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 isOphelia 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?
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.
It's July's Camp NaNoWriMo, and I have a new project that I am working on. I am hoping to get a first draft done of this novel, sometime this summer.
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?
The Tellers of the Tale
There are other characters as well, including the ghost. However, for now I will introduce the two main characters. The other characters will be introduced later (though some, like Cecile, you have already met).
Ferdinand Diggory
Ferdinand Diggory is a (formerly) respected artist from the 18th century. He paints portraits and genre paintings. He is currently dealing with a haunting, one that resides in his sketchbook, and he wants to figure out why the ghost is haunting him.
Edith Porter
Edith is an art collector from the 19th century. She likes exploring mysteries of artists who died under mysterious circumstances and finds Ferdinand Diggory's story to be particularly fascinating. She wants to uncover if what happened to him was truly a haunting or something else entirely.
Playlist
Here's a playlist of songs that remind me of The Haunted Sketchbook. If you don't have a Spotify account, here is the YouTube version.
Goals For This Camp
My goal is to get a first draft done. I have the plot planned out for it, so I want to get the story written.
My goal for this camp is to write 17,000 words. I hope that I can get a first draft done, so I can then work on refining the story in the second draft.
I feel as if I know both main characters well, so I am looking forward to seeing where they take me on this journey through their story. So far, this project has caused me to research several things about the 18th century and the Victorian Era. In particular I did some research about different types of artwork and art collecting in those periods.
The Haunted Sketchbook (like Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass) came into being from a nightmare. A nightmare I had after my surgery inspired inspired key elements of the novel--the actual haunting and Cecile's being an actor.
Edith as a character came later. She has some interesting thoughts of her own which I hope she shares. She is figuring out the mystery of what happened to Ferdinand. But she also has goals outside of him, since she is an art collector and he isn't the only artist she is interested in. At the moment Ferdinand is an artist that she is extensively researching.
Anyway, those are my plans for camp. If you're doing Camp NaNoWriMo, I hope you have a good time too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Are you doing anything fun this July? What do you like most about my novel?
I have some drawings I want to share, and I thought it was time to share them.
I have some longer posts planned, which I will post later, but for now here is a drawing post:
This is a drawing of Ophelia. I thought I would draw her smiling since I have a habit of not drawing my characters smiling.
This is a drawing of my characters, Edith from The Haunted Sketchbook meeting Felix from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass.
Here is the Wax Witch staring at the moon. I was inspired to draw this after reading Hoffman's "The Sandman."
A drawing of Karleon I did in a celebration outfit based on this drawing I found. I remember making a drawing of the shield for Dragons' Province a while ago and including a blue-haired figure who looks oddly like Karleon 🤔 (with makeup and tattoos).
Here's the drawing in question.
Here's a drawing of Salissah, I imagine her wearing this when adventuring with Karleon.
I did some drawings of characters I made in the past for an old Percy Jackson fan fiction.
Dorothy (top left)- the daughter of Hermes.
Susan (top right)- Daughter of Hecate
April (bottom)- Daughter of Aphrodite.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? What stories have inspired you to create art?