#completely freehand painting i did here just because i was like. i can do better. i need to learn hims face | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sevlgi · 4 years

Text

patient

requested: yes

group: mamamoo

pairing: hwasa x fem!reader

genre: fluff

contents: tattoo artist!hwasa, flustered!reader [15/33]

warnings: none

synopsis: It’s hard for you to be patient about your next tattoo session when your artist is so damn gorgeous.

a/n: um??? I love tattoo aus???? also don’t come at me for the name, I’m not creative

word count: 1.9k

“Elegant Chaos.”

You test the name out on your tongue, staring up at the slightly grimy neon sign of the shop. The entire front is one-way glass, so all you can see is your own reflection and the ones of the people bustling around you.

Before you can make up a decision to open the door to the store or not, someone else does; a pretty brunette woman steps out and smiles at you, crazy beautiful with full lips and crescent-eyes. “Hi. Can I help you?”

“Uh, yeah.” You show her the printed-out address your friend sent you and step a bit closer. “Is this a tattoo shop? I searched the address up but nothing resulted, I was referred by a friend.”

She barely takes a glance at the address before flashing another bright grin. “Oh, yep! This is our tattoo shop, we opened a couple months ago. It’s weird that we’re still not showing up, but oh, well. Want to come in?”

You barely register her quick words but step into the shop after her, the smell of rubbing alcohol, paper, and perfume vaguely stinging your nose. “I’m Solar, the receptionist,” she introduces, walking behind what you presume to be her desk. Out front, some teenagers talk quietly, a tall, dark-haired boy with a sleeve sipping at a banana milk.

“Cool. Uh, I’m Y/N. I don’t have an appointment, is that okay?”

Solar nods, tapping at her phone. “Sure. Jungkook over there is just waiting for Byul to finish her other client, and Wheein is prepping to pierce the kids. Hwasa’s our best artist, anyway, does that sound good?”

Her question startles you from staring at the intricate sketches taped all over the walls, the same 3 signatures stamped everywhere. “What?”

She laughs, though it’s not rude. “We have one artist left, Hwasa, but since you’re referred, you probably don’t have someone in mind, right? You can go to see her now, she’s free.”

“Great. Do I just...?” At Solar’s nod, you walk past her and into the back. The studio’s quite small, to be honest; there are 4 stations, two of them occupied. One of them, who you guess is Byul, is tattooing an elderly man, her sleeves rolled up to reveal the art on her bicep.

The second, probably Wheein, is wiping down her tools, and she’s the first to notice you. “Hi!” she grins, turning the music blasting from the radio down with her ungloved hand. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. Solar mentioned that I should come find Hwasa,” you explain, eyes widening at the complicated art being tattooed on the elderly man. “Are you...?”

“No, I’m Wheein.” Ah, so you were right. “This is Byul, she’s a bit preoccupied,” Wheein smiles, dimples poking into her cheeks. “I’ll get Hye- sorry, Hwasa for you.”

She hurries out to the back, and you can hear talking through the open door, before she comes back, the woman you presume to be Hwasa behind her.

Instantly, you’re starstruck; she’s stunning in a way that’s completely unique, long dark hair and tanned skin contrasting beautifully. The only makeup she wears is a bold red lipstick, her tank top showing the delicate tattoos she has. “Hey, I’m Hwasa,” she greets, sticking her hand out. Her nails are long, too.

“Y/N.” You accept the handshake, trying not to stare. “Uh, Solar said you were free for a consultation?”

“Yeah.” She sits at one of the free stations, clearing the things scattered on the table. “So, what’re you looking for? Do you already have a design chosen or am I freehanding?”

You fumble in your bag for a piece of paper, sliding it over to Hwasa. “Um, this is just something my friend drew up for me. I want it pretty small, on my forearm.”

The dark-haired woman shrugs, unfolding the paper. “I could do that. Is this your first tattoo?”

Nodding, you watch as Hwasa taps her long, red-painted nails on the desk. “Okay. Is this part of a sleeve or by itself?”

“Uh, how long would each one take?” To be honest, you have no idea why you said that; you didn’t consider a sleeve at all, though you considered multiple tattoos or a large one. There’s just something about the other woman that makes it impossible for you to think.

She considers the question before answering, “Depends on the size and how many small ones you want to work in for the sleeve, but I’d recommend a separate session for each small square, so maybe 8 or 10. I’ll be done with this in less than 30 minutes, though, if it’s just the one.”

To be honest, the only thing causing you to consider a sleeve is getting to see Hwasa again, and you curse your own attraction to her when you blurt, “Maybe a sleeve? I have to think about the other ones I want to work in, though.”

“Okay. I can just do the one today, and we can schedule another day for you to come in and design the whole thing,” she offers, picking the sketch up. “I’ll go make this into a stencil, then.”

“Sure.”

When she takes the sketch and walks to the back room, you slump down in the chair and pivot to look at the others. You quickly realize how long you were talking with Hwasa; Byul is already working on the coconut-haired boy, and Wheein is already done with the teenagers.

She seems to be the outgoing type, and waves at you while sanitizing her needles and packing her kit up again. “So, how did it go? Are you going to start today?”

“I am, yep. You’re already done with the kids?”

Wheein nods, placing the studs back into their cases. “Yep. They just wanted more lobe piercings, it’s really easy. I’m a tattoo artist, too, but I think the kids like me more. Except for Jungkook over here, they think Byul’s intimidating.”

“I’m not!” the other woman protests, hands still steady as she works on the boy. Her voice is deeper than you’d expect. “You literally call me a hamster.”

Flapping a hand, Wheein flashes you her dimples again. “So, what do you think of Hwasa?”

“Huh?” you blink, brain basically short-circuiting. “Uh, she’s a good artist? I saw some of her sketches, yours too; you’re all really talented.”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean. Wait, you’re not straight, are you?” she narrows her eyes at you, scanning you from head to toe. “Maybe my sense is broken, I didn’t peg you for a...”

“I’m not. Straight. I’m a lesbian.” Your cheeks burn to say it aloud, though nobody really reacts, not even Jungkook. “Are you?”

Wheein shrugs, “I mean, I’m attracted to women. All 4 of us are- Hyejin, Byul, Yongsun. Solar, to you. And we make sure everyone who comes in is accepting, we won’t serve bigots.”

For whatever reason, you’re almost relieved to hear that Hwasa’s also attracted to women in some sense, even though it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s attracted to you. “Oh. That’s cool.”

“Yeah. So, is it just one tattoo or a sleeve?” Her knowing smile puts you off a bit; how did she figure it out? “A lot of girls who come in here change their original idea because of Hyejin-ah. You’re obviously attracted to her, to, so it’s no surprise.”

“Is it really that obvious?” you groan, surprising yourself with how open you’re being about it. “Do you think she knows?”

“Probably,” Wheein giggles, nodding when Solar pokes her head in the studio to tell her something. “Anyway. I’ve got to go, good luck!”

She waves as she leaves, the only noise left in the studio being the quiet music and Jungkook’s quiet talking. He seems just as awkward as you are, lifting his free hand in a half wave.

You’re saved by Hwasa returning with a stencil. “Here. Does that look good?”

She’s modified the original design just the tiniest bit, making the lines a little bit darker and the shading simpler, and it looks... “Perfect.” You grin, a weight on your chest lifted by your conversation with Wheein. “Should we start?”

“Sure.” She brings you over to one of the actual tattoo stations, the seat already smelling sanitized. You can barely listen as she explains what the process will be like- cleaning, the actual tattooing, pain; you finally come to when she asks, “Are you ready?”

“I... yeah. I am.”

It’s quiet until the buzzing of the tattoo gun brings you to life, the tiniest bit of fear sour on your tongue. Hwasa looks concentrated as she peels the stencil off, not exactly reassuring, either. “So. Is there a meaning behind this?”

“Uh, not really. Are there meanings behind yours?” You gasp when the needle first touches your skin, the cold wipe taking off excess ink.

“I have some matching tattoos with Wheein,” Hwasa explains, smiling at the mention of the other girl. “Uh, one is Maria, my Christian name. Wheein has more, but all of us have some kind of meaning behind ours. It’s not bad to have no meaning, though.”

You wince as she continues with the linework, slowly getting used to the pain. “Are you and Wheein...”

She looks up, raising an eyebrow. “Together? No, we’re best friends. I haven’t been with someone in a few years.”

“What’s stopping you?”

Hwasa laughs, wiping your arm once again. “Nothing, I guess. I’m just patient enough to wait for the right person.”

“Patient. Right.”

Conversation flows smoothly, mostly light topics. You learn each other’s ages, and you’re told to call Hwasa ‘Hyejin’ instead. You learn when she got her first tattoo, and when she learned to tattoo others. The more you talk, the more drawn in you are, fascinated by her every word.

The half an hour is over far too fast. “Done,” she announces, smiling as she turns off her gun. “Take a look.”

It looks gorgeous, as expected, though Hwasa plays off your barrage of compliments. “Uh, should I pay now?”

She shrugs, placing saran wrap over your arm. “We’ll go talk with Solar about that, she’s better with pricing than I am. But it probably won’t be much.”

“What? Why?” you frown, examining the tattoo. Usually, discounts only happen when something goes wrong, or you have a coupon. You’re pretty sure neither of those things apply.

Hwasa pauses, turning to send you a small smirk. “Well, the cute ones usually pay less.”

Your heart practically stops, though you force yourself to walk to the front with her. “Besides, you’re probably coming back again soon, right?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah. I think so. When will that be? The next session, I mean.”

She frowns, tapping at the tablet Solar hands her. “You can come in as soon as you’re free to design it, if you want, but you have to wait a bit for the next session, especially if you’re doing the things close together. If you want, I can give you my number.”

At your stricken expression, Hwasa’s lips curve into a knowing smile. “So you can send me ideas, for the sleeve.”

“Ah, of course.” Your cheeks burn as you take out your cash, counting out a surprisingly small amount. “That sounds good. I guess I’ll just have to be patient, then.”

“I guess so. Call me, Y/N,” she smiles, handing your phone back with a new contact in.

Being patient is going to be so damn hard.

113 notes · View notes

boyduroy · 3 years

Text

Shave and A Haircut

Fandom: It (2017/2019)

Characters: Bill, Richie, Eddie, Stanley

Word count: 2,044

Genre: slice of life, hurt/comfort

Warnings: language, mentions of bullying

Synopsis: Just another day of being bullied by Bowers. Luckily Richie knows what to do.

{Not beta’d/proofread, sorry for any typos}

Bill, Eddie, and Richie are all sitting at the Tozier dining room table, waiting for the fourth member of their party to arrive. Their geometry homework is spread out across the wooden table, most of it unsolved, along with an array of snacks, most of which have already been devoured. Bill looks at the old clock on the wall as Richie and Eddie bicker over who gets the last of the barbeque-flavored potato chips. Stanley should have been done with baseball practice 30 minutes ago, and it doesn’t usually take him this long to bike to Richie’s house. Bill briefly considers riding up to the baseball field to check on him when a knock comes from the front door.

“About time,” Richie mutters, quickly swiping the final few chips from Eddie’s hand as he gets up to answer the door.

“Richie, you turd!” Eddie screams as

“Y’snooze, you lose, skeddi-boy,” Richie calls back to the dining room with a mouthful of chips. He rubs his hands on the edge of his shirt as he reaches for the door handle. He doesn’t remember locking it, and Stan knows he can let himself in, but Richie figures his friend is just being his usual polite self.

“Stan the man,” he announces loudly, swinging the door open. “Where’ve you been? You know we suck at math…”

Richie trails off as he takes in the sight of Stanley on his front porch. The other boy’s head is hung, defeated, and his baseball cap covers his face completely. Still, Richie can see the faint outlines of tear tracks running from Stan’s chin. His knuckles are paper white as they clutch his gym bag, and aside from the usual dirt stains on his uniform, he doesn’t look too roughed up in any apparent way.

“Stanley?” Richie asks, tilting his head to peek up under the baseball cap. Stan’s face is red from either crying or from exercise, or possibly a combination of the two. “What’s wrong?”

Stan sniffs, his dark brown eyes refusing to meet Richie’s. “May I come in please,” he asks, his voice a bit raw.

Richie pulls him inside, taking his gym bag from him. “Go sit down on the couch, I’ll grab you a glass of water.” As Stanley quietly kicks his cleats off near the front door, Richie races to the kitchen, tosses the bag down haphazardly, and grabs a clean glass from the cupboard. Any other day he would’ve just grabbed one of the dirty ones from the sink, which would’ve earned him an earful from both Stan and Eddie about how gross that was – “I drank from it earlier, so why should it matter?” – but right now was not the time to instigate. As he fills the glass from the kitchen sink, Eddie and Bill poke their heads in.

“What’s going on, Rich?” Eddie asks. “You drop something?”

Richie hurries back to the living room, trying not to spill the glass that he accidentally filled up with too much water. “Something happened to Stan,” he calls over his shoulder. “Come on, he’s in here.”

“What h-happened?!” Bill asks worriedly, he and Eddie hot on Richie’s heels as the three of them come to gather around Stan, now sitting stiffly on the edge of the couch. Richie offers him the glass, which spills a little onto the couch cushion, but Stanley accepts it and takes a drink. Eddie perches next to him, his hand on Stan’s shoulder, and subconsciously starts checking his friend for any signs of outward injury.

“You alright, Stanley?” Eddie asks. Stan swallows the water eagerly and gasps, handing the now half-full glass back to Richie. He nods but continues to look down, his face still obscured by his baseball cap.

“What happened?” Bill asks again.

“Bowers and his gang…” Stanley answers quietly. He suddenly shrinks into himself, unwilling to reveal any further information. “I can’t, it’s embarrassing.”

Bill kneels, putting a gentle hand on Stan’s knee. “It’s okay, you can tell us. W-why don’t you take off your h-hat so we can hear you better.”

“I can’t.”

“Huh?” Bill blinks, confused.

“I can’t take it off,” Stan repeats.

Richie smirks. “Don’t worry about your hat hair, Stanley, we’ve all been ther—”

“No.” Stan sniffles and looks up finally, his brown eyes swimming with tears. “I can’t take off my hat, Richie, because Henry Bowers and his asshole friends put krazy glue in it,” he enunciates sharply. “My hat. Is glued. To my head.”

The three of them stare stunned at their friend, whose head falls back down sadly. Bill can feel his own face growing hot with anger. Fucking Bowers… It was one of the cruelest pranks you could do to someone: paint the inner brim of their hat with krazy glue and just wait for them to put it on.

Eddie is the first to break the silence. “Oh Stanley,” he whispers, his own eyes threatening to mist. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” He rubs Stanley’s shoulder and looks to the other two. “What should we do, guys?”

Bill strides towards the door. “I’m guh-gonna got kick the sh-sh-shit out of Bowers,” he says matter-of-factly. Stan is on his feet in an instant.

“Please no, Bill! Don’t, he’ll do something worse to you,” Stanley yells, grabbing Bill’s shirt. Bill tries to shake him off as he opens the front door. “Please, it’s okay—”

“It’s not okay, Stan! He hurt you!”

Stan hardens. “Fine, I know, it’s not okay. It fucking sucks. But I don’t want you to get hurt fighting my battles for me! Bowers is going to get what’s coming to him eventually, but I don’t want you or anyone else getting hurt today.” He loosens his grip and sighs, rubbing his face. “Just… leave it alone, okay? For now, at least. Please?”

Bill huffs but eventually closes the door again.

“Fine,” he says, resting a hand on the offending baseball cap on Stan’s head. “But we still need to figure out what we’re g-going to do about th-this.”

“You’re gonna have to cut it off, I guess,” Richie offers.

Stan frowns. “No, I can’t. It’ll look so stupid.” He tries gently tugging the cap, but it doesn’t budge. “There’s got to be another way.”

Eddie approaches and carefully inspects where the hat and Stan’s hair are connected. “He really did a number,” he admits. “It’s stuck to your scalp in some places.”

Stanley groans. “Great,” he sighs.

“It’s just hair, it’ll grow back,” Richie insists. “My dad has some clippers in his bathroom, we can take care of it right now.”

Stanley shakes his head. “I especially don’t want to shave my whole head, Richie!”

“Why not? It’s just hair.”

“It’s my hair!” Stan argues. “Excuse me if I don’t want to look like Sinead O’Connor the rest of the school year!”

“It’ll grow back, Stanley!”

“I don’t care!”

“Oh my god, you are so sensitive,” Richie grumbles as he marches off and slams his parents’ bedroom door. Bill is about to suggest something when they hear the telltale buzz of an electric razor. The three of them are frozen in place.

“He wouldn’t,” Eddie says, looking wide-eyed at the other two.

They stumble past one another as they race to the bedroom and Bill pounds on the bathroom door. “Richie, what are you doing?!” he yells over the loud buzz of the razor. He tries the doorknob but it’s locked.

“Hey dumbass, you proved your point,” Eddie shouts at the door. “Cut it out, you’re freaking us out!”

Finally, after a few more bangs on the wood and jiggling the doorknob, does the buzzer click off and the door swing open. Richie stands there proudly, glasses off, clippers in hand, and with a freshly (and poorly) buzzed head.

“See? I told you it’s not a big deal, you wuss,” he says, gesturing to himself. The other three just stare at him in utter shock until Stan finally sputters.

“Richie, you… you--” Stanley says, then dips his head down into his hands, his shoulders beginning to shake. Richie frowns, worried for a minute that he’s crying again, but then Stanley tosses his head back and he’s laughing so uproariously. “You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you,” he asks through gasps.

The tension broken, Bill and Eddie also begin to laugh while Richie just smiles stupidly.

“You missed like so many spots, dude,” Eddie snickers. “Geez Richie, were you even trying?”

“Hey, I had to take my glasses off,” Richie protests. He tosses the razor to Bill and points to the back of his head, where tufts of black hair remained in messy patches. “Mind cleaning me up, Bill?”

Bill smirks and gets to work shaving off the rest of Richie’s hair. He actually didn’t do too bad of a job, just missed a few places here and there. At least he put a guard on it so he wasn’t just freehanding it.

“There you go,” Bill says once he’s finished. He hands Richie back his glasses and dusts the loose hair off his shirt. Richie examines himself in the mirror, his hands running over the short buzzcut.

“Looks a hell of a lot better than Sinead, if I do say so myself,” Richie remarks, satisfied with his handiwork. He throws a look to the other boys and grabs a pair of mustache scissors, snipping them threateningly. “Your turn, Stanley.”

Stan shakes his head quickly. “Not from you, four-eyes.” He takes the scissors and hands them to Bill. “Please be gentle.”

Bill nods and carefully starts cutting away the worst of the glue/hat/hair combination until the hat is freed, along with a substantial amount of hair. Eddie throws it unceremoniously into the trashcan. Stanley shuts his eyes, not wanting to see how ridiculous he looks with half his hair missing. Then Bill methodically shaves away the rest of his golden curls and it’s over before he knows it.

“Okay, you can look, if y-you want to.”

Stanley peeks one eye open and looks in the mirror. His face looks back at him, now sporting the same crewcut as Richie. It’s… not as bad as he thought it would be.

“It’s different,” he admits, touching the short prickly hairs gingerly. His heart aches for just a moment. It sucks but Richie was right: it’s just hair, and it’ll grow back. He glances at Richie. “I think I pull it off better than you, at least.”

Richie feigns a wounded look, clutching his chest dramatically. “Hey, whoa, watch yourself there, Staniel! Don’t forget, you copied me. I started this trend.”

They all laugh at this, then Bill looks at himself in the mirror, shrugs, and buzzes a line right down the middle of his head. They watch with amazement as he gives himself a haircut to match, smiling the whole time. Afterwards he clicks the buzzer off and turns to his friends, offering another shrug.

“I wanted to f-fit in with the cool k-kids. This look is v-very in right now.”

Stanley beams and throws his arms around Bill and Richie. “You guys are so dumb, but thank you,” he says. The three of them hug, then Richie looks mischievously at Eddie, who suddenly pales.

“Eds,” he states. “Snip, snip.”

Eddie glances between the three of them who now appear to be ganging up on him. He sighs and digs into his fanny pack. “My mom’s gonna think I joined a cult,” he mutters to himself. He pulls out his inhaler, takes a big puff, and looks to Bill. “Do it.”

Soon brunette hair joins the piles of auburn, blonde and black on the floor of Maggie and Wentworth’s bathroom. The boys take turns dusting each other off and inspecting one another for any missed spots, but Bill was careful and thorough and they all look good, if not a little bit off for the current fashion. Stanley felt grateful for his friends, idiots though they may be, for always making sure he was never alone in his suffering. They return to their long-forgotten snacks and homework, enjoying the pleasant company of one another – until the cry of “RICHARD TOZIER, WHAT IN GODS NAME HAVE YOU DONE TO YOURSELF” from Richie’s mom interrupted their time together.

#it #stephen king's it #fic #fanfic #richie tozier #bill denbrough #eddie kaspbrak #stanley uris

21 notes · View notes

universallywriting · 4 years

Note

As you’re learning, do you have any tips you could either to other people trying to improve their drawing skills?

1. Look shit up. This is such big advice it’s actually a pet peeve of mine. Like, I see people talking on Tumblr or Discord or Facebook or whatever and I’m just like “Google it, bro”.You have infinite information at your fingertips. There are so, so many tutorials out there. Google shit.

2. Make experienced friends. Get involved in your community. People learn from each other. Get involved, talk to people, reblog their shit, just, like, participate so you can make friends with talented folks who will often graciously offer you advice and assistance when your Googling fails.

3. Be critical. Yeah, uh, I still don’t know why people are afraid of this, but I 100% credit a huge part of any given success to the fact that I look at how people fuck up and go “Ooh, yeah, not gonna do that”. Don’t just learn from your mistake - learn from other people’s. Look at art and analyze it and don’t just see the successes, look at the failures.

And do that with your own art too. Liiike...

Second I finished this shit I was like - “Okay, you’re still struggling with drawing circles on the eyes. Your hand will grow steadier with time. On the hand, the curve of it doesn’t differentiate between the index finger and palm well enough. The hips are uneven and awkward.” etc. Best work I’ve done so far for sure, but I’m not gonna get better if I don’t pay attention to the specifics of where I fell flat.

4. Don’t be afraid to fuck up. Do stupid shit. Do weird shit. Experimentation is how you improve. @suf-fering is having a dtiys contest with this image: https://suf-fering.tumblr.com/post/619646483520684032/oops-i-forgot-to-post-this-here-im-hosting-a

I HAVE HER PERMISSION FOR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING.

I traced her art. It was gonna be a joke, honestly. We like to mess around, and I thought it would be funny to trace her art and do some stupid stuff. In this case, the terrible joke was that Steven and Connie were at a rave.

Couple things with this though - The first was that because I was so unafraid to mess up, I did really, really confident lines. I didn’t bother cleaning it up, but following her great art and knowing that it wasn’t supposed to be serious, I completely loosened up, made the fast movements everyone had been insisting on, and had incredibly stable lines.

Next was that, well, I was just more confident and felt better after tracing, because I came away with something that looked good. Yeah, I didn’t do it. But it’s like training wheels on a bike. Sometimes it’s better to “cheat” and give yourself a boost rather than do it the hard way and fall flat on your face. BUT DON’T POST IF YOU TRACE. Practice is all well and good, and I did feel pretty great that I managed to do better, but this is not my art. Or, at the very least, this is my edit of someone’s art, and it would be rude, mean and art theft if I was posting this without suffering’s permission and with the clear disclaimer that this is traced.

And, finally, by being stupid and being like “what are rave colors?” I ended up finding some cool techniques. I like the vibrancy of the colors I chose, I liked the places the crashed, and by choosing a wild palette, there’s actually a cool consistency that makes it pleasing to look at.

And the lighting isn’t a filter - it’s the spray paint tool on another layer, and I liked how it turned out, so I learned how to do some neat lighting tricks too.

I’m not going to be a professional artist. I’m not going to freehand anything as good as a lot of my friends anytime soon. But I have a lot of fun, and I think that I’m improving as fast as I am because of everything I listed here.

Four months ago I used a tablet for the first time and drew this:

So, all things considered, I’m pretty fucking happy with how far I’ve come!

#my art #art advice #i'm a dirty tracing ho #please cancel me #please send me your art to trace also #this blog is now the blog of thievery #Anonymous

185 notes · View notes

houseofvans · 5 years

Photo

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN YS

From large scale murals to multi-layered works on canvas, LA based artist Lauren YS’s art captures everything from the female experience, addressing topics like sexuality, death, aliens, monsters, and the occult. Her works are complex much like her own experiences, so we’re super stoked to find out more about what drives her, who and what inspires her, and what challenges and advice she has for our readers in this awesome Sketchy Behaviors interview..

Take the leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself. Hey! I’m Lauren YS - Hmm, something you might not know … I used to play ice hockey and my favorite candy are Peach O’s. I am a really good listener, but that also means I hate being interrupted. I dream, often, about being underwater.

Tell folks a little about your artwork and what do you love to make works about? I make work about the female experience, sexuality, identity, space, aliens, heritage, death, monsters, nature, emotions, natural phenomena, the occult and whatever else I might be obsessing about. I like slimy creatures, kitsch, psychedelia, sex and Halloween, and mixing repulsion with attraction. I want the viewer to feel unsettled as much as engaged. I make things in an effort to try to process the beautiful shit rocket that is the world around me.

When did art become something you were aware you could do for a living or as a career you wanted to pursue? I have always been making art, but I never thought it was possible to support oneself as an artist: It seemed really out of reach or surreal. It wasn’t until I had already been fully freelance for a year before I realized I was actually doing it. I think it’s just something that comes out of necessity, it’s like – if I want to keep making art as much as possible at the rate I am living, then damn, I’m going to learn how to make money off of it.

What’s a typical studio day for you like? I tend to work nocturnally. I’ll paint through the night and sleep through the day and watch horror movies, listen to podcasts about art, serial killers and cults, and eat anywhere from 1-2 sacks of tangerines every day. I like to really plow through paintings as well, it’s hard for me to stop working on something once I start. After about three weeks in the studio like this, your mind starts to wander off into deep strange places, and that’s when the really good stuff comes out.

What’s your studio or creative space like? What do you keep around to constantly motivate or inspire you? I have always worked best in a bit of “artistic chaos”–I like to fill my space with odds and ends, knick-knacks, items from my travels, talismans. I believe in the power of objects. I love my lava lamp and need to buy seven more. I also have this drawing I made of an Asian grandma screaming “DRAW, MOTHERFUCKER” which I plan to make into a screen print and give to all my artist friends.

When working on a body of paintings and works for a show, what is your process like? How long does it typically take you to complete a painting from start to finish? Depending on the size of the gallery, it can take anywhere from 2-6-10 months to create a show, given that it is often punctuated by mural tours and big projects to pay the bills. I like to work on lots of pieces at the same time, so generally it’ll take a few days to a week or two to finish a piece. I am trying to get better at reworking pieces rather than just pushing through them one by one. Workflow is still sorting itself out. I also make a ton of pieces that end up being nixed from the final show. I am very prolific but also very psychotic.

Not only do you work on canvas, but you are also known for some of your amazing murals! When did you start going from painting on a regular scale to large scale works? What’s your process like for mapping out these large works? Well shucks, thank you! I started painting murals around 2013, which was a sort of natural transition because I wanted to work bigger and bigger, I wanted to travel and be in the sun and use giant machines to make my art. I actually started learning color from using spray paint. I freehand everything because I like to feel independent of projectors or machines, especially if I’m in a foreign country or don’t have time or resources.

It makes me feel empowered to be able to make big things on my own. Maybe that comes from growing up under the common experience girls have, especially asian girls, where you’re expected to be small and quiet and obedient. I have always worked in active aggression against that stereotype.

Is there a medium you’d love to get your hands on, but yet to have the chance too? And what are your go-to materials? I’d really love to learn how to use an airbrush, a la Sorayama. Outside of 2D I am dying to get back into stop motion animation. My favorite brand of spray paint is Montana Black (high pressure forever!), and I use a wide variety of acrylics and gouache in my paintings, specifically the Holbein gouaches from Japan.

What do you love about where you live, and what is the art community like in your area? I never thought I’d move to LA, but I’ve been really enjoying it here. I’m a communal living person (been in and out of communities for about 9 years) and I am lucky to have found somewhere that fits with my work ethic (intense) and social vibe (weird). I like to be able to work alone while still having people bustling around and making things all the time. It helps me to feel like I’m not dead or a total solipsist.

I’ve also found that the artists in LA–especially the female artists–have proven to be really kind, generous and welcoming. There’s a lot of room for weirdos here; it might take a while to find them, but they’re here. We also have a one-eyed cat, did I mention that?

Who are some artists you’re inspired by and have influenced you throughout the years? I’m a big fan of dark/psychedelic/erotic artists like Keiichi Tanaami, Suehiro Maruo, Sorayama and the whole Ero Guro movement. I also love Goya’s dark paintings and the sculpture work of Bernini. Some contemporary artists I’ve been into lately are Christian Rex Van Minnen, David Altmejd, Robin Francesca Williams and the fabric sculptures of Do Ho-Suh. Jamie Hewlett, Swoon, Andrew Hem, Aryz. I find that my taste changes constantly and I am always thirsty for different influences.

What’s been the most challenging part of your art career? What’s been the most rewarding? What do you do to keep the balance? Something really challenging has been learning how to trust myself while growing in the industry and balancing business, work and travel. It’s a really solid test: moving to a new city, providing for yourself, going on tour, shifting from place to place, managing gallery work and mural work, all while protecting and nurturing your own ambition and positivity, and not feed into the shitstorm of capitalism and social media past what is required of you.

The muralist life is not for the faint of heart. I would hardly say that I keep any type of “balance”–art is my life and there isn’t much room for anything else, and that’s how I like it. It is the most rewarding thing to look around and feel like you’ve created something new and good and powerful, all on your own terms. It is similarly rewarding to feel the need to level up - I enjoy feeling stressed arguably more than I enjoy feeling accomplished.

What would your dream collaboration be? What do you enjoy most about collaborations with other artists or clients? I would love to do something with Takashi Murakami and/or his gallery (Kaikai Kiki Gallery). There’s also this amazing Australian animator named Felix Colgrave whose work I’ve been obsessed with lately, I’d love to find a way to make an animated short with him! I love collaborating - especially on mural work - because it’s such a cool experience to be able to intermingle your visual world with someone else’s. Working with ONEQ in Hawaii this year was really great, she had so many suggestions and ideas from out of left field that made me rethink my own work as well. It also forces you to relinquish some control on the way you work, and reflect on the basic joys of making shit in the first place.

If you could paint a portrait of anyone living or dead, who would you choose and why? I really want to do a tripped out portrait of Yayoi Kusama or Bjork or maybe Steve Buscemi—all heroes of mine.

What’s your advice to folks who see what you do and want to pursue art as a career? I would say, go at it as hard as you possibly can! Make sure you really enjoy doing it! Not all parts of painting murals are glamorous (actually, few are) and it’s important to truly love every part of it if you’re going to commit your life to it.

This means: hustling walls, handling machinery, travel, people, logistics, finding somewhere to pee, dealing with unexpected bullshit, not complaining, being comfortable handling yourself in dangerous situations, being independent and resourceful, etc. I have reservations about artists who genuinely don’t seem to enjoy all the elements of mural painting going too deep into it. But if it’s something you love, there’s nothing better.

What are your FAVORITE Vans? I’ve been rocking the classic authentic Vans in black/burgundy as paint shoes for years now. But I also love the Sk8-Hi boys in burgundy… I never wear them because I’m too scared to get paint on them, haha!

What other artists would you love to see interviewed for Sketchy Behaviors? I’m currently really into Andrea Wan, Louise Zhang and Caratoes. It would also be really cool if you covered a GNC or trans artist, like Nomi Chi or Laughing Loone!

What’s next for you that you can share? My first book is coming out this year with Von Zos, and I’m also going to be designing a tarot deck with them. April is my first mural tour in several months; I’ll be hopping from Australia - Guam - Peru, and then moving around South America for a while, trying to practice my spanish. After that, I’ll be starting work on my next big show, scheduled for a city in Asia, which I’m really, really excited about - keep an eye out!

FOLLOW LAUREN YS | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | SHOP

#Art #Vans #Vans Girls #Vans Art #Sketchy Behaviors #Interview #Lauren YS

422 notes · View notes

bbhyuckie · 5 years

Text

Crossed Wires - 3

Find chapter 1 here, or read it on AO3 here.

Genre: Slowburn office romance.

Chapter word count: 5.4k

Warnings: None to note.

By the time Monday morning rolled around, you had only gotten through about three quarters of the take-home work you were supposed to finish. Sue me, you thought, As if I didn’t have other things to preoccupy myself with. Regardless, it still should have been done. You knew Johnny wouldn’t take a crippling crush as a valid excuse for being behind.

If stressing about the workload you didn’t get paid appropriately for wasn’t enough, you also had the issue of Doyoung; he seemed to be a recurring thought. Well, he and his note. It occurred to you rather quickly after finding it that you were not ready to meet him in person, especially at a party surrounded by colleagues. You thought about saying you never went to these things, or that you thought holidays were a corporate scam, or maybe that it was against your religion. But the most plausible thing you could come up with was to pretend the note simply didn’t come across in transit. It would make sense, really. The note didn’t come in a confidential file, so that meant Jaemin must’ve carried it down to you by hand. Papers got lost all the time!

The thought failed to ease your anxiety.

You woke up before your alarm and decidedly could not get back to sleep. You lazed around for as long as you could before finally getting up and taking a shower. You sat in your towel for a while, sipping on your instant coffee and cramming as much last minute work as you could into your laptop. At some point you decided to admit defeat and actually got ready for the day.

You checked yourself in the mirror before you left, and noted that you had looked better. Your outfit was fine; a pair of low boots, black jeans, and a slightly oversized sweater. The outfit wasn’t the problem. Your skin looked tired and your eyes were more puffy than you would have liked. It felt like that contract was going to kill you. You shook yourself off and headed for the door, regardless of your current state.

On the way in to work, you made good on the mental note you had given yourself the friday before. You stopped by a coffee chain to make your resident intern’s life a little easier. Lord knows you would have appreciated it when you were in his position. You begrudgingly bought coffee for the rest of your department, too, though your heart ached when he cashier asked for payment. You scribbled out more of your work at a table while you waited.

By the time you finally pulled into the parking garage of your office, you felt like you should be half way through your day. You were early, still, and got a decent parking spot. Thoughts of which car belonged to Doyoung crept through your mind. What if you had seen him before, heading to his car? What if you had been in a meeting, sat across from him? You wouldn’t have known, and you supposed, neither would he. For some reason, that fact made you feel a little safer. The anonymity of him being a handsome stranger was… nice. It was also better than stressing out about him.

You weren’t exactly sure when it happened, but at some point over the weekend, you had switched from being charmed and having an innocent crush on your partner to being completely and totally on edge about the whole situation. Part of you wished you had never talked about it in the first place, as if that would fight off the inevitable.

“I hope one of those is for me,” a voice lilted at you, knocking you out of your thoughts.

You looked up and saw the smiling face of Donghyuck, swiveling in his chair at the front desk. You had managed to wander into your office finally.

A smile crossed your face. “I suppose one of these is.”

You leaned against your younger friends desk. Donghyuck grabbed at one of the iced coffees and smiled as he pressed it into his hands.

“Isn’t it too cold outside for iced coffee?” he asked.

“Weren’t you taught to never look a gift-horse in the mouth?” you laughed, swatting at him. He blanked at you, like you were speaking Greek. “Don’t find fault in a gift, you brat!”

Donghyuck cracked a smile at you and thanked you for the treat.

“Fine, sure, no fault in the gift. But can I make a comment on you? ” he asked.

You squinted at him in warning.

“You look tired.”

You sighed at that. “Yeah,” you said as you brushed your hand over your face, “I’m painfully aware.”

Donghyucks’ usual light-hearted demeanor shifted slightly and you noticed the worry that traced his brow.

“No,” you pointed at him accusingly, “No. Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” Mark was beside you before you could realise it, and he decided he was going to be part of this conversation, too. You sighed in defeat. He took a coffee out of the carrier without asking.

“The worried thing he does,” you said, glad to see Mark, “Where he looks at you and doesn’t say anything. But he does! With his eyes! ”

Mark laughed and bumped his arm against yours. “Yeah, he’s good at that. Try living with him.”

“Hey!” Donghyuck interjected, pride wounded, “Since when was it a bad thing to have concern about your friends?”

“Oh, it’s not a bad thing.” Mark turned to move towards the hall your department was in, “Just frustrating. Like when you eat my leftovers out of the fridge without asking.”

Donghyuck groaned loudly as you made your way behind Mark. “That was weeks ago! Let it go!”

With that, you and Mark made your morning walk back to your office. You didn’t say it (and he wouldn’t ask), but you were thankful he showed up when he did. The boy had an affinity to be seemingly everywhere at the same time.

Enough time passed before Mark finally said, quietly, “Please tell me I’m not the only one who didn’t finish their homework.”

For the first time in days, the tension you weren’t aware you had been holding in your shoulders released.

“God, you have no idea how glad I am you said that,” you sighed, “I busted my ass all weekend and I’m not done either.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” He whisper-yelled at you, “It’s like junior year of highschool, but… worse , somehow.”

“Corporate slaves,” you conceded.

Mark laughed and opened the lightly frosted glass door to your department for you. You handed out the morning coffee rations to Ten and Jaehyun before finally sitting down into your desk. Much to your dismay, you had an email full of new documents and information; it took your full focus to stay composed and conscious. You found some solace in knowing that the influx of work would pass eventually— but that didn’t help you in the moment.

Your hand was covered by Jaehyuns’, and you realised belatedly that you had clenched your freehand and were gripping your mouse tighter than comfortable. You looked up to meet Jae’s eyes and smiled weakly. He looked just as tired as you did. You relaxed, somewhat, and he ran his thumb over the plane of your hand comfortingly.

You slid your hand out from underneath his and decided it was time to actually start your morning.

In his defense, Yuta loved and cared for you deeply; he genuinely only wanted the best for you.

That being said, he was also known for his unorthodox ways of doing so.

He had mulled it over since he went to your place. His date was good, but unfortunately, he kept thinking about your problems. The irritating part of it all was that they weren’t his problems, but he felt responsible over them. He knew that you would probably, with all due respect, fuck things up for yourself. So Yuta, the humble, generous man he was, had to make sure you didn’t do that. He wanted a fairy tale ending for you (and himself, really,) but he had no idea how to do that.

“Hey Yuta, can I ask you a question?”

Hook.

Yuta looked up from his desk to see Doyoung sit down in the office space adjacent to his.

“Sure,” Yuta smiled, “What’s up?”

Doyoung smiled to himself — in that shy way he was very good — at before finally meeting Yuta’s eyes again. “You know Y/N, right? You worked with her before I got here, I know, but are you two friends?”

Line.

“Yeah, pretty good friends. We hung out this weekend, actually.”

“Ah…” Doyoung pulled his brows together in thought for a moment before saying, “Is she…? Is she single?”

Sinker.

Yuta smiled before he could catch himself and knew his features were painted with mischief. He could tell by the way Doyoung immediately started back tracking.

“I—, wait. I’m just asking because—!”

Yuta decided to cut him off before he hurt himself. “Easy, Doyoungie, I get it. She’s young, charismatic, attractive…”

Doyoung met his eyes again with embarrassed intrigue.

“Is she?” he asked cautiously.

Yuta smiled at the deja vu. He felt like he had just had this conversation, only with pieces moved. He took time to describe the angles of your face, the curves of your body, but decidedly left you ambiguously beautiful. He said you had nice hair, but left out style and cut; pretty, shapely eyes, but didn’t mention color; he was telling the truth, but he wanted to make sure that even if Doyoung saw you, he would have no idea who you were.

“—and yes,” Yuta concluded, “She is single.”

Doyoung nodded like he was processing before meeting Yuta’s eyes again.

“I know…,” he paused, “I know I don’t really know her, or… or anything about her. But she’s really sweet, and I guess I just wanted to know.”

“Get to know her, then,” Yuta said, not missing a beat. “She isn’t that hard to open up to.”

“I was thinking about talking to her at the holiday party. I left a note about it in one of her files last friday, seeing if she was going.”

Yuta tried his hardest to keep his face calm. A note? About the party? And you hadn’t told him? His first emotion was a pang of hurt. He thought the two of you had a heart to heart on friday, and you left out such a valuable detail? He realized rather quickly that that was stupid. You had also forgotten to tell Yuta that you and Doyoung had yet to meet in person. It didn’t shock him that you might have happened to allow a few other details to slip your mind. Alternatively, he thought you may have wanted to keep things private, but that didn’t make much sense to him. Maybe you hadn’t seen it yet. Yuta stopped his rationalizing in order to return to reality.

“Oh? Any response?”

Doyoung laughed slightly, “Well, I’ve only just sat down, so no.”

Yuta laughed politely in return, offhandedly mentioning he was tired before turning back to his desk. It seemed he had more work to do that day than he had initially thought. He would have to make a call to his partner.

You were waist deep in work by the time you heard a gentle knocking on the door of your department. You turned around and saw the sheepish looking face of Jaemin peeking inside. You made a face at him and he motioned for you to come into the hall before disappearing behind the frosted glass again. You opened your mouth to dismiss yourself, but decided you would only be interrupting the other three.

You stepped into the corridor to see the smiling face of (arguably) your favorite intern. There was a note of devilry laced into his feature that you couldn’t quite ignore.

“What?” you asked cautiously.

Jaemin’s smile only split wider at the inquiry. You made another face at him, admitting you were truly lost.

“Oh, come on ,” he groaned at you, slouching dramatically, “There’s nothing you want to tell me?”

“No?” you shifted your weight, “Am I missing something here, Nana?”

Jaemin pouted almost instantaneously, face showing equal parts disappointment and dilemma.

“Okay,” He spoke again, more slowly this time, “I know I’m not supposed to know about this… But what did you say to Doyoung’s last note?”

You knew you looked shocked. Your features must have fallen into something almost cartoonish, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. You blinked at him before grabbing his arm and dragging him haphazardly into the nearest vacant conference room.

“ Tell me,” you said tightly, closing the door and leaning against it, “That you haven’t been going through our files.”

He looked at you bashfully through his lashes. You groaned in defeat.

“I don’t go through anything confidential!” he mended quickly, “I just — I didn’t mean to start reading them, I just dropped a file one day and as I was picking it back up, I saw one!”

You rubbed your temples. This was equal parts embarrassing and troublesome; some of the files had bank informations and other sensitive data that interns were definitely not supposed to read, confidential or otherwise.

“Why did you keep reading them?”

“Well, I—… I don’t know. I was just interested. I thought the two of you didn’t get along, from what you said last time and all. I just wanted to read a few, but it was interesting! You can’t blame a guy for getting emotionally invested.”

“Yes I can! Jaemin, I did not write those notes with the idea that anyone else would be reading those. What if I said something stupid? Or embarrassing? Or, I guess, more embarrassing?”

Jaemin frowned at you. “I didn’t mean to make you feel weird or anything… It was stupid. I’m sorry.”

You met eyes with him and sighed. He looked properly sorry, in every sense.

“I know,” you said finally. “It’s okay, just— No one else can know about this, okay? You could get in trouble for reading files, and it’s probably inappropriate conduct for Doyoung and I to be having personal conversations through business files.”

Jaemin’s winning smile was back. “Alright, on my honor. Not a soul.”

The two of you interlocked pinkies and walked out of the conference room as inconspicuous as possible. You ruffled his hair and parted ways.

You left the office late, hanging back for a while and letting the others leave. Your encounter with Jaemin had left you on edge. Everything seemed off. Who else knew? Had someone already showed him what you looked like? A wave of disquiet washed over you when you thought of how easy it would be for him to just… look you up. You weren’t exactly a social media fiend, but you had a LinkedIn with a photo of you from a few years prior and a private instagram with a relatively recent thumbnail of yourself. Neither were very definitive, and thankfully you had deleted your facebook when you went the corporate route. You were safe- ish from prying eyes, but the thought still loomed in the back of your head.

It was a curious thing that you were so worried about him knowing what you looked like. You weren’t unattractive. Men usually seemed to be pretty taken with you. Hell, Jaehyun had even tried to flirt with you for a while when you had first joined the department (insert flashback to him drunk dancing at a karaoke bar here.) So why was it a problem if he saw a picture of you? You paused. Was it because of how Yuta had told you about him? He checked all of your theoretical boxes. You hadn’t thought about putting people in leagues since you were in high school, but you certainly had started to do it again. You caught yourself saying it the night that Yuta described him, and you were feeling it still.

About twenty minutes after everyone else had left, you decided home was calling. As you hit the lobby, you happened to bump into Sicheng, the Logistics manager. The two of you knew each other well enough, and you would gladly spark up some small talk if you saw him in the break room. You met eyes with each other and a mutual understanding was met; he smiled and fell in step with you, but you were both decidedly tired. You didn’t say anything to each other until you parted ways in the parking garage, and even then you didn’t say much more than a goodnight.

It was a sobering thought that there were far more important things to worry about than abstractly handsome colleagues. The quiet walk with Sicheng was a gentle reminder of that. As you settled into your front seat you wondered how long this would go on. You had a new, albeit smaller, folder of documents to take home. They were thrown haphazardly into the seat beside you.

On the way home you had decided that you weren’t going to be doing your adult homework tonight. As much as you would hate yourself in the morning, you had hardened your heart and decided that if you didn’t get to have a proper weekend, then you could at least have a monday night to yourself. There was a coffee shop across the street from your apartment that you went to on the weekends sometimes; the coffee was better than Starbucks and the wifi was hard to match.

You decided to grab takeout on your way home. As you waited in the lobby of a chinese restaurant you set your alarm for the following morning at 05:30 and winced. The idea of being conscious before eight o'clock hurt enough on a normal basis, but you rationalised that it wouldn’t be too bad after a decent night of sleep. You drove the remaining few minutes home and climbed the ever dreaded mountain of stairs for the umpteenth time, all the while testing your self control in the form of keeping your hands off the egg rolls in the takeaway bag.

After finally reaching your apartment, you dropped your bag and folder on the island and poured yourself the remainder of the wine Yuta had left before the weekend started. You pulled your tired body into bed and wrapped yourself in the duvet. You watched a few episodes of one of your shows, shoving chow mein in your mouth, until a thought dawned on you. You stabbed your chopsticks into the then empty carton and set it on your bedside table, returning your attention to your laptop.

Dumbly, you looked around your apartment to make sure no one could see what you were doing. You tried to write your dirty conscience off as side effects of working in a cubicle setting. With timed, cautious hands, you opened up a new tab in your browser and moused into the search box. The slowly flashing text cursor stared back at you expectantly, like it knew what you wanted to do; like it was inviting you to do it. You splayed your fingers over the keys experimentally, finding purchase over the raised lines of the anchor keys.

Search: kim doyoung |

You watched the text cursor keep blinking at you, the search box decidedly still open and unsent.

Your laptop closed almost of its own accord, and you only noted your hand atop it thereafter. At least you still had morals, you supposed. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or whatever. It was about time you got to bed anyway, especially if you wanted to wake up at a decent hour the following morning. You closed your eyes and tried to sleep.

Monday evening you was an idiot . That was about the only thought in your head as you crossed the street to the cafe opposite your building.

The cafe was quiet and warm as you opened the glass door; the forced, heated air embraced you as you walked in. It was empty of customers, save for you. The shop wasn’t quite family owned anymore, but the business was smaller than most, and homey. There were lots of tables for the space and two couches with coffee tables pressed against either wall to your left and right as you walked in. The floors were a warm wood that was covered in lots of areas by rugs that looked like they would be soft. The tables all matched, and the chairs did too, sort of. They were vaguely the same shapes with varying colors of well loved paint fading atop them. The register and kitchen were tucked in the back to the left; pastries were made fresh every morning and were actively fogging little circles in the glass display case they resided in. The walls were covered with art from artists you had never heard of and there was a bulletin board in the back with local community events. The entire space was inviting.

The finishing touch to the store was it’s employees. You were familiar with a few of them, but as early in the morning as it was, there were only two to be accounted for. As the bells on the door jingled behind your entrance, you saw the head of a baker you remembered as… Henry? You weren’t sure. He was rather new and your visits had slowed as of late. Regardless, he peeked around the corner of the kitchen before ducking back. He was quickly replaced by another, smiling face that you were more familiar with.

“Good morning, Kun,” you waved, walking towards the counter.

Kun, as he was, happened to be your favorite barista of the entire establishment. You had met about a year earlier when you had more time to spend in coffee shops. He had a bright demeanor and his appearance seemed to match; radiant skin, happy eyes, and brown, sunkissed hair that always seemed to be somewhere between styled and purposefully messy. He was chronically nice to you when you visited and you made an effort to remember his name. He seemed to remember yours too, calling you by it fondly.

“Y/N! Long time, no see, huh?” He leaned up against the counter facing you, apron pulling taught against his frame as it was pinned between the surface and his hips.

“Too long, I think,” you replied. A smile came over you naturally despite the hour.

“Well, how about you tell me what you want to drink and then we can catch up?”

Kun took your order and adamantly denied any form of payment you tried to throw at him. He said it was too early to charge people for anything, and he didn’t really feel like ringing up the order anyway. You knew that was bullshit, but he shooed you away to find a place to sit while he made your drink. You picked a table near the counter anyway, and opened your laptop to start your work. You opened the folder you had refused to open the night before and caught yourself feeling disappointed that there was no trace of Doyoung in it.

Kun pulled you from your thoughts as he sat across from you. You looked surprised that he was sitting with you, to which he quirked an eyebrow and looked pointedly around the rest of the empty coffee shop. Point made.

“So,” He slid your coffee across the wood top of the table towards you, “What have you been up to? And how can you be working on something already?”

You laughed at that, because honestly, you were wondering the same thing.

“Oh, you know, working my life away. SM signed on a new contract and my life has been hell ever since!” Your tone was too cheery for your words.

Kun smiled sympathetically across from you. “No rest for the wicked, right?”

“None. What about you? Aren’t you going to school?”

Kun smiled, clearly pleased that you remembered the things he had told you. “Yeah. I’m nearly done with my undergrad, and maybe I can finally get a job outside this place.”

“Whatever will I do without you?” You feigned a swoon and leaned your chin on your hand. He laughed at that, and made a comment about you never stopping by anyway.

“So nothing exciting? Just paperwork?” He asked.

You sighed. “Unfortunately. I’ve given up all adventure and liveliness to this contract,” you paused and Kun waited patiently, “Plus, I’ve been adjusting to a new partner recently.” “Oh?”

“Yeah, a new transfer from a couple cities away, I think. He, uh… He’s nice, just… He’s proving to create more issues than I initially allotted for.”

“I’m enthralled,” Kun urged you, honestly wanting to carry a conversation with you regardless of the topic.

You spent the next half hour complaining about your initial encounter, the notes, and Jaemin reading said notes. However, you seemed to skim over the issue of romance for whatever reason. It wasn’t that you didn’t remember to bring it up, moreso that it didn’t feel necessary when you were talking with Kun. Part of you wanted to seem cool for Kun, and romance had always felt decidedly uncool .

Kun waited and listened patiently. You were grateful you had a third-party to vent to, even if you may have been oversharing. You weren’t really expecting any advice, and Kun didn’t give any; he just agreed with you when your tone implied, and grumbled attentively when you said something that was obviously not meant to be agreed with. He begrudgingly left the seat across from yours as the next customers shuffled in, leaving you to finish your work.

He parted with a short comment; “Well, whatever happens with this Doyoung … Live a little. Life is short, and you deserve it.”

You smiled after him. The remark was endearing and you appreciated it. You didn’t respond, instead watching him for a moment as he greeted the young couple at the counter.

You finished working through your take home file with about a half hour to spare before leaving to retrieve your car from the parking garage. Sunlight was beginning to fall through the front windows of the building, and more tired faces were sipping away at their drinks around you. You were tired still, but not the same invasive exhaustion you had felt the morning before. You did need to get out more often, you decided. Being around people that you didn’t know was freeing.

And Kun was right. You were young and charismatic. You deserved to live outside of your nine-to-five. You deserved spontaneity. You deserved to be impulsive sometimes.

You reached into your bag and pulled out the note Doyoung had left in that file over the weekend. You read his neat handwriting for what felt like the hundredth time.

You deserved to be impulsive sometimes.

41 notes · View notes

imagine-loki · 6 years

Text

Unofferable, Part II

TITLE: Unofferable, Part II

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 5, For Show AUTHOR: unofferable-fic ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine courting Loki in secret for a number of years. While you’re both more than happy with the arrangement and are genuinely in love, you can never make your relationship public because of your status as a mortal servant.

RATING: M

NOTES/WARNINGS: Angst, language, suggestive content. Playlist: “Girls Like You” — The Naked And Famous, “Méditation from Thaïs” — Jules Massenet, “Is This Love” — Whitesnake

As was customary before and after big occasions on Asgard, feasts and balls were frequent. It meant that it was quite a busy time for servants and kitchen staff alike, but it was even more stressful for young Ellie. At least she and Loki received some warning beforehand from Frigga, but this particular occasion was set to be a particularly trying one for them both. Mostly because Odin had invited representatives from Vanaheim and Loki’s betrothed, Sigyn, was also on the guest list.

While they were both particularly miffed by this, they couldn’t do much about it. As a prince, Loki had to do his duty and make an appearance, and, as his handmaiden, Ellie would also have to appear. This meant that she would have to be in the same room as him while he met his betrothed for the first time.

Certainly not an ideal situation for either of them.

Ellie was well used to having to remain professional and pretending that nothing was going on between them when in the public eye, but this was on another level. Could she hold it together while watching him schmooze with another? While she knew that Loki loved her — she had never been so sure of something in her life — there was a tiny, completely irrational, part of her that was terrified of the prospect of him actually liking this woman. Was that possible? That little part of her thought so, even though it was ridiculous idea. In five years he had never even looked at another in such a manner! She didn’t want to voice her concerns to him either considering how completely ludicrous they were.

But what if Sigyn arrives and she’s a beauty? her irrational side piped up. What if he sees her and realises he’s wastin’ his time with you? After all, you’re still mortal and she’s—

“Ellie?”

Loki’s voice snapped her out of her daze and she looked up from her breakfast to see him watching her apprehensively. “Huh?”

“I have been talking to you for the past five minutes,” he explained, patting his thin lips with a napkin. “And I think it has gone in one ear and out the other.”

“Sorry,” she sighed. “I’m just kinda tired and I zoned out. What were you sayin’?”

“I was asking how you feel about tonight, but all I received in response was ‘mmm hmm’, so I assumed your mind was elsewhere and did not want to pry.”

“Well, I was actually thinkin’ ’bout the feast later, but I was also not listenin’ to you, so I apologise.”

“Oh?” he asked, giving her his full attention. “Would you like to talk about it?”

She contemplated being honest for the briefest of moments before she settled on something else she was pondering over. “Are you gonna be okay? What with havin’ to speak to Lady Sigyn and all?”

A large hand slowly ran through his raven locks, brushing them from his eyes. “Well, I am certainly not looking forward to the occasion. I would much rather never have to deal with her. At least I can find comfort in the fact I will not be marrying her. If I must put up with her company for once evening, then so be it. I will remain polite and formal however, as I have no interest in wooing her. I would much rather woo you.”

She chuckled at that. “I think you’ve already managed to woo me, Loki. Considerin’ we’ve been courtin’ for five years, no?”

“I intend to never stop wooing you, Ellie,” he replied. “I enjoy keeping you on your toes.”

“Maybe someday we can go to a feast together too,” she mused hopefully, even if it was merely a dream now. “That’d be nice.”

“Yes, it would. Someday.”

“It’s an unrealistic dream, I know—”

Loki placed his freehand gently on top of hers. “There is nothing wrong with having dreams, little one, especially if they involve yours truly.”

She released a sigh, but couldn’t help smiling at his adorable smirk. “You’re lucky you’re insanely charmin’, y’know that?”

“I had to win you over with something. But enough about me, how are you faring ahead of tonight?”

“Eeeeehhh,” she drawled, for once finding it difficult to pick her words. “Let’s just say that I’m not exactly wishin’ the day away so that it begins sooner rather than later.”

With a small frown, Loki shifted his seat around the table so that he could sit right by Ellie’s side, firmly clutching her hand in his. “So we feel much the same about it then. I really wish you were not being put through this.”

“I wish you weren’t bein’ put up to this either. It’s not exactly fair on either of us.”

“Nothing about the situation is fair,” he murmured, idly stroking his thumb against the back of her hand. “My mother had promised to intervene if Lady Sigyn grows too fond of my company, but I doubt she will attempt anything other than polite discourse.”

“I certainly hope so. I know you wouldn’t do anythin’ else with her, but I’m a little anxious ’bout it, I guess.”

“Anxious about what exactly?” When she hesitated for a moment, he added. “Come now, little one. You know you can tell me anything. I can sense that there is something amiss — that there is something you are not telling me. I am always here to help.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Nothing that causes you genuine stress or discomfort is stupid. If I can help, I will do my best.”

“Alright,” she sighed, straightening up in her seat, her eyes fixed on her free hand. “I’m worried ’bout when you meet your intended and what you’ll think of her. And before you try to interrupt me—” She put up a hand, effectively shutting him up. “—I know what you’re gonna say, but just hear me out for a sec and let me say what I have’ta say. I know it’s somethin’ Odin wants to arrange purely for political gain with Vanaheim, but what if you meet her and realise that she can offer you things that I can’t? As it stands, all I can give you is a secret relationship — one that your father abhors — and that’s it. I’m a mortal handmaiden amongst royalty, amongst gods. With her, you could y’know, actually have a public relationship, you wouldn’t have’ta hide it, or disappoint your father. It could make your life a lot easier, especially if you meet her and you end up likin’ her.”

As she finished her sentence, her voice dropped, the image she was painting making her stomach drop. The thought of Loki finding happiness with another was…heartbreaking. She genuinely wasn’t sure if she could watch it unfold before her tonight.

“Ellie.” His voice pulled her back to reality. “Ellie, look at me.”

My name has never sounded better comin’ from anyone else’s lips, she thought to herself, slowly raising her gaze to meet his. She was overwhelmed with his green orbs, looking at her intently before he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. The gesture, along with the thought of him being with Sigyn, and the overwhelming stress she had been under of late sent her overboard. Before she knew what was happening, tears were flowing freely down her cheeks and her bottom lip was quivering beyond her control. She buried her face in her hands as sobs erupted from her throat. All she wanted to do was curl into a ball and disappear. She didn’t want to go to this fucking feast. She didn’t want to watch her love socialise with a woman his father expected him to marry. She didn’t want any of this!

Before she could react, she felt strong hands lifting her up before gently seating her in what she assumed was Loki’s lap.

“It is alright, darling,” he whispered gently, wrapping his arms around her and slowly rocking back and forth. “Shh, it is alright. I’ve got you. Everything is alright. You are safe here with me. I am going to protect you.”

“Please don’t leave me,” she sobbed, voice shaking with distress as she buried her face into the side of his neck. “Please don’t. You mean so much to me, Loki, and I can’t bare to think ’bout you and her—”

“Hey now,” he began, voice soft and comforting in a way that was only ever heard by her. “I am not going anywhere, I promise. I am going to stay right here, okay, Ellie? You are not going to lose me.” With gentle hands cupping her face so that he could press his forehead against hers. “I’m not going anywhere without you. There is no need to cry, love. We have already solved it, remember? This marriage will not be coming to fruition, I promise. No matter what happens tonight at this feast, I can assure you that I will never look at another the way I look at you, or feel love for another the way I feel it for you. I will never want another and I will never seek out another. So please do not plague yourself with these thoughts. I will do my best to ensure that you never feel this way again. This feast will change nothing about how much I love you. Just breathe.”

“I love you too,” she managed to get out through small whimpers, finding reassurance in his comforting words and closeness. “I’m sorry I doubted us.”

“We cannot be strong all the time,” he hushed her. “It is a trying time and you have dealt with a lot. But please know that nothing will happen tonight to push us apart. There is only one woman with whom I will be leaving.”

A small chuckle escaped her as she sniffled. “She’s a lucky girl.”

“I would argue that I am the lucky one.”

“Agree to disagree?” she suggested playfully as he dried her tears with the sleeve of his under tunic.

“Not a chance,” he replied and softly kissed her lips.

Her worries banished for the time being, Ellie tried to find what comfort she could in her lover’s embrace before they had to face their fears later than evening. She did a good job of hiding her anxiety as she and her fellow hand servants attended to the food and drinks. Not even Fen, Sevda, or Rainger seemed to notice her discomfort, thanks to the believable facade she put up. The feast itself wasn’t the standard “sit down and have polite dinner conversation” type. Instead, it involved people walking freely while being offered drink and food from servers and from a number of tables around the dance floor. It was designed to allow everyone to mingle, which thankfully meant that Loki could insist Ellie stick close to him — he needed to be waited upon obviously, and he preferred that it was from someone who knew exactly what he liked to eat and drink. While the atmosphere in the hall was nothing short of positive with all the Asgardians more than happy to congratulate Thor in his upcoming roll, Ellie was still on edge. That being said, Frigga frequently returned to her and her son to see how they were faring. It was a comforting gesture, however small.

Despite the positive start, the point in the evening they had been dreading eventually befell them, for the next time Frigga came to them, she was in Odin’s company and that of the Vanir.

“Loki, my son,” Odin began as Ellie watched on. “I would like you to meet Lady Sigyn, your intended.”

Ellie’s eyes trailed along Odin’s outstretched arm and her gaze eventually fell on Sigyn. She sucked in a sharp breath at the realisation that this woman was stunning.

By the fuckin’ Nine, she just had to be beautiful, didn’t she?

She supposed this was a standard thing with gods, but it only caused her anxiety to begin nagging at her again. Of course she would have flowing blonde hair and alabaster skin to die for. Her form fitting blue dress was an exceptional choice and highlighted every asset she had. Everything about her screamed of worth and royalty. She looked like a genuine princess, one which would look well suited on Loki’s arm.

“Lady Sigyn,” Loki greeted her formally, bowing his head slightly. “A pleasure.”

“And you, Prince Loki,” she replied, just as politely. Beside her, the Vanir were then introduced, but Ellie couldn’t focus her attention anywhere else. Before her brain could begin to reiterate how damned stunning this goddess was, she felt a little internal tug in her chest, one which could only come from one other.

It was times like this when Ellie truly loved the soul bond with Loki. While it had its clear benefits, being able to secretly communicate while surrounded by others was one of the best aspects. In a way, a link existed between them, once that could be gently tugged to gain the attention of the other. It was like an invisible rope that became stronger and clearer the closer together they were. With the link was an electricity, much like the flutter she felt inside when in close quarters with him. The tug she felt at that moment was meant to be one of reassurance from him. Along with it, came his voice in her head.

“While she possesses that which most men and women would be bewitched by, you are far more beautiful to me than she could ever hope to be. You stand there thinking you are nothing, and yet you are the only one from which my gaze never strays.”

At that moment, she thanked God for her insignificance, because no one noticed or subsequently questioned her blushing cheeks. His words did their intended job and eased a lot of her worries, even with this gorgeous person standing before her. Odin and Frigga slowly drifted away in the company of the Vanaheim officials, chattering as they had to, leaving the trio alone to bask in the awkwardness of their encounter. Ellie stood by her prince, not moving from his side unless he told her otherwise. There was a silence for a few moments for Sigyn spoke again.

“Are you enjoying the festivities, Your Highness?” she asked Loki politely.

“It is alright,” he admitted with a calculated glance around the room. “These events are not something that I actively enjoy or pursue. They are more so tolerated.”

“I am none too fond of them either,” she replied with a slight frown. “They can be overwhelming sometimes. I prefer small gatherings, but I suppose this is what comes with royal duties.”

“Unfortunately,” Loki agreed. “Many royal duties are more of a hindrance than anything else.”

The meaning behind his words did not get passed Ellie. She certainly didn’t disagree.

“I will take your word for it, Prince Loki.” Suddenly, Sigyn’s eyes wandered over to Ellie. “This is your handmaiden, yes? The Midgardian?”

“Ah, yes,” he replied. “This is Ellie.”

“My Lady,” Ellie greeted her, dipping her head slightly. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you, dear. Would you mind fetching me a drink?”

“Oh.” Momentarily surprised by the request, Ellie cleared her throat before she nodded. “Yes, of course. If my employer permits me to?”

“It is alright, little one,” Loki reassured her. “You may fetch Lady Sigyn a drink.”

A very small part of her was hurt by the request. Ellie knew she was being unfair — there was no way Loki could tell her to not bother fetching the drink for fear of rousing suspicions. It was her job, and it certainly wasn’t out of order for Sigyn to ask the handmaiden of her betrothed for a drink. And yet, as she nodded once more and walked away from the pair, she couldn’t help but think that she was fetching Loki’s intended a drink. Loki’s intended. That stung.

Fetch me a drink while I speak with my husband-to-be…

It drove her mad, but what was she to do?

As was expected of her, she fetched the drink, and returned to them with a goblet of wine in hand.

“Your wine,” she announced and carefully handed it to Sigyn. “As requested, My Lady.”

“Ah, thank you, Ellie! Prince Loki was just telling me that you have been employed with the Royal Family since you were but a babe? I had not realised you were so young.”

“Uh, yes. I was brought here when I was five years old, and began to train with Frigga and her handmaidens some time after. I’ve been Loki’s personal handmaiden for nearly six years.”

“And how old are you, dear?”

“Twenty four, My Lady,” Ellie answered, slightly put off by her question, but masking it well.

That roused a chuckle from the guest, who went on to say. “My! You are still but a babe! Although I suppose it is different considering you are mortal and have a different lifespan to the Aesir.”

“I suppose so,” Ellie muttered, feeling the horrible dread filling her throat and chest once more.

“Lady Sigyn,” Loki began quickly, setting his own empty goblet down on a nearby table. “You must forgive me, but I will have to take my leave and retire for the evening.” Though Sigyn’s face fell slightly at his confession, he gave her no chance to question him and continued on. “I have not felt in the best all evening and fear that I would just be rather dull company for you. It has been pleasant to meet you, but we must continue this conversation another time. I will leave you in the capable hands of my mother, father, and brother. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

With merely a polite bow, Loki turned and began to walk right out of the hall, not even bothering to ask his parents for permission to leave. Without even hesitating, though she knew he would get shit for it tomorrow, Ellie followed him from the hall and out into the deserted corridors. As soon as the doors closed behind them and once there was not a single guard in sight, Loki dragged her into a nearby alcove, pressing her against the stone wall with his body, and crashed his lips against hers.

Well, this isn’t exactly how I expected my evenin’ to go.

She yelped slightly when he bit her lower lip, but he merely took the opportunity to forcefully slide his tongue into her mouth. Her eyes immediately slipped closed, enjoying the shiver of pleasure that ran up her spine. His large hands cupped her face, and the growl that rumbled in his chest had her heart thumping erratically.

“I will not have you be her servant,” Loki growled between rough kisses. “She has no right to ask that of you, or to comment on your heritage.”

“Loki,” she gasped, clutching at his hair as he pulled on her bottom lip with his teeth again. “It’s okay—”

“I won’t allow it,” he insisted. “You are not hers. You are mine, and only mine.”

“I know, I know,” she reassured him in a breathless whisper, knowing that it was her turn to comfort. “I’m yours, Loki.”

The shiver that ripped through his body was easily felt beneath her wandering hands, and he unceremoniously shoved his knee between her legs. “Gods, I have to have you.”

“Now?” she asked, the rough fabric of his pants rubbing against her and making her whimper.

“Now!”

“C’mon. We’re goin’ to my chambers.”

Though they would much rather be doing the opposite, the lovers quickly straightened out their clothes before hurrying back towards her room. They paid little attention to the few Einherjar about, and likewise they paid them no mind. Upon arrival at their respective bedrooms, a carefully placed duplicate of Loki walked into his chambers while the real disguised Loki followed Ellie into hers. Once the door was shut, all hell broke lose.

As Loki reappeared in a haze of bright green light, he pulled Ellie into his arms again, kissing her with a heated passion that usually came about when he had been truly upset by something done at her expense. She didn’t argue, but merely met his passion with her own, moaning into his mouth as she deepened the kiss. The couple stumbled backwards, refusing to separate despite the risk of falling over, when suddenly Ellie felt her legs hit the back of her bed. When he pushed her on top of it, she giggled and scooted further up the bed as he climbed on top of her wearing a massive grin. She met him halfway when he leaned down to capture her lips once more.

“You are the only one I want beneath me, the only one I will bed,” he hissed, quickly shoving her skirts above her waist. “And I am going to fuck you so hard that the whole palace is going to hear you scream my name as you come.”

“Jesus, Loki…”

“I will not wed her and I will not bed her either. You are mine.”

In an aroused daze, Ellie lay flat on her back as he reared up on his knees and quickly undid the buckles of his pants, staring at her with blown pupils, the green in his eyes barely visible anymore. “Jesus, you’re fuckin’ stunning like this.”

“You should see yourself right now, love.”

Without further thought, he quickly slid between her legs, lay atop her, and kissed her deeply. The weight of his body on hers made her moan wantonly, relishing in the sensation and the feeling of safety it gave her. She bucked up against him, urging him on. She needed him now and simply couldn’t wait any longer.

Neither of them even had a chance to react before the door slammed open and shut again.

“Ellie, I need to speak with you about my brother’s secret— what in the name of Odin’s beard!?”

Her eyes snapped open, seeing a completely shocked Thor standing in her room, mouth agape and eyes darting between her and Loki above her. “Oh, shite!”

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!

Thor’s voiced filled the room. “Ellie! Who is—?”

Loki whipped his head around to see his brother standing there. He was then quick to shield Ellie’s body with his. “Thor! Get out, you fucking imbecile!”

“Loki?” the God of Thunder yelled, looking totally horrified. “What are you doing?!”

It was all happening too fast. In an instant, Ellie realised that her and Loki’s secret relationship was ruined.

She began to panic. Her hands clutched at Loki’s arms as they protectively caged her on the bed. Her breathing quickened as Thor’s eyes finally settled on Loki with what could only be described as murderous rage.

“Get off her!” he demanded, quickly approaching the bed in a threatening stride.

Loki was quicker, already protectively pulling Ellie to the other side of the bed as she obediently clung to him with one arm and held out the other to Thor in a plea for him to just wait. “Thor, stop! Don’t—!”

“Loki, I said get off her!”

“Stay away from her!” Loki barked as they got to their feet on the other side of the bed, holding her behind him as he faced off against Thor. “Do not take another step!”

“Brother, if you forced yourself on her,” Thor began, raising his fist as he clenched his teeth. “I will see to it that you regret it!”

The assumption horrified her, and she was too stunned to reply, so it was Loki who snapped. “What? Is it so hard to believe that she would want to lay with me, you dense brute? Get away from her!”

With a growl, the elder Odinson raised his hand, threatening to summon his trusty Mjölnir without even looking.“Move out of the way, Loki! I will not tell you again!”

“Thor, shut up!” Ellie practically screeched, slipping around to stand close next to Loki, who was still struggling to hold on to his loose pants with one hand. She wrapped an arm around his waist, other hand still raised at his fuming sibling. “Would you stop shoutin’ and listen to us for two fuckin’ minutes!”

Thor’s eyes finally moved down to meet hers, and she hoped to God that he recognised the desperation in them. “You better explain what I have stumbled upon before I throw him from the window!”

“You won’t be throwin’ him anywhere, Thor!”

“If he has forced himself on you then yes I will—”

Before she could say another word, Loki cut across her. “She is my lover, you halfwit!”

The room fell into silence.

Ellie felt her stomach drop. There was no other choice, but this was nothing short of a disaster. She couldn’t help but fear the worst.

“What?” Thor demanded, calmer but still visibly enraged and confused. “She is your what?”

“My secret lover,” Loki explained, teeth clenched but speaking slightly calmer than he had been two seconds ago. He hung his head before continuing. “The one which I told you about that night a few years ago. It was Ellie.”

The God of Thunder was clearly stumped.

Ellie could hardly blame him.

Thor’s rage suddenly dissipated and was replaced by complete shock. His eyes darted between them as his hand was slowly lowered back to his side. In a far lower voice than before, he asked Ellie. “Is what he says true?”

“Yeah, it is,” she answered. “I love him, so you won’t be throwin’ him out of any windows.”

“You already know how I feel about her,” Loki muttered, holding her close. “So I shan’t repeat myself.”

Thor seemed…baffled. Absolutely baffled with the new information he had just discovered. He was completely quiet as he tried to comprehend it all.

“How long has this been happening?” he eventually asked, this time addressing them both.

“It began shortly before I told you we had argued,” Loki explained evenly, gaze firmly fixed on his brother now as he awaited a reaction. “And we have been courting ever since.”

“But I… I do not understand how… h-how you have done this without us knowing?”

“Mother already knows. She realised it through her own motherly intuition, as it were. But she is the only one. Until you.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Ellie insisted. “If Odin finds out ’bout us we’ll be in deep shit.”

“But what of his marriage?” Thor asked. “That is why I came to speak with you, Ellie! I wanted to ask for your help to stop it.”

“Well, I’m as bewildered as you are, Thor. We don’t exactly have any ideas ourselves.”

“So,” Thor spoke slowly, placing a massive hand on his temple. “You are telling me that all this time, you two have been…courting?”

“Yes,” the younger sibling agreed. “And you won’t be speaking a word of this to anyone.”

“I won’t,” he insisted, seemingly quite genuine. “But brother, you spoke of your secret lover in quite a lovely manner. So you are telling me that you are in love with little Ellie?”

“I am, brother, as crazy as it may sound. And she loves me.”

The room fell into silence once again until a smile slowly formed on Thor’s lips. He suddenly approached the couple and wrapped his massive arms around them both, hugging them tight. A sigh of relief escaped Ellie and she took a second to glance up at Loki and flash him a small reassuring smile of her own.

“This is wonderful news!” Thor declared, leaning back so that he could get a good look at them, his whole demeanour changing with said ‘wonderful news’. “I never would have suspected… I cannot believe I did not realise! Is this why you asked that she be your handmaiden?” Loki could only roll his eyes in response, and this was all Thor needed as an answer. “Loki, you scoundrel!”

“Thor—!”

“I merely jest! I am happy for you both. First, I was happy because my brother had found love, and now I know that my dear Ellie has also found it, with you! This is a delightful turn of events.”

“We appreciate the sentiment,” Ellie said. “Really, we do, but you can’t speak a word of this to anyone. I’m serious.”

“I know, I know, and I give you my word that I shall keep your secret.” With a laugh, Thor grinned at her. “Does this mean I can call you sister?”

Loki immediately groaned while Ellie blushed. “For the love of—”

Before he could argue, Thor placed his meaty hand on the back of his brother’s neck and squeezed lightly. “I hope you know that I greatly approve of this and I am glad you have found happiness in each other. I mean that, Loki.”

Now it was Loki’s turn to be stumped. For a few seconds, his usually impassive facade broke, showing the surprise that he felt at the admission. Ellie was quick to hold his hand in hers, giving him any comfort that she had to offer. She knew he was surprised to have his relationship being accepted by his brother. She was sure that he had expected the earlier accusations to be thrown in his face, despite how severe they were. But this? This acceptance, this joy, this utter delight at his happiness was not considered.

And it warmed Ellie’s heart.

With Loki surprisingly at a loss for words, she was the one who spoke. “Thanks, Thor. That means a lot to us, really.”

“Not at all! This revelation is a thing to celebrate.”

“Maybe we’ll leave the celebrations until tomorrow. We were gonna head to bed before you…arrived.”

Thor let out another laugh, looking at them both as if they were children caught doing something bold. “Ah, yes! I forgot that I interrupted you two earlier. I will let you get back to your fun.”

She couldn’t help but cringe at his words, and Loki literally hung his head in his hands. “If I hear another word from you, I swear, I will wring your neck with my bare hands!”

“You do not need to tell me twice. We can discuss solutions to your arranged marriage tomorrow, brother. I wish you both a good night.” With a very inappropriate wink, Thor took his leave and left the couple alone.

All Ellie could do was sigh and sit herself down on the edge of her bed. As she shut her eyes and tried to calm down, she felt the bed dip beside her and her lover’s hand gently squeezing hers.

“Should we have told him?” she whispered. “’Bout the plan and the Frost Giants?”

Loki looked back at her with a frown and slowly shook his head. “Not if we wish to stay together. No one can know, Ellie.”

Though lying outright to Thor was not part of the plan, she couldn’t deny that Loki was right. “No one can know.”

With another person aware of their relationship, it just put them at further risk of being discovered by Odin, but they would have to make do with their situation.

Despite the change, the plan still stood.

As the couple sat together in a completely different atmosphere, they couldn’t help but feel unsure with the future. The lies kept growing, no matter how much they tried to prevent it. But the plan had to happen.

There was simply no other way.

#Loki #Lover #Angst #Submitted fic #submission #chapter 5 #unofferable-fic #unofferable Part II

28 notes · View notes

jazzarray · 6 years

Text

Riju Production Post

So I’m mostly doing this for my own references (and as a reminder to take more pictures while working on costumes for proper progress posts/threads), but I just wanted to take the time and put together a post on my process and methods while working on my fave cosplay to date, Riju from Breath of the Wild!

This post will be really photo heavy. And text heavy. Just heavy overall, so watch out on mobile (sorry ahead of time) -

WARNING for hand closeup in the last image, scopophobia,

First things first, I gathered as many reference images as I possibly could. I went into the game itself and used nintendo’s handy dandy screen shot feature to take some pics. I also lurked around online in various boards and things to see if anyone else had taken some good detail shots of things I had missed. Here are some that i found the most useful:

Full body shots are always necessary. This one also gave me the bonus of being able to estimate how many coins to put on her skirt as well as a reference for the print inside of the skit

Much needed detail shots of the armor she’s wearing. I wanted to nail down the shape and dimension of everything as much as i could

And, since I love a good Prop, I had to make the Thunder Helm. The construction seemed maybe not simple but not ridiculous enough that I felt I could confidently reproduce it

Then I decided to do something I had sort of done before, but not to the extent that I did with Riju. I needed to draw everything out, write what materials would be used and where, how much I would need, the techniques I would use, etc. To save space, I’ll link to the post where I uploaded the four pages of breakdown I did for her --> here

I started on her probably later than I should have, around late Feb, March of this year (the con I debuted her at was in May). And then I messed around and didn’t get started on her as soon as I could have even after all my materials were bought. Speaking of which, let’s do a quick materials breakdown and where I got stuff

I bought about 3 yards of a slightly see-through, light weight black knit from Joanns. I was also able to find a heavier cotton blend printed fabric that, from the wrong side mimicked perfectly the pattern on Riju’s inner skirt.

I drafted my own patterns. The top was essentially a slightly bigger sports bra. The skirt I think I just kinda wrapped the fabric around myself and had my sister cut the angle I wanted. I used that piece to cut the inner lining of the skirt.

I hand painted the design on the top with 3d fabric paint. Some of the colors had to be mixed, particularly the gold. And i had to mix them multiple times bc I couldn’t finish it all at once lol. That was a pain.

JSYK, you can mix fabric paint with regular acrylic and it’ll still be just as flexible.

I stretched out the top on a cutting board I had and held it there with wonderclips lol. Bootleg, but it worked

This was also my first time working with bias tape! It’s kinda rough in some sections but it gave the top a really nice finish, i think. I also added some lil shoulder straps on with the rest of the tape I had, just for added support.

Jewelry, Belt, Armor, etc Everything not fabric was craft foam of varying thickness. Everything was either primed with glue/water or was coated with a few layers of plastidip. The detailing on the chest and belt pieces were done with 3D fabric paint

The only pieces not foam or fabric are air dry clay and hot glue casted gems. I made my own silicone mold with pure silicone + corn starch + a bit of baby oil. I think I used oven bake clay for the negatives and just filled those babies with hot glue. Sanded down the sides to get the defined lines I wanted and painted them with nail polish.

The air dry clay pieces coming off of the chest armor were strung together with more invisible thread and kinda shoddily held together with hot glue. But It Worked, Okay?

Everything that needed to be put on that wasn’t clothing (chest armor, jewelry pieces, belt, the petal sash looking thing) was strapped purely with velcro.

The shoes were just a thrifted pair of black heels and I painted the lines on with Angelus brand leather paint (this stuff is godly and a little goes a long way)

Here’s the base of the front of the helm unpainted.

I used 8mm eva sheet foam and 8mm dowels the from TNT Cosplay Supply as well as some basic 2-6mm foamie sheets from any store with a craft sections (I think i got mine from michaels? and some backup 2mm sheets from walmart)

The helm was a bit odd to pattern. I spent a lot of time doodling out shapes in my sketchbook. I made some v elementary templates out of poster board and had a Lot of re-working, especially with the slightly curved base of the front of the helm, the actual mask part. I knew it had to be two pieces because trying to make it one would make the curves at the top wrong potentially. It also gave me a good guideline for the midline of the helm itself for coloring.

Everything was held together with contact cement and shaped with a heat gun. I learned with this project just how pliable even 8mm thick craft foam can get when it’s hot. I reinforced some of the curves by scoring the curves and gluing the cut section back together.

I primed this all with glue/water mix and everything was spray painted that base gold.

I....completely freehanded the non gold sections. I painted the brown of the front of the helm first and then remembered the gold sections going down. I think I tried to sketch out the lines at first and then just went “fuck it” and free handed everything. Took a lot of careful brush strokes and correcting but I think it turned out well.

if you look closely at the pieces with the half question marks on them, you can see where I attempted to correct some lines with hand mixed acrylic and didn’t exactly get the color right lol whoops. It’s only noticable in closeups tho.

The front and back pieces of the helm were held together via velcro. I wanted them to be able to come apart, especially since I knew I was going to travel with it. The whole thing is rather Rigid so it needed some way to be more travel-with-able.

Close up of the Helm. It was extremely light weight, if only a lil awkward to tote around. I made it way too big so it couldn’t even be worn properly lol.

Weirdest snail I’ve ever seen

Base wig was Buttercup in Rust Red by Arda . I also got a bunch of their long wefts in the same color as well as their red jumbo braids. I used their tutorial on how to style a Rapunzel wig as the basis for how to do the braid.

I ruined my first pack of jumbo braid hair and had to order more last second. The wig was one of the last pieces to get done.

As in the rapunzel method, the braid is separate from the base wig and attached with hook/eye closures. It was still really dragging the back of the wig down, but I managed to braid in most of the base hair of the wig into the braid to hide the worst of it. It was so long, it reached all the way to my butt, i was so happy

The styling of the front of the wig was....mostly me winging it again. I knew theoretically what I needed to do -- tease the front bang a bit, add on wefts so that the hairline looked natural. But when I started doing so, I got impatient, like I normally do. To be fair the wig turned out way better than i thought it could given how much of a rush job the hair line and the bump + pinwheels were but hey

Everything got a generous helping of got 2 b glued spray

the side loops were completely separate pieces. I initially intended to sew them into the wig, but it was easier to put on and take off when they were separate

these were fabric hoops i stuffed lightly with pillow batting and, in another rush job, glued some wefts onto the loops. The gold rings were also just craft foam

Aside from the lipstick, I didn’t do the best with my makeup as I could have lol

I didn’t properly plan out what to color my eyebrows with. And covering them up was a serious rush job -- I didn’t practice before hand like I should have so I didn’t get them as smooth as I wanted

I also used....regular lipstick as the color, not even a drying matte, so anytime my hands went near my face (which was often bc of the helm, I had to whip out my mirror to do a smear check

The eye makeup was lipstick as well, but a matte one! It’s colourpop, I can’t remember which shade. The lipstick actually on my lips was a cheap drugstore brand I found at a beauty store.

First pair of ears were i think from Aradani?? I can’t 100% remember; there was a booth at Katsu this year....

Second pair, bc i lost the first pair somehow, was borrowed from a good friend lol

Now I know how to make my own latex ears so that’ll be what I do in the future

Contacts were from Alice and Rabbit’s Shop

I’ve got a decent amount of (what I would/could have done betters)

I need to figure out a better strapping method for the jewelry. The velcro I used was pretty thick and i found multiple scratches where they rubbed against me all day (a couple of em briefly scarred lol)

I wasn’t able to isolate a good enough image for the sand seal emblum that’s actually printed on her skirt. I might just hand paint it on if I can draw a decent enough template

The back piece of the helm, the band that connected to the circle, was...a pain. Since I was in the heat, it lost its shape pretty quickly when not attached to the front part and having to reshape it caused it to crack quite badly.

The aforementioned circular piece also wasn’t as securely connected as it could have been (i’m still trying to figure out what I could have done better. Maybe pins or something through the foam?) and I had to rush to the cosplay repair booth when I got to the con to make sure it didn’t completely rip off.

I found two pairs of black heels and neither of them fit well enough to walk in all day! so I would up taking a bunch of photos in the wrong shoes bc I had switched them out and forgotten to put the actual shoes back on lol.

Practice the makeup!! Practice, practice practice. Especially eyebrow blocking bc mine are pretty thick and bushy and it Did Not work as well the first time lol.

And last but most importantly: GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH DANG TIME TO NOT RUSH

i was so hesitant to cut into anything, especially the foam, that i wound up working on things down to the wire, aka friday night before I was set to wear Riju.

Take time,especially when doing new things you’ve never done before

don’t be afraid to think outside the box and even reach out to someone, even if they’re a non-cosplayer, for help and ideas because they will probably save your ass (thanks dad)

So here is my little love letter to my Riju cosplay. It’s...admittedly in shambles kind of now. Half of my armor pieces had some bumps or breaks that are repairable but not a priority. The wig is a mess because the back kept tangling on my armor pieces. The band/back of the Helm is also a wreck, cracked to hell and back.

But!! I want better pictures of her, so I want to try and fix her up so I can at least do a decent photoshoot somewhere. I also wanna make a patricia plush! Maybe enter her into a contest??

Only time, patience, and a Lotta Money will tell lol

#jazz says shit #jazz takes pics #cosplay ramblings

7 notes · View notes

sporadiccrafting · 7 years

Photo

Tea Set Jewelry Project Progress

So here is the progress I made so far on the tea set jewelry. Since I really had no idea what I was doing I decided to make two of everything so I could try multiple methods. The methods that worked best became part of the set I will give my friend, meanwhile the ones that I didn’t like as much will be the set I keep.

This is most obvious in the tea pots because oh my god was the a hassle. I though it was going to be much easier than it was. I was really set on making the one for my friend actually be able to hold and pour liquid (just because I thought that would be cute) which made making it a real pain. Getting the exact shape was very hard. I eventually chose I method I found on youtube where I shaped the body around a marble, cut it down the center, baked it, removed the marble and fused the two halves with clay, added the spout handles and bottom and baked again. This was just too much damn work so for my tea pot I just shaped the whole teapot around the marble, baked it and left the marble in forever lol.

As hard as the teapots where...the teacups were worse. I swear if I ever make tea cups again Im just going to make the general outside shape and dremel out the inside. As it was I tried to shape these around the end of a paintbrush and oh my god they did not want to unstick once they were formed. I tried all the tricks I know (cornstarch, saranwrap), but they kept sticking so hard that they would loose their shape coming off. It too SO many tries to get it right and I’m still not completely happy with the finished product. But oh well.

The plates weren’t that hard compared to those. I basically just flattened a round piece of clay then shaped it on top of a half inch wide tube to give it the raised edges.

The trays probably took the least about of work. All I had to do was cut a rectangle and raise up the sides lol. Above I have the one where I pushed in the scaloped edges in the clay as my favorite, but I actually changed my mind and am going to give my friend the one where I left the edges as they were to bake and sanded the shapes in with a dremel after baking.

The painting was a bit of a process, but only because im...not that great at painting... I scaled back on my original design (removing the leaves and designs on the cup) because i got tired of painting and thought things looked well enough as is. I still want to add some gold designs to the edges to give it more of a china look like in the design, but the gold paint I had was way too translucent. I finally got some new gold paint today so hopefully I can finish up the painting this weekend.

All thats left to do is to add the gold paint, attach the pin/chain and glaze everything. (though I do think I will want to do a glue test before I add the pin. I actually am not sure if superglue or E6000 will work better. I mean ideally I should have just baked the pin back into the tray but...like...thats SUCH a pain)

#original post cb #WIP #polymer clay #jewelry #pin #necklace #tea set #crafts #project: tea set jewelry

1 note · View note

lindoig · 7 years

Text

Days 27 to 30 - Cobourg!

Day 27 - Tuesday

Tuesday dawned like all the other days up here – it got light and right after that, it got hot! Almost no cloud and being closer to the Equator, the Sun burns more directly and hotter. All days are hat and sunscreen days. But it is soooo beautiful, the heat is hardly a problem.

On the road by 7.15 after a healthy brekky and off to Cahill’s Crossing on the East Alligator River. It is a tidal river (tides flow in and out with the river flowing against the incoming tide and augmenting the outgoing one) and your crossing needs to be timed to ensure the water level is sufficiently low (no more than half a metre seems to be general practice up here) and the current abated enough to avoid being washed off the road into the croc-infested torrent. There is an upside-down Landrover in the river just downstream from the crossing left by people who misjudged the current – and I think two guys died as a result. One needs to be aware of a few different hazards up here. While there, we saw some guys fishing and one of them caught a huge barramundi – I think Alex guessed it at 12-15kg, possibly more.

Once the Crossing was successfully crossed, we travelled through a beautiful area of grassland containing patches of water festooned with water lilies and water birds. There were numerous species when one searched carefully, but the white herons really stood our – all 4 species! (We Had lunch at Fogg Dam on our own a week later and counted 30-odd species in an hour – among maybe tens of thousands of birds.)

Next stop was Gunbalanya – an indigenous community with a strong arts focus and we watched several of the artists, mainly painters, creating their masterpieces. They are not something that I particularly hanker after, but having watched them at work, I am in awe of their ability to draw straight lines, circles and other shapes using the most primitive tools (brushes cut from speargrass stems) absolutely freehand with never a mistake. Seemingly quite natural for them, utterly impossible for most of us.

We picked up a local guide at the Arts Centre and set off for Injalak Hill, maybe 5km out of town. We parked the car at the foot of the hill and set off for the summit! We saw some Jabirus fly in to their nesting sites on the top of the hill and said ‘if they can do it, so can we’. No idea why, it was a silly thing to say, but the challenge was there. It was a really strenuous climb with frequent pauses to catch our breaths and let the stragglers catch up, but we made it. Michael, our Aboriginal guide, was most solicitous of we oldies and from time to time, he started small bushfires to clear some of the tall grass to make it easier for us to take particular routes up the rocky climb. I have commented on the use of fire elsewhere, but Michael simply lit fires wherever he thought appropriate and they burned 20-30 square metres and then went out quite spontaneously. Apparently, the indigenes know where and how to use fire to ensure it achieves its objective and then dies out itself, rather than creating an inferno – having said that, it was a hot day and heat from the fires was quite intense.

Injalak is an amazing conglomeration of large/huge/enormous rocks and the aborigines have been painting on them for millennia. Michael told us some of the stories, but many of them are secret men’s or women’s business and can’t be disclosed to the uninitiated. One area he took us to was a former burial site and there are still skulls and other bones hidden, but visible, in the area. We eventually reached the top of the hill (the jabirus were on a nearby inaccessible outcrop) where we had lunch. We were very high up and we could see miles and miles of floodplain, including the billabong the town of Gunbalanya is set beside. It was quite breathtaking – hectare on hectare of brilliant green grass and huge swathes of water lilies encircled by many thousands of birds – egrets, herons, terns, raptors, waders…… Just thousands of them all doing what they do every day, but gobsmacking for me. Iconic NT wetlands as I have always imagined them.

We had a few other stops as we headed north – out of Kakadu, across Arnhem Land and up the Cobourg Peninsula to the Cobourg Coastal Camp operated by Venture North (our touring guides). The Camp is more of a Glamp, set on a 100-foot cliff overlooking Port Essington (4 times the size of Sydney Harbour). After a brief tour of the Camp and being shown to our tents, it was time for a quick cold shower and a Happy Hour with champers and nibbles at the ‘patio’ on the edge of the cliff. The sun was setting and it was a most wonderful experience. The tide was low and a big 4-metre croc was basking in the shallows almost at our feet. We saw several 2.5-metre sharks cruising by. Also, some big rays seemingly flying along with undulating wings and the odd turtle or two. It was like being on another planet or in another time – but that is what we paid our money for and it was worth it. The food was excellent for every meal and by the time we rolled into bed, I think we were all completely sated with the adventures of the day and looking to more in the morning.

Day 28 – Wednesday

Our rooms are tents, but a bit more elaborate than the usual cub-scout ones. They are set up permanently on raised hard-floor platforms, each with two single beds and a minimum of furniture. (As a result of our feedback, the managers were out buying more furniture and a few minor accoutrements the following week.)

The toilets and showers (hot and cold, but we only needed cold!) were a short walk away and had wonderful views of the bush. Great birdwatching locations. All very private, but with the roof and one side (above a metre or so) open to the sky and bush. All equipped with frogs, some with toads, and at least one with a snake. Plenty enough mozzies to go around, and unfortunately, most seemed to prefer to dine on Heather and she has been suffering ever since. The toilets were all self-composting, but to reach the throne, you had to ascend three steps to the elevated dais – but at least the climb improved the view across the woodland and facilitated the birding.

After breakfast, we boarded the boat (wet landings both ends) and set out for Victoria Settlement. On the way, we stopped a couple of times to look at some shorebirds, including a couple we had not seen before (one of which is quite endangered) and encountered a pod of dolphins that enjoyed surfacing right next to the boat on numerous occasions before becoming bored with their human spectators.

Victoria Settlement is the area where a British ‘colony’ was established for 11 years in the mid-1800s. It failed (like the other two they set up nearby) but we did a 3.5km walk in extreme heat to look at what was left of the ruins. It was all very interesting, but not so unlike things we have seen elsewhere and the heat and exertion was sapping – I think I drank at least 5 litres that day, not all of it beer. Back in the boat, we headed back to camp, but spent an hour or so ‘fishing’ for our dinner that night. We trolled along and Peta was given the rod and caught several barracuda that were released (they don’t eat them) and one rock cod that became dinner, mainly for Heather and me because neither the other Heather, nor Peta eat seafood. Incidentally, there was a third Heather at camp - she was the mother of the owners. She and Ross, her husband, were up there helping out for a couple of months so there were actually three Heathers at dinner each night. She was fine – really nice – but Ross was a bit overpowering at times.

After lunch, the afternoon was free and I spent most of it wandering around looking at birds. Heather was really unwell after the morning’s exertion (and the previous day’s mountaineering) so spent most of the afternoon asleep. At least that meant she was feeling much better the next day.

Day 29 – Thursday

Another interesting day! We left camp about 8am and headed north to the northernmost point in the NT – Smith Point (via the pig trap, unfortunately empty, but we rebaited it with kitchen scraps). We stopped numerous times en route, this time staying quite close to the coast and noting the different nature of both the landscape and the vegetation. We called in at a few places to look for mud crabs and Alex was very proud of himself for catching a really big one. He broke his crab spear at the first place we stopped, but gaffa-taped it together and caught the crab with a seriously incapacitated spear at our next stop. We also collected quite a lot of cockles in the shallows and our booty was augmented with some huge oysters that had been collected by Heather, the camp mother. That was mainly (my) Heather’s and my Happy Hour food that evening – Ross scoffed some of it, but there were plenty of other delicacies to choose from anyway. (I think I said that Peta and her Mum don’t eat seafood.)

We saw a few new shorebirds and did some beach-combing at several spots and eventually stopped for lunch just shy of Smith Point. The coastal country was quite different from what we had previously been driving through so we had new trees and plants to discover as well as unusual shells on the beach and a quite different environment to explore.

We went on to Smith Point and spent some time there learning a bit of local history and looking at (and photographing) different flowers and unusual rocks. We went on to the Ranger Station where the Ranger’s wife offered a ‘Buying Opportunity’ of some of her jewellery, craft and photographs. Heather indulged, but I went looking for birds at the nearby billabong – with very limited success.

We called in at a couple more quite beautiful billabongs on the way back to camp, always aware that there could well be crocodiles lurking mere metres from our feet. The water is crystal-clear and often quite shallow, making it a bit harder for a croc to creep up on you – but they are sneaky critters – huge animals that ambush their prey by stealth. We have watched them with only their eyes above water, sometimes not even that, slinking through the water ever so slowly creeping up on a wallaby or a fish – and Ross tossed a couple of slices of bacon onto the beach 20-30 metres from where a big croc was lurking (we spent a lot of time on the ‘patio’ watching him - the croc rather than Ross) and he simply exploded out of the water and rocketed up the beach to eat it. It was sooooo scary – nobody would stand a chance against the speed and power of this most ferocious animal if he decided that you were his next meal. Still, plenty of people go swimming or stand in the water to fish so they must know something we don’t – but I won’t tempt fate anyway.

Back at camp, I went birding for a while before Happy Hour and a scrumptious dinner, but we were all tired and crashed early.

Day 30 – Friday

I awoke pretty miserable with a cold. I had a sore throat the previous day, but sitting in the enclosed car all day with Sean hacking and sneezing all week, it was probably inevitable. I was determined not to let it spoil anything, but by early afternoon, I would have been quite happy napping the rest of the day. It was mainly a day of driving the 500-odd kilometres back to Darwin, but we stopped to enjoy a few things along the way.

On the way up, we had seen a bus bogged on the side of the road, laying half on its side, it was bogged so deeply. It was one operated by an up-market touring company that seemingly employs rather careless drivers. They had bogged one of their buses about a week earlier and it took several days to dig it out. Of course, they also had to ferry their customers out a few hundred kilometres back the way they came instead of them flying out from the resort they were heading for. The very next day, the driver bogged a second bus in exactly the same place and it took a while to get the passengers out because the bus was leaning over so far, they couldn’t get the door open. They ended up leaving the bus there and used two more buses, one to take the clients to where the bus was bogged where they had to walk past the bog and onto another bus to take them onto their destination. We bumped into one of their drivers more than a week later when we were both fuelling our vehicles and he said they had only recovered the bogged bus the previous day – a very costly couple of mistakes and a serious dent in their reputation. At least it gave us a talking point and a few photos to memorialise the escapade.

We stopped at the Murganella low-level river crossing for morning tea and Alex went fishing – maybe a bit risky in our view, but he did catch a couple of barra although too small to keep so they were released, possibly only to be eaten by the next passing crocodile. We had to stop again at Cahill’s Crossing and had lunch there while we waited for the tide to recede enough for us to cross. We watched a big croc lurking near the floodway and saw several fishermen and women – but they caught nothing while we were there (nor did the croc). A few rather foolhardy punters crossed with the tide at close to 700mm, but one was nearly washed sideways by the current so we wisely waited until it dropped to just under 500mm.

Back in Kakadu, we went to Ubirr where there were a lot of aboriginal rock paintings. It was quite a steep climb to the top of the hill for the enthusiasts who wanted to see all of them, but with me suffering shortness of breath with the cold and Heather a bit puffed too, we saw what we saw and wimped out on the steepest section – and let the others go to the final level (which by report was little different from what we had seen anyway).

We stopped for fuel at Jabiru and saw some penned crocs and buffalo and it was very sad to see. These magnificent wild animals were confined for life in quite small areas and after seeing their cousins in the wild only days before, it was quite depressing. There were plenty of cute little agile wallabies hopping around though so that was more encouraging.

We finally made it back to Darwin and the caravan about 7.30 and we were both a bit worse for wear. Heather’s was also developing a cold and we both had mozzy bites (Heather had heaps and hives as well) so we were quite glad to be ‘home’ again. We ate dinner from a can, had a cold shower and watched the final episode of Vera - and crashed.

It had been a WONDERFUL trip, the experience of a lifetime, a fabulous adventure in the remotest of Aussie wilderness – but it was hot, sticky and exhausting, on the go for long hours each day, and with our minor health issues emerging, probably long enough for us. We had had a great time, but it was really good to be back home.

0 notes

agosnesrerose · 7 years

Text

Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Planner

We’re waist-deep in January, so what better time to get organized and start a new planner? I was so taken by the planner featured in the article “Creative Days Ahead” by Dawn DeVries Sokol in the January/February issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine that I had to make one for myself. It seemed like the perfect project for Studio Saturdays.

If you haven’t caught planner fever, this project will convince you to get on board. Keeping a planner like this isn’t just about writing your to-do list; it’s about making something unique, using your favorite supplies and techniques, and documenting your creative life.

This Create Along series is in three parts: In Part One we’ll create the cover, in Part Two we’ll bind the planner, and in Part Three we’ll decorate the pages, using fantastic collage, painting, and layering techniques. If you’ve never made a book before, you’ve come to the right place. This project uses a repurposed book and a very easy binding stitch, so there’s nothing difficult or intimidating. If you’re a veteran bookbinder or book artist, you’ve also come to the right place. We’ll do some fun techniques for painting and collaging the cover, and the binding stitch is quick and eye-catching.

Let’s get started! Here are the materials you’ll need for Part One. Don’t freak out about the number of supplies—I urge you to use what you have on hand, and to experiment. This is all about making something that reflects you, so feel free to try something different, do a variation on a technique, or break free altogether. Some supplies, as you’ll see below, are optional.

• Book with an intact spine about 2″ wide: A book bound for the recycling center is great for this project, but make sure the book is sturdy, and the spine is not split or coming apart from the covers. The spine width is important—make sure it measures about 2″. The book I used is 6″ wide x 9 1/4″ deep.

• Utility or craft knife

• Scissors

• Sandpaper

• Ephemera, such as book pages

• Regular gel medium

• Paintbrushes

• Gesso (optional)

• Acrylic paint, white or ivory, and burnt umber, plus a variety of other colors in dark, medum, and light values

• White chalk pencil (optional)

• Paint pen (optional)

• Black permanent pen (optional)

• Baby wipes or paper towels

• Stencil

• Cosmetic wedge

• Soft gel medium, gloss or matte, or acrylic glazing medium (optional)

• Palette paper or palette

• Palette knife (optional)

• Acrylic ink (optional)

• Stabilo Woody Crayon, black (optional)

• Number stamps (optional)

• Stamp pad, black, permanent (optional)

Quick tip: When choosing the book for your planner, think about where and how you’ll use it. If you want to carry it with you, choose a small size. I knew I’d be keeping mine at home, so I went with a fairly big book—I also wanted larger pages to work on.

To remove the text block (the pages) from the spine, pull on one of the covers while holding the text block, and you’ll see them start to separate. Put the tip of the craft or utility knife blade in between the cover and the endpaper, and start cutting downward, making sure your hand is out of the way. Also make sure that you’re not cutting into the spine or any part of the book. Repeat for the other cover, and reserve the pages for later. Clean up any jagged edges along the inside of the spine with a craft knife, scissors, or sandpaper.

Use a utility or craft knife to cut the text block away from the covers.

The book I’m using was a prop leftover from a photoshoot, and it had been painted red. I left it that way because I already had the color in my palette. You can leave your cover the way it is, or, if you want to cover it completely, brush on one or two coats of white gesso and allow it to dry completely.

Collage some papers on both covers, leaving the spine intact. I used a variety of book text, but use whatever you have that’s interesting and has some contrast—this layer will show through, so papers with some kind of pattern is good. I adhered the papers with gel medium; allow this layer to dry.

The first layer of the painted covers starts with collaged ephemera.

Now it’s time to really have some fun. Paint a great big mess on the planner covers. Really go nuts and layer colors and shapes and brushstrokes, and make marks in the paint while it’s still wet with your fingers or the end of a paintbrush. I started with a palette of blue, teal, and turquoise, and added pops of red for contrast. I mostly used tube acrylics, but fluid works just as well. Use whatever you have on hand. If you’re incorporating complementary colors, wait for one layer to dry before going on to the next so you don’t get mud. If you’ve obscured the collage papers, knock back the paint a little in those areas with a baby wipe or paper towel. Let everything dry.

For the underpainting, get messy with brush strokes and colors.

Choose a design and paint over the first layer with a very light color (I used titanium white). You can freehand it or draw it first with a chalk pencil. Choose an open design that allows the underpainting to show through; I painted leaf shapes. If you have mad painting skills, now’s the time to turn them out. If you don’t, like me, simple shapes are absolutely fantastic, and you can’t go wrong. As before, make marks in the wet paint as you go. If you don’t like something, a baby wipe will take it right off. Let dry.

Brush on a light color, letting the underpainting show through.

Here are the planner covers after the second layer of paint. I drew some veins in the leaves with a paint pen. Also, you’ll see that I didn’t go completely up to the spine. That’s because we’ll be covering it later.

The underpainting shows through the white, creating depth and interest on the planner covers.

For the next layer, choose a stencil with a pattern that complements your design. With a palette knife, mix some acrylic paint with soft gel medium or glazing medium in a 1:1 ratio; I did this because I wanted the paint to be somewhat translucent, but you can just use the paint straight. Dip a cosmetic wedge in the paint, pounce some of it off, and stencil onto the cover, however you want the pattern to appear. Let dry. When my cover was dry, I outlined some of the stencil shapes and created some random dots with a white paint pen, and outlined the leaf shapes with a black permanent pen.

Stencil over parts of the design, using a mixture of paint and medium.

With a palette knife, blend a small amount of burnt umber paint and soft gel medium or glazing medium in a 1:1 ratio. Dip a paper towel into the mixture and lightly swipe it across the covers. I wanted to create a bit of depth and warmth with this layer, so I didn’t use a lot. A baby wipe will be your salvation if you apply too much.

A few swipes of burnt umber paint warmed the painted covers of this planner up a bit.

The next step happened because I made a big goof. Big. I thought the planner cover would look cool if I dripped some dark blue acrylic ink on it, but the drips were so large and ugly that I panicked and grabbed a baby wipe to try to take the color off. In the process of wiping it, I created a beautiful blue stain. This became one of those happy accidents that I will now use in a future project. Try this technique if you’re feeling up for it, but you can also skip it.

I don’t know if you’ve discovered Stabilo Woody Crayons, but if you haven’t, you should check them out. These big fatties are water soluble, and you can draw with them, or hit them with a wet paintbrush or water brush and get beautiful watercolor effects (Spoiler alert: I used them for my planner pages as well.). I used a black crayon with a water brush, painting around the leaf motifs, waiting about 30 seconds, and then rubbing in the color with my fingers. This created a kind of shadow/stain effect that I absolutely love. You can also get this effect with a black Stabilo All pencil, or plain watercolor.

A water-soluble Stabilo Woody Crayon added even more depth and shading.

I wanted to represent the year of this planner, so I stamped 2017 with the Montreal Large Numbers set by Michelle Ward, using permanent ink. Since the cover is textured I didn’t get solid impressions, so I filled in the spaces with a black permanent pen. I liked the way the zero looked, so I left that as is. I then added some dots on top of the numbers with the white paint pen, and enhanced some of the dots on the cover so they’d pop a bit more.

For the planner cover, the year was stamped with permanent ink and embellished with a paint pen.

Quick tip: To hasten dry time, use a heat tool. Be careful not to heat the area too much—acrylic paint can start bubbling.

Since I’ll be using this planner for a year, I need it to be sturdy. In the next installment we’ll reinforce the spine, collage the inside covers, and also bind the book. So you can get ready for next week, here’s what you’ll need:

• A piece of bookcloth 1 ½” taller than your cover and 2 ½” wider than the spine. Bookcloth can be found in some art supply stores, and online. You can substitute fabric, but if so, you’ll need dry adhesive, such as Grafix Artist-tac Permanent Dry Adhesive.

• PVA glue

• Glue brush

• Waxed linen thread, 4-ply, about 7 yards

• Bookbinding needle (you can substitute a sturdy darning needle)

• Bone folder

• Paper for the pages. Determine how you want to use your book, and choose your paper accordingly. I wanted to use wet media, so I chose 98-lb. paper from a Canson XL Mix Media pad. You’ll need 35 folded sheets. To determine the size for your planner, measure the pages from the text block. If those aren’t available, subtract ¼” from the height of the book, and measure from the flattened spine to the front edges of the cover (called foredges), and subtract ¼”. Your pages will be that height x double the width, and then folded in half. Based on my dimensions, my pages are 12″ wide x 9 1/8″ high. You’ll need 36 folded sheets.

• Scissors

If you have any questions on the techniques or supplies, please leave them in the comments. See you next Saturday! In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about this article and other book-related resources, take a look at these great products from the North Light Shop.

See Dawn DeVries Sokol’s planner project in the January/February 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine.

Make your own custom three-ring binder, and turn it into a planner; see how in this Colorful and Custom Three-Ring Binder video with Erin Zamrzla.

Discover how easy it is to make your own travel journal in this Travel Journal video with Erin Zamrzla.

Delve into the world of artists’ books in the eBook Book + Art by Dorothy Simpson Krause.

The post Studio Saturdays: Mixed-Media Planner appeared first on Artist's Network.

from Artist’s Network http://ift.tt/2jiaRGU

http://ift.tt/2iqeOp3

0 notes