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KatieHofgard โ
Teach Me to Fly
Published: 2007-05-15 00:48:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 46289; Favourites: 1562; Downloads: 8306
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Description
Commission for Dani Walker, of herself (gryphon) and her soon-to-be husband (horned canine)! This one I decided to do in acrylics because I have a lot of freedom with the medium. I think it turned out fantastically, I'm pretty pleased. Coloured pencil touch ups make a big difference too, I think. Though, this picture taught me I need to work on textures other than fur, feathers and grass (the rocky cliff). Need more people to commission me for gryphons and birds! The gryphon is a combination of a Red Tailed Hawk and a Somali Cat, and her canine guy is a wolf with ram horns and Cape Hunting Dog markings.Check out the detail images: [link]
[edit] Huskie noticed it looked a little bit much on the green side, so I did a bit of hue adjustment to warm it up and make it look more accurate to the original. =3
Acrylics and coloured pencil on 11" X 14" bristol board
Copyright to Katie Hofgard
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Comments: 163
Ooh, that's awesome! 
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Wow, that is such an awesome piece.
I love the coloring, it's insanely awesome. All of the shading looks perfectly realistic.
I also love how well you've made the cloud in the background, it's so pretty.
Wonderful job on the perspective, too. c:
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Amazing, as always... so beautiful, so touching, in some strange way... the colours are so smooth and controlled, and the detail!! *gazes at in awe*
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so awesomely gorgeous!
I love your anatomy skills!
You are so talented with acrylics
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woah, very nice. I can see you put a lot of efford in this. The characters are so elegant, it makes them look touchable and real. beautiful!
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FAAAAV,..lol thats really good work ^^ i love how you got the detail on the fur
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FAAAAV,..lol thats really good work ^^ i love how you got the detail on the fur
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Ack, beautiful. Your colours are so solid, and your anthros so anatomically perfect, man I still look up to you! I love the lighting, especially on the underside of the gryphons hand! And your clouds, as always. I still can't fathom how you do fur!
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All the details is making my eyes wanna implode...
I love her soon-to-be husband's horns. (: Awesome. Love the colours and anatomy too.
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oh your so amazing... i wish i could commission you D:
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This came out beautifully. I love the detail in the fur and the wings are magnificant!
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This has to be one of the most beautiful traditional pieces I've seen. The texturing alone on the horned wolf blows my mind. I can almost count the hairs on his body. Not to mention the subtle details, like grass poking up along the ledge she's standing on.
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I really love how you've done the horned canine, he looks superb! Not to mention the angle and the overal composition of the piece. It makes me feel all fuzzy inside
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That is gorgeous.
I like so many things about this piece. From the soft way you did the rocks to the hint of sun peaking from the corner, and of course the two characters were just done so beautifully.
I have to ask, though about how you're able to combine acrylic with color pencils because I always found it so difficult to color down on the paint. Especially if the paint went on thick. ;__;
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"To fly.. one must simply, miss the ground."
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Amazing! Red-Tails have such beautiful wings. I love how the canine is simply floating there, as if it is so easy. Lovely work!
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I am always in amazement of good art... probably that is why I keep an eye on you... good to see you posting again. It's incredibly good.
V.
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Great job on the coloring, and the detail is amazing. I'm really impressed with the wings as well.
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very amazing! I love it!
I like the color and the pose and the anatomy! ^^
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I LOVE the color blends in their fur. Beautiful! The overall picture has such a nice angle and feeling to it, I love it!
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I love the detail you have put into this, the wings are awesome.
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Your work makes me misty.
Amazing as usual, very inspirational, you have amazing control of acryilcs, i envy your talent
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Could you please explain why you have a lot of freedom with the medium? I'm just curious. 
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Thank you! Well, lets seeif I can explain this well enough...
With acrylics, I can layer things up from the darkest to the lightest without interruption, and creating the textures along the way. It's like a straight shot to a good picture. It's also very smooth looking, and if I mess up, I can go right over it!
With my watercolour/coloured pencil technique, there's a lot of skipping around as far as rendering darks and lights go, I have to conceptrate very hard and go pretty slow to not get messy with the coloured pencils (they get grainy easily. Sometimes things just don't turn out the way I want with that technique. I hope that makes sense. XD
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It does. I'm a digital media major, and I had to learn about these things. It was pretty tough in a couple of classes I took.
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That is simply beautiful.
Really really lovely work with the colouring, details (feather and fur especially) shading, composition... everything. :3
Wolfsjรคl
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I don't think I've ever said this before but you do such an amazing job with traditional art. I really look up to you. The smoothness of it all...it's perfect. Nothing looks rushed, everything is just awesome. I really love your work.
Quick question, what part is colored pencil and how do you get everything to look so smooth??? 
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Aw, thank you so much! 
The parts that are coloured pencil are actually only a teeny bit. The darker outline on the characters, and a teensy but of touchup with some darker pencils to bring out detail and sharpen things up. Refer to this comment I made to Dragonwolfstryde if you're curious how I do that exactly: [link]
Hope that answers your questions!
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You are very welcome!
Oh I see
The reason I asked about the colored pencils was because that's what I use.
Thanks very much, that helps a lot! 
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i like the marking on the first one. and the wings on the second character came out GREAT. overall the whole picture looks great....
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I love how the one with the wings is the one learning to fly C:
It's a beautiful picture. I always love how you drew the fur texture. And for some reason, the gryphon's elbow-fur in particular just really appeals to me. :>
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I like sense of form in these creatures, How do you come up with them. Good Job.
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Bristol board warps horribly when I try to use acrylics on it no matter how I try, it must be the thickness I use.
Beautifully done, acrylics and colored pencil make a great, soft combination. I may have to try that on a piece I'm working on, though it may be harder on canvas.
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It warps with me too, but usually it evens out pretty well once things dry. It might also help to tape down all the adges to a piece of cardboard or something else stiff to help it dry more flat. I use mine pretty thick for the initial layers, then build up in washy layers afterwards.
And if you're going to try the coloured pencils with acrylics thing, here's something IMMENSLY useful... Go to the art supply store and get some Acrylic Mat Medium, and some Modeling Paste. Mix it up 2 parts mat medium and 1 part modeling paste, and make it really milky and runny. Then paint it over your dry acrylic piece evenly, it will dry totally clear. This leaves a surface that the pencil can stick to. Unless you're using watered down acrylics, usually the acrylic by itself is too glossy and smooth for pencils to work. I hope that helps!
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Oh, thank you! I'll try that.
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Wow, I wish I could paint like that! And what a neat idea to integrate colored pencils...
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Gawd those wings are awesome 
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really awesome creatures; i love how you drew them
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