edited again (sorry), to resize

Is it a good thing that I sometimes have the hardest time deciding how to classify my pictures (almost wanted to toss a coin between surreal, fantasy, and animals)? Anyway, I put it in animals even though it's not meant to be just a bunch of birds (I think it's a little too realistic to be surreal, and the mythological associations of ravens, doves, and swans really isn't enough to call it fantasy). The original idea for this was just some kind of shadow lamp with designs on it, and living things coming from the designs. It's WAY easier as just an idea. I knew I wanted a raven and a dove - at some point while I was sketching ideas the swans came into the picture and ended up taking it over (the shadowlamp thing still works a fairly well, and there's the whole black/white contrast, so I kept the title). The central design formed by the swans' wings and the shadowlamp is also, well, egg-shaped. Have no idea why I was on such a bird kick. BTW this took bloody FOREVER (well, over a week). I don't want to even think about how much graphite is on this page (30*40cm) The formal/academic/stuffy explanation of this picture is on the 'print' page.

Full View file: 750 * 590 at 100 DPI
Print file: 2950 * 2320 at 200 DPI
Watermark does not appear in the print