Announcing My November 2023 Project: The Heist of Dorian Gray

This NaNoWriMo is a bit different since I am working on two different projects. (I divided up my goal equally to focus on both.) I am going to focus on The Heist of Dorian Gray in this post. I made a blog post about the other project, here. 

The title of this novel is a work in progress, and it might end up changing to The Crimes of Dorian Gray eventually. I haven't decided yet, though. 

Synopsis: 

Genre(s):  Urban Fantasy (with gothic elements) | Crime/Caper
Series: The first book in the Dorian Gray trilogy 

In an alternate universe where Dorian Gray went into hiding after the terrible deed of murder and ended up living in to modern day... 

Dorian's potrait is on display in the Art Institute of Chicago, showing his sin and age to all the world. Because of this, he desires get his painting back, and enlists the help of some outcasts  to help him steal it back. 

 But this proves to be more of a challenge than Dorian Gray believed it would be, and his past comes back to bite him. Will he ever get his painting back? Or will it constantly be out of reach? 

Main Characters:  

This is an ensemble based story, so throughout the serial there will be stories focusing on different characters' perspectives. I am still designing the characters' appearances and only know what three of them look like right now (the first three in the listing below). You can view these three characters' profiles (which go more in depth) here. 

Dorian Gray-- a man who wished to stay young forever, which resulted in becoming immortal (also immoral, but that's another matter). He currently goes under the alias of "Damien Gray," who is Dorian Gray's descendent, in hopes this will get the rest of the group to trust him. However, he fears they will find out about his immorality. 

Ivy Hughes-- An art forger/restorer. She currently resides in Chicago, and does replicas of impressionist paintings for her job. However, she does have a mysterious past, which Dorian managed to uncover in order to get her to work with him. 

       Reed Hayward-- He could be called a "wizard," but he much prefers the term "painter with magic" or "magical artist." All his magic is art based. He has distorted and false memories of his past. And he believes Dorian may know the secret of who he is.

             Adeline "Ava"-- - She is a hacker. In her free time, she makes online video games. Her most recent creation is "Giggly Ghouls," a cute ghost game she made for her niece. However, she uses her skills for other purposes as well, such as hacking into security systems and stealing information. 

         Alfred--  Alfred is a rival of Dorian's. He is a con artist who does spirit reading on the side to earn extra money. He is skilled in reading people, and likes using tarot cards and doing card tricks. 

Goals this NaNoWriMo: 

My goal is to get more of the first draft done, even if I don't finish all of it this month. The Heist of Dorian Gray started out as a screenplay which then I decided worked better as a serial novel. (I am glad that I chose to change.) Compared to my previous style of drafting which is just to write as much as I can, I am trying to write well and descriptively especially since I was inspired by real-world art. 

And since I divided my goal into two projects which both complement each other. My goal is to make progress on both. Since The Haunted Sketchbook is on its second draft, I'll be reworking some things like creating a satisfying ending. For The Heist of Dorian Gray, I want to figure out how to write what I'm calling "a novel that reads like a short story collection." In some ways it is similar to a TV show being in serial novel format. I am planning to publish it in a way that is like the original Picture of Dorian Gray which was serialized in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine before publication in book form.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorite books, and I am happy that I finally found a way to write about the characters from it in a way that isn't retelling. I had wanted to spend more time with them but not follow the plot of the original. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you're doing NaNowWrimo this November, what are you working on?

-Quinley

My Art from Inktober 2023 (Part Two)

Click here to read part one. 

Greetings Adventurers, 

Here's the second part of my Inktober series. The post after this one is going to be what I am writing for NaNoWriMo. But after that, I will return to posting the final part of this year's Inktober series. 

 Here's the official prompt list: 

Day #11 Wander. Reed Hayward (from The Heist of Dorian Gray) feeling lost in thought. I decided to go for more wanderings of the mind rather than wanderings in the physical sense. 

Day #12 Spicy. Ocean Guy cooking. I figured he has an interest in cooking when he isn't saving the world from villains. So I decided I would give him an apron with a seahorse on it and draw sea themed stuff in the background. 

Day #13 Rise. Since Zora (the lead singer of Blackbriar) often acts as characters in the band's songs, I figured I would draw a character the song "I'd Rather Burn" which is about a witch,
and one of the lines is: 
"But know I'll return and I'll be dead awake

I'll be dead awake, rising from the stake"

Day #14 Castle. Denisse Grigory going on tour and performing near a haunted castle. 

Day #15 Dagger. This was the sketch I used to create my new header (above). In this drawing, I am imagining that Arcasia found a weapon given to her by the goddess, Artemis (indirectly: Artemis left it for her). This is like how in Clash of the Titans (1981) Perseus receives weapons from the gods. 

Day #16 Angel. I decided to draw Aziraphale from Good Omens.

Day #17 Demon. I drew the "painted" devil, a creature that appeared in this post. 

Day #18 Saddle. This is Ophelia going out for a ride through the forest. I haven't drawn my characters riding horses a lot, so I decided to challenge myself. 

Day #19 Plump. I took "plump" to mean the round kind of plump (referring to the tapioca balls) and drew Dorian Gray (from The Heist of Dorian Gray) trying bubble tea. He does not like it, nor does he get the point of why anyone would do this with tea.

Day #20 Frost. Edith (from The Haunted Sketchbook) walking through a graveyard. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? What weapons would you like to receive from a god/goddess and/or, what's your least favorite type of food? 

-Quinley 

Making a Halloween Decoration

I was inspired by a video about painting a ghost on an old thrift store painting in doing this project. The video that I'm referring to can be watched here. 

The object I decided to paint was not a painting, but instead a free-standing art piece that looked as if it needed some adjustments. I decided to change her into a ghost girl. 

I began by working on the flowers. I felt as if they needed to stand out more. 

I then adjusted the leaves and decided to give them more detail. 

I placed a skull near the flowers, and drew some blood around it. 

I then painted the dress white, and gave it spider motifs, such as spider webs in her hair and around her dress. I was partially inspired by a drawing of Victorian children in making her dress. 

And here is the final result: 

Before                             After 

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Do you like making your own Halloween decorations (if you celebrate)? Are you excited for Halloween in a few days? 

-Quinley

My Art from Inktober 2023 (Part One)

 In the previous two Inktobers (2022, and 2021) I mostly did colored drawings, but this time around I wanted to focus on line work and on characters. So, the goal for these Inktober pieces is to draw characters (my original ones, my versions of pre-existing characters, or merely ones I like from movies and TV shows). 

Like the previous years, it will be divided up into three parts with ten drawings for the first two, and eleven at the end. 

Here's the official prompt list: 

And let's begin: 

Day #1 Dream. Felix Moore from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass. 

The drawing was inspired by this quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth:  

"Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."

      One thing I haven't mentioned about Felix Moore is his philosophical belief 

that nothing is real, and that life is merely a dream and nothing more. This emerged 

during the second draft and has been an important trait to his character. 

Day #2 Spider. The Wax Witch (from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass) despite having the ability to steal souls has a fear which she cannot get away from: spiders. This is assumed to be left over from when she was human. And since she is an old building this is a rather unfortunate fear to have, for there will be spiders in an abandoned building such as that.  

Day #3 Path. Fiáina the goddess of nature. My idea with this image is that a mortal came across her when she was out hunting. She is slowly approaching them, in her domain (the woods). 

In between the trees is an altar to a minor god, with jewelry and flowers placed on it as an offering. 

Day #4 Dodge. Salissah. Given that she is a goddess of the moon in an endless battle across the sky with the sun god, I figured I would draw her dodging an attack. 

Day #5 Map. It's been a while since I worked on this story (and I don't know what my plans are for it yet) but this is my version of Ichabod Crane from a Sleepy Hollow story I want to go back to. I imagine that this is when he arrives at Sleepy Hollow and is rather lost. 

As for what is hanging out of his pocket (since it might be difficult to see), is a rabbit's foot charm. And since it's been a while since I drew Ichabod, I decided to give him a little redesign and give him glasses. 

Day #6 Golden. Cecile (Ferdinand's wife) from The Haunted Sketchbook. I often describe her as having golden hair, so I thought she was a fitting character to draw for this prompt.  

Day #7 Drip. I decided to do a Dungeons and Dragons inspired tavern for this one, with the tavern owner in the background (so not quite character focused, but I still wanted a character present). The dripping is from the drinks on the table. 

Day #8 Toad. this is a drawing for my dad (who is helping me edit this post 😉).  Since in one of my drawings of a frog, he pointed out that it looked like Hypnotoad from Futurama. So this is a drawing of Leela and Hynotoad in my style, rather than trying to copy the style of the show. 

Day #9 Bounce. Skunk Girl in the middle of a battle bouncing

(probably preparing an attack). 

Day #10 Fortune. I started with the Moores so I figured I'd end this part with the Moores. I decided to draw Matilda Moore reading Tarot cards, looking into her future perhaps or trying to find answers to a problem in her life through them. Matilda has an interest in Spiritualism and the occult (like with Felix, this emerged during the second draft), so I figured I would bring that out in the drawing. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? Which characters of mine would you like to see me draw in future installments? 

-Quinley

Writing Reflections

   I thought I would do a writing updates post, since it's been a while since I did one and I have a lot of thoughts about the projects I am currently working on.  

                       

                       What I'm Working on 

Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass

 

Last month, I started working on Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass again. I had previously paused for research, which I have now partially finished. (I still have to research the spiritualist movement, which I need for Matilda's portion of the story.) Some of the research I did involved reading Beckett's trilogy, since there was an aspect of the trilogy that I felt would work in Felix's narration. In the time that I was drafting, I got a satisfying partial draft of Felix's part done, so I will feel good about coming back to finish it in a few months. 

As I was writing the draft, a singer I like released a song that reminds me a lot of my story, and it was helpful for writing a scene involving the Wax Witch. The song itself is about a folk figure, Black Annis, who is a blue hag that eats human flesh. She is not exactly like the Wax Witch, but some of the lyrics reminded me of her. 

It feels good to get back into this story, since I realize I tend to miss characters if I don't write about them for a while.  

The Haunted Sketchbook

In The Haunted Sketchbook I figured out a problem I was having with Edith's narrative, which will make it much easier to do the second draft. Earlier, I had been trying to adhere to a certain formula (from a M.R. James ghost story), and that constrained the story too much. So, I will let the story move outside of this formula and become what it wants to be.  In this way, I figured out that I want a combination of a murder mystery and a ghost story but not in the formula of either: merely using elements of both genres. 

I also discovered a similarity between Ferdinand and Macbeth. While it is not a perfect resemblance, Ferdinand's motives (for doing what he may or may not have done) are similar to Macbeth's: ambition. However, he is in the art world instead of in the world of kings. The similarities between the motives has made it easier for me to understand Ferdinand as a character.  

The Heist of Dorian Gray 

I finished outlining The Heist of Dorian Gray. This is the first time that I've written a story involving heists, so I wanted to make sure that I had a basic idea of the structure of them. (However, I may change some things about the structure, since other genres are present in this story).

I watched The Great Train Robbery to get an idea of the heist structure, and it helped. 

Also, Ivy now has a character sheet which you can look at here. I still need to make ones for Ava and Alfred, but for now I have the three up. 

I then began writing the novel. I found that "zero drafting" (basically outlining and writing short scenes as exercises), helped clear things up, that otherwise might have caused awkward scenes in the first draft. I basically see zero drafting as throwing things at the wall, to see if they stick, if they don't that's fine, or if you miscommunicated a concept you get to clarify it in the 1st draft. (This then makes 2nd, 3rd, etc. drafting much easier, since then it isn't a mess of awkward scenes). 

The Mystery of the Body Thief 

(image from wiki commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Meynell_Rheam_-_The_Fairy_Wood.jpg)

In world-building recently, I have since changed what I call my elves. I now call them the Sídhe (pronounced like SHEE. This is the Irish word for "people of the fairy mound.") So, if you see me referring to them as that, don't be confused, because early drafts of my story had pointed to them being like Irish fairies. This will be a part of the update in the character sheets. I am also working on a short story set in that world (from the myth collection). I am working on editing and rewriting, and I plan to release it as a story introducing the world. Once it's published I will make an update post on that. 

Also in my world building, I figured out a division between the humans and Sídhe in terms of learning magic from the gods.This was inspired by the research I did for a paper I presented at a fantasy conference. Magic is less common among humans than among the Sídhe, and the humans who do have magic call themselves "fairy doctors." Magic is still a religious thing among humans, as it is among the Sídhe. But the Sídhe call those of their own kind who have magic from the gods, "devotees" or "priests/priestesses." 

And that's all I've been working on writing-wise. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What are you working on this September? Do you have a song that reminds you of your story and/or character? 

-Quinley 

Miscellaneous Drawings #11

                  Previous parts: #1, #2 #3, #4, #5, #6,#7, #8, #9 and #10. 

Hello everyone, 

It's time for another drawing post. I've been practicing a lot of digital art, so I figured I'd show the recent drawings I've made.

 In other news, two characters now have profiles here and here. I am also steadily working on the characters for Arisias's series and there are two categories in their Meet the Characters page--gods and mortals. 

I've been busy, but sometime soon I plan to respond to the comments on my previous posts. So keep an eye out for that. 

But anyway, let's begin: 

Salissah is the goddess of the moon, wisdom, and strategic warfare. I played around with the background a lot in this drawing and with the lighting, so that the stars in her looked more like they were glowing. 

And here's a video showing the process of how I drew it. 

Here is my version of Dorian Gray from my novel, The Heist of Dorian Gray. I took some inspiration from the 1945 film version for his outfit (since in my version, Dorian has been living for a long time, into modern day, I thought it would make sense for him to wear something more modern). And I like how it turned out. 

If you're wondering why my Dorian has blond hair (since other versions of the character have black hair) it is because of this quote from the book: Dorian was“wonderfully handsome, with his finely curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair. There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth’s passionate purity.” (The Picture of Dorian Gray, p. 17) 

This is Edith Porter from The Haunted Sketchbook. I had drawn Ferdinand before in this new style, so I wanted to draw her next. I wanted to make it look as if there was spilled paint or paint being laid out on a canvas, and I think I managed to achieve that. 

Here is Ivy Hughes from The Heist of Dorian Gray. Ivy is an artist, so I wanted to emphasize the splattered paint in the background. 

This is Reed Hayward from The Heist of Dorian Gray. He has "art magic"-- while I do not show him actively using magic, I wanted it to be present in the background. I also had a lot of fun designing his outfit. 

Finally, this is a drawing of Ophelia. I've been thinking recently about how Ophelia sees her herself, versus how someone else might. She is an elf, and so others (i.e. humans) would see her differently. 

I'm also drawing this to help figure out what aspect of Ophelia's character I am missing, as I feel as if I am missing something but I am not sure what. 

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    Which drawing is your favorite? And which of these characters would you like to see more of? 

-Quinley 

I Finished the First Draft of The Haunted Sketchbook

 

On July 11th, I completed the first draft of The Haunted Sketchbook, I had worked on it long before Camp NaNoWriMo--for a couple months in fact. 17,000 words was about the right amount of words to get me to finish the first draft (which ended about 40,000 words in total).

                                                                              Synopsis-

Genre: Gothic | Historical Fiction 

The Haunted Sketchbook is set in two time periods. 

In the past, an artist by the name of Ferdinand Diggory is experiencing a haunting. He discovers that his sketchbook is cursed; whenever he draws in it, it will twist the sketch into something monstrous, and something he didn't draw. 

In the present, Edith Porter is trying to discover whether the haunting was truly real-- she wants to discover the truth, but will her curiosity lead her into more danger than it's worth?

                    What's Next for The Haunted Sketchbook? 

I am currently working on characters in preparation for the 2nd draft. I want to make sure that I know the characters well, as I did with the second draft of Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass, which helped move the story forward and also create new discoveries along the way. 

I have recently been doing what is called a "character sketch" for some of the characters in the story. Basically, the writer lays out traits of the characters and then describes them in different perspectives (third, first, and second person). That's what I did for Ferdinand Diggory, and it highlighted an aspect of the character I had not seen before. I am going to do the same for Edith and even Cecile, as this technique helped me discover in the past what I had missed with Felix Moore--what elements of his character were being overlooked. 

I am also thinking about the backstory that Ferdinand has and what the ghost and other mysterious figures motives are. Even if the reader does not know their true motives, it is important to the characters to figure it out, so their actions seem clear. 

I also hope to research 18th century England. My knowledge of the 18th century mostly comes from American history, so I want to expand that knowledge to England when writing this story. As I noted in my Camp NaNoWriMo post about the novel, it takes place in two different time periods. (That is Edith's telling of it is set in the Victorian era, and Ferdinand's in the 18th century). 

I am going to be writing the second draft soon, so these are all things to look out for. 

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If you're a writer, how do you develop your characters? If not, who are your favorite characters in Gothic fiction? 

-Quinley 

Blog updates: Character Pages

 

So a lot of my characters pages are outdated--not only in art as my style has changed but also in content. The most notable that I need to update are the ones from here and here. The characters in Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass had some developments, and the clothing of the characters from the Princess Arisias Mystery series has changed. The older pages will be kept up (I won't delete them), and you will be able to see them in the "old pages" place. 

And I have newer pages which will stay mostly the same, such as the one for The Haunted Sketchbook characters and a new page for a series I am working on (and going to be doing during NaNoWriMo this November) called The Heist of Dorian Gray.

There might be slight modifications on the Haunted Sketchbook page (that is, minor ones to Ferdinand's profile), but the most that will be done will be adding new characters into those pages, as I have not put Edith Porter's profile on the Haunted Sketchbook character page yet. And I am working to make profiles for the other characters from The Heist of Dorian Gray, as I have only put Dorian's character sheet up. 

Since I did not do this before, I will also be adding a section to the characters from Arisias's story page, including the gods and goddesses. Because the gods and goddesses are recurring characters on this blog, I thought making their own pages for them would make sense. And it would also make learning about the god characters easier if they had pages. For example, if you didn't know who Karleon or Salissah was, you could look them up. 

In terms of how quickly the changes will happen, I mostly have the new page ready for Felix Moore, though I am still working on Matilda's, so Felix's profile is likely to be one of the first to be changed. 

Also, this is a minor change, but its one you're likely to notice quickly: 

(the header that is soon to be changed) 

The header for my blog will be updated since my art style changed. I have no idea what I will change it to yet, but it will follow the story that Arcasia (the blog's mascot) is experiencing, moving her a step forward in her adventures. (You can see my previous headers here.)

Anyway, those are my updates. These are big changes, and I didn't want you to be confused, or wonder where the past character sheets went. My next post will be my usual style of post. 

-Quinley 

Miscellaneous Drawings #10

Hello everyone, 

I've been busy and not able to post. But, I've been working on my digital art and I wanted to share some of the pieces I made, along with some much less recent artwork. 

I've been doing a digital art course, and this was one of the drawings I ended up doing of my character Matilda. I plan to do this style more in the future. 

I decided to do a black and white drawing of Ophelia. I like how it turned out. 

 

A character sheet for Cheetah Girl. It was fun to draw her for it. 

This is Marigold. I'm currently working on concept artwork for Arisias's story, and this was one of the drawings for it. 

This is the water snake woman who appears in Arisias's story. 

A drawing of Ferdinand. This is close to how I imagine him appearing, and I like how it turned out

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Which drawing is your favorite? 

-Quinley