Within the Library of the Learned

Welcome, dear visitor, to the place where you will find any, and all, knowledge that you seek - The Grand Nomentti Library. As a head monk of the Nomentti in training, I, Eclissan, can aid you in finding the information you are searching for. When you...

[flushyfish]

URL change! used to be flushy-the-fish! So just know it’s the same person <3

I’ll reblog this a couple times to make sure everyone sees

[tobeagodagain]

//Notification from the main blog, just so you know. I’m also a lot more active there, so if you wish to talk with me or so, I’d message that blog!

[flushyfish]

I’m bigger than my body

I’m colder than this home

I’m meaner than my demons

I’m bigger than these bones.

Halsey - Control

Quick sketches to let out some bad feelings, plus listening to the song over and over made me really want to do this with Eclissan. It really fits her later in life. Can I also say I’m pretty proud with the improvements I’ve seen in my anatomy? Because I am.

[tobeagodagain]

//Look more Eclissan art just sketched out tonight. Had some fun with these.

[flushyfish]

I’m bigger than my body

I’m colder than this home

I’m meaner than my demons

I’m bigger than these bones.

Halsey - Control

Quick sketches to let out some bad feelings, plus listening to the song over and over made me really want to do this with Eclissan. It really fits her later in life. Can I also say I’m pretty proud with the improvements I’ve seen in my anatomy? Because I am.

[tobeagodagain]

//Look more Eclissan art just sketched out tonight. Had some fun with these.

[flushyfish]

That’s it! Short one today, just a bit before bed. Thanks to all who joined, and to those who didn’t here have a sneak peak at what I was working on that you missed out on (plus my dumb face reacting to some songs):

I may stream some more as I continue to work through this piece! It really helps to motivate me, and I love hanging out with my peeps.

[tobeagodagain]

//Yup, sorry if you couldn’t make it! But here’s a sneak preview for you anyways c:

[tobeagodagain]

I know that I have been very much dead on here, which is fairly unfortunate, but it happens. Been traveling a bit and focusing on other things. However! Just finished this which I have spent a lot of time on, a kinda revamp of the old eye closeup picture I did for Eclissan way back. I spent a lot more time focusing on anatomy and just letting myself go crazy with details in some parts, which was a blast.

I also got a video of the drawing process, which you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09DsHDfhmXs

And for more information on the drawing itself: http://darkwing2743.deviantart.com/art/It-Echoes-When-I-Breathe-546850627?ga_submit_new=10%253A1437085980

[tobeagodagain]

Here we have it! My final renders of my 3D model of Eclissan. Now, I say final, but that’s just really the final version that I’m turning in for class. I’m definitely going to be going back and continue work over the summer, mainly on really getting a handle on working the fur system along with creating her armor (and since this version of her monk wear is actually missing a piece, I’ll work to create that!).

Overall I’m really really happy with this. I had a lot of fun working on it, and put in a lot of time. I’m so excited to see my character in a 3D view that it’s insane. I probably spent about an average of 4 hours of work on this project every day for like 5 weeks, which comes out to about 140 hours of work. But I never really got tired of working on it, and was excited to get more done as I saw it progress into the final product.

First image is the compilation of renders that I turn in for class, with my own art put shamelessly as the background, (though the version on here had to be downsized a bit, it’s about 2/3rds the size of the real version) then others are the individual renders themselves, jsut so you guys could see them in full size.

Programs used were Maya 2015 for modeling, Mudbox for painting on some of the textures and sculpting, then Xgen for creating the fur and whiskers.

[tobeagodagain]

//I made myself have a lot of feelings last night, and actually ended up writing a little short snippet again. So enjoy a little writing from pretty late into Eclissan’s life friends. c:

Ghosts surrounded the wolf, spirits which broke through the everlasting darkness to fill her mind with visions all day and night. Past creatures she had met, past places. All of them sneering at her, striking her with sharp, silent words. There was no sound from these visions, but she still felt the power of each word spoken to her by these spirits, as the sounds of the physical world surrounded her. 

It was like some bastardized version of the place among the stars for those who have died, made specifically to mock the wolf. To remind her constantly of how she was as good as dead, but her spirit would not be allowed to rest peacefully as all others would.

She did her best to keep her mind off of them, focusing on the world she still lived in and knew was real. If she just focused hard enough, put her mind towards picturing where she was based upon sounds and smells and objects she felt, she could blur the spirits, at least a bit. But it was only a temporary solution, a bandage which would slip off in the dead of night as she was running from the swords of soldiers who called for her blood. The ghosts would assault her with friendly faces of a past life now turned unwelcoming, spitting acid as if trying to burn away the ground she stood on.

So she turned to yelling back at them, confronting them every chance that she got and firing two shots back for every one they fired at her. She would scream until her throat ran dry and voice hoarse, her feet giving out beneath her  as she broke down into sobbing which shook her whole body,  the spirits continuing their attack with blow after blow, never tiring, never resting. Each year she fought for longer, yelling at the spirits about her hatred for how they had all left her to live this sad, miserable life alone. Hatred for what her once beautiful world had become. Hatred for how she had to constantly run from everyone and everything to just stay alive. Hatred for how the creatures would consistently kill with no remorse, burning down town after town in their hunt for only one life. And eventually, she no longer felt the power of the spirits' hatred, but the burning hatred itself. A hatred which burst at the seams and had but one purpose - to destroy that which created it. It would not rest until the deed was done.

With it, the wolf came to realize that she had never acted as a god should. For a god does not just sacrifice theirself and leave the world they saved to become some wretched, twisted version of itself. A god does not let that which they rule over decay, rot, and eventually destroy itself.

No, a god fights.

A god fights for the world they have always believed in, the world where creatures are able to live peacefully and not fear that the soldier who comes to their house this time will be the one to end their life. They fight no matter the odds. Whether there is an army at their backs, or only their own sweat. Even if they must face a valley full of soldiers, a god fights.

And so, with the spirits' anger now burning within Eclissan, they instead filled her head with the friendly faces of loved ones long dead, keeping her company as she planned to burn down the vengeful, monstrous government and build the peaceful one she had once known from its ruins.

[tobeagodagain]

//Here have another WIP of the Eclissan model project, because I’m jsut too excited about this. Here’s a detail render (with watermark, because of not having a full license for the renderer, ah well) of her sword, which I just finished making the textures for. Went kinda crazy with the resolution, but I wanted to have a really high res file of this texture for possible things later.

[tobeagodagain]

2 & 3

2. How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing pretty regularly since the second half of my freshman year of high school, so for about five years now. I did draw a bit before that, but it definitely wasn’t as big of a hobby as it become once I hit high school.

3. How many classes have you taken?

Through high school I actually didn’t take any drawing classes except for one over at a nearby community college over one summer between junior and senior year of high school. Now in college, for drawing I’ve taken one, then another for sculpting, and most of my classes have been for animation (one class of 2D to introduce us to a lot of animation principles in freshman year, now by the end of sophomore year I’ve taken about 5 classes with working in 3D).

I really am a more self-taught artist, which I feel has it’s advantages and disadvantages. I spent a lot of my time looking up references and tutorials, which is definitely the better way to go if you self-teach, in my opinion. It helped me to start to learn the anatomy, which can easily be missed out on when not taking an actual class. Other disadvantages can be missing out on some principles like working colors among other things, but, you can also really develop how you draw things when you spend a lot of time learning on your own. I could probably go on a lot longer about this kind of stuff, but that doesn’t entirely fit the question and would just be me rambling at this point, haha.

[dollyriot]

Artist Asks!

Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

How long have you been drawing?

How many classes have you taken?

Do you have a DeviantArt, personal website, or art blog?

What’s your favorite thing to draw?

What’s your least favorite thing to draw?

How often do you use references?

Do you draw professionally, or just for fun?

How much time do you spend drawing on an average day?

Are you confident about your art?

How many art-related blogs do you follow?

Is it okay for people to ask you about your process?

Do you prefer to keep your art personal, or do you like drawing things for other people?

Do you ever collaborate with others?

How long does an average piece take you to complete?

Do you draw more today than you did in the past, or do you draw less?

Do you think you’re justified in giving other people art advice?

What are you currently trying to improve on?

What is the most difficult thing for you to draw?

What is the easiest thing for you to draw?

Do you like to challenge yourself?

Are you confident that you’re improving steadily?

Do you draw more fanart, or more original art?

Do you feel jealous when you see other people’s art, or inspired? (Be honest!)

Do you like to draw in silence, or with music?

For digital artists: what program(s) do you use?

For digital artists: how many layers does a typical piece require?

For traditional artists: what medium do you like most? (Pencil, charcoals, etc)

For traditional artists: How do you usually start on a big piece? (Light sketch, colored lead, sketchpaper, etc)

What inspires you to not just make art, but to be a better artist?

[tobeagodagain]

//Alright I’ve been dead for quite some time here. Whoops, just mainly school work and life at this point. I basically spent my week-long break a couple weeks back just working on projects, but! on the final projects here for the year, and in my character modeling class the project is to model, texture, and pose a full character of our choice. I decided to do Eclissan, and so far I have her basemesh done. I’ll post those WIPs for you guys because I’m super hyped about this project. Plus some asks which I can work to answer slowly ; w; I’ll get back to rping once school is over, thanks for being so patient <3

[infinite-xerath]

For tobeagodagain (Sorry this is so stupidly late)

In a distant worldForged from the elementsA girl emergesBirth from iceDestined for greatnessBorn into a cycleOr so they tell youIs this destiny?Are you their protectorOr something else?What does it mean to be divine?Do you know?Would you like to?Perhaps if the world lacks answersYou might venture to another…Hope this isn’t too bad…))

[tobeagodagain]

//I love it, it's perfect ; w;

[infinite-xerath]

Xerath was about to reply when, suddenly, a familiar alien presence filled the air. The mage turned and scanned the are, searching for signs of movement in the sand. “…We have wasted far too much time. The Burrower’s spawn approach.” The Magus readied himself for a fight. “Prepare yourself, Eclissan. It is time to see whether or not your power TRULY equates to that of a goddess!”

[tobeagodagain]

Ears snapping up, Eclissan heard them. Tons of tiny feet scratching through the sand at incredible speeds.  "I must've had a lapse in attention..." Silently she cursed at herself for getting so deep in thought that she forgot to keep watch. It was too late to get out, however, and so the wolf prepared herself to find out just how lucky she was in her catch on the creature before.

Pulling out her sword, the blade transforming within her grasp from a quite common blade to what could only be described as the work of a master, Eclissan watched in the direction of the sound. "So if her spawn have found us, what then are our chances of running into Rek'Sai herself?"

[tobeagodagain]

//Alright! Sorry about the delay, just had some crazy couple of weeks with TONS of shit due. But I will be setting up a queue here to post stuff I've made in animation, with explanations of exactly what I did, what the project was about, and what programs were used. Note that I am currently in my second semester of sophomore year. I'll also add on when the project was made.

//Thanks for your guys' interest, makes me feel pretty good to know people want to see the stuff I've done ^^"

[tobeagodagain]

//I'm just going to throw this out there cause I'm curious. Since this blog gets pretty dead when I get a lot of school work to do, would you guys be interested in me posting final pictures of the animation projects I'm working on?

[tobeagodagain]

//Alright friends, I should really say this so everyone knows. My schoolwork currently keeps me really busy, as in sometimes too busy to do anything but homework and eating with maybe a bit of sleep, so my activity will vary a ton.

Please know that if I don't reply for a very long time, it is most likely not because I have forgotten to, or because I hate it, but probably because I jsut haven't gotten the time to do so! HOWEVER, do feel free to send a note to me as a reminder to reply! Might help if I did accidentally forget too, whoops.

Aight that's all, have a great night/day/week <3

[tobeagodagain]

"By…" Eclissan thought for a moment, pausing. "Are we not bound by ourselves, and those we have power over? We are not able to control them into following, in fact I do not like how many in my world seem to believe I have all the answers and follow me blindly. But, as ones who are gifted with more power, with how we are put into a higher position than others, are we not then bound by ourselves and this position we are put into to protect those that are lower? Are we not bound by their belief, and our belief, of us as higher beings to protect them from things they would be unable to protect themselves from?"

She walked in silence for a bit, letting her words sit. “These gifts we are given, I do not believe it is just for us to use for ourselves, whether we are actually gods or not.”

[infinite-xerath]

Xerath was beginning to grow a tad irritated. “You are young and naive, Eclissan. Perhaps in your world, mortals could be something worth fighting for… But I doubt that.” He tapped the chest-piece of his sarcophagus. “Look upon me, ice-mage. Do you see these chains? I dethroned a corrupted emperor and liberated the desert from his rule… Yet my reward was to be imprisoned for centuries underground; so loyal were his followers that they could not see how they had been deceived, even when they veil of lies had been removed.”

For just a brief moment, the air seemed to crackle with energy as he spoke. “Even today, my acts have been passed down as little more than heresy. Men and women tremble in my presence, for they see me as history remembers me-a monster of the worst kind. How can one protect those who reject you for your power? No, I abandoned this world long ago… Just as it has abandoned me.”

[tobeagodagain]

Eclissan didn't exactly know how to reply. Creatures in her world basically thrust this responsibility upon her, no questions asked. They would come to her for advice, or even her blessing, as some seemed to believe she could grant them good luck. But, what would she do if they didn't have this belief? What would she do if the creatures who had always looked up to her, suddenly turned on her? If they cast her out?

Would she still try to protect those who hated her?

"Though it seems as if they need the protection of not just your powers, but your judgement, more than ever. Even if they don't accept you, if the ruler was as corrupt as you say, then you were the only one able to see it as it was. The people of the desert will need you to do this again, when other threats appear." Truth was, the wolf didn't really know what she'd do in that situation. But, god or not, she was the most powerful being in her world, and she was working to become even stronger. She is all her world has, and so for its sake, she hoped she never stepped out of her role of its protector.