NDA Art Critique Message Boards

Most birds do have toungues. The whole parrot family, birds of prey and so forth. They just don't have as many taste buds, which is why parrots love peppers!

I return thee, Stormwing, to the top of these forums! I still am having a hard time beleiving I've never been here before.
These two next questions arn't really important, but I'll ask em' anyways;
How old are you?
Are you a boy or a girl?
Very fine art, and keep up the good work!

PEPPPERRRSSS

I love heraldry. They symbols you have chosen are distinctive and well done!

Golly, I thought this topic died a long time ago, so I didn't bother to check back xD



Thanks a bunch! I'm a girl, and I'm 17



Aww, thank you so much!

Some artsies you can enjoy:



"I don't know," Squirrel said. "White is a very visible color. Black or brown would've been better."

Thrush shrugged and handed him the reins. "Call him Blackie, then, and no one will hear the difference."

Blackie is my very favourite horse in the Irlatar-verse. Probably because some of the highwaymen steal him and thereby trigger a huge, big chain-reaction of consequences. I can't write coherent English today xD

Blackie was a messenger's horse, see, and his rider rode with a very important message (there were actually two messengers; we'll come back to that) that day. Unfortunately, he had drunk a bit too much, so he had to stop and piss. So he got the other messenger to hold Blackie, right, while he went and did his business.

That was when Thrush and Stoat struck. They needed horses, see, because Jal and Ref had shown up some days ago, and you can't be a highwayman without a horse, right, then you're just a footpad.

So they rode off with the messengers' horses. And because of this, the messengers wasted three hours looking for new horses, and they arrived too late with their message, so the guy they were supposed to save was shot and a civil war ensued.

:>

Yep.

Blackie wasn't a mean horse, not really, just a bit spirited, but Thrush jumped down from a branch and landed in his saddle and gave him quite a bit of a fright.

Jalir got him, because he'd convinced the rest of the band he was a good rider, even though he'd never sat on a horse before. This, ladies and gentlemen, was about as wise as giving a mad rodeo-horse to a two-year old.

Yeah, you can just imagine the results.

Anatomy's a bit wonky >:

But anyways, it's good to have drawn Blackie. I like him very much.

Reference.

Lenka Hunting - Finished it at last :>



A speedpaint of a demon from my Aatori-verse.



You see, we have a project about the EuroVision Song Contest in our English lesson, and I and Turi browsed a bit around to see which EVSC-person we were going to write about.

So we went to Wikipedia and found Alexander Rybak's page. The pictures of him were scary O.o Especially this.

I couldn't resist >: Forgive me.

It's Alta the Dancing Assassin against Alexander de Monferrat.



The newest invention in Irlatar - the skeletal horse.

The shamans have worked long and hard to bring you this ultimate breed of the equine species. Not only can it run for days and night without rest - it doesn't need to eat and can be stowed away when you don't need it anymore.

It is completely family-friendly, and can learn up to thirty-seven words of command. You can set it to watch your kids (they will love to play in its ribcage) and guard the garden against unwelcome intruders, as well as ride it to war or go camping with it.

If it loses a bone - don't you worry. Just go to the nearest shaman and get a new one without extra cost.

And remember - a skeletal horse is for generations, not just for name-day.


Comments and/or critique?

More heraldry:



Heraldry makes me happy.

These are the coats of arms for two of the military orders in Irlatar, called Knights of the Eagle and Knights of the Wolf for the time being. Or just Eagles and Wolves for short.

The Grandmaster of the Eagles goes by the name of Rinnvar Atechanté, the Grandmaster of the Wolves is Alevain Learden.

Their history is a complicated one - there has been lots of enmity between them, but they teamed up and overthrew the king together. Let's just say centuries of inbreeding and leprosy made the king kind of unfit to rule. Learden killed him. He and Atechanté then decided the time for royals was over.

So was the time for cooperation. With the king gone, and thus the only case that had united them, the two Orders began to fight amongst themselves again.

And we don't talk about simple fist-fights here - we talk about breaking into someone's house and either kill him or injure him so badly he has to live the rest of his life as a cripple.

Learden managed to keep most of his men in line - Atechanté didn't. When the Eagles burned down one of the Wolves' stables, killing thirty horses and five knights, not to mention a dozen stableboys, Learden had had enough.

He called Atechanté and all his officers to a haste meeting, telling him he had heard talk of a revolution on the streets.

So Atechanté showed up. So did Learden, but he did only have two officers with him - as well as half a hundred armed knights.

Before Atechanté could react, Learden ordered his knights to kill them and then left. He then outlawed the Knights of the Eagle, telling the people they would be rewarded for each Eagle they killed.

However, Atechanté and a few of his men escaped the massacre. He went into hiding, gathering as many Eagles as he could. They lead the occasional attack on the Wolves, then seemed to disappear completely.

The Wolves knew they were out there somewhere, but couldn't find them, no matter how hard they searched.

And here Azure Serpent begins.

Their colours weren't supposed to be similiar to the Templars' and the Hospitallers', not really. It just sort of happened.

Argent (silver or white) symbolises peace and sincerity; Or (gold) symbolises generosity and elevation of the mind; sable (black) symbolises constancy or grief; gules (red) symbolises a warrior or a martyr, and/or military strength and magnanimity; sanguine (maroon) symbolises someone that's patient in battle, and yet victorious.

An eagle symbolises a person of noble nature, strength, bravery, and alertness, or one who is high-spirited, ingenious, quick-witted, and judicious; "True magnanimity and strength of mind" according to Guillim. If it has its wings displayed (as it does here), it also symbolises protection.

A wolf symbolises a reward from perseverance in long sieges and/or hard industry.

Heralds didn't really fully agree on the meaning of everything, so you can and will find different explanations, but they aren't necessarily wrong.

Yeah, I don't usually explain the meanings behind the colour choices and the charges, but I just thought I would here.

And I'm very pleased with how everything turned out. I decided I would try and shade them for once, but I left the shields flat because A) I've never really liked how my shaded shields turned out, and B) I want to draw your attention to the charges, not the shields.

Heraldry is often overlooked.

Well, rejoice with me. Reading The Crusades: Myth and History Revealed from cover to cover the other day really solved everything for me. I've had so much trouble with Atechanté and the Wolves for years - literally. Heck, the Knights of the Eagle came around this Wednesday (which was when I read the book), and so did Atechanté's role as a Grandmaster. He was just a random person who hated the Wolves until then.

I thank the Crusades. And if you know a thing or two about the Crusades, you will probably recognize these Orders.

The Hospitallers, however, went into an alliance with the Assassins (yeah, those from Assassin's Creed; I betcha know they actually existed), and the Eagles have no assassins, as far as I'm concerned.

... Hang on there for a minute. *checks her notebook*

Yes, they do! Sort of! But I came up with that for about a month ago, but then it was just a random scene, and I thought "Ohh, shiny! ... Now who are these guys and why are they doing it?"

History makes everything fall into place.

You have no idea how happy I feel right now. I hope you read the artist's comment and not only looked at the picture. You should always read the artist's comment, you know.

Been a while since I've talked so much about Irlatar, but it just feels so brilliant that everything has fallen into place.

Can we go celebrate now?

Yeah, comments? :>

Working hard, aren't you? Looking great, Stormwing! Can you teach me how to use layers? I have GIMP, I just dont have any idea how to color with it.