"The Mermaid" by Lauren ´Selie´ Liebowitz

Awesome work on this one, Lauren. She looks a little like a kid who's done something wrong and is waiting to be punished; don't know if you intended that...

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "Hahaha... that's a very different interpretation of the image, but I like it. I'm not sure what she'd be up to. Maybe she's been tormenting sailors again? I always thought she looked kind of childlike and innocent in her expression..."

I Love it!! I mean, i haven't really seen a picture like yours before... Its really really nice...Everythings nice

For instance you gills. I haven't really seen people who draw gills on their mermaid without making them look totally scary... and the expression is perfect... just perfect...Gd work!'

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "Oh, I think if you look around Elfwood, you'll see that plenty of people can make beautiful mermaids with wonderful gills, far better than mine. In a community full of gorgeous mermaids, I'm really flattered that mine get any attention at all."

"Failed attempt"? I think it looks amazing.

First off, the coloring is astounding. When I first saw it, I thought it was CGed, I'm dead serious. And the water... It's like, WOW. The use of all those blues make it seem incredibly realistic. The reflections and the water against her, it's all so real.

The overall coloring is also incredible. Every space is filled in, and there're no streak marks at all. The way it reflects is so real, especially on the rounder areas like the shoulders and arms.

I really like her hair: The gradation is great, and you made it pink without making it look ridiculous. It looks really cool. And her head and neck look so realistic, especially the muscles on her neck and the collar bone. Not to mention you gave her gills and fin-ears without making her look freaky.

And those eyes... OMG... they're so lifelike. It honestly looks like she's alive. There's such a sense of longing in there, so... alive! Wow...

Her tail is cool, too! The way it looks like you're looking down on it was well done. It looks like the perfect tail design, instead of like a girl with her legs in a tight dress. Her fin was also cool, since it looks partially transparent. I really like how her tail comes all the way over her torso and over her chest: I always thought mermaids looked so cute like that. ^^ Her tail makes her seem that much more beautiful.

Overall, I love the drawing; it just really comes alive. You make me want to start drawing mermaids, too.
Again, incredible work.

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "This is such an amazing comment. Thank you so much for taking the time to compliment my work in such detail. It's very kind of you, and I think artists often forget that people enjoy their artwork, so hearing things like this really make me feel better! Thank you, thank you, thank you."

That´s really a neat picture, and I don´t think that you have failed with the proportions and persepctive! Since the water has a different optical refrection than air, the thin tail creates an extreme but pretty realistic perspective.
The little problem with the persepctive maybe comes from her hand and it´s surroundings (argh, its difficult to explain in English):
The size and position of her hand looks as if she is reaching it out of the water and towards the viewer. The perspective here is well done, but to me the surface of the water creates the optical "problem": because the surface of water is more or less on the same level, the water that covers her hand creates the illusion that her hand is lower than it should be regarded the size and position. Some white sparkels that indicate that the water is running down from her hand to the surface of the water would help to create the look of the hand reaching out of the water.
So that was a very long text about a little optical problem in your picture, I can assure you, it´s minor and dosen´t destroy the complete look of that beautiful underwater scene!

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "Ah, that's a good point. I drew her hand so that it's in the water, but I also tend to draw overly large hands, so I can understand how that would mess with the perspective. Thanks for explaining it to me, and I'll try to keep that in mind as I keep drawing. I appreciate feedback like this!"

Hey, when you say inked, what excactly do you ink with???? Because i use sharpies....Am i missing something here!!!!! Oh, by the way, i love her scales, very nice.

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "At this point, I was inking with a nib pen and a bottle of waterproof calligraphy ink. This method takes patience and a steady hand, so I don't recommend it to people who aren't willing to ruin many pieces of paper before they learn to control their pens. I also like to use a variety of technical pens if I'm in a hurry or don't want to make a mess. Sharpies fade and are smelly, and they're too thick and out of control for the sort of lines I do - but different artists have different styles, so use what works best for you!"

I like this pic! You did very good on the water (its much better thatn I can do!!!) I love her facal expression.

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "Thank you!"

nice

Omg!! That is awesome!! The scales are AMAZING and it really makes it different from a lot of the mermaids on here!! The water is really fantastic and the expression is really cool!

Lauren 'Selie' Liebowitz replies: "The scales are SO hard and time-consuming, so I don’t think I’ll be doing them again, but I am very glad that they’re appreciated for all the hard work I put into them! So, thank you very much."

Congrats on the mod’s choice; my favourite is still your sun warrior, though! ^_^

Wow! I just happened by this and it looks great! The water looks so amazing and realistic, as well as the eyes. Her tail is great, and I always thought that small scales were better, because it looks the same but out of the corner of your eye, or just looking at it, it just seems...different. It seems so much more alive, like it has that extra something. Great job!

And also, I think it is cool that her nails look kind of monster-ish, but not scary or mean. It makes her look kind of innocent. And that hair! It is really hard to get colours like pink, purple, and blue to look that realistic (believe me, I’ve tried)!! It usually looks cheesy. You made it look excellent and it looks like you didn’t even try!

A lot of the mermaids on elfwood have fins, and it makes them look really scary.