#simulacrum 23

[getvalentined]

Doodling simulacra, presented in sequential order; these three appear directly in the first few chapters—Exelli is technically the first one who appears in the story but I've never drawn him before because he's not part of the repair crew—so it seemed like a good selection. They're all basically the same while also being very visibly different!

[valentinedwords]

Chewing through the bars of my enclosure as I continue to rework The Lucifers' Wall to fix The Problem because I am so so so close to introducing 23 but I can't rush it, I can't skip around, I gotta make sure the scene progresses naturally and properly and everyone is responding appropriately and and and—

23's dynamic with the rest of the cast is my (second) favorite in the entire story (but is present for much more of it than my number one favorite dynamic so I'm eager to get to it) and I know it's okay to have favorites but god it is so fucking hard to make sure the story is earning its key moments.

[kingofbeartraps]

Inktober 19: Sling

So this prompt had to be 23 because "Ring" and "Swing" were Salmac and 1017, all of whom have the same face because that's how simulacra work. Rhyming is important to me. So here's 23 about to throw (or sling) a rock from a fairly early scene in the book. I guess I should probably draw Elsie at some point.

I had this finished last night but I was way too tired from getting my new office/studio put together to scan and upload it immediately. It's been a long couple days.

High-res image (and full artist’s comments) on Patreon

[getvalentined]

Elsie Reyes and her assistants within the Lucifers' Wall, Simulacra 23 and 1017.

Very rough colors but it's nice to see them all together! Elsie is about 5'9" (177cm) but the simulacra are 6'10" (208cm), so she looks about 2 apples tall in comparison. She's pretty tall, but they're massive.

(Reminder that if you want more details or want to follow along as I rework the current draft of The Lucifers' Wall, you can follow @valentinedwords!)

[getvalentined]

I actually really like how everyone in that recent doodle looks individually so I'm posting them separately too, without the rough shading I added to keep them from blending into one another too much. Still not super hot on how Elsie turned out (aside from her hair) but she's passable so ehh.

[getvalentined]

Discovered today that I've never told my mother a single thing about my book even though it's been in-progress on and off since 2017 and is actually only like a half-dozen chapters out from the first genuinely complete draft being done.

We go out for coffee together every Friday morning, since we're both disabled homebodies and that assures we get out into the world at least once a week, and the code to get into the restroom at the cafe just changed—the new code is 23 23 23.

Me: Aww man, I miss that guy. Mom: ...what? Me: 23, from my urban fantasy novel. Mom: What?

Anyway I sent her the current incomplete draft, which is very weird for me because I haven't introduced anyone to the story in years—everyone who has gotten a copy of the draft since like 2022 was already aware of the story to some degree, they'd see artwork or put up with me babbling about it somewhere. This means I get to be anxious about sharing it for the first time all over again, which is a flavor of anxiety I did not expect to experience again until I started working on it with an editor. Not great! But I am quite proud of it—which is why I'm still working on it after so long—so I can just hope she enjoys it.

Anyway I'm gonna go draw 23 because I really do miss that guy.

[getvalentined]

I have this extremely stupid urge to draw Salmac and one of the two repair crew simulacra in the Magnet pose for absolutely no reason

[getvalentined]

Decided I wanted to compile together a masterpost of all the “good” art I’ve done for The Lucifers’ Wall. Most of it’s from last year’s Inkt*ber, but I plugged in a couple of my older doodles etc at the end because I still like that one of 1017 providing important guidance, and Salmac is frankly always on-point.