pic - Lìadan

[askerian]

x___x; Guess who spent all afternoon drawing again.

Mmmm, tablet.





... She looks so... Femme fatale. XD;;; It's the eyes. She should look a little younger and more innocent. But heh. I like anyway. :3

I ended up not correcting the arm. I KNOW it's too long, but. eh. I couldn't find the proper angle to make it shorter, so nngh. It stays. Also there's no background because i'm lazy. Maybe another day. XD

First time I ever drew Liadan's tail. ... very not pretty. But at least it looks halfway believable with what I determined in her story -- she's not from a magical species, she's descending from genetically engineered humans, so her tail is basically unfused tailbone vertebras, plus feet with OMGLONG!toes. Except with less of a heel. ... I'm so not trying to make this a truly realistic skeleton; just trying for verisimilitude.

Comments

[yuenoclow.livejournal.com]

She does have the femme fatale look. *grin* Not that it looks bad on her. I like the little detail of the sea shells at the end of her braids. Very pretty. ^^

[askerian]

Fufufu. >3 thankies!

But she's supposed to be so sweet and innocent T.T

[crazy-toffee.livejournal.com]

I like her tail, it looks very animalistic and otherwordly, without being downright bizarre. Interestomg face too... the femme fatale idea suits her. XD Adieu, innocent Lìadan! ^^U

Lovely shading on the hair as well, it looks very fluffy and soft.

[askerian]

Nuhhhh ;_; innocent!Lìadan is cuter ;;

♥ bwee, thank you ^^

[alienyak.livejournal.com]

The tail reminds me of dragon wings for some reason, complete with another tail. And the arm's nice, even if a little long in comparison with the other.

Love the hair. Definitely.

[askerian]

Hehehe. It reminds me of sasuke's curse seal handwings, now that I think of it. ewwwwww. XD

♥

[alienyak.livejournal.com]

Zomg, it does! Even the colour, LOL

[jaklover.livejournal.com]

I love all of it!!! <3 :3

[askerian]

Thankies^^

[jaklover.livejournal.com]

You're Welcome! ^^

[na-no-nai.livejournal.com]

I think she looks great! ^^

[askerian]

bwee! thanks hon^^

[hakkai-duo.livejournal.com]

Wow.... I don't know what it is about the position, but i really really like it ^.^ The position looks very natural and just makes you want to look at the picture more. I really like how you position your drawings they are always very ....natural is not exactly the word. Interesting? I dunno, but they always make me look at the pic longer. And I love the tail ^.^ I have tried (and failed) to draw Mermaid like creatures and the tail always comes out funky... And as always i love how you draw the body, Though the arm furthest away from the viewer looks kinda funky (is that the one you were refering to?) And her hair is very nice, and I applaud your ability to draw faces, cause i lose in that department...(can't draw the stupid noses....)

Overall this pic is very nice, I like it, and i am kinda glad it doesn't have a background, i think the picture would look better without one.. At least in My opinion.

Ok I'll stop rambling now ^.^;;;

[askerian]

♥ ♥ ♥ *^______^*

Mermaid tails are annoying. ~__~ This one had to come with its realistic-ish bone structure, too, since it's supposed to really be vertebras + deformed feet with LOOONG toes. I had to draw a flat verion of the skeleton first before I could guess what it would look like. XD ... It's really creepy, btw.

Both her arms are a little weird. XDD The one closest is too long and the other one has weird shortening and a strange wrist.

Thank you! ^__^

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

I see you're getting used to the tablet already. XD She looks very pretty!

[askerian]

Yeah. I figured out how to set up the thingy that varies the thickness and all. XD Though the fine-tuning still leaves room for improvement. ~___~;;

[complexphoenix.livejournal.com]

I like the tail. It's not pretty, but boy is it cool looking.

[askerian]

Thanks^^

[spiralingvortex.livejournal.com]

I love this! You made me forget about my not-so-feeling-good-body right now. Yays.

[askerian]

aww *petpetloves* ;.;

thanks! ^^

[kat-chan.livejournal.com]

Excellent pic, and even great artists will usually have a flaw in their works somewhere, it's just a matter of being able to pick it out. I like the thought that you put into the character, and it really pays off in the detail that end up coming through when you've drawn her.

Very sexy, very real (no huge breasts on a tiny body, for example). I've always had a thing for mermaids, and I love the pic. ^_^

[askerian]

#^_________^# thankies~

[lukita.livejournal.com]

I say the arm looks fine compared with how long the tail is? The tail might not be pretty, but I actually like it, less pretty more functional. So what would their skeleton looks like? XD

[askerian]

Bwee! ♥ ^^

>D http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c271/askerian/skeleton.jpg

[lukita.livejournal.com]

That is the most awesome thing ever, no wonder the poor girl was so distressed when she saw feet for the first time. ^0^

[askerian]

Bwahahaha.

Isn't it creepy as fuck, though. Maybe I should have chosen another color for the flesh, though it wouldn't have helped much with the spidery toes. XD

[lukita.livejournal.com]

I like it, reminds me of dolphins, and bones are always creepy. So do the mermaids have a pelvis? =P

[askerian]

hehe^^

Sure they do. ~__~ hello childbirth.

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

I really love how you draw the fingers and hands, ♥ Much love!

And, question: What do you color in? Photoshop? Painter? Open Canvas?

[askerian]

thank you, huhuhu~

Photoshop! 7 and something. XD

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

dgnoag DUDE. Do you use the airbrush? Opacity? CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME HINTS TO PLAY AROUND WITH, PLEASE?

*s still trying to find her own particular coloring style, D:*

[askerian]

ummm. I mostly use whatever feels good at the time. XD;;;; I don't play around with omacity much, or at least I didn't with this pic. For the skin I prepare a palette, then I color the body, then I add in shadows, and deeper shadows, and then a little highlights, and then I use the finger-like tool thing to blur them together. Before the tablet I tended to use cell-shade style, because mouses =/= precision. ~__~; As for the hair I colored it all a solid color kind of on the fly (no real lineart for it beforehand), made sticking-out locks with the finger tool, then went crazy with the highlight and darken tools. (not sure what they're called in english) The trick with hair is to keep moving with the flow, so that it looks like many hairs going in roughly the same direction, not awkward random locks of saiyan hair. XD;

I hope this helps a bit. ^^;

[reversedhymnal.livejournal.com]

GOTCHA, ♥♥ Thankees for answering, babe, I really appreciate it, :D

And uuuuuummmmmm. I think it's called the Burn and Dodge tool. ^.^; For the highlight and darken, but I could, uh, be wrong. XD;

Prettydrool?

[slamu.livejournal.com]

To be honest, femme fatale wasn't the first thing that came to mind. (or the second, really) Tail is kinda scary, reminds me a bit of seal tails. At the end of the tail, is that a barb? As for the arm...? I don't see a problem with it. I do like the braided hair.
Question: if she's part of an underwater society with natural predators, wouldn't having hair that long be a no-no? It's really pretty and all, but I'd think that it would get in the way, snag on coral, impair vision and the like. Wouldn't they either not grow it that long (biologically) or try to cut it short (with a knife)?

Re: Prettydrool?

[askerian]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c271/askerian/skeleton.jpg

Don't ask me how the feet attach, I just know that the legs are really vestigial and the only support is the spine. XD;; The end of the tail is the last vertebra pointing out. I didn't know how to draw it here, but mer have bone spurs along the back of the tail, due to vertebras growing a little too well when the guys unfused the tailbone bits. XD;; I don't know how far down, though, or how big they should be.

Men usually have short hair in front, or totally braided hair, since they're the ones patrolling the edges and doing the most risky stuff. Women usually stay together in the middle, so the danger is lessened. Married women usually braid most of it over their head, and either tie it as a crown or into a big french braid. Younger women usually leave some of it free because they're supposed to attract themselves a mate. :p but the braids thing is all about the visibility in the first place, even though the designs it can take are quite intricate.

Besides, down there sight tends not to let them see that far; sound and touch give better advance warning. ^^

Biologically, they're still humans, and the people who created them didn't plan on creating a new society entirely; so they didn't really work hard on that kind of little details. The hair is one thing, but the main "oopsie" is childbirth. They have a hell of a time getting a baby out, due to the way their hipbones are made. They were supposed to do it by C-section... Of course now it's not possible anymore. ~__~;;

Feet: attached via ductape

[slamu.livejournal.com]

When touch gives advance warning... you mean like changes in water pressure, right?
Childbirth?! *insert look of appropriate revulsion here* That's gotta be a bit messier underwater than it would be dirtside. Wait. Are the merfolk marine-based amphibians? Making sure that they had to birth dirtside would give their creaters a small degree of control over them (a very small degree). Still, ugh. I can immagine that that's an "oopsie".
What about those smaller braids? "Avalible, but uninterested"? It didn't sound like marrage was her top priority before running into yon human.
I'm still trying to figure out why they were created in the first place. My leading theories are: 1) Military. Never underestimate mad scientists who got bored with death-rays. 2) Novelties. Never underestimate rich people bored with things that can be found in nature. 3) some sort of scientific "lookie what I/we can do! Give us funding an we shall breed you a legion of improbible minions that shall spread your reign of terror to the farthest reachers of the block!" Never undersetimate a mad scientist desperate for funding. The "oopsie" with childbirth might not be an oversight.
And thus I poner. *ponderyponder*

That's an idea. XD

[askerian]

Yeah, water pressure, and cold and hot currents. ^^ And bubbles and stuff.

No, they're nor amphibians. XD They've been modified so that they don't have to breathe nearly as often as humans (an unmoving, sleeping adult can stay underwater up to five hours at a time), but I'm pretty sure they could still crossbreed, albeit not easily. Of course the kid would probably come out incredibly messed up, poor kid.

The braids just mean "available", and perhaps "has never had children before". In their society, females don't have much of a choice. Since they have such a difficult time having children, the pressure to reproduce is very strong.

Hehehe. Nice theories. :D

Waterproof ductape.

[slamu.livejournal.com]

I see that you are well versed in the ways of "speak much, say little". Hmmm. Please? Small hint? Something that, in the scheme of things is less than unimportant but will keep us (or at least me) gnawing away at it with abandon?
Messed up above and beyond what kids are normally like, you mean? Man, crossbreeding would be real awkward. "So, my pond or yours?" *should stop before that goes any farther*
How does one discover something like that? Do they put give a grown man a teddy bear, say 'goodnight' and mention 'oh, by the way we'll be submesring you for a couple of hours, if you find that you have trouble breathing normally feel free to scream' and follow it up with turning out the lights? I know I would sleep REAL well under those circumstances.
Question: I am imagining a core of women/children/old fogies with a shell of strapping young breeding matirial keeping the things with teeth away. Is there a rotation of the guard, shifts, do the maids go bring them tuna sandwiches and flirt, what? Also: how important is privacy? Comparible to us, what's there to hide, everyone must have their secrets, what?
I can understand the hot/cold currents and water pressure for getting the lay of the land, but I'm somewhat partial to the good ol' Mark One eyball for spotting yon reptillian beastie who looketh upon me as an entree. Sound carries better underwater though, and sight would only work for the first twenty or thirty meters, depending on lighting, so I understand the evolutionary stimulus for that.
Therin lies a snag. THey didn't evolve.
Grrr... I must pondery now.

Re: Waterproof ductape.

[askerian]

Muahahahaha. >D

*snerk* Meanie. And messed up as in... Well, sometimes kids revert more or less to human genotype. ... more or less. ~__~ There's a number of mutations needed to make a mer, and the ones in the lower body have the higher chance of not taking, and if even one of them doesn't take well, that can be enough to cripple the kid. But they can also not inherit the lung capacity and oxygen conservation, which is even worse on the short term (mostly because there tends not to be a long term for those kids) Also the skin is thicker all over, to resist water damage better. It's not as bad when that doesn't happen, but they lose heat faster and also they look kinda ugly. pruny all over, ew. XD One of the most minor mutations is that they're programmed to have the lower body of a different color, but technically it's the same type of skin and often the colors travel a bit. Liadan has a couple of gray patches on her upper body and pink ones on her tail, but that's minor. Some of them are really mottled. XD heck, when she saw Arun in his swimsuit, all black but for the tips, she didn't even notice it wasn't his normal color. XD;;;

... XDDDD Uh. They just tell you to stay underwater until you feel that you need to breathe?

I am imagining a core of women/children/old fogies with a shell of strapping young breeding matirial keeping the things with teeth away.
XD Rather close to the truth, yeah. Except when you're too old, if the times are difficult you often end up deciding to drift off not to burden the pod.
Is there a rotation of the guard, shifts
Sure :p
do the maids go bring them tuna sandwiches and flirt, what?
XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Privacy is a luxury that they can't afford. They have sex within sight of the pod -- often hiding behind seaweed, but not all the time. They make nests of floating seaweed to sleep, so once people are in here, everyone does as if they couldn't see or hear them. even though... well... Seaweed. XD;
You don't ask things like "what's on your mind" ever. that's incredibly rude. People's thoughts are their own business that they share if they feel like it. XD; It's a very minor kind of privacy, but they don't have a lot of it to go around, sadly.