this fine hobby which is why I'm disciplining myself to draw each day and run five miles every day before work to keep in shape both artistically and physically! Using subject matter assigned here keeps me on my toes!

[erniesthings]

I just keep plugging away at this.

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg154/erniesthings/dsg1366.jpg

[ninjacat11]

My entry probably won't come until tomorrow or so.

[William b. Hand]

Maybe lost track of the topic somewhat here, but...

Some more diversions:

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/wbhandny/mermaidsb.jpg

[Hamsta]

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/8638/1366mermaidthingtk8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[MikeOB]

great work mitze! i might do something tomorrow for this

[Psychostrat]

http://psychostrat.com/pics/5556a.jpg

[Dreamscape]

Spent about 2 hours on this. I scrapped the idea many times, didn't know how to do arms, originally I was going to add about 10-12 "eel" arms but it got a little complicated.

If you guys have some time I would like some constructive critiscm on color/shading I was winging it on this one. Also my stuff keeps coming out cartoony it's a little wierd.


http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x241/Xuvius/DSG1366copy.jpg

[benkashmir]

dreamscape, first of all, your imagination and idea are good, which in my opinion are the most important for being a good artist.

you are right, it does look cartoonic, and the only reason it does, is because you arent shading it. shading mean deciding about a light source and coloring from that point of light, this make it possible to build 3d volume for the drawing.

heres an example, i only showed on the head, but you can take it from there and apply it to the rest of the body.

- note the direction and source of the light
- note how the texture bump up when i draw the shadows around it and highlights on it, and how it stays flat (on top of the head and on the pink tentacle thingies) when i dont.
- note the volume shading on the pink thingies that making it more round.

when painting over an already existing color form, i like to divide the shading from the basic color layer, even divide light, highlight shadow and cast shadows to diffrent layers, this way i can better control the painting, shading and lighting opacity and hues and also add texture later underneath those layers which will keep the texture in the general volume shades.
in due time you could just directly paint on one layer after you get the idea intuitevly.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/DSG1366copyversion2.jpg

i had to paint on the original size from here, but for real painting, use a much largel scale and quality, this way you can add much more details.

[torazine]

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll171/torazine/dsg1366.jpg

[William b. Hand]

haha!

nice one, torazine!

[ninjacat11]

Not done with this yet.
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1193/mermedited1gj2.jpg

[MonkeYoakum]

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/1056/mermaidgm8.jpg

[William b. Hand]

.

LOL

.

[Arbinn]

I'm a bit late but here's mine:

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4523/mermaidfishrdyminipa7.jpg

[shiNIN]

I had to do it again. I had problems with the face :( and I don't think it's much better than before. anyway, here it is.
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh287/shiNIN666/gfx/shinin_mermaid2.jpg

[oblivion_dragon]

Wow y'all, great so far! Love yours, Torazine. I was waiting for something more on the creepy side, and you nailed it.

Der Kapptin, yours is pretty cool too. I think it could be more in-your-face creepy if you added interesting perspective. Perhaps from the viewpoint of somebody hiding from it, like inside the wreakage of a ship, looking up at it. *shrug* Just throwing ideas out there. Nice one anyways.