SHEENA DUQUETTE

Creative Expression is the Antithesis to Control

[sheenaduquette]

Character Model - April 2026 Progress

Haven't updated in a while and these are already, "old," by now. I am very proud of how the braid turned out, fingers crossed getting the flow maps working won't be too much of a hassle.

Continuing the process with UV unwrapping which doesn't really look like anything but getting ready for some test bakes.

I continue to be incredibly moved by the kindness and generosity of the fellow artists willing to offer their hands and help me out along the way. It feels like I've had a decade's worth of catching up to do but knowing I'm not alone has been a tremendous reprieve I will be forever grateful for.

[damianimated]

At Target this lady told her son he couldn’t have a Wonder Woman doll because “that’s for girls” and then bought her daughter the same one. It got me thinking about how often I see people bar young boys from appreciating girls/women as protagonists and heroes, and my own experience with it as a kid.

[sheenaduquette]

First looks at someone, very rough sketches to start getting a feel. Hair is gonna be its own character lol.

Heels still WIP, need to model the cloak spread for rigging, shorts need pleats, weapon missing etc. Just vibing.

[sheenaduquette]

https://www.almeecouture.com/collections/frontpage These dresses are beautiful and I think you would like to see them very much.

These are stunning, I’m posting so I can archive this as a reference. Thank you for sharing!

[quiltinginspo]

“Cherry Blossom Spring” and “Evening Showers” by Helene Knott

[sheenaduquette]

I started making a map. I’ve never made a map before. Working with something from orogen has been reminding me of the old globe we used to have. All the peninsulas and channels, plates and ridgelines and climates—

Maybe I’m doing Too Much but it makes sense to me. The most frustrating thing I’ve found in stories is having no sense of where we are, what the weather is like, and how nature itself is an ever present character we take for granted yet has been completely glossed over.

[sheenaduquette]

The map has been great but I’m struggling with wanting to switch entire nations from east to west. I don’t think it should matter, ultimately. It stays how it is.

This is where my lore deviates from my research. To establish something that previously did not exist requires the determination and imagination to make it real, huh?

Hot springs and bath houses everywhere though.

[sheenaduquette]

Hi dont know if this is your area of expertise or not but i need some advice. how do i narrow down what i want to make when i have so many ideas and how do i deal with so many ideas overlaping and different genres i want to do?

It sounds like right now you’re thinking too broadly, which means whatever message you’re trying to send is going to be easily missed.

I won’t tell you what to do, because that will influence the words you choose to tell your story. Instead I will offer a different colored lens:

Consider you have five sheets of paper that can fit into a glass bottle, and whatever you write will be sealed up inside and set free to wander the tides of the world. You have no control over how long those words are at sea, what shores the bottle will wash up on, nor whom may be the one to find it. It’s important to consider the perspective of the persons who stumble across your message to understand what you were trying to convey, or if your words were even meant for them in the first place.

Things like ideas and genres and metaphors are only decorations to the inner message. Creating a board of meanings you want to convey, building and referencing a world bible, and developing relatable and flawed characters to tell your story through are great ways to ensure the passion you devote to a project comes through even across time, cultures and continents.

Whatever you decide to add, make sure it’s helping to narrow your message and not diluting the overall theme. And if it feels like too much for one project, split them up. Maybe one is an illustration, one is a story, one is a poem or song. Explore different mediums and see which one best suits your voice.

[sheenaduquette]

Hello!! I really like your thoughtful musings on things that inspire you, and I saw you reblog a kingdom hearts post I got really excited because I'm obsessed with kingdom hearts! I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on the series :3 i know thats a vague prompt for such a broad series lol, so I guess just whatever thoughts come to mind first! any favorite characters, moments that especially inspire you? anything youd like to see happen in kingdom hearts 4? any moments you want to critique? Hope you have a good day ^_^

(pardon me asking this anonymously, Im shy lol)

Kingdom Hearts has been a large part of my life since early high school. I was never a huge Disney fan (shocker) but I loved Tetsuya Nomura’s character designs and really enjoyed the concept of being able to travel to different worlds.

Birth by Sleep still holds the number one spot for combat design (in my opinion.) I really enjoyed the way you would farm spells from Heartless and combine them into new ones. The Command systems for each character was also a lot of fun, especially the Wing Blade series. I played a lot of the command board during my commute to work on the PSP haha.

As far as hopes for KH4, I’d love to see some more Final Fantasy love, maybe some of the scrapped episode lore from 15 or integrating the Eikon system from 16. I’m just hoping the story won’t have me lost for not having played some of the mobile games, it was hard enough trying to catch up with Days and CoM.

Shy is fine, the internet can be spooky.

[sheenaduquette]

I've read through the teaser of the story you're making and I wanna was what your inspirations for them were. The garden and photosynthetic motif is making me think of Final Fantasy 8

I find this funny as I’ve never played 8, but with all my research I’ve noticed a common theme across many of the Final Fantasy titles.

The entire concept of a garden came about through therapy and my own meditation when trying to regain peace and balance within myself. It was continuously reiterated when speaking with close friends who were also navigating difficult times—I noticed that a lot of us were spiraling due to external interferences, rather than focusing inwards.

A paraphrase I often used was,

“You can spend all of your waking hours peeking over your fence looking at the gardens in other’s backyards, but no matter how beautiful their roses and lush their leaves, they are not yours to envy. It is imperative you close the gate and take a good long look at your own patch of grass and spend the time removing the weeds, tilling the soil, and planting something uniquely your own. Only then will you have an expanse of blooms to look forward to, so long as you continue to cultivate and protect it.”

It’s very easy to get caught up in the pointless noise these days; I first noticed it with the introduction of the internet during my young school days. It takes continuous effort to recognize what makes us individuals, and a daily reminder that there are things only we can do, no matter how small it may seem.

Following these observations, I decided to delve further into the language of flowers. One of the books I have been referencing in my research is called Floriography: The Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux. I’ve also been translating, compiling and cross-referencing a personal compendium based on Japan’s flower language, supplemented with extra information from Wikipedia concerning genus and Latin root names, as well as regional and seasonal information.

Finally, if it hadn’t already been obvious, there are a lot of narrative roots borrowed from Scandinavian, Asian and Native American beliefs and mythos.

[sheenaduquette]

I was going through your animation inspirations list and saw you were a fan of Fate! are you a fan of the Fate series in general or just the light novel?

I’ve been an enjoyer of the animated Fate series for over a decade now. The most recent one has some beautiful scenes I just had to add to my reference folder.

Saber vs Lancer in Stay Night

I remember being moved by the contrast with blues and reds here, as well as the slow motion employed to add some weight to this scene.

Ruler Jeanne D'Arc vs Archer Atalanta in Apocrypha

Getting to see Atalanta crash out and go completely feral was really cool, along with the sound design. All of Apocrypha is intended to be watched with a subwoofer and the bass maxed out, this is what I believe to be true.

Karna's Noble Phantasm Vasavi Shakti from Apocrypha

White haired character = Sheena's gonna love them. Wasn't a fan of his weird little cod piece but his spells were crazy over-the-top with the squares-of-destruction and definitely gave me the, "fallen angel," feel, but maybe he's actually just crazy.

Richard meets Enkidu in Strange Fake

While the action scenes can feel a little overpacked at first glance, there's enough visual grounding and camera tricks that help keep your eyes from getting lost. Don't get me started on the color design.

Richard draws his sword in Strange Fake

Beautiful sequence animated by Miyakawa Shun from the newest Fate. I can only upload one video to this post, but I do recommend checking it out if any of this looks interesting to you.

Visuals aside, the way they approach historic figures (villains, heroes, others) is both fun and fascinating to me. Having the summoned Servants hide their names (or choose not to; or just outright lie) adds a fun mystery-esque guessing game on top of the story while watching.

I am now also aware that I'm lacking in Gilgamesh clips, how embarrassing for me ...

[radical-revolution]

Extremely rare White Auroras like never before spotted in the skies of Alaska last night…

[sheenaduquette]

I started making a map. I’ve never made a map before. Working with something from orogen has been reminding me of the old globe we used to have. All the peninsulas and channels, plates and ridgelines and climates—

Maybe I’m doing Too Much but it makes sense to me. The most frustrating thing I’ve found in stories is having no sense of where we are, what the weather is like, and how nature itself is an ever present character we take for granted yet has been completely glossed over.

[perennial-lee]

Anti-revenge narrative this, anti-revenge narrative that, I personally think that Inigo Montoya had the right idea when he stabbed Count Rugen in the gut and said "I want my father back, you son of a bitch"

[galwednesday]

A lot of revenge arcs end with the hero saying "there's nothing you can do to bring my loved one back, so me seeking revenge is pointless." The Princess Bride's revenge arc ends with Inigo Montoya saying "there's nothing you can do to bring my loved one back, so there's nothing that can save you."

[valtsv]

this may just be me going into overanalysis mode but i feel like the choreography of spellcasting can tell you so much about a magic user. a snap of the fingers, for example, implies confidence, even arrogance, while hands thrust out and straining to the fingertips suggests desperation, throwing one's whole body into the spell as though hoping the physical effort will make a difference. rapid, jerky body language tells you that a spellcaster is passionate and reckless, while graceful, fluid movements demonstrate calm and concentration. some magic users may choose to stomp their feet or clap their hands when casting, channeling power through percussive motion, whilst others may see magic as a tool separate from the self, and focus it through objects like a wand or staff. a new spellcaster just coming into their power may be tentative and slow, but a practiced study of magic will be able to rely on muscle memory to guide them.

[marlynnofmany]

I love all the possibilities. There can be tiny differences like the way two spellcasters will make the same motion with a wand, but the one with all the schooling will have it pointed with perfect form, while the one who learned on the fly is yelling incantations from the moment their arm started to move.

There can be cultural differences, like the social importance given to which focusing crystal someone chooses -- a type of gemstone that's rare and valuable in one land, but commonplace in another; a specific faceted shape that matches the architecture back home, versus something unaltered straight from the ground because it would insult the gods to change it.

Personal flair, like the choice between a broomstick or a flying carpet or a vacuum cleaner or a Roomba.

And the motions that these spellcasters use when operating all of this can tell us volumes.

[bees-with-swords]

"Do you ever dream of land?" The whale asks the tuna.

"No." Says the tuna, "Do you?"

"I have never seen it." Says the whale, "but deep in my body, I remember it."

"Why do you care," says the tuna, "if you will never see it."

"There are bones in my body built to walk through the forests and the mountains." Says the whale.

"They will disappear." Says the tuna, "one day, your body will forget the forests and the mountains."

"Maybe I don't want to forget," Says the whale, "The forests were once my home."

"I have seen the forests." Whispers the salmon, almost to itself.

"Tell me what you have seen," says the whale.

"The forests spawned me." Says the salmon. "They sent me to the ocean to grow. When I am fat with the bounty of the ocean, I will bring it home."

"Why would the forests seek the bounty of the oceans?" Asks the whale. "They have bounty of their own."

"You forget," says the salmon, "That the oceans were once their home."

[hearnoweevil]

Last year I finally had an excuse to illustrate this simple little Tumblr story I've had bookmarked forever for class.

I hope you like it :]

[sheenaduquette]

I saw a comment recently touching on a theme I think is very important we be vigilant and aware of:

We're in the most anti-art era we've ever been in.

Art--all forms of man-made creative expression--has been a fundamental part of humanity throughout history. Architecture, sculptures, written language, spoken language, song, music, dance, paintings, murals, martial arts, sports, comedy, theatre, poetry, film, animation, comics, literature, performance, cultural customs, worship; I can't even begin to list every possible form of human creation.

The question that stares me in the face day-in and day-out isn't just, "Who is removing the paths to these expressions as viable lifestyles/industries/parts of society," but also, WHY?

What is there to gain from a populace that has no recourse to rest from their unpaid overtime, their overexertion from 2 to 3 jobs, their malnutrition from rising costs of food and mounting anxious distress from insecure shelter with the state of housing inaccessibility? People are physically and mentally sick, tired, and most of all, angry. And angry people don't have the patience or energy left for cognizant discussions.

When the things that make life worth living and enjoyable are reserved only for a specific group people, ask yourself what sort of system you belong to. I can only hope you choose to resist it. That in and of itself is a form of artistic expression against all odds.

Creative Expression is the most fundamental attempt at Human Connection that transcends every possible barrier that may try to keep us silenced and apart.

[sheenaduquette]

I hope I'm not being stupid by posting this ask, but I wanted to clarify something.

With the recent release of Gameoverse (loved the pilot btw), it made me search for the creator of the show. I came back with his name being Ross O'Donovan.

That's genuinely so sweet. Cool design you drew for him, by the way. :)

He straight up told me he wanted a team GRMP for the tournament arc, despite my concerns with having them fit the naming system. Monty had a lot of dear friends he drew inspiration from, and I'm happy to say they have continued to forge their paths forwards. I'm hoping to one day catch up myself. The first time I met Ross, I remember he was spilling over with excitement to tell Monty all about his story, already having some storyboards, designs and sequences roughed out. We spent a lot of time talking after Monty passed, and when I first moved to LA he showed me the trailer he had put together. It was definitely a heavy moment; I could tell he'd been hoping to show Monty but perhaps felt like he didn't accomplish things fast enough. We had extensive talks about what he meant to us and what he continues to mean to us. A common theme I try to remind people of is that inspiration can be viewed as a flame: The sparks can transcend location and time to ignite something within someone across the world and through the years. So long as you don't allow anyone to dampen your ambition, as long as you're careful to protect it from external hurricanes, you can keep their words alive inside of yourself. Continue to add to the fire and stoke the flames of determination, and you will surely produce something to be proud of. I think Ross' tenacity to continue carrying that flame with him for over a decade is such a beautiful testament to how he refused to allow that initial spark to go out. It's a wonderful tribute to the man who inspired so many people, and I couldn't be more proud.