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Wildphoenix22 — Compass of the Stars
#compass #conceptual #darkness #fantasy #light #painting #poem #starlight #stars #watercolor #watercolorpencils
Published: 2015-09-28 00:01:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 2083; Favourites: 123; Downloads: 0
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Description
"He navigates dark pathways with a compass made of stars."Inspired by The Daily Magnet #176 & created for FridgePoetProject 's 500-Watcher Contesty-Raffley Celebration!
Another experiment with watercolor pencils. I must have painted nearly 4 layers before I was pleased with it.. but I'm learning and enjoying the process.
Materials: Derwent Watercolor Pencils & Acrylic Ink on Moleskin Watercolor Paper.
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Art (c) Wildphoenix22
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Comments: 53
👍: 1 ⏩: 0
This is another unique, abstract piece in your gallery. You certainly have a gift with these. I like how they all seem to focus on a part of the body and some sort of abstract object moving away from it. It's interesting, for this one, all the different mediums you combined to create an eye-catching, beautiful piece.
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Thank you so much for another kind comment! I actually never really thought about that idea that each focuses on a part of the body in a way. I think that I'll have to keep that in mind for the future and perhaps create a bit of a "series."
Thanks again!
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Beautiful work, great coloring and well done C:
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Thanks so much! 
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I might be a teeny bit bias only because I love compasses to begin with, ... but this whole image is both delicate and magical at the same time... the lighting, on the hands, appear perfect! Really well done here. I just love it!
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Wow thanks so much! I'm so glad that you like it! 
It's one of the very few pieces in my gallery that I've continued to be proud of. When the inspiration for this piece hit me, it was like a freight train. I wish that happened more often! It's a great feeling!
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I love the whimsical feel of this piece! A compass is sort of like a clock in the ways that it can be eerily portrayed and I love how you done that. The piece feels creepy yet happy and sort of like a note of guidance, which plays off the compass being a tool of direction. All together, great painting
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Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!
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Beautiful picture. I love the shading and composition.
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Hi Wildphoenix22, I'm from ProjectComment
This piece is lovely, the colours really draw me in. I can't believe you used watercolour pencils to do this. Watercolour pencils, in my opinion are the hardest medium in traditional art. For some people, they can use them straight away, for others (me) they will become worst enemies. I can never ever use watercolours properly. It amazes me that you've been able to use them and create this! You must be truly talented. Be careful though, because with doing 4 layers and such, it can wear down the paper. Also I have noticed that sometimes you can use too much water and it will damage the paper. In your piece I can see some strokes of where you have layered the pencils.
You can see the magic physically coming out of the compass, especially with the colours (gold/yellows). What could make this better would be gold sparkles to look like magic or white stars for the background. I think this would add a little bit more to the drawing. You could do this easily by flicking paint onto the paper and turning the solid background into a dazzling starry night.
I think your anatomy is spot on the way you portrayed this drawing, came across clearly. Though I do feel this image is playing it too safe. I have seen what other work you produced and honestly, you could take this drawing even further. I would love to see where you can take this piece to in the future!
Keep up the good work
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Haha! Yes, I have found watercolor pencils are rather challenging, to say the least! In fact, for the longest time watercolors in general were my worst enemy... but recently I started using them again. I've been trying to re-learn and love them.
Thanks so much for the comment and tips. Funny you should mention flicking paint onto the piece because I was actually planning to do that on the stars and yellow swirl... but then I "chickened out" at the last minute. I was afraid I'd mess it up or make it look to messy. Perhaps I should have stuck with the plan and tried it! haha
Thanks again! I really appreciate it!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hi, buni here!
I really love your color sense and aesthetic competence. You balanced two completely opposite colors extremely well!
I did notice the fingers aren't completely even on both hands which is a bit odd, it sticks out to me but thats mostly because I tend to notice the little things (so dont sweat it). It kinda looks like the right hand's ring finger got the tip cut off a bit.
The overall effect of the image is very pleasing and flow naturally, the yellow wisp draws your attention into the Compass.
Now that I mention the compass, it does feel a little smokey within the hands, I think it could use more darkening around the edges to give it that little bit of depth it needs Note: This might just be lighting, or simply camera coloration, if I had this piece sitting right in front of me then perhaps it would be a different critique, but with that being said, I really love this art work and looking at your past work you have a really good grasp of texture and color. Keep up the good work!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much for the comment and critique! I really appreciate the honest feedback.
Gah, hands are the hardest things to draw. haha Always a challenge and definitely something I should spend more time on! Looking at the original, I definitely think the depth issue with the compass/hands has to do with my scan (it always bleaches the colors and kills contrast.) I may have to try getting a better image to replace it. Thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't even noticed!
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i suggest just openiing up a software and hitting "auto fix" generally that lack of depth is a contrast issue or a color cast placed in by scanners that can be easily fixed !
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Actually, I prefer to edit the levels and color balance on my photos manually and not just hit "auto fix." Often it messes things up rather than actually "fixing" them. haha 
Thanks again for pointing it out though, I'll definitely be reopening it in photoshop and tweaking things a bit.
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Hi there, I'm here for 's tagline.
I love this artwork. I think it send something like great feelings and that is so important to me.
The colors you choose are in a great harmony and the details make this artwork more stunning.
But, if you don't mind, I'd like to say what you have to work more on it: the right fingernail is a little bit strange and, I think, you have to add more highlights and details to the yellow ''smoke''.
Thanks for reading this! Great artwork!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks so much for your comments and critique! I see what you mean about the fingernail, it definitely needed a bit more highlighting/shape. As far as the yellow light swirl.. I wasn't sure how I wanted it to look (solid or more "smoke-like.") It sort of ended up being left semi-translucent but mostly solid... This was due, in part, to the fact that I was experimenting with the medium and mostly focusing on getting the lighting on the hands just right. However, I definitely wanted to experiment more with that type of magic/light/smoke look.. so in the future I'll keep your suggestion in mind! (Which also reminds me that I actually have another piece I did this on that I've yet to submit! haha) Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I appreciate it!
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Also thnk you for reading my comment! You are a really talented person <3
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My pleasure. thanks so much!
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Thank you so very much!
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Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear that!
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This looks great, I love the illustration! The yellow light on the hands and the dark blue make such a nice contrast. And some of the wonky star shapes are pretty cool. I like that they aren't the perfect, straight stars. It's beautiful.
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Thanks so much! I really appreciate your kind comments!! 
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your welcome!
p.s. love your username!
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This is impossibly beautiful.
I've been sitting here, just staring at it in slack-jawed, open-hearted wonder, for a solid ten minutes. I can't even begin to capture how incredible it is in words. It's as if you transformed pure magic into art ("do not pass Go, do not collect $200").
Absolutely, utterly, remarkably gorgeous work. Wow. 
This piece has been entered in the contesty-raffley celebration accordingly, and has also been featured in the description of the poem itself. Phenomenal work, my dear!! 
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OH my gosh.. this might possibly be the nicest comment I've ever gotten on my work! Thank you so much for your kind words! I had a lot of fun painting it and I'm so glad that you like it!
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Entirely my pleasure -- and I nonetheless maintain that no words I can conjure up can possibly do this piece justice. You are so remarkably talented! Bravo!
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Aww! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Gorgeous concept...!
Not really a critique, but it might have been interesting for the pencil strokes to match the rhythm of the light. Maybe a bit like Van Gogh's Starry Night, but this soft velvety approach works too. ^^
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