Scythe Wolf (Repainted)

[Lunatique]

It's amazing how different your own artwork can seem to you only a short while after it's finished. The artist is always the last person to be able to see his/her own work objectively. For those of you that have saved the original version, compare it to this new version to see all the changed I made.

Foliage used to be the bane of my existence, but this time I took it head on and I think I survived. Who knows? Maybe a few months later I'll look at this and start cringing again. . ..

I still have a bunch of other pieces to repaint for Expose(how do I get special character to show up?), and a CG World magazine(Chinese edition) interview. They asked for 10 pieces--gotta get crackin'.

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf.jpg

Closeups:

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup1.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup3.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup6.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup5.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup2.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup4.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup7.jpg

[Lunatique]

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup9.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup8.jpg

http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/paintings_drawings/new/scythe_wolf-closeup10.jpg

Here's the story of Scythe Wolf:

Who is Scythe Wolf?

Ask any warrior worthy of his blade in Jian-Hu(martial arts underworld) the name "Lian-Lang(Scythe Wolf) ," and you'll get the following description:

Roughly two years ago, a mysterious young girl stunned the Jiang-Hu scene with her lightening fast scythe fighting technique and her ethereal beauty. Many men admired her beauty, yet they also feared her skills. She is aloof and dislikes attention, but despite her petite frame and her avoidance of crowds, her presence is hardly inconspicuous, due to the seven-foot scythe she wields, and an entourage that consisted of a pack of wild wolves.

Those lucky enough to be considered a friend by her, knows her as "Lulu," a nickname derived from her real name, "Chen Yue-Lu."(word for word, "Yue" means Jade, and "Lu" means Dew. Chen is her last name.) If you ask the few friends she has, this is what you'll learn about Lulu:

Lulu doesn't trust people easily, yet when she does, she will protect those close to her with a fierceness one would be foolish to challenge.

Lulu's parents were once disciples of the Uh-Mei clan, but having been disillusioned by the corruption they witnessed, her parents left the clan and began their lives as vagrants. Around the time of Lulu's birth, her parents had befriended a pack of Wild Wolves when they protected a newborn litter of wolf-pups from a hungry tiger. Since then, the siblings Lulu grew up with had been that litter of wolf-pups. It was during that time, Lulu's parents developed the "Wild Wolf Fighting Technique," the result of their intimate understanding of the wolves.

Lulu had been taught the Wild Wolf fighting technique since she was able to walk, and not long after reaching her teens, she mastered that technique and began developing her own fighting style. Lulu was her parents' pride and joy, and they loved Lulu more than anything in the world.

During her fourteenth birthday, the family had stayed with a dear friend of Lulu's parents, who was a black smith of legendary fame, and the maker of the best weapons in existence. When Lulu showed an affinity for an old scythe she found in the barn, the black smith forged a scythe that was tailor made for her, redesigned from the traditonal scythe into a deadly weapon. Since then, Lulu had incorporated her scythe, which she named "Black Wolf," into her own fighting style.

During the family's travels, they had taught a number of students-all vagrants like themselves. It was first offered as a gesture of friendship-a way for fellow vagrants to defend themselves in their travels, but soon, the word spread, and people began seeking out the family to be taught. The family never cared much for formality, so no real structure was ever created for the students. The family continued traveling, leaving behind a trail of disciples that they asked politely not to follow them around or treat them like clan masters. The family always stressed that their teachings were based on their friendships with fellow vagrants, not for fame or obedience like the famous clans they despised.

When Lulu was sixteen, her parents were murdered during a trip from Nanjing to Hsa-Men. Lulu was out in the woods hunting for food at the time, and when she returned to her dying parents, they uttered with their dying breath, "Uh-Mei," the name of the clan they had left long ago. After her parent's death, Lulu vowed to track down their killers and avenge their death, but Uh-Mei is one of the largest and most respected clans in Giang-Hu, and she has no idea where to begin.

When the vagrant friends caught news of their teachers' death, they banded together and called themselves the "Wolf Pack." The pack vowed to find Lulu and help her avenge the death of their teachers, but no matter how fast they traveled, they were always a step behind the young girl's trail.

Now, two years later, the Wolf Pack had grown in number, but there was still no sign of Lulu, except for the stories of her travels that has been told by fellow travellers of Giang-Hu. At this point, there were more new members of the Wolf Pack than the original students, and to them, both the name Lulu and Scythe Wolf seemed more like a mysterious legend than a real person. Even though the new members never met the original teachers of the Wild Wolf Technique, their names still inspired a sense of revere.

Now, Scythe Wolf's whereabout has been discovered, and the Wolf Pack began traveling day and night to reach the girl some have began referring to affectionately as "Mother Wolf."

Lulu and her wolves:

Lulu is respected by her wolves, and holds the rank of the alpha wolf. This, by default, prevents her pack to breed new litters--which is a good thing considering their situation. (Only the alpha male and female wolves are allowed to breed in a pack, and since Lulu is human, the pack won't have new members, unless Lulu gives up her position as the alpha wolf.) Lulu does not tolerate violence shown to the omega wolf by her pack, and she managed to rid her pack of the terrible habit of picking on the omega wolf.

The pack:

Alpha male- "Grey Star"
Beta male- "Dirt King"
Beta female- "Snowy"
Aunts and Uncles- "Lazy Bug," "Sleepy Head" and "Rooster"
Omega- "Baby"

[3bleadpencil]

that's so much work!!...keep it up!
:)

[JoshuaTheJames]

damn there is hella amount of detail shots...lol

I think it looks even better... I just worked on a piece for 8 1/2 hours last night and it probably needs another 10 ;)

-Joshua

[enoc]

im in awwwwwww wow that is so well done especially the dress, i like how you put zoomed pics

:D [TASKINLUDE] (http://active-x.net/taskinlude/) :D

[Carnifex]

omg!i'm looking at a photo!:eek:
well,almost:D

[brads3d]

Definately amazing. Everything is in such precise detail, demonstrating true skill. You might experiment with blurring some of the elements... since everything is so precisely illustrated, a flattening effect is caused.
Nevertheless, its a fantastic artwork, and cool story.

[darkcult]

Very nice feeling to it, almost “fairy tale” like…
Excellent picture,I like it a lot!

Cool!!!

[michael see]

these is incredibly awesome..briliant piece of work!!..i thought i was 3d on the 1st glance..like the gal..she's cute~how did the story came about?was it originally from u?

:bash:

[Atomicfate]

love its softness.

great work!

[bat]

Awesome painting and great character story to boot. I had to bookmark your site and it is always great to visit and see or read new things. Very superb work.

b a t

[Cyrex Wingblade]

My favorite weapon? Scythe.
My favorite animal? Wolf
My favorite warrior? Female, chinese

Anything else need to be said?

Absolutely amazing. I love it all.

[Phait]

I LOVE this piece, it's a fucking masterpiece except for the blurriness in the wolves and other things - but GREAT - I would buy and frame this.

It's my new wallpaper - this replaces my inspiration to draw again - Feng Zhu! (well for the time being ;) )

[togusa]

hmmm. where to start. i guess one of the biggest problems in your piece is lack of a conscience focal point. the placement of detail/texture/etc almost even through the entire frame flattens the image and confuses the eye. usually it is a good idea to have places for the eye to rest inside the compostion. secondly, you need to work on massing your values. they are not grouped and are haphazardly arranged. third, you should watch the edges on objects. some are soft and some are hard for not apparent reason. there are hard edged grass blades far behind the girl who is out of focus, not to mention the wolves which all are out of focus.

It would probably be best for you work out your composition, details, etc before such a large painting of such finish. this has the feeling of being made up as u painted which really isnt a good way to approach things.

oh yeah... someone else's valid comment - why are there screws in the scythe that require a philips screwdriver and where does she keep that screwdriver?

[Lunatique]

Thanks for all the compliments and critiques!

The story is my own. I always write background stories for my paintings, or do paintings of my stories. It came about because there's a clothing store called Septwolves in China, and the Chinese name is "7 Wolves." I just imagined how it would be like if a girl was their companion, and the story just formed around that.

togusa-- very thorough and excellent critique. I've got my own shortcomings in my work, just like everybody else, and I'm working towards correcting them with every piece I do. I actually recorded all the steps to the making of this piece. Maybe that'll shed some light on how I made the mistakes I made: http://www.enchanted.prohosting.com/goodies/tutorials/scythe_wolf-tutorial/scythe_wolf-tutorial.htm

Oh, and metal screws were invented in the 15th century--and it's a slot head screw, not a Phillips head--the ladder which was invented in the 1930's by Henry F. Phillips. Also, why would she need to carry a screwdriver around, unless she needs to dismantle the blade all the time? Even if she did, surely she would travel with a sack or bag of some sort, no?The scythe she carries isn't a conventional scythe. Did you read the story accompanying the painting?