Reintroducing Felix & Matilda Moore

Hello everyone,

 Usually, these types of posts are for characters who have been created recently. However, I felt it was time that I reintroduce some characters that have very recently gone through a lot of changes. The characters are Matilda and Felix Moore from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass. They have developed since I first wrote about them in 2021, and I want to show how they have changed, since I mentioned it briefly in an Inktober post. 

 I plan to update their character profiles soon, but I decided I should also reintroduce them here via a blog post. So, let's begin: 

  Felix Moore 

Felix is the older of the two siblings. He believes that the world itself is a dream and nothing more. Because of this, he thinks that there is no meaning to life, and all events, actions, etc. that one experiences or takes essentially mean nothing.

He enjoys spending his time reading, thinking about different philosophies, and having discussions about controversial philosophical topics with his group of friends. Due to a situation within their family (which he won't discuss), Felix has gone from being simply a brother to Matilda to having to act as her guardian. This has caused disagreements between them. 

  Matilda Moore 

Matilda is the younger of the two siblings. She is a quiet person; however, she can also turn rebellious if she feels strongly about something. Matilda is a Spiritualist: she believes one can contact people from beyond the grave. She also has an interest in the occult and supernatural. Matilda often likes to daydream about different adventures that she could have, based on her favorite books. And, like her brother, she often spends her time in the library. 

However, since Felix has become her guardian, there have been disagreements between them. Mostly, these disagreements come from Matilda's rebelliousness toward her brother, but they are also influenced by Felix's (supposed) desire to keep Matilda safe. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Between Felix and Matilda, which are you interested in learning more about (after their changes)? And how have your own characters grown and changed throughout the years? 

-Quinley 

Miscellaneous Drawings #13

Hi everyone,

My blogging schedule will be a bit sporadic in the coming months. But in this post, I plan to update you with the new drawings I've made recently. 

This is a drawing of Arisias. I finally redesigned her outfit to make her more inspired by the new setting and I think it works well. 

I was experimenting with water color pencils here. I don't know who this character is, but I hope to find out eventually. 

This is a drawing of Felix digitized from the one I drew in Inktober. I really like how it turned out. 

So, as it turns out, one of my characters (Elyerin) is a Dullahan (Irish version of the Headless Horseman), so I redesigned him to match that. 

And this is Arisias again using her magic. I wanted to create a Gothic sort of feeling in this piece. 

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Which drawing is your favorite? 

-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

Miscellaneous Drawings #9

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

Hello everyone, 

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? 

-Quinley 

My Art From The February Faces Challenge (2023) | Part One

I found out about a challenge by a Kick in the Creatives that involved drawing portraits throughout the month of February. I decided to do the challenge as a way of drawing my characters, who had not gotten a lot of attention. 

Like my Inktober posts, I will be dividing this up to into parts of 9 drawings per part, with 10 at the end. And for context, for those who don't know my characters well, all the gods (and also Ophelia)  in this post come from The Princess Arisias Mystery Series, which is my fantasy/murder mystery series. As for the non-god/goddess characters I will be saying where they are from. 

Here is the official (optional) prompt list: 

And here are the drawings for the first part: 

 Day #1 Glamorous, I decide to draw Nisis/Nyro. They're the god/goddess of love, beauty and marriage, and can appear as anyone someone loves (romantically or platonically). They can also look similar to a type of person an onlooker is attracted to without looking like a real person they know. Because of this, Nisis/Nyro doesn't have a defined form. So, this isn't exactly as they appear because their appearance will always change depending on who is the onlooker. I always when drawing them drew one side, and never did a split face drawing showcasing both sides (Nisis (the female side) or Nyro (the male side)). So I figured, I should draw that, and I like how it turned out.  

Day #2 Baby, I find babies incredibly hard to draw so I challenged myself with this one. 

Day #3 Hidden Face, Ophelia putting on her cloak for a ritual/healing ceremony. Her cloak doesn't so much "hide" her face, as it is only partially covering her face during rituals. But I thought it matched the prompt of "hidden face." This was also inspired by a Pre-Raphaelite painting of Olivia from Twelfth Night by Edmund Leighton. 

Day #4 Bored, I decided to draw Felix Moore from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass for this one. He probably went somewhere and is thinking about something, so not exactly bored, but more thoughtful. 

Day #5 Sad, I drew the god of time for this one, since I figured out his design. One side of his face is young and the other is old. In the drawing, I wanted to draw attention to time passing with the depiction of one of the flowers wilting and dying. 

Day #6 Hairstyle, I drew, Salissah (pronounced sil-is-uh), the goddess of the moon, for this. She has hair with stars in it, so I wanted to draw attention to that. 

Day #7 Makeup, I drew Skunk Girl from my super hero story for this. I decided she would use green lip-stick. My backstory behind this image is that Skunk Girl and the other super heroes got brand deals for merchandizing for things such as action figures, makeup, etc. This is done in order to get money from visiting tourists (who travel to see the super heroes), and to pay for the damage that villain and hero fights cause. 

Day #8 Pouting, I drew Tesariel "Tess" Short for this one. She is from the first novel ever I finished the first draft of (Eyes in the Night). I've gotten back into drawing her, so, I decided that I should draw her for this one. 

Day #9 Tongue Out, I drew Karleon, my trickster god of mischief for this one. While most of my characters (whether they be gods, elves, super heroes, or 19th century gentlemen) would not make this facial expression because they feel it would be undignified, Karleon and Skunk Girl are the exceptions.  I already drew Skunk Girl, so, I decided to draw Karleon. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which portrait is your favorite? Are you doing the February Faces Challenge or another challenge this February? 

-Quinley

I Finished the Second Draft of Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass!

                                                              Greetings Travelers, 

On December 4th, I finished the second draft of Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass. I'm happy about that, since that means I can move onto the third draft. And I have a lot of plans for the third draft.

In comparison to the first draft, the second draft was much longer. I felt as if I knew the characters better. Hopefully I can carry that forward into the 3rd draft. 

                                                                               Synopsis 

Genre: Gothic horror | Historical fiction 

      Matilda Moore was found dead at the castle, her brother, Felix, is missing. No trace of him was found except an eyeless wax doll made in his likeness. What happened at the castle is unknown, but it is as if something evil is lurking within it...something evil is causing these terrible events to happen.

What's Next For Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass? 

My plan, given that the writing style seemed somewhat modern, is to try to make it sound more like a 19th century novel. This seems important, because both the narrators are from that time period. 

The novels I'm using as an inspiration for the style are Jane Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In the second draft the characters sometimes (accidentally) use modern words, which I didn't realize until much later. I want the reader to feel as if they are reading a book from the past that someone happened to uncover, rather than a book by someone attempting to write about the past. 

I did write about the journey to the haunted castle in the second draft, but I feel I didn't write as much about it as I could. In the third draft, I will likely take inspiration from the characters' journeys through the country side in Dracula and Jane Eyre, since the landscape in my novel, is very important in representing how the characters are feeling. 

The characters, Matilda and Felix, have changed a lot since the first draft. And I feel like I have a better understanding of them as characters, than I did in the first draft. However, outside of my novel this does mean I will have to update their profile pages on my blog. They are rather outdated and don't really reflect their characters as they are now. 

(Image from wiki commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Beattie_Eugene_Rochas_seance.jpg)

Another thing I am going to do is research the Spiritualist Movement, because Matilda is a part of it. It is important to how she views certain situations, so I want to make sure I get some of those details right. 

There are also stylistic choices I made in Felix's telling, that I wish to keep in the new draft, but want to make sure make sense to the reader as they read. Those choices show his state of mind, and that he may be unreliable. So, I am going to try and figure out how to do that better in the third draft. 

These are my plans for the third draft ahead. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What's your favorite 19th century novel? Do you like to write or read historical fiction? 

-Quinley

Using Polls to Create Art #8

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

Hello everyone, 

I'm back with another installment of using polls to create art! 

To summarize what this series is about, I post a poll asking what I should draw. People vote, and whichever choice ends up winning, I draw. Unless otherwise stated, every drawing was a majority vote.  Also I should add, some of the drawings this time around are redraws of Pixton comics I made when I was a child (I was about twelve or thirteen I think?) I had voters vote on which of them I should redraw. While the others are the usual drawings you'd see in this series. 

Here's the drawing that came out of the poll in the previous post in the series. 

Felix Moore from Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass ended up winning. So I drew him as a merman. 

I had a lot of fun drawing details in the drawing like the suit and tail. 

I also made a video showing my process of drawing it. 

I did a poll where I redrew a painting in my style. The painting that the drawing was based on was this one. I thought it made sense for Ophelia to be using the crystal ball, given that she likes that type of magic. 

I had the voters decide on which of my characters I made in Pixton I should redraw in my style. 

Lieutenant Williams ended up winning. She is a half Klingon half human. 

Here is what she looked like in the Pixton style: 

I wrote the comic she was from years and years ago, and there were a ton of spelling errors in it.

But, I find it nice to revisit old stories and characters-- especially because they can show how different 

my stories are today than they were back then. 

 

Speaking of old stories and characters, I had the voters decide between having me redraw this Pixton comic  and another one.  The second one won, which is Edward's and Willow's wedding. I decided in the redraw not to draw them in the same pose but instead draw them in different poses. In the comic as a whole I would use real photos as the background while the characters would be Pixton characters. 

 Looking back at it now, the backstory of how they fell in love is really not romantic. The comic itself retold the story of The Little Mermaid (leaning towards the Disney version, not so much the Hans Christian Anderson one) but with dryads and wood cutters. And in this version Willow literately caused the shipwreck and then when she saw how handsome (and in pain) Edward was, she changed her mind. She didn't do this for the several wood cutters before 🤔-- 1,712,302 of them to be exact, I'm not joking: that was the number I wrote in the comic, minus 1. 😆

I don't know what child-me was thinking! 😂 Especially since Willow never once tells him that she was the dryad that did that at all. 

This is a drawing of Elm. I had the voters vote on what I should draw her wearing out of several options for outfits. This outfit ended up winning. I really like how the outfit looks. However, I feel her arms are a little too short proportion wise. But other than that I like the drawing. 

This is a character from the same fanfic that I wrote years ago. I had another poll, about which character I should draw in my style, and she won. She is called the EEH (Emergency Engineering Hologram). I was inspired by the Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager when creating her. I wondered why there were no holograms for emergencies involving engineering. (That we can see in the show). 

In the (Pixton) comic she is an enemy of the doctor on her ship. They don't have a particularly good relationship. And she was activated when most of the crew on the ship was kidnapped by aliens. So, she plays a similar role that The Doctor in Voyager plays.

This actually turned out to be a drawing that came out of a poll, and I somehow forgot that I had drawn it for that reason. This drawing was actually included in this post, though I combined it with a drawing that didn't come out of a poll. 

Anyway, I had the pollers vote on which character I should draw, and what they should be doing. And Oak doing archery won. 

Now for a new poll: 

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Which drawing is your favorite? And would you like to have a wedding out in the woods? 

Or did you tell any funny stories when you were little? 

-Quinley