My Art From Inktober 2022 (Part Three)

                Previous parts: part one and part two 

                    Before the Inktober part of this post begins... (I can't believe it's now 2023!), here is a belated New Year's greeting from my character, Karleon (the god of mischief and prophecy from my series, The Princess Arisias Mystery Series): 

I figured I would start 2023, with the final post of the Inktober 2022 series. Even though I find it sad that Inktober is over, it will come back this year! 

Let's begin...

                                                 Here is the official prompt list for 2022's Inktober: 

Day #21 Bad Dog. I drew a Hellhound for this one. They are figures from folklore that are usually omens of death or bad luck. 

Day #22 Heist. I decided to draw something similar to a room, that would appear in a spy movie. 

Day #23 Booger. The first that came to mind for me was a troll who had nasal issues.  This character may appear in the future, and will be given more of a backstory (because at the moment I know nothing about this troll).

Day #24 Fairy. I decided to draw Vonivera, my fay character for this one. 

Day #25 Tempting. I drew a snake circling an apple. 

Day #26 Ego. I decided I should draw the thoughts inside someone's head.  

Day #27 Snack. I simply drew a snack for this one. Taking it literally. 

Day #28 Camping. I decided to draw a tent inside what could be considered a haunted forest.

Day #29 Uh-Oh. I drew the Wax Witch from my novel, Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass, for this one. It came to mind since the characters probably go "uh oh" when seeing her. 

Day #30 Gear. The first thing that came to mind for this one was Galadriel from Rings of Power. Her armor is gear that she gets when she goes to Númenor. 

Day #31 Farm. Since day 31 was Halloween, I decided to draw a haunted farm. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Which drawing is your favorite? How was your New Year's? And if you did Inktober in 2022, how did it go? 

-Quinley 

Using Polls to Create Art #9

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

Hello everyone, 

it's time for another installment of Using Polls to Create Art.

 Unless otherwise stated every drawing was the result of a majority vote. This time around you may see some familiar characters, along with characters you have not yet met before, who will reappear in other posts. 😉

Let's begin... 

A drawing in which Tesariel "Tess" Short is celebrating the winter holidays. I had the voters vote on which character I should draw celebrating the holidays, and Tess won. It's been a while since I drew her, and felt good to draw her again. 

This drawing was based on a painting that the voters chose. Here is the painting that the drawing is based on, though I changed the setting from being outdoors to indoors. 

On the wall is a portrait that I think looks like Felix, though it is actually a self portrait of Arthur Hughes. I decided when making this drawing that it would be fun to do a multimedia piece. 

From the poll that I had in the previous post, here is the violinist as a fairy. 

And here is the video showing the process of drawing it. 

I had the voters vote on which outfit Elm should wear, and this one won. While Elm isn't a fighter with weapons (she uses her magical singing voice), I imagine that if she went on a quest with Oak (since they live in the same world), that she would probably borrow a sword from Oak for this. 

This is a reimagining of one of my old super heroes, Cheetah Girl. I redesigned her outfit, since her original outfit had been pretty much a copy of the cheetah creature power suit from Wild Kratts (that I watched when I was a kid). I had the voters vote on which of my super heroes I should redraw and Cheetah Girl was the first to win. 

Here is what her design originally looked like. 

This wasn't a majority vote but it was suggested by Tammie Lee at Beauty Flows. The suggestion was a fairy that lives in a tree, and it was fun to draw. It made me think about what type of fairy would live in a tree, and I decided to make her like one of those Victorian-style fairies. 

And here is the video of the process of making it. 

This is Ocean Guy, he was a character who came from a  super hero comic I made using Pixton. I had the voters decide on which super hero I should redraw/redesign and he won. I've been thinking that he would fit into the same world as Cheetah Girl and Skunk Girl, perhaps they could be a team of nature-related super heroes. 

So, I had a lot of old super heroes I made when I was younger. One of them was Skunk Girl (not Super Girl, Skunk Girl), I don't know what made me want to make her a skunk super hero!? And she came from the same world as another super hero of mine, Cheetah Girl. 

         Now for a new poll: This one is a bit different, instead of asking which character I should draw, it's asking what a character should be doing...

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? What are some of your favorite super heroes? 

-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

Miscellaneous Drawings #5

Previous parts: #1, #2 #3, and #4

Greetings Adventurers, 

I thought it was time to do another miscellaneous drawings post! In regards to later posts...I have two Inktober posts planned, as well as a post introducing my novel for this NaNoWriMo, and a post involving Shakespeare coming soon...

But back to this post...since Halloween is near I sprinkled some spooky drawings throughout the post, along with my Fantasy drawings: 

A drawing of Elm, I really like how it turned out.

I thought I would include the sun necklace she wears in the drawing. 

A drawing of Karleon, the god of mischief, from Arisias's world. 

This is a drawing of Galadriel from Rings of Power. I drew this long before the show came out, since I saw a promotional photo for Galadriel and thought her armor was awesome. My main focus in this drawing was the shading, which I think turned out well.  

As for the show, I'm watching it now and am I really enjoying it so far. However, there are bits that bother me (the way the elves act--they're too human for my taste, also don't get me started on their hair).

A drawing of Salissah. I figured out that she is the goddess of the moon, but also the goddess of strategic fighting (fencing, archery, martial arts, etc.), as well as philosophy, much like the Greek goddess, Athena. Whereas the god of the sun is like Ares, and just cares for bloody warfare in general. 

I've recently been drawing illustrations for a story with a dog character, and I decided to make another dog character. The dog doesn't have a name yet or a story, but I plan to come up with one later... 

I figured with Halloween being this close, I couldn't not include a drawing of this eerie door. I drew this a while ago, and I decided to include a figure hidden in shadow on the other side of the door. 

A drawing of Arwen from Lord of the Rings. This was inspired by the scene where Arwen rescues Frodo from the Ring Wraiths. 

**Warning eerie drawing ahead** 

This is a drawing that I created a while ago. I put the warning up in case viewers don't like spooky things, so they can scroll past it. But, my idea for the drawing, was that the woman had her dead fiancée (or husband) return to reunite with her in death. I am thinking of turning it into a short story sometime. 

But this drawing also helped me explore making some of my drawings spookier, which is something I intend to do when I illustrate (and publish) my book Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass. 

**The eeriness is over now...** 

Willow the dryad. This is a reimagining of a Pixton character I created. I didn't include it in the post where I introduced her, since it wasn't a majority vote. But I like how it turned out. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? And do you have any favorite animal characters? 

-Quinley 

My Art from Inktober 2022 (Part one)

I am back with another Inktober series! This year is my second year doing Inktober, I did it for the first time last year. Continuing the theme of last year, I will be dividing the series into three parts-- 10 drawings for each part, and then 11 in the final post.  If you wish to check out my Inktober posts from 2021, you can check them out here: part 1, part 2, and part 3. 

Also, as a reminder, I am doing a Q&A on this blog for novel. If you wish to leave questions for the second part of the Q&A (if you haven't already) you can do so here.  But back to this post, let's get started with the drawings: 

                                                       The Official Prompt list for Inktober: 

And here are my drawings... 

Day #1 Gargoyle, I thought it would be interesting if someone (a spy/rogue), was hiding amongst gargoyles waiting to make a move. 

.  

Day #2 Scurry, I drew of a dog character from a children's book I'm working on, whose name is Toto. This isn't one of the drawings for the book, but I thought it would be fun to draw none the less. 

Day #3 Bat, I drew an (elvish) vampire, since that was the first thing that came to mind. She has a tattoo/face-paint of a bat on her left cheek, and I gave her red eyes. 

Day #4 Scallop, I had to look up what a scallop was to make this drawing. Once I figured it out, I decided to draw a mermaid with a scallop as a necklace. It ended up turning into Arisias as a mermaid.

Day #5 Flame, Since Karleon the god of Mischief gives his devotees blue fire magic (along with sometimes the gift of prophecy, but that will be talked about later), I thought it would be fitting to draw him.

Day #6 Bouquet,  This drawing was inspired by a John William Waterhouse painting "Gather Ye Rosebuds While You May (1908)". I took the life drawing approach and only drew the lower part of the body (not the face), so that I could focus on the hands. 

Day #7 Trip, This reminded me of my characters traveling in my novel, Becoming the Body Thief. So, I drew something inspired by that. Since the writing on the sign got a little messed up, I'll tell you what it says. It says "The Woodland Tavern." There is an also an altar to a god off to the side with coin offerings from travelers. 

Day #8 Match,  The first thing that came to mind was lighting a match. So, I decided to draw that along with a candle. 

Day #9 Nest, It's been a while since I did a drawing of a bird! So, I decided to draw a bird sitting in its nest. 

Day #10 Crabby, For this I thought I would reference the mermaid theme from earlier, and draw a mermaid sitting with a crab. I really like how it turned out. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which drawing is your favorite? And are you doing Inktober this year? 

-Quinley 

Introducing Some Characters: Ghosts (P.1)

Here are some ghostly spectres, who I think deserve a proper introduction, since I didn't really give them one before. I am working on my novel, Dolls of Wax, Eyes of Glass this month, and I thought getting into the spooky mood was appropriate. And also I must add, I may or may not have been influenced by Debra's post to be in a "Summerween" mood. 😉

Since this is part of a series (that I started in 2017), you can check out the other installments of it here. (It will be under the "Introducing Some Characters" section). 

Here are the ghosts, the stories of these ghosts are not for the faint of heart: 

                                            The Solitary Violinist 

The Solitary Violinist is a performer, who was murdered. She performs while waiting for her killer to come back, so she can make him dance to death. However, he has yet to return. Many people watch her perform from a distance and hear the sound of her violin playing next to the tree where she died. 

She will often ask passersby, if they know where her killer went. The answer is important. For if you give the wrong answer (that is, if you answer "no" or "yes"), the ghost will be unhappy with you, because you will have either given her false hope or no hope. And you don't want to know what she will do--it is said many have met their demise or been lost forever in the woods. So, it is advised that you don't stop and listen to the music, and don't answer her question, but instead carry on as if you never heard it. 

                                  The "Painted" Devil 

The "devil" is a doll sewn from a woven bag that has the face of a devil embroidered (not painted) on it and a strange marking in red. The doll is possessed by a vengeful spirit which someone summoned into the doll for their own selfish reasons. 

The doll has been found at different antique shops and purchased by different owners over the years. Whoever owns the doll always reports strange ghostly activity and sudden unexplainable deaths. However, no one who has had these experiences has owned the doll for long, for it always mysteriously vanishes. Then it seemingly reappears in another shop. No one is safe, are you next?                                                

                                        The Ghost Bride 

"The Ghost Bride," as she is called, was a woman who died on the day of her wedding. She is seen walking around wearing a wedding dress and veil. How she died is unknown, but it is speculated she died of a sudden illness. 

She won't stop her haunts until her dying wish is granted. She is said to even go as far as possession to achieve this--which is why young women who are to marry are advised not to stop by her grave. And those who aren't getting married but want to appease her, often leave little presents or "wedding gifts" for her, so that she feels less restless. 

However, it is unclear whether this will actually stop the spirit. For she has plans...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Which character is your favorite? And, which of their backstories scared you the most? 

-Quinley