I was listening to my COD Playlist and thinking about Clone!Soap and anyway lyric hit me from my last chapter. And since I'm not in a writing mood and I can't focus (or show the middle of the writing process well) have this instead
Staring at the setting sun
No reason to come back again
The twilight world in blue and white
The needle and the damage done
Thank you so much to @nirikeehan, @woundedsoul12, and @chaosherald for the tags!
Original inspiration from @kogarashi-art who posted a great video of their creative process for a sketch of Saadrah, and challenged folks to show the messier side of the creative process.
I've got several things running, but nothing is messier than the "Snippets and Such" document I've got in my Gladius folder right now.
Are all these bits and bobs related? No. Context? HAH.
A lot of the time, I know more or less how I want something to flow, but I'm whirling a bit on his stuff right now, so I'm just writing down anything that seems like it could be a thing. Some of it might make it into something, or get scrapped, or parceled out or given to someone else's story (or POV.)
Please comment on this post or DM me to be added removed at any time! Tags are always no pressure, check this fun thing out, with no expectation of response ❤️
tagged by @nirikeehan!! answering the art version of this on my art blog!
I dare you to show me the "messy middle" of something of yours. It doesn't have to be art (can be writing, cooking, sewing, etc.)
For this one, I thought I'd just show a lot of before/afters of what I usually start sketching an idea with vs what it looked like in the end! I don't always document my process depending on how fast the drawing comes together, but I sometimes save screenshots to my own personal discord of where I got up to before I clock off for the night, so I can stare at it on my phone to find 'mistakes' or see if I'm still liking it in the morning haha.
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This one was for DA Kiss Week! I really liked the sketch I did of this one initially - I wanted something cheeky and flirty but still SFW. Usually when I sketch, I try to do minimal details - it's more important that the pose is working and the general expression.
After that, it's extremely important to me that the colours work together. Because I have no lines, it means the colours must have high enough contrast to be legible next to each other. It takes me some time to pick base colours and play around but it's my favourite part haha. Then I merge all my layers together LOL and I pretty much draw over and colour in the rest of the details after that!
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Another DA Kiss Week one but just to show how I also lay out a more comic style with text! It's important to figure out where the text goes before I draw in the details - otherwise I run out of space, or I have to erase something I drew!
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Not dragon age but one I did of Hadestown after I saw the musical live. This one had more text, so again, good to know how much space I have to work with! Pose was super important here - I don't bother with any details until I'm happy with pose!
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This was for Moros from Hades II! Bit different because I did try lineart again for this one... and then remembered how much I hated doing it haha. But I did save my flat colours without lighting yet in the 2nd pic here, so you can see how dark/dull it was before I put in the background and the glowy lights.
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And this one was for Viago Week! I still laugh at my draft sketches because somehow Viago is instantly recognisable the moment I just draw on a moustache and goatee HAHA.
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And one more for Messy Middles is all the draft sketches I just.... never finished HAHA. It happens. You start something and you just lose the motivation/energy to finish. I still kinda like them but who know if I'll render them out in the end...
Do y'all remember that reference pic of the guy shaving on that chair that went around a while ago? I immediately needed Illario to be there. This was meant to look like the evening before The Wigmaker Job.
That Ship Sleep Dynamic tag that went around! I drew the left pic first and then accidentally merged the character layer to the couch (and I realised late the couch was too small) and I didn't want to draw it again for the right picture so... I gave up LOL. I think the sketch is still cute tho.
And then this Lucanis and Illario one playing chess in the Villa. I really like the sketch.... I started rendering it and it was UGLY lol so I deleted it. Might go back to the sketch and try again tho...
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Okay sorry this ended up so long but uh tagging artists this time since I tagged writers in the other one, but only if you want to! @doctormur @rookanisstuff @hijennyt @sorcerousadventurer
I was tagged by @kogarashi-art and @woundedsoul12 to share some sort of artistic endeavor that is imperfect. That's in-progress. And I am absolutely in love with this idea, so thank you both for tagging me!
I figured I ought to share some piano progress with you all! I've been playing steadily, though I haven't shared any clips in a while, so here's a dump of the pieces currently in my rotation! All of them are my most recent recording of that piece, on my work's Steinway Baby Grand (trust me, you'd much rather hear that than my 50+ year old Wurlitzer lol).
I'm gonna put this beneath the cut, so it isn't so unwieldy :)
This is a song I've been playing for years, a sort of mash up of the Dark Solas Theme and the Lost Elf Theme that I made up when I first got the piano back in... 2016? I play it all the time, and I still fuck it up on the regular.
I played DBH when it first came out in 2018, and knew immediately that I was going to have to learn that main theme. And I've spent years trying to perfect it. But, it wasn't until this last year that I leveled up enough to play it as smoothly as I do here, and I still fumble a bit.
I have been obsessed with the Pride & Prejudice (2005) soundtrack since 2005. Playing this song in particular has always seemed impossible to me–it's so intricate! I only started learning it a few months ago, and I am still so moved every time I listen to a recording because I can't actually believe that's me! Except for when I stumble in the exact same spot every damn time...
This is another song that has been an obsession of mine for basically my entire life. Another one that really feels like an accomplishment to me to be able to play it (even though this one is simpler than Liz, lol). And, this one is a true Messy Middle, seeing as I haven't even learned it through to the end yet!
I think my favorite thing about the piano is that it's something I can be imperfect at. Playing is for my enjoyment, learning a new song feels like doing a puzzle, and even though I obviously get frustrated when I make mistakes, it truly doesn't matter. I'm not playing for anyone. I'm not performing. I'm just... playing music?
I have no idea if that makes any sense, but I guess I'm just trying to say that I love playing the piano. It makes my brain feel smooth in the best possible way, it turns the dial down on the static in my brain, y'know?
I have no idea who to tag for this but uhhhhhh @sorcerousadventurer @sorchacahill @serensama @serialsforbellara @jukkaricity @davrinsleftpectoral and @vorchagirl.
Let's make this a tag challenge. I dare you to show me the "messy middle" of something of yours. It doesn't have to be art. Show me a shot of your fiction rough draft. Show me your cake batter before it's mixed. Show me the pieces of that sewing project before it's fully assembled (or show me your raw seams on the inside). Show me the tangled threads on the back of your latest cross-stitch project. Show me all the clips dumped into the media pool of your video edit.
Oh my god okay I sure do have things that qualify for this.
First, have my Scrivener sidebar for Meira and Lucanis's Meet Ugly fic, aka Birds of a Feather:
Green flags meant the draft is done, yellow flags mean the draft is in progress, and the white page variations mean those chapters are either nothing but a placeholder or just have some notes dumped in there. I wrote the beginning and end really quickly last year and then have spent the rest of the time struggling to get the two ends to meet XD Chapter titles are not finalized ("Consensual but not safe or sane" is probably not staying but I'm sure you can figure out the intended mood there LOL). Current word count is 54k, lmao. SOON MY FRIENDS. SOON
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Gonna talk about the rest below the cut!
Next, a couple half-written fic drafts for other stuff. One is in a mostly finished chapter of Meira's intro fic, Get Ready for the War, that I really just need to buckle down and finish up. Meira gets sent to the principal's office aka Divine Victoria's inner sanctum and has to interact with Cassandra, Divine Leliana, Morrigan and Charter while trying not to die of embarrassment.
“Your Holiness.” Charter reappeared at Victoria’s side, holding out a dossier. “The Van Morovich file.”
Meira felt faint as Divine Victoria grabbed it and flipped through.
“Strange,” she said, bemused. “You didn’t write anything on the line about magical ability — Meira, was it?”
“Er,” Meira said, her palms going sweaty. “I-I can explain that.”
Four sets of eyes fixed themselves upon her.
“I lied,” Meira confessed.
Then, I was debating introducing a Dalish OC to the Aviary recruit characters, and had started writing something with Meira and Kieran where they meet her in the Emerald Graves while on a mission together.
Kieran was already plunging into the cave.
Meira hesitated, watching him go. She shifted weight nervously from one foot to the other, debating whether it would be better to stay out here (safer, definitely) versus the likelihood she would have to go in anyway and drag him out by the collar of his tunic (extremely high).
In the end, it didn’t matter. Kieran only made it a few yards in; a shadowy figure leapt down from a large boulder, tackling him to the ground with a feral cry.
“Kieran!” Meira shrieked, running in after. She grabbed wildly for her dagger, though Lucanis would be disappointed that she’d already given up the element of surprise.
She was expecting to have to stab some sort of wild creature — wolves had been spotted in the area; why hadn’t she thought of that before letting him go in? But as she approached, Meira saw it was not an animal grappling her friend, but very much a person. She was outfitted with a wooden quarterstaff, and had managed to get behind him and put him in a headlock with it. She was about as short as Meira, but lither, wearing rough leathers and a number of small braids that tamed her otherwise unruly shock of copper-colored curls.
“Get back, shem!” the girl shouted, pulling the staff closer under Kieran’s neck as he writhed. She had pointed ears peeking out of her hair, Meira realized. And delicate tattoos of wavy branches under each eye. A Dalish elf? None of the Aviary’s recon reports had said there were Dalish clans nearby, but that might not mean much. The Emerald Graves were vast, and the indigenous elves used to camouflaging themselves from prying eyes.
“Don’t hurt him,” Meira cried, rearing. “Please. We were just here to—”
“I don’t care why you’re here,” the elven girl spat. “You are trespassing on dangerous ground. It’s my duty not to let anyone pass.” Her big grey eyes narrowed. “Especially not outsiders.”
I haven't gotten any farther than this, because while I like the idea for the character (her name is Suriya Velatha or Suri for short), I haven't entirely decided whether adding too many OCs is just going to unnecessarily complicate what is already going to be a very long and complex series. I also have been playing more Veilguard and have been debating yoinking Davrin for use in You Take the Dread Wolf; I think there's a lot of untapped potential in his character with his relationship to his Dalish heritage and what he would think of Solas and his Agents of Fen'Harel shenanigans. Ultimately that might take the place of anything I might want to do with Suri and render her redundant, idk. (Perhaps it's a "yes, and" situation, but I haven't decided yet.)
I have even more messy half-finished art pieces lmao but this is already getting so long as it is, I think I'll leave this off here.
I'm slowly chipping away at this piece. I'm trying something different since this is a candlelit scene. I'm "carving" away on a shadow layer to reveal the lit up areas. It's a learning process for sure. I don't know if I want to work like this. xD
Hopefully, I can finish this in time for Illarook week.
Tagging my lighthouse buddies and others: @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @ratbagjasper @andromeda-xyz @jaderavenarts @jukkaricity @imrowanartist @the-bug-witch @daydreamdeuce @badwolf626 @silurisanguine @woundedsoul12 @vorchagirl @xkatchy and YOU if you want to do this.
I dare you to show me the "messy middle" of something of yours. It doesn't have to be art. Show me a shot of your fiction rough draft. Show me your cake batter before it's mixed. Show me the pieces of that sewing project before it's fully assembled (or show me your raw seams on the inside). Show me the tangled threads on the back of your latest cross-stitch project. Show me all the clips dumped into the media pool of your video edit.
Thanks for the tag @tkwritesdumbassassins! Just realised I can show messy middles from my writing and art.
When I'm drafting I don't let pesky details like names get in my way. I chuck in a TK and barrel on through, then do a project search to make sure I don't accidentally leave one in. Behold, a first draft!
Here also is a messy middle of a sketch! This is how rough my first sketches are. Proportions and anatomy and all come later lmao.
Tagging in @d7kyoshi @jaderavenarts @davrinsleftpectoral @blackwall-my-tiny-husband @himluv @flo59-art @master-of-the-elements @epiphany-jones
finally making my way back to Pas De Deux at the Palcoscenico, please enjoy me working out rhyme/rhythm/flow things. I have...pages of this for various offline projects. tysm for everyone who tagged me, and apologies for just how behind i am on tags. 🕳️ <- i say, from in the pit haha. May your pillows always be cool and comfy
audience = (orgy hence) (orgy gents) (adherents) (audacious - order she is)
you have been a spectacular audience. audacious speculation. someone special in the audience tonight. there is a spectre in the audience. expect terror from the adherents
