HERE IT IS! This is my entry for the first round of the 2010 AP Clash of the Wallers! Except this has been edited slightly afterwards. But now I kinda prefer the original one I submitted...
My interpretation of the round's theme (the Human Condition) is simply emotionality. I know righ', so unoriginal. The anemone flower is said to symbolize or mean fragility, having been forsaken, sickness, or fading hope. The character's emotion is in response to being surrounded by these negative factors.
My major problem was figuring out what the Human Condition meant (the word "Condition" messes me up) and how it can be represented. I came across a definition for the Human Condition that mentioned emotionality, and that gave me the idea to just show an emotion. After all, I can draw another bust shot, haha.
I researched for flowers that have negative meanings that could also fit this wallpaper (i.e., be drawable, lol) and decided that the anemone would be good. However, trying and learning to draw my arch enemy (flowers) for a contest is like the stupidest thing evar. Black and crimson roses also symbolize negative things, but they're rather common and they're rather hard to draw, lol! Anemones look nothing like what I drew btw. Here are the references I used: one, two, three
I think being able to draw my own character is a bit of an advantage, because I don't have to look for a scan to fit my concept. But I guess drawing this was hard too, haha. Hm... now I think I would've had an easier time just looking for a scan... Oh yeah, I don't know how to draw a face at that angle; I had to copy this screencap, lol. The more I look at my wall, the stranger she (my drawing) looks >_>.
The composition was inspired by and referenced from alientune's photo. I had asked for permission to copy the composition because I had intended to copy a lot more XD But copying feels wierd and I messed up while trying to, lol! But the photo is just so pretty that I want to copy it in its entirety!!!!!
Thank you to the judges and Jay and flyin' for organizing the Clash! I knew I would conquer the bottom, hahaha >:D Even though I didn't make it, it was an excellent opportunity to force top wallers to look at my work! XD
** Thank you for your comments! ** I want to comment on wallpapers, but I have to go to bed now =_=
Saving…
1 year, 10 months ago
Judges’ Comments:
Gideon: Nice use of the flowers’ symbolism to help support your wall. The apprehension in her face reads well also.
asa01: The flowers could have been smaller with greater variation in orientation. I also wouldn’t put her face in the right third of the wall since she is look to the right. I see her eyes and follow her gaze and that’s it. I don’t have as much a reason or desire to look at the rest of the wall as if she were situated towards the left third. And since negativity is such a “well of course” sort of topic, I would have loved to see more symbolism and/or some symbolism that requires more contemplation…something that has an aftertaste, so to speak.
vitaamin: This is certainly a nice wallpaper to look at, with its attractive more traditional color scheme and clean technique. But I found some of the compositional elements questionable. The flowers seem too big and overwhelm the character. Meanwhile, the lack of background behind these flowers draws more emphasis to their disproportionate size. The message was also not particularly clear. Focus more on creating appropriate backgrounds to communicate tone and style.
1 year, 10 months ago
Lovely work. I always love your style of OAA, and the flowers add a nice touch too! More love for the blue/purple theme! +
1 year, 10 months ago
I love the colors! The painting is so smooth too *_*
1 year, 10 months ago
Haha, this shouts "LUNAAA!", I can recognize your style from miles away O 3O I had a similiar concept for my wall. I really love the flowers and her hair. : )
1 year, 10 months ago
wow, its really beautiful wall. love the softness you used in this wall. your style is really beautiful. i really love those flowers and i think they really made a big impact on your wall. love the use of cold colors cause it relax your eyes. well done luna chan :3+
1 year, 10 months ago
I really like the colors in your wall - the flowers and her expression especially. And the fact that it's an original one, only adds up to the awesomeness of it all. Great job! :)
1 year, 10 months ago
Lol i agree with Yina. It has your style all over it. XD I love how smooth and neat this looks. It looks very delicate and matches with the soft subtle atmosphere in the wallpaper. Nice one! *favs and takes the purple flowers*
1 year, 10 months ago
Really love the atmosphere here. Also the colors are great when full-viewed. <3
1 year, 10 months ago
I've always loved all your OAA art, and this one is no exception :D The girl looks so beautiful, and the expression on her face is haunting...the flowers are bigger than usual, but I guess it's normal if you're using them to express an abstract idea~
And also, beautiful painting (I wish I can paint half as well as you do) :p
1 year, 10 months ago
Beautiful wallpaper but the expression on her face is sorrow ....
1 year, 10 months ago
I love the soft details and colours - really like the OAA design. nice work +fav
1 year, 10 months ago
Nice wall. It displays the emotions of fragility quite well, I think, added with a mix of despair and sorrow. Excellent use of colors and meaning.
1 year, 10 months ago
This wallpaper really caught my eye because of it's colors which are so uniform ^^v love the flowers!
1 year, 10 months ago
Beautiful art and beautiful colors. I also love the hidden meaning with the flowers. Great work! +fav
1 year, 10 months ago
Love the color tones :) You're finally starting to master the use of subtle shading and tone contrast, and as a result you're able to convey the emotionality motif of the piece effortlessly. I dare say you're starting to surpass me lol. Yea. I said that :)
A couple things to note; while thick outlines may work while sketching, once you outline them in PS they may become a bit overwheming. This may just be my preference for thin line art, but in this piece the big and bold outlines for the lips and the eyebrows definitely are a huge distraction from the surrounding subtle graduations of colors.
Great wall, but you had some stiff competition, considering Yina decided to do the same exact theme of emotionality with her wall. But don't let the competition get you down though; you're evolving your art style and skills very nicely. Keep it up ^^
1 year, 10 months ago
Hey you took my comment! 8D
You almost didn't get a comment from me. At least not a constructive one. Yours was the last out of the 32 I commented, I'm pretty sure my brain was slush.
The Proof: "I tried really hard to come up with something fulfilling to say on this, but all I could think when I looked at it was "This is nice" and "I didn't know anemone flowers existed.'"
Useful right? Flyin said if this was my comment I probably shouldn't comment. XD After reading Asa's comment about some size variation though, I agree, some variation in flower size would have been nice. Also, you might have had a better time having her face the left instead of the right. Things that lead your attention to the right (like her gaze) tend to read as "fast" since (at least in the western world) we read from left to right. Therefore, her gaze is moving us through the image faster than we may have normally gone through it. If you'd had her look left, it would have slowed down the movement of the piece since you're going against the, er, "natural" flow of things. I hope that makes sense. XD
1 year, 10 months ago
hey, gid stole the explanation i was gonna give (since i don't think i worded it very well in the judging comment) lol xD but yeah, she said it well. yours was the second last one i commented on, i believe, and my wrist was really dying at the time. SO, i didn't get to tell you what i liked about your wall. first off, your art is so recognizably yours! (to be honest the sig-less-ness didn't help the anonymity of quite a number of Clash entries lol.) your OAA has always been very easy on the eyes~ the expression reads well and i like the subtle sort of shading in her hair. this almost makes me want to do an OAA wall.
1 year, 10 months ago
I really love seeing your original artwork. It was quite a beautiful piece and the subtle expression on it really helped make it successful for the theme challenge. Asa is right in that you have a unique style to your OAA and I really enjoy seeing it. :D
1 year, 10 months ago
Hooray, not only is it Luna's AP Clash entry, but it's also a piece that has Luna's artwork in it. Double the win! I won't lie to you, I was extremely curious about what you were going to be submitting and how you would approach this wallpaper as well, and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest!
While you may think your approach to the wallpaper itself was unoriginal, the way you handled it was very far from it. While there were wallpapers that showed off nothing but raw human emotion, this one is far more subtle. It shows us a great example of the things that we all keep inside of ourselves. I get the impression that she has a great deal of suffering, but shoulders all of it by herself. Simply from her facial expression alone. That is what speaks the most to me and that's why I really love this piece that you did. Her eyes alone tell her tale of sadness. Did I mention how I absolutely love this drawing? Because I do.
This may surprise you (or not) but I actually love the flowers. Personally speaking, I think you did an excellent job drawing them. By giving them a more original outlook, as oppose to completely copying them, you create a more physical manifestation of her emotions which is reflected in the excellent choice of color. While you may not think so, I think you perfectly achieved what you were aiming for with them. Keeping the background similar to the flowers really helps extend the atmosphere as well and really makes this for a powerful wallpaper, yet keeping it subtle.
By taking so many different elements and putting your unique spin on it, you were really able to create something truly amazing in my book. I loved the subtle suggestions and the beautiful color scheme, but I especially love those damn eyes! I can't help but to feel sort of melancholy simply from gazing at this wallpaper. That, in itself, is the biggest compliment I can offer you.
1 year, 10 months ago
She looks so worried. It's a beautiful wallpaper and I definitely appreciate it. She favors Kairi from Kingdom Hearts 2 to me but that's just a popular hair cut so that's not your fault. ;) Anyway, I think you did a fantastic job!
1 year, 10 months ago
I love your original art, it's so beautiful. The combination of anime style with semi realisim is so gorgeous to see together, amazing how nicely it meshes. I really adore the flower idea, they're so nicely painted and the dark colors really help you to express the emotions you wanted to give out. Really lovely job.
1 year, 10 months ago
I like this work of yours. Quality is really good. :)
1 year, 10 months ago
rawrrr luna has finally finished something!
1 year, 10 months ago
The background look very good, nicely colored big flowers and a purpleness behind the character and flowers. She looks good as well, she fits to the background. Nice wallpaper.
1 year, 10 months ago
You did this?! This is amazing! I thought it was something from Kingdom Hearts! It's so beautiful! Well done! Geez why don't you have an anime? You're so good! Ahhhh! I'm amazed, if you can't tell!
1 year, 10 months ago
mmmmmah, taim for deh criticizing downsizing... at first i was like that's a nice picture, but then when you set it as wallpaper, it's just her face... you said bust shot but it's just her face and neck, which is hard to fit nicely in a composition, especially if she's just standing there sad... speaking of standing there, the position of deh flowers makes it look like she is standing in the flowers instead of what you probably wanted which is compositional shoujo flowers... and this is just my opinion after taking psych, but what separates us from animals isn't really emotions, as you can see from that meerkat being all flustered about leaving its babe; moreover, i see a couple people did sad emotions? humans are different from animals in that they get depressed? even though dogs get sad so easily? so that part (the theme) i'm not really sold on. i think that the difference is that we are aware of our emotions and thoughts, like reflection on our actions. what's interesting is that her eyes are reflecting something, so you could've went more thataway. but nice face and flowers. /(O_O)/
1 year, 10 months ago
Awesome inspiration!! It's so emotional and your technics are beautiful!
1 year, 10 months ago
This is really really gorgeous :3 I adore the soft painting and the overall fragile look of your character. Definitely one of fave entries ^^ (omg, lame comment *gets shot*)
1 year, 10 months ago
Such a smooth wall..Love the flowers and her expression! Great job in this one.
1 year, 9 months ago
Very pretty indeed, nice colour scheme.
1 year, 9 months ago
*drags self away from beating up virtual monsters to offer love and flowers and a peace-candy*
I don't think that the way you executed emotionality is cliche at all. For one thing, the theme is clearly recognizable but the tranquility of the flowers, and the pensive expression on her face, are refreshing. I admit it's a bit dark (haha, ironic coming from me, that) though, maybe a bit of lighter gradient on the flowers might be nice.
aaand Luna you weren't even the bottom scorer at all D: it's just that the submission was late! *pokes timestamp*
1 year, 4 months ago
wow this art work is beautiful and lovely at the same time sad and heart breaking