WIP WEDNESDAYS: Kingdoms

Ayyyyyeee!!! Would-ya look at that! An older version of Annie! 

This is an AU version from an RP I did with a couple of my friends, although it's on a hiatus at the moment. It revolved around the puzzle-solving duo, Ryder and Annie, and their newest client, Princess Kythaela. 

My friends birthday passed recently, and I'm thinking about finishing this for her, since she adores that RP with a flaming passion. It'll be a bit of a jolt, considering that I haven't worked with lineart in quite some time, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

Fallen Angel

Hey! Look! An Angel!

Not only is it an angel, but it's my character! Anastasia "Annie" Vasilev, after she's been wrongly banished from Heaven. This image depicts the first few moments of her time on earth, when her flesh has, for the first time, met mortal soil. Her landing was less than pretty, and having been thrust to the bottom of a lake all its water was displaced by the force of her arrival.

She watches in confused and horrified awe as her once white and spectacular wings are blackened by the gravity of her sin, and thus marking has as one of the Fallen. She's gifted with a breath of hope, however, because a limited portion of her plumage has yet to be tainted. Realizing she has time to prove her innocence and regain her former status, Annie gathers her courage and faces the mortal plane.

I can't even tell you how long I spent on this drawing, it took so long. I spent four or five days working on this nearly non-stop, only taking a few breaks here and there to eat and sleep. It was for a competition on Instagram, and it all paid off because I was one of the winners. o3o

There were a lot of ups and downs while making this. 

I absolutely adored working on Annie herself. 

As mentioned in my previous post, I've been experimenting with my style, so I decided to conquer this beast of a piece without any linework. Now, on one hand, that was super awesome because I have a love-hate relationship with linework. I like it in small doses, but often the scale of my imagination leads an abundance of detail that is ultimately a hassle to line. 

Skipping that step all together didn't really cut down the time it took to finish this piece, but it certainly made the entire thing feel much more organic. 

That being said, after I finished Annie I slowly began to hate myself for the amount of detail I require to like what I draw. 

It started with the wings, then the reflections, then the rocks. o_o It was absolute torture.

AND SOMEHOW, I still love this drawing.

WIP WEDNESDAYS: Piano

Introducing a new feature on my blog: WIP WEDNESDAYS! 

I decided, in order to become more active, I'm going to start doing WIP Wednesdays so tat, every week, there's something on here. You'll be given a look into what I'm working on, as well as a few updates in my life. 

I won't go into too much detail, or even give away much about the meaning of this drawing, but it involves one of my original characters, Blake, and a few aspects of his past. Can we just talk about that piano, though? I spent way too long working on it.

Nonetheless, it feels good to work with grayscale again. It's like a return to form, since I started out as a graphite artist. 

New Art! Bloodmoon

Since summer began, I've only really been involved in a few massive art pieces. Most of my time has been dedicated to writing because that's what I want to do with my life. However, there have been a few occasions that I've spent drawing. They've been uncharacteristically time-consuming, and have helped me come to the conclusion that I am currently in an experimental phase with my art.

I've always wanted to do something more painterly. That being said most of my childhood inspiration could be found in the pages of a comic book, which, for the most part, consist of the routine sketch, line, and color process drawings. I've never aspired to be a comic artist, however, and found more organic techniques to be appealing to the eye. I've never been able to achieve such a style.

Recently, I've aspired to change that. My last two pieces, although tedious and exhausting, are some of the best things I've ever crafted. 

This piece is on of them.

It depicts two characters from my book, Devil's Trumpet, Macy and Nico, beneath a blood moon. There's  a lot of symbolism in this piece because the book is deeply rooted in biblical myths and rituals. I attempted to make it look as if they're angels descending from the clouds, hand in hand because they're the prophets of a new age. The moon is a critical part of the book, so it can't be discussed more, but damn was it difficult to draw.

Art Trade: Erik (TheGalaxyCollective on Instagram)

I DID ANOTHER ART TRADE WITH ANOTHER PERSON. O3O

She goes by Thegalaxycollective on instagram. She's a fantastic artist, and I've been in love with her stile for quite some time. She mentioned something about wanting to do another while she had the time, and I was fortunate enough to be chosen. o3o

This is her character, Erik, wh was described to me as, basically, a cold hearted son of a gun that somehow manages to still be awesome.

If you're curious why I drew him in socks, the simple answer is that I didn't want to be bothered with drawing shoes so I just gave him some nice, normal, foot mittens. 

Vent Art: Blocked

"This person isn't receiving messages from you right now."

So, recently, my best friend of three or four years blocked me out of nowhere.

In short, this drawing is a depiction of my initial feelings upon realization that she'd cut me off. There was a mixture of fear and disbelief, but most of all there was pain. It was the kind of pain that sears the center of your chest before it scorches your veins, shuddering through your entire body. 

What makes it worse is that there was no warning.

There was little to no build up. 

In the last message she sent me she said "I loves you bestie, thank you for helping me feel better." That was Tuesday. We didn't talk Wednesday, and come Thursday she removed me from her life.

I immediately began wondering what I did wrong. Was it because we didn't talk on Wednesday? We've gone days without speaking before, and it never led to this. Was it something else? Did I say something without realizing the negative impact of my words? 

What did I do wrong?

I desperately began searching for answers; I spoke to one of her friends, asked if they knew anything, and they didn't. My next decision was to tirelessly hunt through my phone's call log for her number, because I called it just a week or two ago when she couldn't find her cell. The message I sent wasn't angry, it wasn't bitter, it was confused and it would've been heartbroken had I not kept myself from that level of immaturity. 

She had to have a good reason, and I wanted to know. I needed to know. Where did I go wrong? How did I ruin this friendship in the course of 24 hours? 

What did I do wrong?

She responded, but she didn't provide me the understanding I desired.

Instead of clarifying what I could've done differently, she specified that she was the one who wrong, and that she made the decision to block me for my  sake. She elaborated that she can't talk to me without feeling sad, and that she hasn't felt anything beyond that since our previous fallout (something I've moved on from, but apparently she hasn't). Again, she clarified that this was for my sake. You can imagine I wasn't pleased with this.

I felt, in her text at least, that she'd made a very strong case stating that I became the toxin, so I pointed that out and apologized before wishing her well.

Again, she corrected me by saying that she was the toxin.

My first thought was What is this anime hero bullshit?

What bullshit. What tremendously horrible bullshit is that? This stuff isn't supposed to be real. This stuff is only supposed to exist in tv's and movies and books, often as a means of creating empathy between the audience and the protagonist. But, apparently, real life people are just as idiotic as fictional characters, and it sucks. 

At that moment, I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to scream and argue and say that she had no right to decide who's bad for me and who's not because as far as I was concerned, she wasn't. In fact, even now, I'm certain that she was by far one of the best things for me. She was a friend, one of the few who understood me and cared for me, and when I was sad she knew how to get me through it. It was something I'd believed, up until now, that we did for each other. I wanted to argue, and I almost started when that same friend I'd contacted before sent me an image.

It was a screen shot.

On my screen, I saw my best friend's latest post, time stamped 11 hours prior to that instant, which read with a sort of vindictive disdain I've suffered before, but never by her. 

"People change," it read, "and not always for the better. I've changed, so has the person I just let go of."

Okay. I could understand that. That makes more sense. 

Then I get to the last line.

"I just don't want any part of what they're turning into."

It sounds dramatic, but for a second I died. My heart stopped, my lungs paused, even my mind was totally paralyzed. I was, for just one moment, broken into a dust of despair so powerful I believed that life itself had been sapped from my core. This sensation was the culmination of so many things; I realized she lied to me over our texts. I realized I truly have done something, perhaps a string of things, that disparaged my friendship with her. I realized this wasn't a peaceful parting of ways, and that although I would remember her fondly her experience would be different. 

She won't speak kindly of me; she never does about people who leave her life. 

She won't miss me. 

She won't be back.

And, once again, I am alone.

I send her one last text, aware now that she won't respond after this, and tell her she doesn't have to lie. 

It's okay. If she doesn't like me for who I've allegedly become, that's alright. I can understand that. I've distanced myself from people for the same reason, so there's no blaming her for that.

Today, I'm upset. Tomorrow, I'll be upset. Maybe even the day after that, I'll be upset.

I'll comb through my memories for examples of how I've changed, but all the differences I come up with are linked to her. They're alterations crafted to better suit what she required after she and I stopped talking months ago, because that's what I thought she wanted. It's what she said she needed before. I'll keep looking until it dawns on me, or until I give up looking. 

I'll miss her.

But I'm thankful that I was her friend at all, and in the future I'll reminisce about our memories and time together happily. 

A for Auburn

This is something I drew recently to switch up the routine. Since I graduated I haven't been drawing as much as before, mostly because I don't have an art class to keep me interested anymore and my goals aren't connected to anything art related.

 That being said, because I've been writing and only writing for weeks on end in an effort to finish my manuscript before college, I thought it would be nice to switch things up and draw something for a change. It turned out pretty nice. I tried some new things and I'm happy with it. 

Art Trade: Marshalljwatson

This is actually super overdue, given that I started this art trade MONTHS ago. Hopefully they aren't too angry when I finally include my half. Q^Q It's Rin from Ao No Exorcist or something like that and Keneki from Tokyo Ghoul

Devil's Trumpet Mock Cover

"Our dreams gave way to prophecy."

As the title states, this is a mock cover for my current story, but I liked it enough that I wanted to share it outside my facebook profile. 

I tried to keep the entire thing simple, without adding too much detail to anything. It was a struggle to some degree, finding something that I felt was done but didn't appear incomplete. I'm happy with it.

Face Variety Practice with Devil's Trumpet Characters

Top Row (Left to Right): Macy Braddock, Circi Taurean, Pyera Vandiver
Bottom Row (Left to Right): Lilac Dexter, Luc Walcott, Cleon Lamalcom

Top Row (Left to Right): Tesher, Nico Nevarro, Valberg Marshall
Bottom Row (Left to Right): Nomono Nirvahna, Lily Dexster, Francis Church

I haven't posted for a while...

BUT AT LEAST I'VE BEEN MORE ACTIVE THAN I HAVE WITH DEVIANT ART. 

Okay, so, I lost access to my original account because LIKE AN IDIOT, I changed the password, then forgot the password, then tried and tried and gave up before giving up. Eventually I created a new account, but I missed my previous one. SO TODAY, 

TODAY, MY FRIENDS, 

I FINALLY FIGURED OUT MY PASSWORD.

I've been given access again, and I have well over 2000 notifications. XD

Kill me.

Moving on, I have some art I've been working on, and I'm going to post them now that I'm graduated and majorly less busy than I was before. 

Also, I've put my writing project, DAYDREAMER, on hiatus, if any of you are curious. It's been about seven years in the making, but I've moved onto something I feel has more potential as well as a better chance of getting published. That's not to say that DAYDREAMER won't. I've  become more knowledgeable about what publishers are looking for from new authors and DAYDREAMER is a tall order.

Not only that, but quite honestly I've become burnt out on the story and it's characters. I've been working on the rewrite of DAYDREAMER since Freshman year, and I'm a high school graduate now. I feel that I require a break, and during this time I can dedicate myself to other stories that have been waiting to be explored. 

I'm glad to be back, and I can't wait to post more over the course of the summer. c:

Fire Dancer

HEY!

It's me! Michy! I know, it's been a while. You might be wondering why, and well to be perfectly honest I've been so focused on graduation that I basically just gave up art for like...I don't know, a month or two? The last drawing I posted was LITERALLY the only thing I've drawn before this.

Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it's the only thing I actually finished. I drew one or two things other than that drawing, but beyond that it's been a pretty uneventful time for my art.

That being said, with my graduation ceremony this coming Saturday, you could say that 'll have much more time to work on everything and anything art. c: Work doesn't have homework, so that's not going to take away from my time tooooo much.

Have this though.

I started this....Sunday. Yeah, Sunday. 

This is the main character of my book, DAYDREAMER, and she's afraid of fire but is also quite fiery herself. I really enjoy oxymorons, if that wasn't obvious.

I have been working on this so diligently the past few days, and I'm so proud of the final product. 

I've been thinking though; I want to start putting more posts up on here, so I'm wondering what migt be popular. I know probably no one will comment, but hey it's worth a short. What are some of the things you guys might like to see? I have to get one art trade out of the way, but maybe I might start taking requests. Also, after this Saturday I'm officially reactivating my Instagram account, because I no longer need to focus on school. c:

School Assignment: Lift

This is the final piece in my concentration; it's meant to symbolize personal liberation. 

I'm a little tired at the moment, with two tests waiting for me at school today, but once I've gotten more sleep and find the time to sit down in the midst of so much homework I'll return to better explain. 

Devil's Trumpet

I'm upset but this is finished.

WIP: Devil's Trumpet

This is the protagonist for one of my stories. I'm not sure if I've ever spoke of it before, but it's called Devil's Trumpet. Chances are if I have brought it up in a blog post before, I called it Premonition. It's since been renamed so, yeah. 

This is some fake as hell promotional art for said story, showcasing Marceline "Macy" Braddock, and her pretty kick ass tattoos.

Lately, I've been in this funk where I have no desire to draw whatsoever, so it's been a struggle to fall in love with anything long enough to actually complete it. That being said, I'm enjoying this so hopefully I can keep this up. 

How Long Until Demons Die?

Hey! Long time no see! I know I haven't been posting very often, and that certainly doesn't bode well for those (no matter how few) check in every so often to visit my blog. I believe that Blogger might be glitching somehow, because whenever I create a new post it has this washed out haze over the rest of the sight. It's notably disconcerting.

Nonetheless, those of you who are curious as to where I've been the answer is simple; school (like always), work (like always), and surprisingly Ohio! I visited my bestfriend of three years this last week and on my way home I ended up stranded in Denver! 

It was horrible! :D

That being said, I've returned and with new art! I'm going to download some of the things I drew while I was away *and trapped in a frighteningly large, unfamiliar city.* This piece, however, is one I finished just last night. I intended it to be a side project for myself, but due to time constraints I ultimately decided to add it to my concentration. Sure, the meaning behind it is bullshit, but it works.

To elaborate, in regard to my concentration this is supposed to represent the prison of our flaws, otherwise known as "demons." I tried to demonstrate this by having the woman toughing her reflection to symboize an inescapable contact and intimacy between herself and her faults all the while portraying both a sense of dismay and horror. 

In reality, I drew this because in one of the roleplays I participate in with my bestfriend our characters are going through some shit and I like to draw moody crap. 

Whoop!!~

Edit; Ayyyyyy! Check out this Gif~

School Assignment: 3 Fates/Thread

Nel, Parker, and Kaya

This wasn't originally supposed to be a school assignment but the due date snug up on me and now it's been re purposed so that I don't fail my art class.

WIP: 3 Fates

Nel, Parker, and Kaya
(Nel and Parker belong to my best friend, Kaya belongs to me)

So, recently, in one of the roleplays my best friend and I are writing, three characters died, and are going through several tortures and trials in an effort to reclaim their lives. I, for whatever reason, developed an image of them in my head, that involved them walking as the three fates (Moirai, or whatever, you know, the Greek Version). Nel is meant to be Clotho, Parker is meant to be Lachesis, and Kaya is Atropos. 

It's clearly not done, but so far I'm very happy with how it's going. I almost forgot Kaya's tattoo then added it about half way through my session tonight. 

Rings

Here's another character from my story, DAYDREAMER. Her name's Pennelloppii, but because even she doesn't have the patience for that name she refers to herself as Rings. I'm sure you can guess why. 

White Rabbit

I really like my new character, who I introduced in my last blogpost. o.o His name is Rabbit, and o3o I love him.

I spent so much time on his stomach that I literally would attribute most of my time working on this to that one particular section of his body.

Now Introducing...

It's late, I'm tired and still sick and I got a random surge of inspiration.

The main character for a new story and I already have a name for it.

Remnants: The Short Story of Rabbit Thornhill

Some Annie Art

As you know if you read my last post I've been tired and sick, so I haven't been drawing a whole lot so here is one of my favorite characters; Annie. She's cool and she's mine.

(not finished, and idk if it ever will be)

My Books (In The Making)

I'm incredibly tired and sick as I write this because I dedicated almost all of my afflicted day to creating these mock covers. 

I've mentioned it probably...once? Since I created this blog, that I've been writing a book. It's six years into the making and I'm about half way through the second draft of the first book, DAYDREAMER: Warm Shadows.

For these covers I wanted to do something elegant, yet unique so I came up with the idea--which is admittedly average--of using the commonly seen symbols and insignia's of my story on the covers.

Like I said, I'm very tired and I'm sick so I'm sorry that this is so brief.

School Assignment: Ruin

This is the 8th piece in my concentration, and from this point on there are only four more to go. I'm so ready for it to be over, and even more ready to graduate high school.

This concentration piece is the sequel to concentration 5, I think, in which a woman was imprisoned by her addiction to alcohol which was then symbolized as a bottle she was trapped in. Here, you an see that's she's escape said prison but that freedom isn't quite what she thought it'd be. In fact, it's almost worse because she's lost the ecstasy that once distracted her from her body's deterioration. 

Art Trade: Michael (Amarhyllis)

Junior and Senior Year: I DO Draw Traditionally, Believe It or Not

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I didn't start out drawing with my tablet, and instead I began my life long hobby for art at an incredibly young age. I can remember using the images in coloring books as references for drawings that had little to no substance. That being said, I rarely ever post anything traditional on this blog...Hell, I'm not even sure I've EVER posted any of of my traditional drawings on here. My instagram is a lot more active (partially because it's dramatically less tedious to use an app on my phone than log in and out of emails so I can reach my blog {I downloaded the Blogger App, maybe I'll be more active}) and in case you don't know my name there, it's ProtectiveSpell1. 

So, I actually have quite a few traditional drawings I completed for different art classes throughout my high school career.

Freshman Year:

Class: Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Accurately draw a cow skull incorporated
 into an interesting composition. Medium: Charcoal (required)

• I know the title says Junior and Senior year, but I'm incredibly fond of this piece , even after so many years, so...cut me some slack. It would've been weird if I titled this "Junior and Senior Year + One Drawing from Freshman Year."
  Nevertheless, this was my second time using charcoal. The first was in the 8th grade, and although that pie didn't turn out horrible, I'm much fonder of this one and have better memories of the experience. e_e Charcoal pencils are so much easier to work with than charcoal sticks. e_e This might be hard to believe, but the paper is actually red. Yes, my hand ached for ages after this piece, but t was well worth it.
  That's not to say that it's perfect. Obviously there are some inaccuracies, such as the lopsided eyes on both the girl and the skull, the hair, that nose, this is still one of my most treasured drawings ever.

Junior Year:

Class: Art 2 (Adv) Prompt/Assignment: Abnormal Depictions of Wildlife
Medium: Pastel Sticks (required) 

• This piece was the first assignment of Junior year, which I started in Art 2 (Adv) before I was moved to AP Studio Art 1 where the rest of my friends were. The reason I started out below them was because I missed a year of high school, which made the teacher apprehensive to include me among the AP ranks.
  
  This pastel piece was quite the rollar coaster. I'd never worked with pastels before in my life, and I had to restart twice before finally getting into the groove of things and producing this piece. It was included in an art auction that garnered money for our Sparrow (a minor with medical needs our school was sponsoring) and sold for somewhere around $55.
  
  Looking at it now, I have to admit like all my works of art there are quite a few things that could be changed. The origami flowers look rushed, and that sky hardly appears to be a sky at all. The liquid dripping from the humming bird's feathers is  somewhat sloppy. It looks more like fire than it does paint (which is what I think I was going for?) At the end of the day, though, it raised funds for someone in need so I can't really complain.

Class: Art 2 (Adv)/AP Studio Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Showcase different angles of the
human face/figure through the use of a creative grid. Medium: Colored Pencil (Required)

• Now this piece, this piece I had fun with. I strive at drawing the human figure, so it wasn't a challenge at all to come up with a composition I enjoyed. I aimed to keep this piece very organic by using circles to craft my gird, but at the same time I attempted to bring a bit of contrast by mainly using crosshatching and vibrant, mismatching colors to fill in each of the panels. I'm happy with this piece, and there's not much else I can say about it.
  
  This is the assignment that proved my worth as an artist to my instructor, and she consequently bumped me into the AP level. She says that her decision was equally based on my performance in other classes as I raced to get on track to graduate (still racing) and my dedication to art with in her own room. 

Class: AP Studio Art 1 Prompt/Assignment: Glass Overlapping Glass
 Medium: White Charcoal (chosen), Pastel (required)

• I can't remember if this was or wasn't the last piece we did in AP 1 Junior year, but I recall I experienced a huge drop in affection for this piece towards the end of it's completion. Truth be told, I never intended to include any color into it whatsoever. In fact, I adored the white on white, almost elegantly confusing composition it created without the red or blue. I believe I spent all of my Sunday afternoon fleshing this piece out so that when I came in on Monday it'd be complete.
  
  Well, come Monday morning I attempted to turn this in and was met with the heartbreaking rejection of my instructor, who claimed "This isn't a finished piece." She then had me go back and work color wherever I could. Personally, I feel she did this because she was so impressed with a peer of mine, who included color in his glass assignment. That was his piece though, not mine, and I remain a little upset that I had to change my vision to receive a grade at all.
  
  There is one glaring mistake int his piece I can never overlook. The glass, upside down and in the foreground, is ever so slightly of. It should be angled a little more to the right with the rest of the glasses, but I messed up somehow.
  
  It kills me. 

Senior Year:

Class: AP Studio Art 2 Prompt/Assignment: Concentration 1
Medium: Mixed (Pencil wash, charcoal, graphite, white gel pen)

• So far, Art this year has been a much more peaceful ride. I think being able to choose my own prompts was very beneficial, and I think it made my struggle through AP 1 well worth it. This was the very first assignment due this year, and it was meant to set the mood for each of concentrations. I chose to explore the Everyday Prison of our Minds with this piece, and I'm especially pleased with the composition.
  
  All in all, I'm happy with this. It was the first time I'd mixed so many mediums, and the very first time I'd ever used pencil wash. I thought, considering my lack of skill with water color, it would result in total failure but it turned out surprisingly well.  That being said, I feel the bird cages suffered some because I was crunched for time when I worked on them. 

Current Project
Class: Art 2 (Adv) 
Prompt/Assignment: GARGANTUAN Drawing of the Human Bust
Medium: Colored Pencils (chosen)

• Remember that race to get on track I mentioned earlier? It's still very much going, if you couldn't tell, and in my frantic dash to recover Elective credit I chose to retake an art class because...well, easy A right? No, I'm kidding. In all honestly I'm incredibly grateful that my instructor allotted me the opportunity, and I've been working to make as much progress on this piece as possible.
  
  I inadvertently fell in love with this concept, but before it existed I originally had a much less meaningful idea in mind. It's a good thing my teacher recommended I continue to sketch because I would've never otherwise come across this thought.
  
  It's the biggest piece of paper I've ever worked with, but I'm enjoying myself far more than I initially thought I would.
  
  Now that I've downloaded the Blogger App, maybe I'll post updates. Let me know if you'd like to see that. ^.^

Sketches Junior-(Mostly)Senior Year:
*whispers* Click them, they get bigger.