Black and White

Today, I have two simple pictures, one old and one new.

A Doxic Priest

As you can see, this was drawn on notebook paper and is basically a doodle I made at school. The world it comes from is still evolving in my head, and yet again, there's no actual plot, just characters and a premise.

At some point, air becomes toxic. The wealthy nations knew this was coming and made air filtration plants but pretty much refused to give them to the poorer nations. As such, whole populations were lost. Also, things like aeronautics becomes quite difficult. This is essentially an excuse for why the story focuses on the Eurasian continent and why I'm not going to worry about America or Australia. I am forcing an oversimplification on the world. As I continue to think about it, I add more and it becomes more complex so those sorts of things will undoubtedly be modified. But one thing at a time.

There are two superpowers...because I like contrasting dichotomies. In the West...that is, the Western European nations that still exist, government has reverted to city-state republics, ruled by Dukes, Duchesses and so on. Regressing (or re-progressing?) to an eram uch like the Renaissance, a kind of intellectual arms race has sprung up, a competition to have the best minds in one place. The greatest rivalry is between Florence, Venice and Milan. The Vatican is yet again a major player in politics, though nominally uninvolved. As you can imagine, there is frequently tension between the ruling nobles and the Vatican, but no one can really move against them.

In the East, they do not have this problem, as everyone knows and accepts that the Princes of Rus are subject to the command of the Patriarch leader of the Doxic church, in this case, the Pontifex Primarquessa Erzebet of Muscovy. There is no division between Church and State. As you can imagine, the apocalyptic reality hit the east harder and most of the continent has become an arid wasteland. The only people who live beyond the control of the Princes are nomadic warriors that bear a suspicious resemblance to Fremen and Mongols. As such, the Doxics are a hard and utilitarian people. Where the West is done in jewel and metal, the East is steel gray. It would be like if Renaissance met the Soviet Union.

This isn't to say there isn't hella court politics between the Doxics. The Princes of Rus constantly backstab and undermine and Erzebet herself has a problem with her own sister, Kateryna of the Volga.

Everyone has to wear breathing masks, but in the West, they wear full masquerade masks, and it's considered a sign of intimacy to actually show your face. Really elaborate ones. In the East, they are very utilitarian and straightforward. That being said, there will be some fun designs on both sides.

As the Pontifex is ruler, most roles are filled by priests. The color of the armbands the priests wear indicate their affiliation. Pro tip: You don't want to cross the blue ones. Or the red ones. Or the grey ones.

The point of the story is to conflate history. That is to have characters heavily based on real people interacting, even if they didn't necessarily exist at the same time. Part of the inspiration came from reading a 'What If' book written by prominent historians. One of the situations was the Mongols assaulting Venice and one of the statements were 'One shudders to think what they would have done with Leonardo.' Not only do I not shudder, I think that is an AWESOME idea.

I like this picture because I so rarely draw with pen and it actually came out pretty much exactly as I wanted. You should expect to see more from this universe in the future.

Probably the Most Emo Picture I Will Ever Post, Promise

This is undoubtedly, a very cliche type thing, and I'm sure I could find a dozen similar images on DeviantArt, but I don't care. I think most of us have felt like this at some point. It is a complicated thing. The cracks, the wounds are real, and they don't just go away, but we put a smile on and tell them that it's okay, and we mean it too, at least to the extent that we're not consciously lying. We're okay but we're not.

I was going for a doll look, and tried to make it purposefully androgynous because like I said, I think most people, male or female has been in this position. I was originally going for a porcelain doll look, hence the cracks, but also a little bit of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. I especially like how the broken smile came out, because it leaves open the question...is it forced? If it is, who is it trying to convince...them or you? Or do you mean it, but doing it still hurts? Nothing is ever simple.

Materials: Sharpie. I did the background and text bubble in photoshop obviously because I wanted the contrast but everything else is just simple ink.
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From The Gates of Horn and Ivory

Two-Fer!

I swear, I didn't forget yesterday's update, but I had to run errands and by the time I got back, it was just not happening. SO, to make up for it, I have both updates today.

Echidna

Echidna is one of my favorite mythological figures. The Broodmother, the Mother of Monsters. Is there a scary being under your bed? It probably popped out of her. You can read more about her here. I'm also including the link for the purpose of full disclosure, so you can see that I used a bit of a reference.This is actually not how I usually draw her, but I wanted to focus on the 'nymph like' aspect, the alluring seductress who needs your seed to continue her race of creatures, rather like Grendel's mother.

Originally I wanted to put up the line art, and then contrast it colored in Photoshop as opposed to markers but Photoshop was being a butt. So...this is what you're going to get instead.


Photoshop Lineart



Markers


Attempts at shading were clearly...well, attempted, with varying degrees of success. I'm sorry I didn't draw scales, I did not feel like it would really help. I don't hate it, And some things worked better than I expected, though I imagine I will do another version eventually.

Sketchbook: His Chthonic Majesty Dreams of English Summer Rain

Kahlan




This is actually something of a redo from some pictures I put on Deviantart a few years ago.

For those in the back, Kahlan is the second main character from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series. Both of these pictures are inspired by the second book, 'Stone of Tears.' It was extremely good and extremely traumatizing to read, which is why I haven't finished the series. I'm not even kidding, this book shaved years off my life. The top comes from a battle scene in which Kahlan leads a small band of Mud people (that's what they're called) against the armies of the Bad Guy. She rides a horse naked, covered in mud and pretty much pwns face. I obviously did not draw her doing that. This comes directly after the battle as she is wrapped in a wolf-cloak and staring out at the carnage. I like this scene because it is Kahlan the Defender, the Warrior, protector of her people.

The lower half comes later. I don't want to say too much because it is one of the major climaxes of the book, but as you can see from the link, it's called 'The Gratitude of the Masses,' so that should tell you something. This is Kahlan the Mother/Guardian, the Servant, at what is probably her lowest moment. Well, no, there is one other time, and I would LOVE to draw it as a stained glass Triptych, but that will take more art skillz than I currently possess.

I love this character because she avoids so many aggravating tropes. She IS strong, but not at the expense of her femininity, she is smart without being abrasive, caring without being weak. And she's pretty. And Richard is one of the best protagonists. Really, I should just finish these books, assuming my heart can take it.

Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From The Gates of Horn And Ivory

NEW ARTZ

You know, if I actually do manage to keep up this posting fing, I may have to make a whole new blog. BECAUSE I'M COOL. Or I could get around to ever posting anything else here. It isn't like I don't think of things.

To contrast yesterday's much older art, I bring you something I finished today, hopefully contrasting that I suck slightly less.


Today I have two original characters, only one of which is mine. They come from totally separate universes and the only things they have in common is warding sigils tattooed to their skin and the fact that neither of them have names yet.

As you can probably guess, the one on the left is one of my characters from Emerald City Spiral, a kind of urban fantasy that I play with every now and again. Think of her as the Intel Analyst of the supernatural, whose job it is to know what other people don't or can't for the sake of their own sanity. Needless to say she has a lot of vices, mostly drinking. And she's a little crazy. Funfact: She dyes her hair blue because the color it naturally is now disturbs people. That's right, the electric punk color is her doing YOU a favor as the LESSER extreme.

On the right is an Inquisitor from the Warhammer 40,000 universe dressed in the equivalent of a plainclothes police officer. I won't give any details because it isn't my character to spoilz.

Materials: Pencils, inking pen, Photoshop
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope From the Gates of Horn and Ivory

Summer Art: Cheating with old stuff

I have a totally cool piece of art for today, but I have to ask permission to use it first, so while that happens, plz to enjoy this concept art from Wasteland: Earth, which you can still read by following the link at the right hand side even though I haven't updated it for months (in my defense, the computer it was saved on blew up).

I should really recolor this now that I suck slightly less at Photoshop, but it is good to see whee I came from.

I would describe the character and story, but seriously...the link is right there. There's only like ten chapters, it won't take long.

Line art:
Colored profile:






Materials used: Pencils and Photoshop
Sketchbook: On Her Once White Wings, the Raven Wheels Above The Wasteland

Summer Art Cont...

This really needs no need to explain this.
Materials: Waterproof meant-for-kids markers
Sketchbook: Such Mad Hope from the Gates Of Horn And Ivory

Summer Art

Because he is infinitely cooler than me, I'm going to see if I can emulate my good buddy Holden who posts art he has made every day, sometimes new stuff, sometimes old stuff. You can check it out (and I strongly urge you to do so), here.

Today, we have some characters from the Ivory Tower.

The Ivory Tower was/is a concept I'm still mucking with, but as with most of my ideas, I enjoyed the conceptualizing and pretty utterly failed at the execution. The basic premise was the anthropomorphic personifications of academic subjects. The point was to explore the relationships between them. Humanities students don't identify with Math students who don't identify with Art students, and so on. And within the basic houses, there are huge differences.

I once walked in on a furious debate between a History student and an English student about who had to write more papers. The argument was silly to begin with because so much depends on what teachers you have. Some teachers assign 3 papers a quarter, which determine your whole grade (I HATE that, for the record). Others require a page long paper every week. And of course, the KIND of writing is different. While obviously, most English students can and do write research papers, and History students can and (though less often) do write creative works, the emphasis is still very different. But I didn't want to introduce a Quantity Versus Quality dynamic to what was already an asinine discussion.

Engineering students frequently don't relate to Physics students, even though there's so much overlap. Drama kids rarely get along with band kids. The point is, there is a culture to subjects, at least on the university level if not throughout academia, and I wanted to represent it with characters. Of course, all of this is through my perceptions of said subjects, and others have totally different ones, which was why I had wanted it to be a rather collaborative effort, and indeed, got a lot of tips and ideas from various individuals.

So the Ivory Tower itself is a giant...castle/private school. Rather like Hogwarts now that I think about it. It is presided over the rarely seen Polymath and broken into the 3 main houses mentioned above: Humanities, Sciences and Art. Of course, even here, there is some difficulty. The Physikies...Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc...disdainfully look down on the Softies...Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology (triplets), Political Science and so on, which bounce between Science and Humanities as the Social Sciences. Mathematics and Physics don't get along because they are the two big guys in the little sandbox and they're just alike enough to hate each other and just different enough to not merge into a crazy amorphous blob. No one knows what to do with the art students. Or the philosophy students, but for the most part, they stay out of everyone's way.

So with that longwinded introduction over, here is the first couple Students I worked up.

Statistics is that girl everyone kind of hates, but also wants to be with. Sociology has a huge crush on her, but since they're so often in the same study group, he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want it to get 'weird.' She's the kind of girl who actually runs for the ASC. And wins. Her brother, Mathematics, particularly avoids her because she so often tries to one-up him and twists his words around in knots. She never goes steady with any one person for long and frequently makes rounds among the Softies. Her younger brother, Probabilities is always trying to tag along but he just mucks up her scene and she's always trying to distance herself from him.

Speaking of...



Meet Probabilities and his best friend Quantum Theory. Quantum Theory is Physics ginger-step-brother. Literally. But he doesn't let the weird stares or the nearly universal awkwardness and sidelong glances get him down. Probabilities and Quantum Theory hang out a lot, mostly because they get ignored or shunted by everyone else, and because they're a little young, they don't always relate the same way the others do. This, however, leads to lots of (truthfully, hilarious) pranks and shenanigans as they try to get everyone to just lighten up.

Materials: Pencil, .4 fine point pent, Photoshop.
Sketchbook: His Chthonic Majesty Dreams of English Summer Rain

Summer Projects: Part 1(?)

I'm not gunna lie. My back hurts. My legs are sore. I'm extremely tired. I've spent over a hundred dollars and worried it will be an epic waste, which would really suck because that's not exactly money I have to toss around. I've set my stove on fire, yelled at my cats, walked to and from base, twice (making it about a four mile trip, carrying groceries), and frequently found myself going, "WHY did I think this would be a good idea?"

All for these.



What, you may legitimately ask, are these infernal contraptions? Eyes in glasses? Toenails? Have I taken up some dark magics?!



My answer to all that is: I bet that would be easier.

Frankly, I blame Amazon. They had this huge digital sale, tons of books under four dollars. And one of the 99 cent ones was 'Make Liqueurs as Gifts!' and I was like 'Hey, I'm not really drinking anymore but totally have this booze left over, I bet it'd be swell to have homemade gifts of teh alcohols to give away!' It helped that I had recently been wanting to paint glass jars for no apparent reason. I had thought to make candle holders but this seemed so much cooler.

I'm going to share a secret with you, kittens. It takes a FHTAGN TON of alcohol to make liqueurs. Mostly vodka. I think I went through a 1 1/3 liter. I also polished off a bottle of gin.

If I had been smart and really thought this out, what I would have done was pick a relatively easy recipe, and tried it. If it worked out, I would have branched out, tinkering as I went.

I am neither smart, nor good at thinking things out.

What I did instead was by about six different kinds of fruits, nuts, spices, extracts...plus jars, a strainer, and coffee filters.

Those bottles are the main bunch, but there are another three in a closet, because they need to be kept in a warm dark place. So there's close to a dozen of these suckers. And, continuing my trend of idiocy, I decided to experiment straight off. I tried to keep detailed measurements and whatnot but there's a disturbing amount of 'approximately's written in my journal. I also got a giant At-A-Glance calendar to let me know when to shake this bottle, turn that bottle, strain this, etc.

What I should have done when I realized I was going to burn through alcohol like a fratboy was taper down all of the recipes. So what if I would have leftover fruit (which I do anyway)? Good snacks, way to be healthy. And truthfully, I did start really paring it down as we went, but it was still a lot.

So if this fails, it's going to fail epically.

But if it works...



...this could be the beginning of the Opheliac line. I've already started naming them. The above bottle will eventually be Incarnadine. I'm also designing labels, but these will be relatively simple and of course dependent on them not totally sucking. The above bottle again, has to sit without being moved for three months. My raspberry ones for pretty much the same amount.

So...I will keep you in the loop on that. Honestly, it was really fun, just stressful because I realized after it was too late to really stop that it probably could have been handled better.

Oh, and sugar syrup sucks to make. Just throwing that out there.

I had thought about making a whole new blog just to focus on different summer projects (art, writing, this, etc), but since I haven't done anything on this blog for awhile, and it would just get shut down once I start working again, I figured this was best.

Hit me up with your thoughts.