Drawings from the ocean's edge

[rowyn]

I always wanted to do a series of avatar cartoons, displaying different emotions, for my own LJ icons. But I never could pick an avatar for myself.

However, since oceansedge liked the avatar drawing I did for her, I decided to do the next best thing: avatars displaying different emotions for someone else. :)

    

    

I hope you like 'em, oceansedge. And if not, don't worry about offending me -- I had fun doing them. :)

Comments

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

Hurmmm the mysterious disappearing comment...

"Oh My God!

That is without a doubt one of the COOLEST things anyone has EVER done for me! I'm .. I'm .. I'm....

Oh WOW..
She's (they're) just sooooo FABULOUS! OH MY! "

[rowyn]

I'm glad you're enjoying them. :) They were a lot of fun to draw, really. Lots of hair and highlights on waves, whee! :)

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Wow! Nice Work! :)

The faces look excellent when shrunk down, very nice use of the ears to capture emotion. Ears are highly indicative of emotion, but often overlooked because mobile ears are not human.

Nice Work!

[rowyn]

Thank you! I've gotten better at conveying emotions over the years. I don't get as much practice as you do at it, obviously. :) And I cheated by humanizing her face a bit, too. Ears are fun to work with. On Sythyry, I used the height of zir crest to indicate emotion. Whiskers can be good too, if you draw in the whiskers. :)

[sandramort.livejournal.com]

*sigh* One of my most prized possessions was lost in a move or storage somewhere along the way :( That being Sarah's portrait that you made me a jillion years ago.

[rowyn]

At least you've still got the live Sarah. :) Do you have any photos of her online, by the way?

[sandramort.livejournal.com]

Hmm. If I don't, I can get some up this week. Any particular kind I should look for?

[rowyn]

Good ones! Er, ones you like and think look like her. And high resolution so I can actually see her without squinting. :)

[sandramort.livejournal.com]

LOL! I mean, like... standing, sitting, what sort of position? Most of my pictures are of her looking annoyed at me for waking her, draped over the monitor... but I just got a new camera and I'm DYING for excuses. So what shall I post?

[rowyn]

I'd say standing or sitting -- those are usually the most interesting poses for a cat. Moreso than "hunched and annoyerd". :)

Batting at something is also good. :)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Nice one! Nice four, actually, but that sounds odd.

I love the way the backgrounds match the expressions.

[rowyn]

Thank you! Matching the background to her mood was my favorite part. I like the stormy background on "angry" best, I think. Though I'm not happy with the way the hair at the back of her head looks. The "downcast" one probably turned out best over all.

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

If I had to pick a 'favourite' one, it would be 'downcast', I love the way the hair, the expression, the background, it all really comes together in that one.

Maybe I'm not so fond of 'angry' because I so rarely am *grins*, but she is very cool too. And joyous IS joyous, she just looks like she'd having so much fun.... you can almost hear that great big lion laugh out loud. (which IS actually how I do laugh!) And contemplative is just soooooooo elegant I love it!

Thanks again... you, they, .. are amazing :)

[rowyn]

You're welcome! I don't like the portrait on "angry" so much as the storm clouds and the breaking wave in the background. :)

And contemplative is just soooooooo elegant.

Well, you know why on that one, or should, anyway. :D

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

The Lady Rowyn is something really special, is she not?

I note with amusement that, while the other moods have your eyes reflecting clouds in the sky, 'angry' reflects lightning bolts!

===|==============/ Level Head

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

*grins* If my own eyes were only half as expressive as the ones she gave me.... I'd be a very lucky lady indeed :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

You may already be! Double check! ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

I hate to admit it, but the reflections in her eyes are supposed to be waves of the ocean, actually. In the "angry" one, the waves are supposed to be crashing, rather than gently lapping.

I like your idea better, though. :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

You know, I have been to Palm Beach Florida, Paradise Island Bahamas, and other locations on narrow strips of land so that you can have waves reflected in your eyes even though the ocean is visibly behind you. It is behind the camera viewpoint as well.

Of course, it does make the notion of an "ocean's edge" a bit tricky. But perhaps it's all the better, being even ... edgier. ];-)

===|==============/ Level Head

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

The angry one reminds me more of the North Atlantic coast I grew up on, which always seemed to me to be a bit 'wilder', a sterner mother than her more gentle Pacific sister. Although the tropical beaches you mention are Atlantic .... hurmmm I guess that contradicts that allegory :)

Still it's always chargrined me some, that when one goes hunting for pictures or art of beaches and oceans, what one finds is almost always peaceful tropical scenes.

[sandratayler.livejournal.com]

How true. It's a shame because I find I have a larger emotional response to gray stormy seas than to calm tropical blue. I'd probably love the North Atlantic if I ever get a chance to see eat. North Pacific is pretty amazing.

[level-head.livejournal.com]

I remember peaceful tropical scenes from Florida. Hurricane David comes to mind, when we were trying to get to sixty miles per hour in a lightweight van by wind power alone (we had the doors open and roped).

===|==============/ Level Head

Indeed!

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

However, alas and alack, no one paints pictures of these anymore. Used to be, that paintings of harsh stormy seas and sailing vessels were quite popular. Now I go looking for pictures of the ocean.... the ones I find seem to only be missing the pina colada.

Re: Indeed!

[level-head.livejournal.com]

Just so you don't feel left out... Here's an image from Florida.

===|==============/ Level Head

[rowyn]

My original notion was to give the avatar another "ocean" connection -- to have the ocean always be visible in her eyes. More a metaphor than intended to be taken literally. Same with the ocean's mood mirroring the avatar's. And she's got a sort of "beach" motif by having sandy-colored fur, too. :)

[level-head.livejournal.com]

It works for me!

===|==============/ Level Head

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I like the happy one best. ('gryn)

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

They're all pretty special.... and I'm incrediably deeply honoured

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

I kinda like the difference in light quality between the four. One of these days I gotta try my hand at this kind of stuff (this, of course, coming from the guy who has yet to even publish a webpage in the many years that he's been meaning to...).

[rowyn]

I even have my own domain now, and I still haven't put together a proper webpage yet. :D It's on my "To Do Someday" list. I'd like to use some kind of easy-update engine, though. It's much simpler to add things to LJ than to make changes to a standard webpage.

I may put together a simple webpage eventually, just with some of my better art pieces and photographs. I dunno. :)

[oceansedge.livejournal.com]

Just thought you'd like to know... I got a lovely compliment on my user picture, from a complete stranger in helpscreening

http://www.livejournal.com/community/helpscreening/977799.html