It's a horse.

It's absolutely great! A blond head of hair on a grey unicorn...that's very original...as also the lovely full beard! The horn and the fur are perfect! Very well done! I like it very much!

I really like the time you took to put detail in the fur of the unicorn. The mane is simply beautiful as is his eyes. Fine work.

Excellent, again. But maybe you could put some more contrast in the nose, and give it just a little more space in the background.

I think arenhaus is worried about the fur painting competition

Not an expert on horse anatomy, but the ears seem off to me. I could be wrong. That vein is kinda creepy too.

The strokes of the hair are a good compliment to majestic aura you are trying to depict, and the background is a good compliment (not oversaturated) to the gold locks. I'm glad you wrote the intend of the piece, it always helps in giving critiques. Overall great job.

Very detailed- all those little hairs! On the other hand, this background is too gloomy, plain, dull... it flattens the feel of the whole painting, so doesn't seem to convey any kind of attitude, neither cheerful nor sorrowful. Fix the background and the light; the ears need some attention, too- study horse ears, see how they really attach to the head, the little hairs inside, and how the light glows through the skin. You have great understanding of horse facial anatomy- much better than most unicorn art I've seen, in that respect. The face is excellent, intricate, no mistakes.

Awe, this is beautiful, love the golden mane, wonderfully done I agree with Sandstorm about the background though...some hint of a mystical forrest would be a nice touch Again, lovely work

Thanks for all the crits, folks. I plan on doing more of these in the future -- this was based of an Arabian, so I might do more based on other horse breeds -- and I'll definitely keep in mind the comments on the ears, lighting and background.

Awesome... I`d only give it some more space at the top. How do you make all those little hairs? I mean what kind of brush...

I put in each hair strand by strand with the digital airbrush tool set at 1.5 or so, give or take depending on what kind of hair it is. Real small. I guess I think of that detail work like drawing with a really sharp colored pencil or a very fine liner brush. I build up layers. I lay the base color down with the square chalk tool, then go over it with both a dark hair stroke and then a light one. So there's much effort involved. It takes forever. But I usually get the History Channel going and learn about the Romans or something while I do it to make the time pass.

You do a wonderful job.+8

so isn't a unicorn a horse with a horn anyway?

Beautifully drawn imo But then I am really bad at painting animals myself

Well, no, Kyena, unicorn is not a horse with a horn. There is a more or less accepted definition, which is somewhere between a deer and a small horse with leonine tail, but I'd prefer to say that everyone should invent their own unicorn. It's fantasy, and there aren't that many well-known fantasy beasts one can test their own fantasy at.

It's a pity so many artists take the path of least resistance and just stick a horn on the meticulously painted beast of burden. At the very least, the artist should care to figure out the changes in the skull that has to support the weight of a horn...

Exceptional fur work!!! nice eyes too.

WOW! Loving the detail; awesome work +7/7

7/7

Good piece of work, but I dislike the horn, it is too short. and looks almost metallic, would go for a more natural texture. Hope it helps