[x]

Browse More Like This

More from *DimWitDog

View Gallery

Featured in Groups:

#FKF-aware

#Doctrinaire
We're better than you

#TheAnime101
We Want Your Art! :D

Details

Submitted: June 26, 2011
Image Size: 2.0 MB
Resolution: 1822×2716

Link

Thumb

Statistics

Comments: 44
Favourites: 209 [who?]
Views: 2,689 (1 today)
Downloads: 79 (0 today)

[x]

.:Gates of Hell:.by *DimWitDog

Traditional Art / Drawings / Animals

"Boy I'd bet you'd stick your head in a fire if I told ya you could see hell." - Otis / House of 1000 Corpses.

This was a commission outside of DeviantArt, I was basically just told: "Create something displaying death/hell without using fire/blood/demons/etc. And I would love it if you drew frogs."

So here it is.
Been ignoring it for awhile, but finally finished it. I am not too happy with the result, but they like it and have hung it on their wall.
They paid me $50 for it, usual price.

This is a 'Leptodeira' (Commonly known as the Cat-Eyed Snake.) They have 9 Subspecies. This being the Northern Cat-Eyed Snake.
Their diet consists of mainly Frogs and Frog eggs, or the Embryos. They also eat Lizards and even Snakes on the rare occasion.

Used: Pencil, Acrylic Paint, Spray paint.
This was my first attempt at drawing tree bark, and I havnt drawn a Frog or a Snake in years.

Gimme, gimme critique.

EDIT: FINALLY!! Found the images of the frog I used for reference: [link] *Atleast I think it was this one....*

Critique by *BloodLust-Carman Jun 26, 2011, 11:04:29 AM

To capture the gates of hell without using any of the usual symbols of hell itself. Sounds like quite a challenge, but when I see this, before I even saw the title I knew there was something dark and sinister hiding in the meaning of it. The snake itself combined with the pose and the burning sun is an obvious signal, even if it takes a moment to fully understand.

The frogs, even though requested by the commissioner, are a nice touch, and an oddity in an environment they usually wouldn't be found in. The only thing that seems to be wrong in the entire image in the spray paint seems to have given the lower frog a slight deformity in the face, unless it was a mishap in the drawing of it.

Other than that, the drawing is, in the simplest terms, perfect. The colors harmonize, the splatters and blotches add to the vision, and the black and white at the top and bottom pull your vision towards the sun where the snake is reared up. The curves of the main trees also assist with leading the viewer in the right direction.

If you hadn't gotten one so recently, this would definately go up for the list of DDs.

What do you think?

Fair Unfair

The Artist thought this was FAIR

16 out of 16 deviants thought this was fair.

4 Replies

Devious Rating

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact

The Artist has requested Critique on this Artwork

Please sign up or login to post a critique.

love 1 1

~~joy 0 0~~

wow 1 1

~~mad 0 0~~

~~sad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~~neutral 0 0~~

~Mofro-Know Sep 14, 2011

Cool

~HeeeeresIzzy Jul 21, 2011 Student Digital Artist

Thats not hell... thats heaven

Cold, snakes AND frogs?! I'd love to like there!

~WhiteExterior Jul 18, 2011 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Ah, I remember you talking about this one before when you were working on it, but I have to admit that this is nothing as I imagined. Far better, I think!

Did your commissioner like it? ;3

*Agaave Jun 29, 2011

Whoa, I love this!

Colors and details are awesome; gorgeous, bright warm hues and great looking textures (tree trunk and snake's skin)!
Frogs and snakes are looking so realistic but white paint flowing down creates cool poster-like effect.
There is so much to look at in this picture!

*DimWitDog Jun 29, 2011 Student Traditional Artist

Thankyou so much! x)
All the colour in this one was such a pain! My wrist hurt for awhile afterwards.
And the tree/snake was hard for me to keep focus on

Thanks for the positive feedback ^w^

*Agaave Jul 2, 2011

You're very welcome!

!XxKaru-SamaXx Jun 27, 2011 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

This reminded me of a show called The Gates of Hell, lol

*xXFeztizXx Jun 27, 2011 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Holy shíttypants O_O Dim... this is truly amazing, woah. To have the skills to make this drawing.. I can't even imagne.. [Fav] <3

*ProfessorRainbowX3 Jun 26, 2011 Hobbyist General Artist

woa, thats really cool Dim. I love the frogs, they look so..... frog like ._.
Awesome work as usual. This would have been hard with out using blood demons ect. To me, thats what hell is. AWSUMNESS

=Aigolios Jun 26, 2011 Student General Artist

As always, love the use of blacks. As my lecturer says, always start with the deepest black. (Or at least consider where theyre going to go

) Im familiar with sakes as a symbol of the devil / garden of eden blah you know what i mean / and the frogs, being a snakes prey, don't make this picture seem altogether unrealistic. GOOD CHOICE OF SYMBOLISM!

From what I can see, theres a few main focus points. Look up the Golden ratio or the rule of thirds, and this might help your pictures become a little more eye catching without having to use so many areas of high contrast and vivid colour. Once you get that balance of high contrast and composition perfect, therell be no stopping you

Where the lower frog's snout meets the lower part of the snake is a perfect example of this c:

By the way, congratulations on the scales, they wouldve driven any of us mere mortals to insanity.

More from *DimWitDog

Featured in Groups:

Details

Statistics

.:Gates of Hell:.by *DimWitDog

The Artist has requested Critique on this Artwork

The Journal Portal

Polls

What is your preferred drawing software?

deviantART [dee·vee·un'nt·ART]

Keep in Touch!

Deviousness

Add Media

Style