Dragons Vs Kittens by kittenbombs1 on Newgrounds

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Dragons Vs Kittens

Oh Man, What can I say about this? It was a fight… No that’s too negative… it was a great challenge and learning experience. I am coming out of this piece a better artist I think. The Kitten was a struggle, but a lot easier than the Dragon. I never drawn a dragon before this piece. I think the video illustrates that. You’ll notice I went through several variations. I just couldn't design one that I was happy with. Thanks to referencing the anatomy of a dragon and several great other illustrations I was able to pull off the dragon that I wanted to face the Kitten.

Concept.
I wanted the piece to be balanced. I wanted viewers to think the kitten had a shot in the battle, so I didn't make the dragon too big (it was tempting though, because scale contrast could have made the piece more dynamic). I also went with the rule of thirds technique to ensure the balance (both figures eyes are on the opposing focal points).
One last way I create balance was on the character designs. Since the Dragon is flying, therefor on top, he initially has the upperhand. So to counter this I made the kitten's claws super long and noticeable. I also added some scratches in the wings of the dragons to illustrate the kitten has already made some successful attacks.

Interesting note.
I placed them in a china alleyway. With the dragon and all it just made sense. For the lantern, I googled some chinese words. One says Love and the other says Hate. It’s a silly easter egg, while I was going for a balance I deep down wanted the kitten to win. So I put Love above him and Hate above the Dragon.

Here’s the video, it has the whole process in it, I think that counts as having my WIP mid development stage proof. I hope you enjoy it. If you do please subscribe to my youtube channel and stay up to date with all my art videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMK1lBTP0k0&feature=youtu.be

PS It’s embarrassing, but I will admit it took around 19-20 hours to complete this. Hey that’s 20 hours worth of mileage

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MelesMeles

2016-05-25 13:02:48

Any Artist should be prepared to spend 20+ hours on a painting before setting out on it imo. It's such a dynamic thing, before you know it a painting can take on a life of it's own, what started as a sketch becomes a fully rendered piece of art. so don't be embarrassed it shows dedication and immersion in the art!
You have a wonderful eye for composition here, the colour, the framing, right down to your choice of Chinese symbols shows a level of thought I don't often see in COTM Entries, I'd of loved to have seen more detail in the kittens fur and dragons scales, but maybe that's a personal preference.
Good luck in the competition! :D

kittenbombs1 responds:

Thank you for the great feedback. I agree with the dragon needing more detail. It was actually a conscious decision to leave out so I could submit the piece in time.

rRATCHETt

2016-05-22 14:00:05

Loving the mood in this. Very different and well excecuted!

kittenbombs1 responds:

Thank you very much :)

Alkiira

2016-05-22 10:07:40

I really like this work! You did a really nice job of capturing movement in the body language of the kitten and dragon. That is something that can be very hard to do, especially with foreshortening. You did a really nice job creating atmosphere and I love the kittens little claws coming out ready to attack! Well done!

kittenbombs1 responds:

Thank you so much. Seeing that it has a two star rating I was beginning to doubt myself and think it wasn't that good.
I'm glad you like the movement. I usually draw straight lines (bad habit) but realized curves make the piece more interesting. For the kitten I didnt really understand it's full anatomy but I knew it needed that curve in it's back it illustrate it's emotion.