Briar Crawford

"Unleashing magic, one action-packed tale at a time."⚔ Hi, I'm Briar! I love to write fantasy, but I am still working to improve. As I practice, I'll share what I learn in hopes oh helping you writers out there.

[briarcrawford]

📌Pinned Post: Blog Categories

To make finding what you need easier, I do my best to carefully tag everything I share. Clicking the categories below will send you to a list of subjects to browse.

I hope it helps!

Writing

World Building

History

Fantasy Art

Fantasy News

Historical Art

My News

My News 

My Writing Cabin

🏹To Steal From A King

🎭Where They Lurk

[briarcrawford]

Just watched "Predator: Killer of Killers." The plot was pretty much what you'd expect from a Predator movie, but the animation was amazing and the fight scenes were super fun.

[briarcrawford]

Since I am an animation fan, here are some more I like the animations of that are not Disney or Pixar.

Wolfwalkers

Arcane

Your Name

Spirted Away (also love other Studio Ghibli films)

Blue Eye Samurai

Klaus

There are likely many that I am forgetting, but these are the first I can think of.

[briarcrawford]

Just watched "Predator: Killer of Killers." The plot was pretty much what you'd expect from a Predator movie, but the animation was amazing and the fight scenes were super fun.

[briarcrawford]

A practice drawing of my character, Elyra.

[briarcrawford]

"View of London Bridge" by Claude de Jongh (1632)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

"An image of either Owain or Cynon protecting themselves from a supernatural hailstorm that precedes the coming of the Black Knight." From: The Mabinogio (1902)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

"Winter Landscape" by Jacob van Ruisdael (1660s)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

"János Arany's" ballads by Mihály Zichy(1898)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

"A Village in Winter" by Jacob van Ruisdael (1665)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

Question, is this starting to look like a river otter? 🦦

I am trying to whittle a gift, but I underestimated how difficult it would be to make an otter look at all like an otter. 😆 I think I have to round the face more? Maybe…?

Edit: someone just told me it looks like a dog, so I know I am absolutely going wrong somewhere 🤔

[briarcrawford]

It’s not perfect, but thanks to everyone’s advice, it did end up looking more like a river otter!

I used a light stain instead of a paint so you can still see the wood grain.

[briarcrawford]

"Chronicle and romance; Froissart, Malory, Holinshed," by Froissart, Jean(1910)

Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

"Motiv aus der Wachau, signiert P. Unbereit, Öl auf Karton" by Paul Unbereit (1937) Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

Question, is this starting to look like a river otter? 🦦

I am trying to whittle a gift, but I underestimated how difficult it would be to make an otter look at all like an otter. 😆 I think I have to round the face more? Maybe…?

Edit: someone just told me it looks like a dog, so I know I am absolutely going wrong somewhere 🤔

[briarcrawford]

Random Fact for Fantasy World-Builders:

Iron gall ink is a purple-black or brown-black ink made from iron salts and tannic acids, widely used in Europe from the 5th to the 19th century for its permanence and water resistance.

The above image shows the delayed darkening of the ink. | Image Source

[briarcrawford]

"Romantische Flusslandschaft bei Vollmond" by Karl Heilmayer (1908) Status: Public Domain

[briarcrawford]

Random Fact for Fantasy World-Builders:

A caltrop is a weapon made of sharp spikes arranged so that one always points upward, used historically to slow advancing troops, horses, and war elephants.

In Löffelholz-Codex(1505), there is a diagram showing a possible countermeasure (for humans) involving metal soles that are strapped onto the bottom of boots.

Image Source

[briarcrawford]

"Ludwig the Bavarian in conversation with a military commander." (1938)

Status: Public Domain