Mermaids....

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Bamfette
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Mermaids....

Post by Bamfette »

so.... non X-Men related art... i draw a lot of stuff, but the most popular subject would have to be....... mermaids. I plan on putting out a mermaid themed calendar this year... so here's my mermaids. newest to oldest....

http://www.deviantart.com/view/22865577/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/18763412/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/6692970/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/3259417/ (she's kinda a mermaid...)
http://www.deviantart.com/view/3259297/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/3259276/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/3259263/
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Mermaids....

Post by NachtcGleiskette »

I absolutely absolutely love them all. I'm kind of a closeted mermaid freak...and I've been looking foward to your calendar!!

The last two links aren't working for me right now..though I think it's more due to DevArt being a bit unreliable at the moment over there being an actual problem with the link.....sometimes DA is wierd :???

I remember you mentioning a while ago (i'm not sure where) that you were doing a kind of "Mermaids of the world" which I think is such a fantastic idea. We're all so used to the typical mermaid look (basic fish tail, maybe fins etc) that it's really nice to see some different "species" (like the Sedna and Amazon mermaid)...

Anyway, I'm excited about the calendar...i'll be getting one!
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Mermaids....

Post by bluefooted »

These are really nice! I like the seeing the progression from oldest to newest - I think you've definitely improved in terms of the rendering (love the scales on the tails) and as far as adding detailed backgrounds.
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Post by HoodedMan »

Yes, they are very detailed and nicely done! I wish I could get the hang of digital colouring. I have two sketches from a friend of mine waiting for colouring. Ideas, ideas...
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Bamfette
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Post by Bamfette »

mermaids of the world- yep! next one will be the first one i actually try to go with that theme... Japanese Koi mermaid (so it's not a natural species....) in a pond (a rather lage one i suppose) with cherry blossoms. after that an unusual one, a species of fish that really intrigues me.... a mudskipper. but haven't decided tthe country, but they're primarily found in the mangroves of northern Australia and SE Asia, so I'll find the prettiest species, (they generally fall into the so ugly they're cute category, but it's mostly due totheir faces, some actually have large stunning finnage) and see where they're found and go from there.... probably another asian one, an Australian Rainbowfish would probably be better for Austrailia, and i know al about them, having owned about 10 species of them in my old fishtankl.
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Mermaids....

Post by CurlyyHairGirl »

I really loved your different takes on mermaids. It's really interesting to see all the different types. I also envy your talent with colors, how you blend and such...that's why I generally leave things in black and white:shame
I think my all time favorite was the Mermaid of the Amazon. I love how the light shines off her body...and I love the piranahs as well.

These all kick major @$$!!!
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Post by LadyErin »

Jill, may I save the Amazon Mermaid as a background for my computer? It's lovely!
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Bamfette
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Post by Bamfette »

sure :) though i wasn't happy with the hair or background, so I will be uploading a new version.... when i fix it, probably within the week. (have to finish the Koi one first, since it is for a charity art auction)

anyway. started the Japanese mermaid, but can't decide which way is 'up' (and also discovered it wont fit on my scanner properly, which is why it is so dark, it wouldn't sit directly on the glass while still in the pad):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/ ... rtical.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/ ... zontal.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/ ... agonal.jpg

whatt do you think? I'm leaning towards vertical or diagonal (though it will mean drawing extra on another page or trimming the edges of what i have now...)

also.... if i were to do an (ancient) Egyptian mermaid, which of thse fish do you think would look best as the tail, they are all fish found in the Nile:

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=1934
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=5240
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=6519
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2438
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=4479
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2434 (black shark. you can get them for aquariums, but you probably shouldn't because they get enormous)
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... php?id=347 (wouldn't even have to scale up the size of the fish part :P not particularly pretty though)
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2087
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=2
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=5467
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=5020 (would need to find a photo, but the segmented dorsal fins really intrigue me) *EDIT: found one: http://www.primitivefish.com/XPBichir.JPG
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2385 ( http://www.primitivefish.com/Xendlicheri2.JPG )
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=5024
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=8734 ( http://primitivefish.com/Marbled%20Afri ... ngfish.htm )
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=5065

at the moment, i am leaning towards one of the long bodied catfish or bichir's... it seems to fit somehow. possibly because of the Egyptian's reverence of snakes.

and two that are in the Nile, but prbably better used for something else:
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2388 (a sepecies of Arowana, which actually have much more spectacular species found in China and Japan... but as it is i may end up with a whole lot of asian mermaids)
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2389 (Cichlid you cna actually get at most pet stores... delicate, but beautiful. more docile than many cichlids, but found further towards the interior of Africa so will likely use this or another species of African Cichlid for a black mermaid)

I would also like to do one that's not from any one part of the world, but the mythical Oarfish. mythical in that it is commonly believed to be the source of many sea serpent legends, being the longest fish in the world, and VERY rarely seen, except sometimes washed ashore, where it does not show its true beauty. but look at how they swim: http://tinyurl.com/da5ag (very young, tiny specimens)

and look how big they get: http://tinyurl.com/9woh4 http://tinyurl.com/8by3v
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Post by Crawler »

I like the vertical way for the koi...I think because it's slightly off center.

As for the nilemaid...
This one has the coolest fins: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=6519

Here's a pic of the bichir: http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/d ... age_view=1

The shape on this one is unusual...might make for a different-looking mermaid: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... hp?id=2087

But I vote Lungfish or Knifefish. Their shapes are really neat...though the Knifefish may end up being unworkable as a mermaid because of it.
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Post by Bamfette »

one thing i like about the Lungfish is that, if you read the description, it is tied very closely to the floodplain cycle, which the ancient Egyptians relied upon for agriculture.

and i jsut sketched out the Oarfish one. oh is she foing to be FUN, all punky. so i think i will do that one first, even theoughthe Oarfish is found from Mexico to Australia in the warmer deep ocean, so she's more international, and I wont make her any race, I'll colour her human half electric blue like her lower half. and the Mudskipper, (Korean) so i can mull over the Egypt one some more.
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Post by HoodedMan »

Have you tried a scanner that rolls over the page, Bamfette? I find that it's sometimes easier for thick pages or notepads and such, though you have to get a quality one that corrects for hand movement and no matter which kind you get, it's kind of a bitch (if you'll excuse my French) to get it right. But I find once you get used to it, it's fairly simple to get something like that.

I like the vertical koi, but I really couldn't say as to which fish I like. I tend to like the brightly-coloured type that are kind of hard to picture as a merperson.
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Post by Bamfette »

ah, my scanner is 11x17, not much that wont fit on it, and it's not something that's easy (or cheap) to come by again. have dealth with the hand held scanners and i find them annoying. but this paper is 14x17, so jsut 3 inches too wide. once i take it off the pad (it's a nice pad of heavy Bristol, you rip the sheets off after you're done, not like a sketchbook) it should be fine. it's not hard to stitch it together in Photoshop, just not enough there yet to bother right now.
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Post by Bamfette »

Koi Mermaid's finished: http://www.deviantart.com/view/23691790/

been a long time since i spent that much time on a drawing... I think I'll do the Oarfish next so i can skip a background, since the mudskipper requires me to do mangroves.
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Post by fourpawsonthefloor »

My votes for the Egyptian mermaid would be:
-the big scale tetra (2nd one down) because of the luminescence of the fish - the Egyptians being sun worshiping and all that, I think that it could be tremendous if you could play with the rays of light coming down and reflecting off of her.
-the bichir - just because the purple stripes look so exotic
I really think the spottiness of #4 (can't remember the name) or the marbled African lungfish would look tremendous as African mermaids.
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Post by Saint Kurt »

I think what I like most about this one is the aerial view.

Though many of your memaids appear to be candid and sort of "caught in the act of memaiding", they are usually facing the viewer, artfully posed and arranged in the frame, and occasionally even appear to be reacting to the viewer. There's nothing wrong with any of this of course, and if I hadn't seen this one I wouldn't have even thought about it to be honest.

But, by showing her from the top, looking down through the water the same as though we were standing by a pond and looking into its depths - there's this really cool voyeurism going on. She's just swimming and doing what she does and we've caught a glimpse of it, she's not even aware of us. I really like the intimacy that that brings while juxtaposed with the barrier of the water reminding us that her world is one we cannot enter.

I like all the mermaids, but I think that this is my favorite.
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Mermaids....

Post by Jolinare »

bamfette, i've been on your deviant page and may i say that youre bloody fantastic.
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