#jalcean

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It seems my default to breaking artblock is either landscape studies or sharks - and I’m not complaining. Originally rendered in greyscale, when I bumped up my saturation to test it was truly desaturated, it turned red and it looked great!

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A finished practice done for fun. Based on this gifset which i am 99% sure is from Blue Planet. Happy with how it turned out, for a quick study.

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Just a little shark drawing to keep me relaxed during exams. Decided to try a greyscale piece to practice my shading, try to push my highlights a little, I tend to be a bit conservative with them.

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hello there! i was wondering what does 'jalcean' mean? is it your oc or something? excuse my random questions i don't want to bother you.

Hi Anon!

You’re not a bother at all, and you’re correct, Jalcean is indeed the name of an OC of mine. His tag is mostly sharks, Mediterranean architexture, any anything to do with the sea. Occasionally it has his actual face in it (or at least, what his face looks like sometimes) and if you dig far enough there’s a whole heap of worldbuilding buried in there somewhere.

Bonus Facts: His name is pronounced ‘yahl-SEEN’ with a low, long a like father. It doesn’t really ‘mean’ anything. 

Cheers!

-tT

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#gently puts teeth on face  Is a sequence of drawings I need to do. Of everyone. Haidren: Because, let's face it mate, you could probably eat me by accidentally inhaling, but you don't and I love you.  Jalcean: because TEETH! Teeth that are pressure sensitive and have a range of motion! Kree: because you'd do that just to fuck with someone, wouldn't you, you ass? yes. Yes you fucking would. Luke: not doubting your gape but I bet there's a good photobombing opportunity in there somewhere. Harrow: pUT THOSE AWAY - I'm kidding, teeth all the time mate, no worries.

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World Building June: Day 5

Architecture Characters need places to live in and work in, they need castles to gawk at, dungeons to lurk, cities to hang around in. Maybe your characters just have a single room apartment that their life fits into somehow. What sorts of architectural marvels cover your world?

Polignano a Mare, one of the main inspirations for architecture, at sunset. Image (c) Gianmarco Guidici

Venice and it's treatment of waterways running through a township,

Polignano a Mare for it's tight streets and soaring coastal cliffs with buildings carved right into the rock,

Hearst Castle's Roman Pool,

The traditional Funaya fisherman's houses in Ine Bay, North Kyoto, for their incorporation of bottom level boat garages,

The submerged ruins of Gaiola Island, for a structure left to decay in the tide,

Benagil Sea Caves in Portugal for massive coastal erosion.

These are cultures that have head to deal with the same weathering as this world and present how to deal with it when building. This architecture is firstly about living with the water, folding it into the townships not trying to divert or remove it. Streets are paved as much as they are canals.

As far as 'marvels' go that would be the underwater catacombs. The ocean has been very active in this area, rising and falling multiple times in human history meaning there are layers upon layers of human habitation surrendered and lost to the creeping tides. The bedrock is mostly limestone or marble and has within it natural caves and old volcanic chutes. These are routinely incorporated into the architecture at that level, creating a system of intricate tunnels and subterranean waterways. Spaces are tight in the rough terrain so houses spread up rather then out. A sprawling house, like one with water flowing through it, is a sign of wealth. Some of the grander current buildings have the ocean literally inside them in huge indoor pools and water features running through the house. To have water in your home to such a degree is a sign of opulence. Wells providing fresh water from the watertable are community hotspots and often the center of markets or religious places. Being close to the ocean, the main source of any income, is also a sign of wealth. In earlier times business owners and those who owned fishing fleets would live where they would do business, often having their own private wharves to receive boats and goods. These residences were also close to the places of worship and thus rendered those inhabitants closer to their gods.

Jalcean has two places of residence. The main residence is fairly lower-middle class with two bedrooms and three stories including a rooftop. His 'block' of houses is centered around a small communal well that leads to the watertable and a network of underground access tunnels. His second residence is a safe-house, a fishing shack built into a secluded cove. It is a two-story residence with three main rooms consisting of the bedroom upstairs, a small lounge-kitchen and a laundry-bathroom. Because of the angle of the cliff it's built in the second level [bedroom] lets out directly onto a small roof garden area that is the roof of the first story.

Roadways are rare and cars are just as rare. Most of the transport not done by foot is done by boat and water-taxis in the canals, bikes or small scooters on the closed lanes. Ferries take people and goods between towns and the many close islands.

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World Building June MASTERPOST

I have been participating in World Building June quietly, writing my stuff as I get time. I'm going to start posting them twice a day until I'm caught up with the WBJ Blog. These posts will all be tagged with #WBJ so if you don't want to see them blacklist that. They will also be trimmed under a cut.

The world I've chosen this June is one that I've neglected doing hardcore building for- home of one ex-thief sometimes-shark Jalcean. His story is part-written and spans back four years. It will be overhauled before a first draft is ready and currently stands in three 'movements'.

Days completed so far:

Day 1 Introductions Day 2 Characters Day 3 Culture Day 4 Fauna Day 5 Architecture Day 6 Magic and Technology Day 7 Economy

This post is intended as a master, and will be updated to reflect progress.

Cheers, -tT

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World Building June: Day 1

Introductions

Start out by telling us a bit about your setting, what’s your name for it? What’s that name mean? What are the aspects of your world and how do they work into the themes you want to convey. Maybe even delve into why this setting jives with you, since obviously it jives with you if it’s sitting on the back of your mind ready to get fleshed out.

Currently the story only has a working title that serves to differentiate it in my filing system and I haven't established enough of the in-world language to give the nation a name. So that's a negative on names, ufortunately. Often things don't get titled by me until they're finished and this has been going for four and a half years so there's no name in sight.

The setting, to be broad, is a continent divided into nation-states, much akin to Europe. The story's particular area of focus is on a nation-state on the southern coastal area of the continent with a rugged, mountainous interior that leads straight onto sheer cliff coastlines.

The primary aspects of the world are the cultural connection to water- being a coastal state with three huge, primary rivers funneling into a single main basin. The interior is very rugged, either mountains and the extinct volcanoes that birthed them or impenetrable marshes, so most if not all settlements are on the coast or it's waterways. This strong cultural tie to water is prevalent throughout the entire story and state, shaping religions and society.

If I had to be very general and very broad, I'd say this story is about change. There's many types of it and it's neither good nor bad. A change that might seem bad at first proves later to be a gift. Another holds all the promise of greatness may ultimately bring naught but loss. Some things need to change a lot, others only a little. Sometimes change needs a hand, sometimes it needs to be stopped and redirected.