Oh right it’s Friday and…I guess Beginner Art Friday is still a thing? Have, therefore, this sketch of Metis I’ve been attempting to color in the phone app. Probably not done with it but, hey, it’s Friday, time to show progress!

So uh…I heard something about a Beginner Art Friday? And I guess I am not so much beginner as on a long hiatus from digital art, but I recently discovered the Infinite Painter app and wouldn’t you know it the first thing I made on it in attempting to learn its (delightfully intuitive and full featured) controls was this really sketchy Fenris sketch. Should have probably used a direct reference aside from vague recollection of the constant flow of proper Fenris art and screencaps I’ve been reblogging (and referencing for doll design), but it did amuse me that he was the first thing that came to mind for testing a paint app, and I kind of like how it was turning out anyway, so I’ll take this Beginner Art Friday opportunity to share it unblushingly.

Well, mostly unblushingly. My word it’s a rough thing, isn’t it…Fun app, though, so perhaps I shall practice and improve. 🙂

rannadylin:

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0bMxsNc7I4)

I am in the mood for some Ecce Gratum because Spring Break has at last begun. 🙂

And oh, the list of creative productivity I’d like to tackle while there are no lessons to plan or papers to grade:

Keep reading

Updated (and therefore now behind a cut) with many progress reports and pictures. Spring Break has been fairly productive. 🙂

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Peach harvest! Metis the gardener is partial to peaches. Also why oh why did I make his glasses SO green?

This sketch based on reference screenshots of Inquisitor!Metis

This sketch based on reference screenshots of Metis in Black Desert Online CC

So it’s April Fools day and that means the Fandom Bodyswap time. So I, having done very little art for years apart from the occasional Latin Club t-shirt design when I can’t find a student to do the art for it, have taken this opportunity to draw my OC Metis from Warriors Such As (and, probably, every thing I shall ever write from here on out. Metis is cool, OK?).

Camera shots of messy sketches, gah. I might try scanning them later. I might actually try lining & digitally coloring them too, but it’s truly years since I did that…let’s see if I remember anything 🙂

Leaf and Root: The Herb-Lore Rhyme

I published the herb-lore drawings thus far in a DA Tavern post! First time I’ve actually gone through with posting something there (have only fiddled around with it a bit before, it’s not all that user friendly). Kind of looks cool all together there though.

Leaf and Root: The Herb-Lore Rhyme

Three more pages for Metis’ herb-lore book are finished!

I’ve been researching the other Thedosian plants and thinking about writing some more lines of the poem and making more pages for the book.

Spring break, day 2: taking notes & making really rough sketches of Dragon Age plants so I can expand the Herb Lore poem with more rhyming lines and drawings. …

So a while ago, in Warriors Such As, there was a passage where Metis, ever the gardener or nature-mage or whatever we shall call it, distracts himself from the lyrium calling to him by mentally reciting an old nursery-rhyme of sorts, a catalog poem of herb-lore, plants and their properties. Rhyming lines about Thedosian plants may be one of the quirkiest things I’ve written yet for fanfic (um, or any project; this may be quirkier even than the chapters I wrote of Latin stories for my previous school’s curriculum which were sort of textbook fanfiction…), and I loved how the snippets of that poem turned out. So my new project, sneak peek of which you see above, is Metis’ Book of Herbs, a collection of sketches of the plants to go with the poem. I’m happy enough with these first two to post them, but the Dragonthorn one turned out a little wonky trying to fit its two lines of the poem into the picture so I’ll probably redo it when I am done with the rest of the plants.

Actually I may have to write more of the poem now and draw all the Dragon Age plants. Because it’s years since I did any proper sketching and getting the likeness of a plant right is much less intimidating than of a person. 🙂

Thayer by durandir

Oh look! Ancient art of mine!

So it occurred to me this morning that today is Thayer Atner’s birthday.

My Inquisitor Thayer Trevelyan in the Hawkquisition series is an attempt at a DA remake of this guy. Thayer Atner was one of the characters I created (and wrote along with about a dozen people) for the Terra Group project, a Star Wars (Rogue/Wraith Squadron) fanfic series back in my Usenet days.

December 1st (of 2000, I think?) was the day I posted the first story with Thayer appearing in it, so I decided it was his birthday. I still occasionally celebrate it. So this year I am celebrating with fun facts about the Thayers in this Tumblr post!

Fun Facts about Thayer Atner:

• Prince of Mendellia, a small country in the Galapagos
• Only child but his best friend Kirret is like a little sister and is married to his other best friend Reth
• Fighter pilot (TIEs and X-wings of course. Terra Group was a Star Wars/real world crossover in which Rogue & Wraith Squadron pilots were working with a group of, well, self-insert characters from Terra i.e. Earth.)
• Brightest eyes ever (attempted to demonstrate that in the art, but yeah, it’s easier in fiction to just say how bright his eyes are, right?)
• Reference pic for my drawing(s? there may have been more) of Thayer was of Cary Elwes as Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts in The Princess Bride 🙂
• Very much a “people person”
• Performed some highly impassioned rants in the fics (he’s such an idealist)
• Descended from pirates and the original Queen of Mendellia, i.e. whatever tribe was living there before the pirates
• Works with Terra Group (that’d be the self-insert characters) to defeat his uncle Eugor Atner, who usurped the throne from Thayer’s father, Enad Atner. (We joked about Thayer = Hamlet…) (Hint: Mendellian names can be read backwards.)
• His mother, Llessur, is French
• My self-insert character, ahem, literally fell in love with and married this guy and is the Queen of Mendellia now.
• I swear that was not the plan when I created the character. Literally fell in love with.
• My sewing ability, unlike my knitting ability, is negligible. So I got my mom to sew me a cosplay Queen of Mendellia dress and wore it to DragonCon one year with friends from Terra Group (the writers, not the self-insert characters, ha!)
• Friends then spotted a random stranger at DragonCon who sort of resembled my drawing of Thayer and took a picture of me with him. I have no idea where that picture ended up, but…
• The dress is based on this picture (eheu, my ancient art…):

Fun Facts about Thayer Trevelyan:

• Fifth Trevelyan child; spoiled and cheeky kid growing up with two elder brothers and two elder sisters
• Romances Josephine because, ahem, she is similar to me in many ways and did I mention Thayer the first romanced fictionalized-me?
• Every bit as charming as Thayer Atner, but probably not as bright-eyed, because DAI character creator…I did try for the eyes though.
• Very much a “people person”
• Not quite as ranty as Thayer Atner; Trevelyan’s a daggers rogue, a bit sarcastic, an utter tease.
• Is probably the best of my inquisitors at Inquisiting. I mean, he’s a born politician. (So was the Atner prince, not just literally but in that they’re both really good leaders)
• For both of them their leadership style – which mainly involves knowing everyone under their command/leadership well enough to ask after their family and little things like that, inspiring people to follow them – is largely inspired by my dad, who is a pastor and an incredible shepherd of his flock.

In conclusion: Since Thayer Trevelyan is supposed to be a remake of Thayer Atner anyway, I’m declaring December 1st his birthday also! Happy birthday (both) Thayer(s)!