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HOULY1970 — The Kill
Published: 2007-02-05 19:43:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 3593; Favourites: 84; Downloads: 1725
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Description
6B Graphite on 140lb medium textured watercolor paper.20" x 16"
( Smilodon Fatalis and Bison Latifrons )
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Comments: 96
wow this is jaw droppingly great 1 of the most eye catching images I've seen on here. gawd man can you take sabre tooth drawing to another level !!
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Stunning - you style is so refined, love all these beautiful details!
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Thanks Pauline ... I'll do a sequel to it this year ... The original has a good home in the house of a plubished fantasy writer novelist friend of mine. I can't imagine a better place for it to have ended up.
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I like the contrast between the clouds/grass and the animal elements of the drawing. The different styles really play well off each other, and as usual, the detail work is stunning. Nice work, John.
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Thanks Justin. Now this was one of my more favorite pieces. The grass got tedious after a while though.
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Who doesn't love Saber Tooths ? Teeth ?
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Nice sabre-tooth.
Excellent pencil work. I expect to be able to draw like that in approx 100yrs.
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Well thank you Miss.
I doubt it'd take a hundred years. Practice practice practice.
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Amazing Talent You have John, Beautiful Work From a First Rate Artist
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Thanks Bob, I appreciate that.
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That must have taken a while to do that grass with all the intricate strands! Beautiful effect in the end between the two styles!
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Thanks Melissa,
Yeah the grass was sooooo boring to do, and took what seemed like forever.
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Looks great..realy like the way you've used the textured paper..
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Thanks Lee.
The textured paper makes for faster shading ... it pulls the graphite from the pencils more easily.
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Well I sold my sole wait maybe it was my soul 
Jeep
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Thanks Jeep ... The grass drove me up the wall .... across the ceiling and back down the other side .. haha .. Luckily I watched several movies while drawing it. Although I had to pause and rewind the good parts when I'd miss something because I was looking down.
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Beautiful work. Stunning from any angle.
Quite a kill too
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So this is the sabre-toothed kitty you've been talking about
Woah, it's amazing! The detail! 
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Thanks Dunja,
Yeah I use textured paper in a lot of my drawings. It makes them a bit different than just using a smooth paper. It also makes the drawing part easier because the "tooth" of the paper pulls the graphite into it more than a smooth paper does. The only downfall is that you cannot blend on a textured paper. All the shading has to be done with only the pencil or else it just ruins the drawing.
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Wow . . . fantastic details and great overall composition! I must say, that sure looks like a lot of work.
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Thanks GD, It did take plenty of hours. likely between 20 - 30 The damn grass was the worst part. Really boring to do as well, since it took so long.
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Yeah I can imagine . . . but well worth the time and effort . . . great piece
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The kitty has an almost baleful look to him, almost mournful eyes....(imo)
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Maybe he's sad that he killed the Bison ?
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I think all cats have a moment of sadness when their playthings stop playing.....
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You know ... I think that's true. I never really thought about it before. haha
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Very well drawn 
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Awwww .... I'm sorry. Life can be sad you know.
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Oh christ, that's how big they're trying to make me draw now. Anyway...
The stylization of the clouds and the grass are actually my favorite parts of this picture even though they're not the focus. The contrast between those elements and the animals do give the piece a telltale illustration feel but I think it adds interest. While the animals look realistic, I was expecting more gore from the title (it was fine to be wrong when I clicked though, don't feel like seeing guts). Also, the dead stare of "Bison Latifrons" is unnerving.
And and and
It's about time you posted something other than your face! 
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20" x 16" is a good size Lindsay.
I purposely used a contrasting style for the scenery to draw more attention to the main subjects.
I kept the Bison's fur dark so that you could imagine that it had greivious wounds without the need to actually see them. Ummm the Bison's dead ... I don't think he should have been smiling. haha
and and and .....I'll never post another ID again ... thanks a lot !!! haha ... actually I have 3 new paintings to finish at the moment, and a few more that I'd like to start, but I'm going to try to finished the almost completed ones before starting any new ones. My living room's cluttered enough as is.
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Ooooh wow he is so beautiful! I love his pose. You caught him in one of those twisted-cat poses where he's facing two directions at once, just turning to look back over his kill at whatever might be approaching. He has so much character!
I also love the subtle drama of the clouds and background. They're ominous, meaningful, heavy and heady. The black ridgeline brings him forward and the dark negative spaces in the grass are moody and powerful. Everything contributes to an atmosphere of mythic power -- the influence of your paintings shows in this piece because the central figures are wonderful realism and the rest of the drawing focuses attention on them like stage lighting. The bison has character. The bison that just died did so at the height of his power and confidence, this is the dramatic conclusion of a titanic struggle and a lordly regal predator is confident as he looks off in the distance.
Confident and curious, because it's hard to tell from his expression if he's looking at scavengers who need to be told to wait for their share or at his own pride coming to share in the kill. I love his little mane. It's like that on a European lion and it's unique in Smilodon renderings -- and completely plausible for a big cat. Likewise his soft mottled markings, a balance between the smooth pelt of golden big cats like lions and pumas and other more patterned cats. It hints that the same species in other areas may have variations in coloration and degree of spotting, it also makes him look youthful.
Like he's just reached adult size and independence but still has a faint echo of cub spots to him. Beautiful. I love the richness of your animal drawings and you've made the Pleistocene breathe with life on this one.
Much to my happy surprise you outdid my unreasonable expectations!
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Haha Thank you Robert. At times I think that I may be starting to paint or draw only to hear your remarkable comments to my work.
I did intentionally use a contrast od styles in the drawing, Mainly with the hard edged clouds and illustrative grass contrasting the subjects in the drawing that were done in a more detailed style.
The clouds were hard to add tension to the piece and you can see where I had a lighter area of a cloud directing the viewer's eye along with the Smilodon's eye. What's it looking at ?
Like you I envisioned the rest of it's pride. I tried two other layouts for this one, One with a second Smilodon facing inwards from the right, but it was too crowded, and one with a second Smilodon further back behind the Bison, standing and facing right looking off into the distance as well at something approaching. In that situation I envisioned Rivals or Dire wolves, but with him being alone I found it more peaceful and thought that yeah most likely his pride was coming over.
With one Cat the layout principals work better. It's eye leads you to the right, and makes you wonder what it's looking at. Then you catch the Bison's horn and are drawn downwards to explore the dead animal's face and your eye ends up at the cat's tail, working it's way back up to the eye, completing the circle.
One thing I never realized was that there are supposedly rules to a well planned out painting or drawing. Luckily I often did this naturally and ignorant to the fact that many plan out things in advance. I was more of a " That just doesn't look right" kind of guy, until I read about it in a book once. After trying the two alternate layouts and not having them feel right I went back to my original concept and realized afterwords that I had set it up properly.
I'm glad that it has exceeded your expectations Robert.
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