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dark-angel-of-muses · 6 months

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Totally Nailed It

Legend didn’t remember it was his birthday until he came downstairs. Ravio had once again moved all the furniture against the walls without his permission, although he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad considering the displays of gifts and cake that replaced them. He could see all the gifts the Chain left. They were going to celebrate tomorrow. The day of his birthday, Ravio shooed them all out of the house so Legend didn’t have to worry about hosting.

“Oh, you’re awake Link! Perfect, I was just about done. Are you ready for a Ravio patented Birthday Luxury Retreat?” The merchant wiggled his eyebrows,

“How much of a retreat is it when we’re not leaving the house?” Legend jabbed.

Ravio waved him away, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “The verbage doesn’t matter, just sit down! I wanna start on your first present! Wild taught me this, so I hope I can do it right!” Legend was wary as he sat down. Wild taught him? Wild had a variety of skills, and he really hoped Ravio wasn’t about to burst into some Goron dance performance Wild had taken up from Death Mountain.

“Wild said Gerudo ladies pride themselves on body artistry, and the most delicate of all is..” Ravio left room for a dramatic pause, and his hands popped up with little glass jars of varying colors. “Nail art! Wild taught me a lot of cool designs I can do. I learned how to draw the symbols of your golden three, and Wild actually had a stencil for the Hyrule crest! I can try freehanding something else if that’s what you want, or we can do solid colors. It’s your day, so your wish is my command!” Ravio’s eyes sparkled in excitement.

A manicure? That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. But if Ravi was going to offer to pamper him, who was he to say no?

“Can you alternate red, green, and blue, with Din, Farore, and Nayru on each color respectively?” It was a complicated request, but Ravio was already nodding in agreement and grinning ear to ear as he set out the colors and took Legend’s hands in his own.

Ravio was adorable as he focused, tongue poking out from his lips as he squinted at Legend’s nails. He wasn’t even anywhere close to the hard part yet, starting with a base coat to prime all the nails.

“Wild said if you go straight for a color coat, it's more likely to chip! He’s fine with that for flat colors because it's easy enough to add another coat, but all the designs should be protected to preserve the effort that went into them!”

Legend already knew proper nail procedure from his time in Hytopia, but it was a special kind of blessing to watch Ravio gush about something excitedly. The merchant would smile wide, showing off the hint of buck teeth as he bounced in place, hands gesticulating wildly as he talked.

As he pulled the brushes from the colored ink bottles, Legend took stock of the products. Based on the fact the glass was completely filled, and the brushes were completely black the first time Ravio dipped them in, these must be all new polishes. From the intricate designs and swirly Gerudo script on the bottles, he can only assume these were luxury products from the heart of Gerudo Town. A gift from Wild, then along with whatever he had left on the table in a blue package. He was going to have to thank the Champion when all this was said and done.

“Is there a reason you picked those goddesses?” Ravio started small talk as he was drawing the symbols in white paint with the smallest brush.

“Oh, there’s a saying about them. Din to give me the strength to challenge the day, Nayru to give me the wisdom to learn from my struggles, and Farore to give me the courage to step forward. Legend wasn’t particularly irreverent of the divine, but the saying wasn’t literally about asking for help. Fable had taught it to him after his first adventure, saying she liked to use it as a phrase of comfort when starting her day. He had just picked up the habit from her. It was a nice routine, something positive to latch onto. He figured it would be nice to have the saying on his nails, as a little reminder.

“Oh, that’s interesting.” Ravio paused between one nail and the next, humming in contemplation. “When our triforce was destroyed, so were the records of the goddesses that made it. Even when you and Zelda wished it back into existence, none of the history or religious practices magically could come back.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you taking some of ours,” Legend offered. “Who knows, maybe the same ones made your triforce originally.”

“Hmm, maybe I will. Lolia knows I could use your Goddess of Courage’s help.” Ravio laughed in self-deprecation, but it was light-hearted enough that Legend knew not to make a big deal out of it. He’d already told Ravio he was courageous enough on his own, and the merchant said he’d do his best to believe it. Legend trusted that to still be true.

“Done!” Ravio finished with a flourish.

“No you aren’t, you haven’t done a top coat!” Legend couldn’t help himself, looking at the full bottle of glossy finish sitting right next to them.

“Well yeah, ok, but,” Ravio huffed, cheeks puffing up, “I finished all the art. C’mon, take a look!”

Legend rolled his eyes, but did as asked. Ravio’s handiwork was impressive. The symbols were intricate, and difficult enough to draw on a flat surface with a lot of room. Ravio had done an excellent job making the shapes recognizable and clean. They were clearly hand-drawn, each repeat symbol a little different from the previous, but that added to their charm. It was clearly a work of love.

Careful not to move his hand too much for fear of the paint running, Legend looked over the patterns. Farore appeared four times, on the pinkie and index finger of both his hands. While that was just a reality from having three goddesses and ten fingers, it felt right. If he hadn’t had Courage, he never would have met all the people he did. Never would have welcomed Ravio into his home, or met the Chain on their whirlwind tour across time and space.

“Happy Birthday, Link.”

Legend smiled, sending a silent prayer of thanks.

#lu legend #lu ravio #ravio x link #linked universe #muse writes #muse's ravioli week #raviolink #ravio #ravioli #loz ravio #fanfic #albw ravio #ravio zelda

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habken · 9 months

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hi habs!! your art is AMAZING like it's soo gorgeous!! really got me into drawing again! your art looks so simple and clean yet is somehow very nuanced and and it looks like every single line and shape is exactly where it's supposed to be. i sometimes have the impression that you just picked up a pen and started drawing like you do now, but i remember you mentioning that you put a lot of effort in your art. Still how is it so clean!!!!! anyway i wanted to ask if you maybe have some advice on how to practice and actually improve?? i practice every day and i try to study the basics, i also try to analyze art that i like, but it feels like i'm not improving at all. Maybe there was something that helped you? What do you think is the best way to improve? Thanks again! Keep up the great work!!!!! <3

Thank you so much :’)) !! That’s so sweet ! I wish I had better words to express myself but your message made me super happy

For improving, personally what I do is I try and focus on getting better at one thing, it’s hard to work on everything at once, so putting my effort into one part I want to get better at helps make the work less overwhelming.

Last year, I really wanted to improve perspective and backgrounds, so I did a lot to challenge myself with that. It shows up more in my personal work tbh but taking the time to understand different ways to draw perspective, honing in my freehand skills, and learning how to compose and use line weight to make my backgrounds more interesting was really beneficial, and what I learned translated into my personal work and the silly goofy stuff I make here.

I also did a lot of stuff where I’d say I bit off more than I could chew, that might not work for you, but for me even if the work wasn’t perfect, I found I learnt so much and improved overall. One of the more challenging things I did was map a cityscape freehand in 3 point perspective. I’m not fully pleased with the outcome but it gave me so much more understanding for perspective and city environments as a whole.

So my best advice is to focus on just one thing at a time! Improvement will happen whether you see it or not. You learn from everything you create and every bit of knowledge you acquire, even if your growth feels stagnant, it’s not.

My other bit of advice is to try different things! From testing out different brush to a whole different medium, I find that that helps get me out of funks when I’m not sure where my art’s going. I think that helps me cause there’s less expectations with something new.

Last, I think taking breaks is also really good for improvement! Keeping up with drawing as much as you can is great, but resting and taking a step back is important too. It gives you time to rest your eyes and brain, and you can approach art again with a fresh perspective after!

I hope some of that helps ! Take care!

#ask #ah sorry this is long

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stilettomafiosas · 4 months

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If you don't mind my asking; how did you develop your art style? I've been trying to work on developing my own style but I don't know where to even start. Your style seems so well developed, and I utterly adore it.

;w; its so kind of you to say so!! thank you!! I wish I could offer some insightful or exciting advice haha but I do have a short and a long answer!

the short answer: its the boring yet tried and true tip youll hear from everyone 😭😭 it all comes from a lot of practice over a lot of time!!

i kind of hate hearing that too because it seems dismissive BUT the practice isnt just drawing as much as possible, its also looking at art from other people, paying attention to the colors n shapes n composition around you, and at times just Thinking...

the long answer: style is ... hard to pinpoint! and in some ways, aiming to have your own very distinct style (and that being your main goal) can be restricting. focusing on that can keep you in a box of what's recognizable as Yours and hesitant to experiment or make changes. Ive seen some people who get hung up on making themselves a Brand draw no differently today than they did 10 years ago because they admit making changes or venturing into new subjects/styles "flop".... (and if your livelihood comes from selling art or merchandise and you rely on engagement to pay your bills thats another thing but as a hobby artist myself im talking more about a goal of just getting better at your craft in a way that makes you, personally, happy and satisfied and proud of it vs making what an audience wants to see and feeling rejected in pursuing other creative endeavors)

a lot of style development just progresses naturally over time as you absorb more art around you and train your mind to distinctly pick out what you like about other artwork and why. :] its all about the influence and how you incorporate that into your own work! so many of my artistic choices come from other artists, and the more you draw and the more you study other art, it becomes something thats a unique blend of You, even if not necessarily something immediately and strikingly unique that anyone could recognize as yours, its You cuz of the choices made in it and all the influences you enjoyed enough to pick up.

for me, it was pretty much doing studies + compiling an "inspiration/reference" folder (for doing studies) :3 ive been doing that since I was in elementary school and just drawing on loose leaf college ruled paper... I started out copying drawings in the funny papers we got on sundays, going to the library to get those "history of disney" kinda books that show a lot of cels or concept art, googling looney tunes screenshots to copy... it was So much copy, copy, copy. in my teen years it was shonen jump, i'd trace panels from naruto and one piece and shaman king, i'd freehand it, i'd redraw pages in my own way... and more recently ive kept it up with other interests (opening a catalog of model cars and filling sketchbook pages with car drawings... taking photos of cool scenery or bugs i see and blocking out the composition to figure out Why it looks appealing... going through an invertebrate zoology textbook and drawing creatures to understand their shapes/distinguishing features so i can anthropomorphize them in fun ways)

it might seem contradictory that spending a lot of time copying stuff leads to something thats your own but it does!! so much of art really does come from that internal library you build up, and building it up happens thru all that observation and exercising your hand to match up movements with the images in your head, and gaining experience + refining memory of how certain things are built or shaped or constructed. thats probably the number one tip i'd give to anyone who wants art advice... get a little sketchbook thats JUST for your eyes, and fill it totally up with stuff you copy. youll learn SO much and feel really refreshed for your own original works!

and if you feel discouraged, keep in mind that things tend to look better from an outside perspective! you see my art as having a developed style, and i very much appreciate that comment cuz to me, it's jumbled haha. i can draw the same character in very different ways in the same day... even the way i draw hands varies depending on what set of ocs I'm playing with. each of my stories presents some different artistic choices, and draws from a few different inspirations, so even if all the characters and the ways i draw them are recognizable as my art, they would still look a bit strange if they were all together because I have multiple "styles" ehehe

so in short, rock on with making art thats enjoyable for you and dont let an idealistic goal of a distinct style hinder you from having fun with the process & being proud of what you make. cuz honestly if you hold out waiting for the moment of realization that youve developed a style, you might never have that moment! not for lack of having anything distinct about your art, but just because its natural to be more critical and lost in the details of your own work than an audience would be. you likely already have aspects in your art that are recognizable as yours! consistency is good in some regards (like animation or comics) but dont be hesitant about trying things that are new or drastically different from your usual!

#asks

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kirathehyrulian · 1 year

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Non-Challenge Art 😈🐍This Blue Hell🐍😈

(Please do not edit/alter. Feel free to reblog, but please do not repost. At the very least please give me credit.)

Mwhahahahah! It is done in time for Halloween!🎃 (click, right click, click open image in new tag to get a closer look on desktop)

For more art from me please check out my “myart” tag here on Tumblr. Or my “AO3“. 👇(Art Notes and Alts below the cut) 👇

Art notes: I’ll probably put more in depth art process notes on the AO3 post when I get around to it. But anyways, I started this sketch, I wanna say, sometime in the late summer of this year, thinking it’d be something cool to do for Halloween because I rarely ever get around to doing anything holiday theme. (Mostly because the holidays are stressful and pre-planning is not my strength) But I was having a hard to completing anything art wise during that time. All I had was a sketch, messy color placement, and some of the face rendered. Then I put it on the back burner for a while.

Then the masquerade happened and I don’t want to jinx it but I think it might have got me out of my art block, I hope? Well it was kind of a double edge sword. Because the Masquerade has a limited time frame I traced the contour lines from J2 photos or Sam and Dean episode refs to save me time. And I didn’t really stop to dwell on that too much because of the deadline until after I unmasked and posted all of my stuff to AO3.

It’s probably because of the posting anxiety I always get when submitting, but for some reason divulging that part of the process made me feel like an imposter artist or like I was taking some of the magic out of what I’ve drawn. It grew to the point where I felt like I was useless.

The rational part of my brain was trying to tell me, tracing the forms from con and episode refs was just a handy tool that I employed to speed things up for the Masquerade. The stigma that some people put on tracing isn’t (word I wish I could remember), especially for hobby art. But, my negative side wasn’t shutting up.

The funny thing is that if this someone else I believe I wouldn’t have cared if they had to trace contour lines to get the art done. I would have told them, “You brought an idea to life using the resources and tools around you. It was transformative enough that it is your own art. And don’t listen to the negative thoughts telling you otherwise. You are an artist and can draw.” But, it was myself at a low period dealing with stupid fears not based on anything happening in the present. And even if someone accused me of not being an artist it would have been the opinions of the few that shouldn’t really matter in my life.

Anyways, after I moped around for a little bit, I decided to pick the boy king!Sam project back up around last Wednesday and started pouring all my time into it. I was going to prove to my negative side that I could draw freehand without tracing.

I pretty much redid the face render I had originally and then worked my way through it all. I did the face, the top part of the snake, the neck, the bottom part of the snake, the horns, the golden stick ring thing (it’s supposed to be representative of the crown of thorns), the fire, the crown, the lighting, the font, and then lastly the dripping blood.

And after completing this project I felt some of my self-esteem build up. I can draw. Maybe not as well as I want to all the time, but I can do it. I might not always complete wip’s, or complete deadlines. I might always make mistakes. But I can draw. So, Hah, negative side of my mind. Fudge you for making me questioning that.

Anyways here’s all the alts (which is just me hiding layers on the main file to showcase certain parts without the distraction of the rest of the piece):

🎶music I listened to while working on this project:

youtube

Anyways, I think that’s it.

Enjoy, if you can!♥♥♥

#sam winchester #boyking!sam #demon!sam #cw: body horror #cw: blood #horned!sam #priest!sam #eldritch moods #happy halloween #myart

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countrymusiclover · 1 year

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3 - Original Vampires

Part 4

Gemini Runaway

Tags @dragonixfrye

Blinking my eyes opened I rolled over feeling a soft material underneath me. Quickly rubbing the sleep from my eyes I shot up not recognizing the room I was apparently sleeping in. The bedroom door opened where I saw Klaus enter the room. “Good, you're awake.”

“Ugh…I didn’t realize how much I actually missed sleeping in a bed.” Stretching my arms and legs out he walked towards me slowly sitting down on the edge of the bed.

He sits a cell phone down on the bed sliding it over to me where I hugged my knees to my chest. “I’m glad. You will always have a bedroom here if you wish to stay in this one pony town.”

“Okay. So what exactly do you want with me, Klaus?” I questioned with my fingers twirling the jewel necklace in between my fingers.

He raised a brow at my question. He was used to getting things from people but he wasn’t really sure whether he wanted something from the girl in front of him or not. “I don’t want anything from you at the moment, little witch. I do want to show you something though.”

“Show me what exactly?” Climbing out of the bed I tied the laces of my boots seeing that he was standing in the doorway with his hands crossed behind his back waiting for me. “You aren’t going to kill me in the middle of nowhere like a serial killer are you?”

He shrugs his shoulders walking out of the room and I follow behind his heels from a distance. “I am the devil in disguise, love. Come along.” Shifting my gaze around the larger house there were more rooms here then he really needed. It was like he was planning to house himself and a bunch of other people. Maybe his siblings but if so where were they all at.

We ended up driving to a place in the woods where he pulled out a flashlight handing it to me where I followed him down into a cave. He paused in his step, hitting some barrier where he growled. “Dang witches!”

“Let me try something..I might be strong enough to take it down for awhile.” I raised my freehand up to the cave wall besides me closing my eyes for a moment feeling a string of magic running through the walls. My hand on the wall turned a little beginning to draw the magic away. I don't know why but a thought about me and my twin crossed my mind in this second.

"Mom, who was that girl and guy you were talking to earlier?" I was always curious when I was younger. Jacob on the other hand could simply get lost in the drawings he did and toon out the mystery of the world.

She turned away from cooking dinner on the stove staring at us sitting at the kitchen table. "The man was my brother Joshua and she was his daughter Josette. Why do you ask?"

"Cause you didn't seem happy to see them." Jacob looked up from his coloring book then dropped his gaze downward once more.

Sitting my dolls down on the table I watched her movements. Our mother was a gentle person but she never mentioned her family. She claimed that my father who was just an ordinary human was all that she needed. She wasn't born with magic of her own and she didn't agree with the Coven that we were supposedly from. "We had a falling out is all. So unfortunately we don't talk to one another anymore…in their eyes since I didn’t have my own magic I wasn't one of them"

"They probably will see us like that too won't they. We will have to steal others' magic to get our own power." I muttered once she had left the kitchen where I frowned at the thought.

Jacob preaked up reaching over and intertwining my hand with his. "They're just jealous of us, Rae. We aren't weird. Besides that means that most people will never know how strong we are."

"Raelyn. Raelyn, are you there?" Klaus called out my name pulling me from my trance where I sniffed some tears removing my hand from the rock wall.

Raising my fingers to my nose I saw some blood dripping but I wiped it away. "Uh yeah sorry. See if you can get through now." He walked through the former barrier area where we ended up seeing some drawings on a cave wall.

There was one that looked like a werewolf and another that was supposed to be shaped like a necklace. I also counted three names with one being Klaus. The other two were Elijah and Rebekah. “This is the cave where we felt we should write down our stories. My family settled here before the new world was discovered and all. And also where we were created as the first vampires in existence….can I show you?”

“Show me what exactly?” I scanned the wall reading another name that looked to be like Mikael.

He reached up about to place his hands on the sides of my face but he paused scanning my eyes for any signs of hesitation. “May I, Raelyn. It’s just a simple mind dive. You aren’t going to make me groan in agony are you?”

“It’s called Siphoning according to my mother and no I won’t. I…I already took magic from the cave wall. If I need any more I’ll let you know.” I responded meeting his deep blue gaze, feeling him cradle my face in his hands before resting his forehead against mine.

There was someone that had long curly hair that must have been Klaus when he stared at a blonde female meaning it was his sister. They were bleeding through their clothes where their hearts were located. Meaning they must have been stabbed. “Rebekah.”

Rebekah glanced down to the stains of red. “Blood. What happened?”

“It'll be all right. We will be all right.” He shifted until he was closer to his sister glancing down to his own wound.

A few moments later there was an older looking guy that must have been Mikael who pushed a girl down beside his sister. “What are you doing?” Klaus asked him.

Mikael declared drawing his knife. “We must finish what we started. You have to drink if you want to live.” He cut the girl's arm and forced the blonde girl to drink her blood. “Drink!”

I gasped pulling away from him blinking through some tears where I wiped away some that were falling down my face. Leaning one hand against the cave wall I gasped sucking in a shacky breath meeting his gaze. “I’m sorry that he forced you to do that….why show me any of this?”

“Because I want you to see that you aren’t the only person people see as a monster. Some of us didn’t have a choice to be born the way we are.” He shoved his hands inside the pockets of his black jacket tilting his head to the side back toward the exit of the cave. “I have some business to attend to. I’ll escort you back to the house so you don’t get lost.”

Our walk back was in silence and he was gone the second I was about to open the front door. Glancing around I figured it was a vampire speed thing where I turned around until a whoosh sounds behind me. “What kind of girl jumps into bed with the crazy hybrid?” Glancing back over my shoulder I noticed that there was a guy with raven black hair and blue eyes standing on the edge of the steps looking at me.

“Oh I’m not sleeping with him. I - uh, who are you?” I asked spinning around so I was facing him crossing my arms over my chest.

The raven haired guy suddenly moved forward with quick speed pushing me up against the front door trying to use his mind compulsion on me. “Tell me who you are!”

“I’m Raelyn. Now let me go…” I squirmed underneath his stronger grip where he moved one hand to my throat causing me to throw my hands out in front of me launching him onto the grass yard.

He stumbled to his feet frantically looking at me. Dropping my hands to my sides I really didn’t mean to hurt him. But my brother was always protective of me so maybe it was his spirit inside me. “What the hell are you. You’re a hybrid monster like him.”

Someone flashed behind him a blonde type of streak breaking his neck where his body collapsed onto the ground with the figure flipping her blonde hair out of her eyes striding up to me with a light smirk. “That is no way to treat a lady. Hello darling, I’m Rebeakah Mikaelson.”

“Nice to meet you, Rebekah. I’m Raelyn Lane.” Glancing over her shoulder we shook hands where I watched the knocked out vampire body. “Is he going to come after me again?”

She scoffed heading towards the front door letting me inside first. “If he knows what is good for him then yes. So you are new in town I hear.” The front door shut behind the two girls before Damon groaned regaining consciousness pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Stefan, get the others to the house. We have a new Klaus problem. He’s got a powerful witch.” He explained through the phone knowing they needed a new plan to take down the hybrid in their town.

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frostbitten-etches · 1 year

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hi hello, sorry if this has already been asked but what do you use to make your jacket patches thing? i absolutely love what you did so thank you in advance

hi and thank you so much! I sort of answered this in the replies of that post but it's no problem, I can answer it again in some more detail :)

I have 2 giant baskets of spare cloth that I've collected over the past few years, for both patchmaking and plushmaking, so I have a lot of background pattern options for my patches (even though I default to a light black a lot oops)

once I draw the patch designs I want, I look through my fabrics for fun/fitting colours or patterns and cut out a square big enough to fit all the details of the patch design. (you'll usually want fabrics that are less stretchy to make painting + sewing easier but if you really like the pattern on the fabric and it's on the stretchier side you can still use it but it might be more difficult)

then if it's a less complicated design, I use the sketch as a reference while I freehand it onto the fabric. if it's more complicated I'll do a transfer by layering chalk pastels on the back, setting the paper on the cloth, and tracing over the paper hard enough to have the lines transfer to the fabric through the chalk but not so hard I rip the paper. and I paint/fill in the designs with thick rubbery acrylic paint like arteza expert or liquitex (if it's watery the fabric will just eat it and if it dries crunchy it'll flake off easily)

add more layers until I think it's sturdy enough, wait for it to FULLY dry and I either cut the square into a more fun shape or leave it as a square depending on the vibe I want before just sewing it directly onto my jacket. I wish I could tell you the kind of stitch I use but honestly I have no idea what it's called sorry. maybe someone can help and guess by looking at it??

(the flat - - - stitches and the tall | | | stitches are 2 different passes of stitch. I do the flat - - - ones first then the | | | ones on top for aesthetic and added strength)

and once that's all done and the patch(es) is on the jacket I'll throw it in the wash and dryer to help "bake" the acrylic further into the fabric

#long post #augh hope this helped #had to rush a bit bc I got prom today and I'm making some pieces of my and my friends outfits #oops this was in my drafts for a lil hope it's not too late

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dragons-bones · 2 years

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FFXIV Write Entry #10: Geometric Sequence

Prompt: channel || Master Post || On AO3

Conjury and thaumaturgy were conceptually easy to understood, their tools equally easy to come by: draw upon elementally aspected ambient aether in the surrounding environs (conjury) or summon forth one’s internal reserves of aether (thaumaturgy), and use a stave or wand to conduct the energies into the desired outcome.

Simple, supposedly. Of course, just because the theory was easy to understand did not necessarily mean it was easy to practice.

Arcanima was quite a different beast.

Aether, of course, was necessary, but in order to manipulate reality it required, specific shapes were further required, the arcane geometries at the art’s core. Two-dimensional, three-dimensional, specific equations, with an error in angle or size or line altering the effects from the merely annoying to the potentially catastrophic. A fireball or a healing spell must be carefully controlled, aye, but the old Arcanists’ Guild standbys of Bio and Miasma called for careful consideration not just of the amount of aether in their creation, but how virulent and to whom to spread and after X time active, cease all function to contain any disastrous fallout.

And that wasn’t even getting into the foci.

A grimoire on an arcanist’s hip was no strange sight, and many residents of Limsa Lominsa paid them little heed beyond their need as a magical tome. But a grimoire was many parts, most importantly ink and paper. Different inks could affect spell potency and efficacy; a poorly cut page could minutely alter the shape of a sigil. (Not even getting into the absolute disaster that was marginalia; non-practioners thought it was decorative, but in actuality it had to be precisely designed and drawn to keep spell effects from bleeding into one another.) Damaged grimoires were carefully disposed of because there was no way to tell if the internal equilibrium had been made inert or into a bomb.

In a worst-case scenario, an arcanist could still cast their spells without a grimoire, but such feats were typically reserved only for those who had eidetic memories, or had been stubborn cusses as students and learned all their geometries via rote memorization.

And now this mad physicist with a carbuncle draped around her neck was looking at him and telling him she wanted to put aetheric ink into her own damned skin as a backup in case she ever lost her grimoire.

“Fuck you,” the Arcanists’ Guild Inkmaster said.

“I’m in a committed relationship, thank you,” Synnove Greywolfe said. Galette rolled her eyes.

He wanted to hate her. Really, he did. At least fifty of his grey hairs were her fault from the demands she had placed on him and his minions over the years in terms of mixing inks and experimenting with fiber ratios for paper. But she had been one of the most attentive first-years in her cohort during the mandatory classes on grimoire creation, constantly treated each and every book of hers with respect (even the combat ones he knew she had occasionally beaten an enemy to death with, that’s why they were bound in metals rather than leather), and he still fondly recalled the choked off horror of Mhaslona when Synnove had innocently remarked that all the arrays in her first grimoire were freehand.

But her demands had resulted in some of his finest inks, and her ability to draw a perfect circle without a compass still made some of her colleagues turn green, and even though the kit had had the audacity to shoot up like a weed six moons into her stay at the Guild until she towered over him, he wouldn’t wring her neck.

He would wish to, but he wouldn’t.

“I know for a fact you’re one of our arcanists who can cast while holding the geometries and equations in your mind,” the Inkmaster snapped.

“Yes,” Synnove said, “but in combat situations that isn’t safe. You’ve heard me bitch about it.”

He grunted, because he had. The Praetorium was one of the more publicly-known instances of the Highlander’s grimoire ending up slagged, and the struggle she had had casting while attempting to dodge the attacks of an Allagan superweapon, but it hadn’t been the last time such an incident occurred. (He pointedly did not think about the Sacking of Rhalgr’s Reach.)

“This is so categorically unsafe that I’m going to fund the creation of a workplace safety organization just to fine you,” he said. “Do you have any idea the kind of nonsense blood-iron could introduce to the stability of an aetheric ink?”

“I do not,” Synnove said blandly, “I’m an aetherophysicist, not an aetherochemist. That’s why I came to you.”

Oh, fuck her, playing to his ego. Fuck him, because it was working.

The Inkmaster growled, low in his throat, and stomped his foot. Synnove had the audacity to smirk.

And then she set a box on the table between them, folding her hands before herself demurely once the object was in place.

The Inkmaster glared at it, then up at Synnove. “I am above petty bribery.”

The arcanist adopted an expression of wide-eyed innocence. Galette flicked her tails, and the box popped open.

Nestled in a bed of velvet was a glass mortar and pestle set, clear as the waters of Bloodshore at the height of summer. Next to them were a trio of glass dip pens, the colors poured into the grips glittering like kaleidoscopes in the light of his office. Hannish glass, each of them.

He stared, lust in his heart, fingers twitching suspiciously. Synnove’s expression melted back into a smug smirk.

The Inkmaster sighed heavily. “I am not above petty bribery. Put me in contact with your tattoo artist, we’ll need to fight about ink composition.”

Synnove beamed at him, and stood up, walking around the table to lean down and kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Inkmaster!” she chirped. Galette made an echoing sound. “You’re the best.”

He sighed again as she darted out of his lair in one of the Guild sublevels, and picked up the mortar to critically examine it. He would figure out later which of his minions had the loose lips to gossip about him breaking his old favorite glass set and leave him open to blackmail. For now, he had some planning to do.

A/N: The Arcanists’ Guild Inkmaster is the brainchild of my good friend @chaemera, and part of the conversation between him and Synnove was one we joked occurred when she got her aetheric tattoos.

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#ffxivwrite2022 #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #arcanists' guild #arcanima #oc: synnove greywolfe #other people's characters #dt's writing

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dilfbuck · 1 year

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Hello! I was wondering if you had any tips on learning to draw? I haven't drawn anything in uhh ~6 years and even then I was barely learning. I just got a nice little drawing tablet so I'm gonna try with that

Also it is currently 1:40 Am as I send this so whether I remember to read your response Tomorrow remains to be seen ahfuenwjamqka

I’m the worst person to ask bc I’ve been drawing for 10 years and I still have no idea wtf I’m doing 😭 I recently had to return to basic practice skills (figure drawing from references) because I feel my own brain withering away, but I will Attempt some semblance of advice based on things I wished I knew when I was a beginner:

I think a good selection of tips is to start with some basic tutorials on youtube (thats where I started mang many moons ago) to learn stuff like figure drawing, basic anatomy/proportioning, lighting/shading, color theory, etc. I think I learned a lot from the Proko youtube channel when I was a beginner!

Also ALWAYS USE REFERENCES. I personally browse pinterest for pose & clothing ideas. and don’t let anyone tell you that using references is bad or makes you a worse artist because you cant 3d print exactly what you wanna draw from your brain. Those people are idiots. It’s also 100% fine to trace references to learn (I personally deploy the method of freehanding a reference, then tracing the reference, then freehanding it again to incorporate what I missed/did wrong. It Just Works) Just don’t trace other ppl’s art & pass it off as your own bc that’s obviously Not Okay

I’d also recommend challenging yourself to draw at least 1 thing a day. It doesn’t have to be a grandiose art project, just like a quick figure study or referencing something nearby/online to sketch. sometimes I’ll just doodle little things in the corner of a notebook while I’m watching a youtube video and that’s all I’ll draw that day. But it’s good to draw something every day bc if you don’t your brain will be like “how do draw?” the next time you pick up a pencil 5 months later (not speaking from experience or anything >.>) plus I think it helps with keeping you in the “mood” to draw so that you don’t burn yourself out as quickly drawing stuff you actually wanna draw!

It’s also good to remember that everyone learns at a different pace and some things will slowly come to you over time if you keep practicing, even if you feel like you just aren’t “getting” it. I honestly didn’t get an eye for coloring until like, last year (and I owe most of that to gifmaking tbh) and prior to that I had no idea how color theory worked, despite being constantly reminded about it in tutorials and school lmao. If you keep practicing enough some things will just “click” eventually.

Aaaaand I think the most important tip, which I am still struggling to learn, is to not measure your own art’s worth based on other ppl’s progress, because there’s always gonna be artists younger than you out there who somehow draw like professionals that will make you panic and think wtf!!!! But your art is worth making because you made it, and the only way to get better is to be unafraid of making “crappy” art, because the only alternative is to never make art at all. (plus I gaurantee all of those people who could paint like vincent van gogh before their 30s have days where they feel like complete talentless hacks, too)

Anyways yeah I hope this helped at all. somewhat. And good luck!

#askbox #sorry if the formatting is shite im answering this on my phone first thing in the morning hehe

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nicotinzwei · 1 year

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January

So after no December entry my January was still pretty rough. But I think it’s interesting how comforting and chill my January Favorites are compared to Novembers. Also RIP Angelo Badalamenti whose twin peaks soundtrack I mentioned in the last post.

Instrument

So after tweeting that I have a feeling a harmonica would really fit my vibe I bought a used one for 5€. (The seller was super cute) My favorite song to play is Piano Man by Billy Joel, which was also the inspiration for me getting one. To be honest I had no idea how harmonicas worked, but after finding out they come in different keys and mine was in B I got the same model in C. And then I fell into a rabbit hole. Because the model I got is discontinued and has been around for a long time, and both of them have different cases so one of them has to be from before 2004 and could even be a lot older. I’m still on a quest to find out so any harmonica experts please hit me up! (It’s the Hohner Piccolo) Also, I really want to buy one of those holders so I can play freehand.

Music

I have a really hard time listening to new music but I came back to an artist I really liked a few years ago. Weyes Blood isn’t really my typical genre of music, but to me her songs don’t feel like singular pieces but like a big body of work so it’s easier for me to listen to her new stuff, because it feels so familiar. I used to be obsessed with her Album and album Artwork for Titanic Rising. (There is a cool youtube video about the making of.) I even wrote my bachelors thesis about her music video Movies. Her new Album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow has stunning visuals and my favorite new song is God Turn Me Into a Flower, because same. But my favorite overall is probably Something To Believe In. (Like last month this is your cue to listen along)

Game

As a kid I never got into Professor Layton even though I was a nintendo kid and LOVE puzzles. Because it was available on mobile we kind of started with Pandoras Box so I’m missing some of the lore here and have no idea why a grown man is travelling with some kid stranger. But I’ll assume that Luke has not been kidnapped and forced to solve riddles for this older man but is just having a fun time. I really wish instead of talking about work it would be acceptable in real life for people to just give you a fun little riddle immediately after introduding themselves. Maybe I should just start doing that.

Show

Oh god here we go… I became obsessed with Bluey this month. Bluey is supposed to be a kids show about a cartoon dog family, but to me it feels more like a family sitcom that just happenes to be dogs. Where other kids shows thrown in a few jokes for the parents here and there Bluey really seems to be equally aimed at everyone. The situations and characters feel really real because the creators aren’t afraid to give them flaws. Even Bluey herself (She’s a girl) isn’t always the good guy. (Also if you draw human Bluey fanart please don’t giver her long hair, she’s always mistaken for a boy just give her short hair.) My favorite episode is Sleepytime, and IMDB users agree.

Food

This comes with a little disclaimer. I have been vegetarian for 9 years now, mostly because I just never liked the texture of meat and also because I don’t like the meat industry. But last year broke my streak like 3 times and never really regretted it. Because I never ate meat growing up I also never had the typical bacon and eggs breakfast. So one Sunday (while watching Bluey) we made that with coffee (which I also rarely drink) and IT WAS SO GOOD. So I’ll look out for vegan bacon maybe. But I think as long as it’s an exception I can have a big breakfast sometimes, especially when I’m having a hard time. (Also, butter your bread and put it in the oven for 5 minutes before the rest is done)

Thanks for reading and hopefully on to a better February!

#january #january favorites #weyes blood #bluey #professor layton #harmonica #riddles #breakfast #food #bingo #bandit #chili #titanic rising #hohner #music

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cooperraeblankenship · 2 years

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Sometimes it’s really interesting to go back and look at my older drawings, and other times it’s a bit… well, yikes. It took quite a while to get the hang of drawing panels, and then making the characters AND the text fit into the panels. At the time, I had read quite a bit of cartoons (Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert, xkcd, Breaking Cat News) and was trying to figure out the best way to go draw the panels and make them straight. Some research seemed to suggest that Schultz and Watterson used paper with the panels pre-printed (though I could never find out for sure) while xkcd is (I believe) entirely digital, and Georgia Dunn freehands her panels (I tried this once and it went VERY badly). I think at the time, I was using really anything somewhat square or rectangular and mostly flat to trace out panels — if I remember correctly, my preference was a box of playing cards. Nowadays I use a metal protractor, and I recently upgraded from my broken plastic one that’s entirely clear and gets lost anytime it gets dropped to a metal one.

The biggest mistake I made early on was drawing the characters first, and then adding speech bubbles afterward. That is a BAD IDEA. You will ALWAYS risk running out of room. Luckily, I happened to have a book on Peanuts and its history on hand, and happened to read a passage that set me straight. Indeed, Charles M. Schulz always wrote his text first before drawing his characters. Also interestingly, that was the only part of his cartoons that he would pencil in first: he always did the characters and settings free hand, which I think is a testament to just how good he was. I’ve also seen before that he had what looked like paper that had the panels printed on, but I don’t know how one acquires this… that would sure make things easier — though what do you do about the ONE time you decide to break from your regular panel orientation?

Starting Your House, My House was also kind of a crash course in how to draw people from a lot of different angles and perspectives, as well as how to give them proper proportions (even if they are cartoons, their necks either seemed too wide or their heads too tiny while simultaneously too large). Sometimes I do wish I could go back and re draw these, but I’d rather leave them as is. These early strips are a time capsule of the road travelled. There is no way to get good at something without sucking at it first.

Also, it would take way too long.

#cartoons #cartoonist #political cartoon #politics #congress #texas #california #austin #alaska artist #art #funny #peanuts #calvin and hobbes #xkcd.com #breaking cat news

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poison-ninja-star · 1 month

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Hi hello!!! 👋🐷

My name's Samrah, and uh I'm a student at Naranja-Uva, too, in the general track!

I was wondering if you'd like to join my Lechonk fanclub? It's a work in progress- see, to become an official, Director-Approved, bona-fide club I gotta find 7 members to join me... we're getting close! Two out of seven so far, hahaha! So, uh, if you wanted to help out, maybe you could join too? We meet every other Thursday up in the schoolyard after school, and maybe sometimes in the home ec room to make vegetarian snacks, if I can get Professor Saguaro's permission. 🐷🍏✨️

I thought maybe... well, you make clothes, right? My Florence is a really good model! Maybe you could make us matching uniforms with our piggies! Or, just have Flirence model whatever quadraped-clothes you want, hahaha... plus, it'd be an awesome way to make friends! I'd love to have you!

Whaddaya say...? @when-lechonk-learn-levitate

Oh my, a Lechonk club? How curious!

Lechonk are quite charming little creatures, are they not? Tis no surprise a fan club has sprung up around them!

I shall have to see this club for myself before I consider joining, however I am more than happy to design uniforms for thee and thyne piggies! If thou has a specific aesthetic in mind, do have some examples prepared for me to draw notes from! If thou wishes for me to freehand with no guidelines, I can get started as soon as I am able!

#Poison Points #when-lechonk-learn-levitate #pokemon irl #pkmn irl

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countrymusiclover · 2 years

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19 - A Dangerous Dimond

Part 20

His Golden Princess

@fanficismydrug @misskitty1912-blog @alanaangie24

Watching Henry playing on a rope swing I heard a truck door closed and my parents walked up clearly heartbroken over something which couldn't be good. My sister went over immediately hugging Henry who started crying on a park bench. "Dad, mom...what's happening?" I asked stepping closer to them.

"It's about your son." My father spoke towards Rumple. "Tamara shot him."

Covering my mouth with my hands I gasped feeling tears starting to fall at hearing Henry's father was dead. "Oh god..."

"They used a bean to open a portal. Neal was hurt so badly that he fell through. He's gone." My father explained sniffling through tears of his own.

Rumple started crying when I turned his direction where I reached for his hand but he clutched his cane in both hands. "Bae wasn't supposed to die."

"Greg and Tamara—they took something from Regina—a magical trigger. A fail-safe in the curse that could destroy Storybrooke." My father broke me from my trance.

My mother sucked in a shacky breath crying alongside him. "If they activate it, it's a self-destruct. Everyone not born in this world will die."

"The total destruction of Storybrooke..." I gasped wrapping my arms around myself in fear.

Rumple started walking away crying until my father rushed after him. "They killed your son in cold blood, and you don't wanna stop them?"

"They didn't kill my son. I did. I brought magic to this world to find Bae, and now he's dead. Magic always has a price, and this—this is it. But I'm prepared to pay it." Rumple's voice breaks as he started crying more.

My mother stood by dad begging him to fight. "But... We'll die. You'll die!"

"Well, I've made my peace with that." He walks away, shocking the three of us.

Everyone is inside Granny's waiting to use a magic bean and jump realms to safety. "Regina can hold off the self-destruct device long enough for us to escape, but...She won't survive." My sister tried explaining to Henry who started crying.

"But we can't do this! She's family! We don't leave family behind!" Henry begged his mother frantically trying to convince her. "We saved her from from being killed by the Wraith. How is this any different?"

"The Wraith!" Our mother realized another plan.

Emma and I raise our brows. "What?"

"We sent it through a portal. Why can't we do the same thing with the self-destruct?" She explained with hope in her eyes.

My sister shakes her head uneasy. "Because we don't know if it's gonna work." Glancing around the room at everyone. "It's too risky. No one will go along with it."

Archie or Jimmy Cricket stepped up believing in our parents. "Yes, we will. Because it's the right thing to do. Look, Snow White and the Prince have always led us before, and we've always won. So, who's willing to let them lead us again?"

I grinned hearing granny, red and the dwarfs all cheer in agreement to follow their lead like they did years before. Raising my hand in the air I felt Grumpy pull me into his side smiling. "Princess sister is on board too."

Mom grinned my direction then looked to my sister. "Thank you, Archie. This is what we should do." She stepped up grabbing my freehand in hers squeezing it gently. "Look, I know we haven't had a lot of chances to be parents, but give us this one. Let us do the right thing. It's not to late."

My sister embraced Henry still worried. "I just don't want him to be alone. I don't want him to grow up the way I did...the way we did." She tilts her head my direction before a huge earthquake shakes the diner. Entering the mines I winced feeling something drawing my magic and weakening me.

Raising my right hand I squinted one eye open thinking of a crazy idea. Walking slowly forward Henry followed me with my sister comforting our parents in one last hug. "I love you, Henry. I only wish I was strong enough to stop all this. I'm just not." He hugs her tightly.

Raising my hands I concentrated raising my hands over the glowing Dimond of destruction. Shutting my eyes tightly I felt the strength of its power running through my veins. "I'm sorry, Rumple..." Foosteps approached beside me feeling my sister grab my freehand tightly in hers

"You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are." She replied staring into my eyes using her other hand to contain the magic where it blasted us back. The weapon dropped onto the ground where I looked around realizing Henry was missing.

"The last bean. They've opened a portal." Regina gasped when we reached the docks seeing them throw the bean opening a portal in the water.

Emma and our father shouted. "Henry! Henry!"

Greg and Tamara leap through the portal with Henry.

"We can't just let the, take Henry! My sister fought against dad trying to hold her back.

Running my hands through my hair I heard someone call my name where I spun around on my feet rushing to his embrace. "Astrid, are you alright. I felt you take on that power." He could see me heartbroken mumbling Henry under my breath. "They've taken Henry?"

"Yeah. You're the Dark One. Do something." My father demanded still holding onto my sister.

Rumple moved his hand around while I grip his arm too emotionally unstable at the moment. "There's no way. I spent a lifetime trying to cross worlds to find my son. There's no way in this world without a portal."

"So that's it? He's gone forever? I refuse to believe that." Regina stomped her foot on the ground in frustration at his explanation.

Blinking tears away the Jolly Roger pulled up onto the docks where my sister demanded the pirate. "We need to get Henry. Greg and Tamara took him through a portal."

"Well, I offer my ship and my services to help follow them." Hook offers where we all got on board the ship.

Waving my left hand I smiled creating my sword in my hand. Clipping it in the holster on my belt where Rumple walked up eyeing the pirate. "So, are you done trying to kill me."

"I believe so." He replied simply.

"Excellent. Then you can live." Rumple smirks towards his rival before

magically summons the Magic Globe, pricks his finger, and a map of a strange island appears.

Regina tilts her head at the red map. "Where is that? Where did they take Henry?"

"Neverland." Hook immediately told our group.

Whipping my hair over my shoulder my freehand on my sword handle completely baffled by his answer. "I'm sorry did you just say, Neverland. As in the land where nobody grows up. With the legendary hero Peter Pan. Like that Neverland?"

"Aye princess. But he's not a hero like in your tall tales. He's...not a hero at all." Rumple said squeezing my shoulder before we all started helping to move the ship towards the portal.

Our father held onto mom tightly asking. "So who are we up against? Who are Greg and Tamara?"

"They're merely pawns, manipulated by forces far greater than they can conceive. They have no idea who they're truly working for." Rumple explained wrapping an arm around my waist pulling me closer to his chest.

My sister stared at us as the wind blew her hair in her face. "And who's that?"

"Someone we all should fear." Rumple called back to my sister as I clutched onto his black suit whispering against the wind. "We're coming Henry. We will find you...we will always find you."

Comments really appreciated

Here we are on our way to season 3 my readers. Yay!!

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cherokeegal1975 · 10 months

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The Grey, WIP: 7/7/23

Well, I wish I had realized yesterday that by painting the base coats of the wings and then just fading out the references over the top of them, I could have saved myself some time and trouble. Now all I have to do is erase around the white wing and it'll be mostly done...save for some highlights I might want to put in.

This was a single image, then a doubled one because my graphics program has a tendency to merge all layers prematurely once in a while. A glitch that I'm not at happy about. I was just able to remove the bulk of the reference picture today. Look so much better without it there.

I was going to do a half gold and half silver halo, but with all that black and white, there's need for more splashes of color. So, the halo will be solid gold and have red jewels set into it. The flames will also add some color as well as the lady's skin. A nice brown. Her hair will be black.

References for the bits I need to see are still there, just invisible at the moment. Except for the frame design. I'm doing my best to eliminate anything I copied from online as fast as possible. Except for the wings of course. I need those.

I will lighten the hue of the cloak; I usually start dark and work lighter then darker again in spots as I go along. I even have brushes that will do fabric textures. I think I might try that. In spite of the need for more color, I still insist that the cloak be grey. Maybe I can add some patterning or something. I'll think about it.

Anyway, I never meant this drawing to look like a playing card. In fact, the main elements of the drawing just showed up randomly in my head when I wasn't really thinking of anything particular. But I liked what I saw, so I'm drawing it.

Yes, I know I'm cheating a lot. This is because sometimes I have trouble translating what's in my mind onto canvas. I can draw the human figure but haven't had a lot of practice at it. Nor do I have a lot of practice drawing clothing. It was just easier to find what I needed online to help me out this time. I don't know who all the artists are who put out all these free resources for me to use. Though angelic figures are common, I can say with confidence that this idea is uniquely mine. Just for the fun of it I did a general search image for a moment and found lots of angels, but nothing exactly like mine. So, there's that.

I can and to draw freehand. I'd do it more often than I have been lately if I had more time. My time off is sporadic at best/worst. Given the choice, I'd spend more time doing everything in my head. Taking a few hours a day just to draw. I can do a solid three hour session of drawing before my brain gets tired and I have to take a break. I rarely get that time lately.

Ugh. This is devolving into a bitch session. I won't do that here. Anyway, when this is completed, people who are into games like Dungeons and Dragons or similar games may use this character as part of your game. Just ask me first because I want to know about it. Give me credit for the design. No, you may not sell it. I need the profits far worse than you do.

I came to think of The Grey as a kind of judge for contests and legal issues...and maybe other things. She knows there's more than one facet to every story, there isn't just pure evil and pure good. There's always those shades of grey. And she's an excellent and fair judge. A living personification of justice and a powerful force for the good side. My mind had to work on this for a while as I drew her "card." Because originally, she had no story, no meaning. I'm still inviting people to have an open interpretation of her character however.

I can also see this as a big poster over someone's bed simply because it looks cool. It would be a nice decoration, especially if it turns out as nice as I want it to.

I'd appreciate it if no one used my idea until it was completed. I might make some changes along the way that I won't know about until I get there. Not that I think anyone will really. Every offer of free resources I put out gets ignored. I don't know why.

I will also post this on Redbubble when it's done and send a link. I can't seem to completely let my optimism go even though I'm aware that no one wants to buy my artwork. I don't know why.

#cherokeegal1975 #digital art #wip #work in progreess #original character #original D&D character #free resouce

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