Shadow Whispers OC Commission for Tak

[brighteyes]

Shadow Whispers is Tak's original character that she commissioned me to make.  She had an idea of what she wanted in terms of character design and colors and we worked together on the specifics of the symbol design.  She wanted a unicorn with apoxie sculpted wings and ultimately decided on a diva pose.  Here is a watercolor sketch I made for her during the initial design process:

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She ultimately decided on a combination of symbols and I think the result is really stunning:

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I made a little tiara to go with her as a little bonus.  The pony stands on her own without a base because she is carefully weighted in her body and head to counteract the weight of the wings.  Thanks for looking and thanks for Tak for being a super awesome person to work with and very patient as I worked to get those ginormous wings perfect!

[Roogna]

saw this on fb - she's a lovely custom! great job with the wings and her not falling over !

[TwistedRiver]

Wow she is pretty! You did an amazing job translating the sketch to the finished custom! I'm sure Tak love's her!
The wings are beautiful! They are still very difficult for me to sculpt and the fact that you were able to do such beautiful wings that don't cause Shadow Whispers to topple over is just amazing to me.

[Tak]

She's awesome! I might be a little biased though.

[Peloria]

So elegant! Those wings are glorious, I love every detail, lovely work! Lucky Tak! ^^

[lovelauraland]

Wow, great job!
They must weigh a lot to need to counter weight the body! You must have put in so much work!!!

[puuush]

Oooh, I really like the concept and colours and these huge wings are so cool. Great work!

[Griffin]

She's lovely, those wings are pretty epic! I really like the final symbol design, too.

[Ledbyrd]

She is so gorgeous! Your work is amazing!

[brighteyes]

Thank's everyone.   In the past, the wings I've made have always been more horizontal and front facing so they haven't need to be weighted.  I was really worried with this custom that I would not be able to get enough weight in the body and head to counteract the massive wings but luckily it worked out okay.  Her body repaint was made with a custom color mix of airbrush paints.  This is the first time I've used airbrush paint for the body repaint and I really liked the smooth flow of it.  I don't like to use an airbrush but even with paintbrush, the paint is so thin and flowing that it goes on super smooth.  The only thing I didn't like about it vs. standard acrylic diluted with water is that it doesn't seem to grip the plastic as well and I felt like I needed even more layers of it.  I think it was worth the extra time for the smooth effect though.

[kaoskat]

Gorgeous! Love the hair!!!!

[lostpony]

Great Job!! 

I like things to have weight anyway and spectacular wings are a great excuse to add weight!  What did you use for the weight?

[brighteyes]

I use fishing weights, the heaviest weight possible held in place with apoxie so they don't rattle around or shift.  In this pony I put them in the two front legs and also filled the head with them.  They are lead weights so they won't rust thankfully.

[Uninu]

Pretty clever using fishing weights! The pony herself is gorgeous, must have been a ton of work but the result is wonderful!

[lostpony]

I like the way the pony's original expression really says "I love my improvements" and the planning watercolor is really great too...better than my final projects! 

I think I should use fishing weights in regular ponies to correct stance issues like the way most unicorns in Gusty's pose can't keep from tipping forward...a tiny bit of weight in one rear leg should fix that right up...I will use that idea, thanks!  I was thinking of using shot...still lead but harder to secure, fishing weights much better.