Elemental Rift

UPDATE 9/10/11: I finally got on DA after a week of school, and a pleasant surprise awaited me! I placed 3rd in the Category 2: 14-15 yr olds!!! This is my first time placing in a decent-sized contest on DA, so I'm absolutely THRILLED!! 8DD woooo~ all the hardwork payed off; thanks so much everyone
You can see the results here: [link]
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This is my contest entry for

I've always wanted to try a sort of elemental fight, so I'm glad I finally did. ^^ I could probably extend this painting too, adding in the other fire side which would most likely be a lion. Also, for the background, I was just experimenting with salt and wet-on-wet painting, and I was definitely not expecting that it would turn out like this!

I know the photo isn't that good, but I did my best. I don't have a good camera and all the lights in the house are pretty dim (I didn't have a chance to take the pic in daytime). Just so you know, most of the white areas are supposed to be yellow.

Lastly, I know there are some issues with this painting; the head is probably odd because I attached a tiger head onto a mountain lion's body...not the smartest thing to do hehe. :V and the EYES are purposefully the blue color! I'm not that ignorant. >_< I thought it would be more appropriate for the tiger to have a magical eye transformation to match his aura.

I worked really hard on this, so I hope you all like this!

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Constructive criticism is appreciated! Thanks.

Materials: Pelikan watercolors, white acrylic, salt

References: [link] (head), [link] (body stripes), my own photograph: [link] (pose)

Art © chiaki-fuzzy.deviantart.com