# Miscellaneous doodles (now with Tasteful Dwarven Erotica)



## Sialia (Sep 13, 2002)

Ok, so a while back, Piratecat wrapped up a magnificent section of his game we now refer to as "The Comet Cycle." At that time, I joked that the Ledgerdemain Opera House would create a grand opera of the Heroic Adventures of the Defenders of Daybreak.

The more I thought about it, the funnier that seemed. So I drew it. So this isn't a picture of the Defenders of Daybreak: it's a picture of how a bunch of actors might portray them. A bunch of actors at a notoriously chaotic and overwrought playhouse, prone to opening night disasters. 

That's not Liberace playing Nolin--that's Dylrath's brother Tephys, who married the company's sole prima donna, Tivity, who insisted on playing both Mara and Tao. Dylrath's nephew gets to play the comet, but isn't having much interest in wearing the costume.

The original is all in one piece and is colored in and is hanging in a frame in Boston, so I can't scan it. But I do have the last version of the sketch before I committed it to watercolor. Except, it's too big to fit on my scanner.

So here it is in glorious monochrome, and you can piece it together and color it in as you like.

If you come up with anything amusing, I'd love to see it. Go ahead and post 'em right back up here.

(edit: vB code doesn't work in thread titles, I'm afraid - Eridanis)


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2002)

second part


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2002)

Q: This is swell Si, but I don't recognize everyone. Who ARE all these folks?


A: Ok, starting from left to right, assuming you had the whole thing assembled correctly, (and we're going to omit the names of most of the actors because, well, who knows, and who cares) the cast is supposed to be:

Tomtom (rolling on the ground and laughing his buns off)
Hagiok (possibly the real thing.)
An Ilithid
A Tosk (Thri-kreen)
Alix Loial
Dylrath Birdhouse (who leaned on his brother to have the opera distort any rumors about his ownership of a mirror to the point of unrecognizability)
Arcade Deltarion, holding "The Master of Space and Time" and, uh, "Nyquil"
A Mang Warrior
Altariel
A kam-el
And, let's face it, from here the whole back row is the cast of thousands portrayed by a _much_smaller number of very talented extras, so we'll leave them nameless for the moment, except for Rendic the Forgotten at the end there,  and just do the rest of the front row:
The Damming Stone
Velendo
Tivity with some mangled version of Tao and Mara that's still mostly Tivity
Tephys Birdhouse (Dylrath's brother) portraying Nolin Benholm
Tivity and Tephys's kid (Dylrath's nephew) portraying the comet.


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## madriel (Sep 13, 2002)

That's a wonderful picture.  You can even see Dylly's World Famous Perfect Pencil-Thin Mustache.


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## KidCthulhu (Sep 13, 2002)

And I suppose that I should mention that Tephis and Tivity's child is named Nolin.

Over his very great protests.


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## littlejohn (Sep 15, 2002)

I meant to post before. Awesome! 

I love the sepia brushwork(?). It's even better all pasted together. Definitely going on my wall of inspiration. 

Thanks for sharing.


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2002)

Many thanks! I can't remember why I decided to do the outline using my brown watercolor (I think it was actually burnt sienna), and I don't remember what effect that had on the final painting. I remember being so happy with the effect that I did a bunch of other things in this way, but then, I took a long break and never got back to it.

This was one of the other things I tried in my brown phase. It was supposed to be Unflaith--has Piratecat told you guys about Unflaith? Huge spider-shaped brain on legs thing with nasty psionic powers.

The drawing came out too much like a daddy longlegs though, and we decided not to use it for anything. I should have included a human figure for scale.

But I still like it.


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## Rune (Sep 15, 2002)

Sialia said:
			
		

> This was one of the other things I tried in my brown phase. It was supposed to be Unflaith--has Piratecat told you guys about Unflaith? Huge spider-shaped brain on legs thing with nasty psionic powers.




*YOINK!*

I like the picture.  I'm definately going to have to steal the monster.

Also, daddy-longlegs' are cool.  Especially psionic ones.


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## (Psi)SeveredHead (Sep 17, 2002)

Please tell me about the thri-kreen. Pretty please?


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## KidCthulhu (Sep 17, 2002)

I promise to tell you about the Tri-keen over on the Defenders Early Years thread.  There really wasn't much to them.


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## Sialia (Sep 17, 2002)

"They're in the mood to kill,
And when they need a thrill,
They are some big thri-kreen,
leaping, fleet and extremely mean.
They can breed,
they can thrive,
living in group minded hive.
Oh, oh, see them leap,
See them keen.
Ate my liver,
Then they ate my spleen,
Oh yeah.

Watch me squirm,
Watch me scream
Fleeing the big thri-kreen."

(apologies to ABBA)

Well, you asked.


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## Sialia (Sep 30, 2002)

*hey, I got it assembled, sort of*

ok, so it's not perfect:


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## Sialia (Sep 30, 2002)

Anybody wanna color in a little burning inn for me?

I can't handle light sources.


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## Sialia (May 2, 2003)

Ok, I've been working on this portrait of Tao for _months_.

I think it's close to what I want, but there still feels like something is not quite right and I can't quite put my finger on it. Critiques/suggestions are welcome.

Anybody who wants to have a shot at playing with color is highly encouraged. I'd love to see what you can do with it.


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## kkoie (May 3, 2003)

The pic of the actors looks great! The style of the drawing reminds me of drawings from the middle ages, which seems appropriate considering the theme.  Will you ever get around to doing it in color?  Its a great piece!


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## Oni (May 3, 2003)

Cool stuff Sialia.  I'm a big fan of the sepia tone look (which should be pretty obvious if you've ever checked out my art thread here).  Really liking the unflaith, it's surely creepy looking.  

The picture of Tao is shaping up nicely as well, I'm really digging the animals.  Some of what may be throwing the picture off a little bit is the proportions on the figure.  I think you've stretched her out a bit to keep her from looking squat in the armour, but you have to keep in mind that armour goes around the figure and so things will have to look different to look right.  Looking at it her head seems too high, there should be about one heads distance between the bottom of the chin and the nipple line of the breast.  Her hands also seem small to me, they should be larger especially considering the fact she is wearing gauntlets which are a fairly clunky item.  Her torso seems just a hair too long and her arms just a bit short.  The arms should end about 1/4 - 1/3 of the thigh below the crotch level.  All in all though it is a wonderful picture.


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## Sialia (May 3, 2003)

OK--thanks. This is the kind of stuff that may help me get this straightened out. I feel like I'm so close, and then I feel like its all wrong and I hate the thing.

I'll see what I can do. Stay tuned for updates.


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## Sialia (May 7, 2003)

For those that are curious about the coloring technique for Tao's portrait, I'm working in Photoshop.

I did a lot of the coloring in this by taking the "colored scan of pencil on white paper" picture and copying it to another file. 

I'd keep both files open simultaneously, and "adjust hue" on the extra copy, and then clone stamp the section I wanted to work on into the main drawing (adjusting various amounts of transparency). Then I'd adjust hue on the spare copy again and go back for the shadows or highlights, or whatever. 

Worked nicely, I didn't have to fool with layers too much and I didn't have to do too too much selecting of areas to tint.

Each time I tried something experimental, I'd start a fresh layer in the main drawing, just so it would be easy to get rid of if I didn't like it. When it was more or less working, I'd merge it down.

Feedback welcome.


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## Sialia (May 10, 2003)

Ok, I've been working on the color, and I think I've just about got it. But I can't decide between the two backgrounds. Opinions?


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## Sialia (May 10, 2003)

Here's the other possibility:


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## Blood Jester (May 10, 2003)

Green.


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## Ziggy (May 10, 2003)

Definitely green, it balances better with the other colors

.Ziggy


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## War Golem (May 10, 2003)

Green. Nice job, Sialia.

Cheers,


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## Piratecat (May 10, 2003)

Oh, goodness, Sialia. That's GREAT!!!


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## Gideon (May 10, 2003)

I like the green Ms. Sialia.
As a side note that is amazingly well done.


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## Eridanis (May 12, 2003)

I prefer the green, as well.

The latest version does improve on the first. I'll have to show it to my daughter, who appreciates all things "doggie!" (With the exclamation point, always, when she says the word.)

And your dramatis personae drawing is one of my favorites. Very Beardsley-by-way-of-Tenniel.


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## jerichothebard (May 12, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *OK--thanks. This is the kind of stuff that may help me get this straightened out. I feel like I'm so close, and then I feel like its all wrong and I hate the thing.
> 
> I'll see what I can do. Stay tuned for updates. *




I really like this - the color and texture are great and really evocative, and the animals are killer.

As far as the 'all wrong' thing, I think part of what you are seeing is something that is really subtle, and you many not be putting your finger on it.  I think her weight distribution is a little off.  If her weight, as it seems, is on her right leg, then her right hip will be higher than her left, and to compensate, her left shoulder will be higher - near as I can make out, they are all pretty close to horizontal.  Here - I'll illustrate.

The first is a simplification of her stance, overlaid over the picture, with the second image being a more natural stance, overlaid over the same picture.


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## jerichothebard (May 12, 2003)

jerichothebard said:
			
		

> * Here - I'll illustrate.
> *


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## Sialia (May 13, 2003)

Hmm, yes--I see. Thank you for taking the time to sketch this out--I would have had trouble seeing it, but you've made it much clearer. 

Partly, she's leaning on her unstrung bow, which is mostly out of the frame. But mostly, the model I was sketching from only had metal armor on one shoulder, and when I duplicated it over to cover both, I probably slid it on wrong.  This might be fixable--I'll have to fool with it.

In the meanwhile, here is another background to choose from.

Thanks so much for the constructive help--I love having a place to show off where I can always count on the comments to help me make the next one better. Astonishing how much I've learned from sketching for ENWorld!


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## Sialia (May 13, 2003)

One more question: I think Tao is left handed.

If so, should her sword hilts be on the other shoulder?


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## kkoie (May 13, 2003)

I like the green background better than the latest one, but that may just be me.  The reason is, for me, the blue sky, contrasted with the red tree, right next to it, is a little distracting.

As for the scabbards location, having a sword scabbard strapped to your back is a fantasy thing.  Realistically, they would've never done so, despite it looking cool.  So in that sense, I don't think it really matters what shoulder the hilt pops out of.  You'd have to unstrap the scabbard first, before you could draw the sword anyway.  ( I didn't realise any of this until I watched the xtras on the expanded LOTR:FOTR dvd).


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## Conaill (May 13, 2003)

Starting to shape up nicely, Sialia!

I have to ditto jericho on the stance. She may be leaning a little on her bow, but trust me... she's not *really* putting any significant weight on it. (Otherwise, the tip of her bow would sink into the ground, and her left arm would be getting real tired real quick.)

Background: I still like the green one best as well. The blue sky doesn't fit with the shadowy nature of the rest of the image.

Other things that feel "not quite right": Her head still seems too small and too high (as Oni noticed earlier), and her left gauntlet seems out of proportion (I think you resized the right, but kept the other one as it was, right?). Overall, her torso looks a little heavy-set, but her head and left forearm look very dainty and fragile. I don't know how skinny/chunky Tao is supposed to be, but you could try and slightly rescale the width of her torso (everything except the head and left arm). That would give her a more elven waist, and might bring her torso more in line with the size of her head.

Oh, what the heck, let me show you


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## Conaill (May 13, 2003)

In the picture above, I narrowed her whole body minus her head and left arm holding the bow (actually, I was lazy and just rescaled the whole left side of the image, including the doggie), then slightly rescaled and moved her head.

Here's a side-by-side view, to accentuate the differences:

Edit: probably could lengthen her face a little more as well...


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## Sialia (May 18, 2003)

Ok, here's the next go. Head lowered, shoulders adjusted, gauntlet resized.

Torso remains broad, 'cause Tao is seriously powerfully torsoed, and wearing a formerly-cursed girdle of storm giant strength, which has affected her build.  If anything, she's a bit on the delicate side in this rendition. 

I'm still having fun with the background. Don't mind me--I know the green is good, but I want to see what else I can do. I'd like to use the final "framed" , and the treatment of something that looks like a "sketch" in a gilt frame is a bit odd. It needs to look a bit more like an "oil" before it sits comfortably in the frame I want to use, which is pretty ornate.

The overall effect should be as of a religious painting. I'm basing my layout on a painting called "the Madonna of the Little Trees."

Isn't that a great name?

Ah, now if I were only a great artist.

Practice, practice, practice.

And good feedback, of course. Always a bonus.


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## Conaill (May 19, 2003)

Looking good. You may still want to make her head slightly larger. 5-10% larger seems about right

If you want a somewhat more feminine look, you could try to narrow her waist a little. She'd still look plenty butch... after all, bodybuilders have relatively thin waists as well!

I don't know what kind of tools you have available, but if you have some sort of warping tool (it's called IWarp on The Gimp, my photoshop clone for linux), narrowing her waist would just be a single mouseclick. With the same tool, you could also lower her left hip for a more natural stance.

Ah! I found a picture of that "Madonna of the little trees":
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



At first, I didn't much like your latest background, but I think it may work a lot better "framed". I noticed that with the original Madonna painting as well. At first I thought "man, that looks like a crappy composition". But then when you see the framed version, it looks _so_ much better! Might be worth it to already add the frame to your picture, so you can better see what the end result will look like...

PS: any chance of extending the right side of the picture just a *little*? I originally though she was just leaning against a wall. Only when you mentioned she's leaning on an unstrung bow did I realize my mistake...


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## Sialia (May 20, 2003)

She's wearing a girdle of storm giant strength around her middle. Even if her waist is tiny and delicate (which it isn't), the girdle is a fairly substantial construction, plus she's wearing armor under it. Even though elven chain is thin and light, you probably have to wear some quilted underthings under it or risk serious chafing and little ring shaped bruises when you take an impact.

The sketch is done from a photo of an actual person. Going back to the original model, you were completely right about the shoulders, but I think the hips about match the model's at this point. The waist is already considerably thinner--and that woman was wearing leather armor and no girdle. Well, none that was showing. I chose her because I liked her confidence, heft and stolid stance. I'm still fooling with getting Tao to bear that weight without making her quite as heavyset. I'll look at the hips again and see if there's something I've missed there.

Another person mentioned to me about the head, and I'll look in to it. I'm just not sure though. The shoulders and chest are powerfully muscled, and armored on top of that. If you look a football players without their helmets on, their heads do look kind of small in comparison to their padding. And she has to be standing fully erect, chin up. No slouching. Bringing the head down too much really runs the risk of making her look slouchy.

You're right about the bow.  I hestitated to do it when I got started because of some technical probelms, but I should have the tools I need to do the job now.  Although it may look a bit odd. Most people aren't used to seeing the shape of a completely unstrung bow. May just look like a thin staff. Which is fine by me, but it _would_ work better compositionally if it wasn't going off the page so quickly.

Thanks for the input--keep it coming.


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## Sialia (May 20, 2003)

OK, just for you Conail.

head lowered, enlarged, hip lowered, waist narrowed, framed.

haven't had time to think about the bow problem yet--the picture's a bit too wide to fit on the web page as it is and I'm looking to trim a bit off the dog side in the next go round to see how much narrower i can get it, or i'll have to scale the whole thing smaller.

too sleepy now.

I'll try again later.


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## Kid Charlemagne (May 20, 2003)

Sialia,

Where did you get that background "stained glass image"?


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## Piratecat (May 20, 2003)

I really like that last version. Not only do I like the background, I think the slightly larger head makes the proportions a bit more accurate (at least to my extremely unprofessional eye.)

Really good!

If you shifted the view to the left, cutting off part of Dogda, would the bow fit in the frame? I think seeing it would make the stance look more natural.


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## Sialia (May 20, 2003)

No! No! It is all wrong--I get it now--I've just seen it--I went back and looked at the hips again and I know what I did wrong--I can fix this---it is all clear to me at last . . .

except I have to work now, and then I must game tonight and I won't get a chance to fool with it till tomorrow night at the earliest--ah--what if the clarity doesn't keep?  

Must draw--- must draw . . . need more hours in the day somewhere . . .

And I was supposed to be working on the website this week, before classes start up again . .. so few days left.

But I know how to fix the hips.


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## KidCthulhu (May 22, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *But I know how to fix the hips. *




Forget building a better mousetrap.  If you know how to fix a woman's hips, the world is your mollusk.

Can you do anything about thighs?


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## Sialia (May 22, 2003)

Mollusc thighs, you say?  No problem!


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## KidCthulhu (May 22, 2003)

[Shudder]  That is just deeply wrong.  But I'm sure Agar will love it.


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## Conaill (May 28, 2003)

Still waiting to see Sialia move those hips...

Ehrm... maybe I should rephrase that...


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## Sialia (May 29, 2003)

[Smirk, rapidly replaced by look of innocent bewliderment when Bandeeto walks in to the room. ]

Well, the muse was upon me and I knew the secrets of the universe, and then she got impatient and left.

By the time I got around to trying 3 days later, the gift was not in my fingers, and Tao came apart in my hands--shoulders, bust, hips, thighs--all of her in pieces floating around the screen in random disjointed fragments.


If I were working on paper, this would have been a complete disaster. Due to the magic of Photoshop, all I had to do was revert to last saved and be no worse off than I was.

I will try again.


Thanks for your patience.


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## jerichothebard (May 30, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *... Tao came apart in my hands--shoulders, bust, hips, thighs--all of her in pieces floating around the screen in random disjointed fragments...
> *




That in itself is quite a mental picture...


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## (contact) (Jun 1, 2003)

It's great, Sailia!  I really like her features-- and the religious/icon direction is fantastic.  

However, let me beg you in the name of Gods Old and Forgotten not to let the ornate frame have a hotter value than the highlights in the painting.  

Sooner or later, you're going to have to admit that your painting isn't perfect, isn't going to get perfect in Photoshop, and in fact, won't ever be perfect.    None of them ever will.  But there is a point where you've done what you can, and that's as close as any individual piece will ever get.

Paintings are like kids, you do what you can for them, but sooner or later, you have to resign yourself to the fact that they eat mud, smack other kids with the lunchpail you bought them, and barf on your new furniture.  Which is to say, let it go, and draw another one.  

ck


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## KidCthulhu (Jun 1, 2003)

You can give up on kids and just make new ones?  Wow.  I would have become a parent years ago if I knew that!  

Wait... That was a metaphor, right?  Stupid figurative language.  Gets me everytime.  Don't even get me started on "Love is like oxygen".


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## Sialia (Jun 2, 2003)

mmmm . . . . well ..  . yes . . .and no . . . mostly not yet--so close . .. I have to get past the point where I hate looking at the thing--I know there's a good picture in here, but it bothers me still --there's something else that needs to happen before I can let it go-- Conail is right-- and wrong--and I knew what it was--and it will come back to me. but I've gotten dragged away by a distraction . . .a lovely one. . . shiny.  Also Photoshop.


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## Sialia (Jul 18, 2003)

*Clasp of Crown Eternal*

Voila.

Thanks to Eryq, who provided the design sketch.


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## thatdarncat (Jul 18, 2003)

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo shiny

*bats at shiny bobble dangled in front of him*


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## the Jester (Jul 19, 2003)

That is shiny, but I still prefer the Tao with the half-cthulu template on her.


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## madriel (Jul 21, 2003)

thatdarncat said:
			
		

> *ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo shiny*




*poingpoingpoing*


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## Piratecat (Jul 22, 2003)

Sigh... *wipes away tear*  The first magic item you got that tied you to politics, and to a cause bigger than yourselves.  I'm _so_ very pleased.


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

*Miscellaneous Doodle*

Not even slightly Defenders Related, but I didn't feel like opening a new thread.  Just a doodle. Don't know the backstory. Sometimes that happens.


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## Sialia (Dec 26, 2003)

Can't tell you much about these yet. Yes, there are stories to go with these, but not yet ready to post the texts.

Looking for feedback about them.


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## alsih2o (Dec 26, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Can't tell you much about these yet. Yes, there are stories to go with these, but not yet ready to post the texts.
> 
> Looking for feedback about them.




 this appeals to me.


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## Sialia (Dec 27, 2003)

The Swallow


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## Sialia (Dec 27, 2003)

The Tourmaline


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## Sialia (Dec 27, 2003)

Final


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## BSF (Dec 29, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Final




Sialia,
I feel like I should be a bit disturbed by this one.  It is rather grim.  However, I do not feel disturbed.  I feel inexplicably sad.  I feel like I am reaching up to say "No, wait ..." and then realizing that whatever I was going to say or do is already too late.  

I'm note sure if that was the type of feedback you are looking for, but it seemed worth saying.


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## Sialia (Dec 29, 2003)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> Sialia,
> I feel like I should be a bit disturbed by this one. It is rather grim. However, I do not feel disturbed. I feel inexplicably sad. I feel like I am reaching up to say "No, wait ..." and then realizing that whatever I was going to say or do is already too late.
> 
> I'm note sure if that was the type of feedback you are looking for, but it seemed worth saying.



It is a great relief to me to hear you say this.  I think if that is what you are getting from this, then it is working about the way it is meant to. This was a very complicated thing to put over, and I wasn't quite sure how to get there.
I had to go back to actual watercolors to get even close to what I wanted here, and then I had to revise the watercolor about a dozen times in photoshop before I even got close.

Thank you much for letting me know how it feels. That is something very very hard for an illustrator to understand. Fixing anatomy and compostion is hard, but mood . . it's either there or it isn't, and what the artist feels isn't necessarily what the audience sees.


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## Sialia (Dec 29, 2003)

Another of the Swallow. She's on my mind.


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## Sialia (Dec 29, 2003)

Commencement


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## BSF (Dec 29, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> It is a great relief to me to hear you say this.  I think if that is what you are getting from this, then it is working about the way it is meant to. This was a very complicated thing to put over, and I wasn't quite sure how to get there.
> I had to go back to actual watercolors to get even close to what I wanted here, and then I had to revise the watercolor about a dozen times in photoshop before I even got close.
> 
> Thank you much for letting me know how it feels. That is something very very hard for an illustrator to understand. Fixing anatomy and compostion is hard, but mood . . it's either there or it isn't, and what the artist feels isn't necessarily what the audience sees.




In that case, I am glad I posted.  :faint smile:
I am not able to offer advice on the "mechanics" of art.  But, as an audience, I can try to tell you what I feel or what I like.  I'll be happy to post that if it helps you.


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## Sialia (Dec 29, 2003)

This drawing wasn't meant to be part of the series of illustrations I am trying to put together for the stories that I'm working on.

The drawing I was trying to do failed utterly, and in frustration, I started a marginal doodle while I was trying to figure out what to do with the mess.

This rather nice thing turned out.  I don't know what it is. I'm open to suggestions.


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## Sialia (Dec 29, 2003)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> In that case, I am glad I posted. :faint smile:
> I am not able to offer advice on the "mechanics" of art. But, as an audience, I can try to tell you what I feel or what I like. I'll be happy to post that if it helps you.



In that case, tell me about the ships.

If you were going to hear a story about them, what kind of stories would they be?

I will note that they are from different stories. So happens I'm working on a couple of things that involve sea voyages.

All for story hours I hope to be able to post by summer. Since my time is so broken up these days, I'd rather get the whole things written first before I begin posting piecemeal and leaving everyone hanging for months. That way I really can post them on some decent kind of schedule.

Thanks for the feedback!


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## BSF (Dec 29, 2003)

To be honest, I am having a hard time with it this late tonight.  These images are hitting me pretty had somehow.  I think that is a good thing.  

I sat here and opened up multiple windows in my browser so I could stare at both pictures of the Swallow.  I have been trying to frame the emotion in my mind independent of your other images since they are likely unrelated.  Coupled with that, I am trying to make sure I am not overlaying too much of my own emotional state.  I'm not sure I am being too successful.  

On the other hand, I can tell you this with surety.  I know I like your art.  I can look at it over and over and still take an emotional impact from it.  So, maybe I don't need to try so hard to distance my current emotional state with what is being conveyed in your pieces.  My moods may change and my perception may adjust a little with that.  But, that isn't a bad thing.

With the Swallow, I can hear the waves against the ship.  But, I do not hear the people on the boat.  There is a sense of loneliness on the ocean, and even on the ship.  Initially, I liked the second picture better.  It didn't make me feel the same type of loneliness. But, the first picture has it's own beauty.  The type of beauty that sounds like the rough wind.  The Swallow has a sense of ... strength perhaps.  The strength of a survivor.

Boy, I hope I am making some sort of sense here.

The Tourmaline is much warmer.  There is an expectancy and a confidence that the ship has.  It's crew is enthusiastic and ready to conquer the world, regardless of what lies before it.  I can easily feel myself on the deck, with the wind touseling my hair as we crest above a wave.  If I were on the Tourmaline, I would have no doubts.  Nothing shall defeat us as we explore whatever waits beyond the horizon.  The wind and the salt spray are not threatening, they show that I am alive.

Hmm, odd how I can carry on like that.  I am going to hold off on Commencement and your untitled piece.  I need to recharge my batteries for the night.  Again, let me say that I like the pieces you have posted.  There is emotion there, and it makes me think.  Please do not confuse the emotions it brings out as a critique of the work.  Judge it based on how closely I came to feeling what you were trying to convey.


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## Sialia (Dec 30, 2003)

Nailed it again, Bard!  Much more of that sort of thing and I'll leave writing the prose entirely up to you. Many thanks, and apologies for working on such a dark series at a time when it sounds like you could use a lift instead.

I will work on something cheery just for you if I get a moment in the days ahead.

Hoping the New Year will bring you much goodness,

Sialia


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## Breakstone (Dec 30, 2003)

Sialia, I'd just like to say that those are very, very cool works of art.

Very, very cool.


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## Sialia (Dec 30, 2003)

Thanks, Tsunami!


Bard, this ones for you. This fellow has no story, but it's a style of illustration I think could only be used for something comical. Or satirical, perhaps, if that's as light as your mood can go. 

Satire, I can do.


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## BSF (Dec 30, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Nailed it again, Bard!  Much more of that sort of thing and I'll leave writing the prose entirely up to you. Many thanks, and apologies for working on such a dark series at a time when it sounds like you could use a lift instead.
> 
> I will work on something cheery just for you if I get a moment in the days ahead.
> 
> ...




Apologies?  That is completely unnecessary, I assure you.  I wouldn't want an musician to apologies for writing or playing a very moving piece of music.  Why would I want you to apologize for your art?  

It was sick all weekend.  This left me feeling worn out and not terribly excited about work the next day.  As it turns out, yesterday sucked at work. (I was there until after 10:00 PM)   Anyway, I do appreciate your happy wishes, but I was quite pleased to be able to look at your pieces and try to provide some audience response.  Especially if it was at all useful to you.  

Ach.  I'm late for work and I still need to take a shower!  I'll take a look at everything else later.  

Thanks for sharing your artwork Sialia!


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## BSF (Dec 31, 2003)

Sialia,
The wizard made me smile.  It is a little more light-hearted than the others.  Oddly enough, that is the type of picture I can imagine the NPC Artists in my campaign world using to portray local authority figures.  Though, I had never thought of it in terms such as that before.  (One of the great things about EN World is the exposure you have to new ideas and perspectives.)  I am trying to put together a campaign with heavy political elements, so it is good to think of these things.  Anyway, the wizard is fun.  

Commencement - This is heavy.  When I glance at it, it is bright and colorful.  When I stop and look at it, I am overwhelmed by my brain's attempts to make sense of it.  This is because my initial reaction is to flinch at the seeming anger and violence and then my brain starts to look for a different impression, but I can't find it.  I think I can pinpoint what it is that strikes me as violent, but I will hold off on mentioning it for now.  Perhaps this is the impression you are shooting for and I don't need to explain it?  But, if you want to know, I can certainly point it out.

Your untitled "doodle" - My game geek side comes out with this one.  I feel like I should be statting out an NPC of some sort.    There is so much that is hinted at in this one that it just starts up idea seeds.  Is "he" walking down a mountain or is it a starcase in a glaciar?  What are his clothes made of?  What is looking at "him" through the "planar rift"?  I can think of plenty of questions and the answers that I would be adding.  It is the type of art that creates questions without providing any ideas.  So, of course, your imagination starts filling in the answers, and asking mroe questions.  

As to what it is, I have no firm idea yet.  My mind is still racing at possibilities.


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## BSF (Dec 31, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Nailed it again, Bard!  Much more of that sort of thing and I'll leave writing the prose entirely up to you.




OK, don't you dare do that!  I love reading your stories.  I think I do a pretty good catching the character of my Bard (Stephen Fox), but I am not up to the quality of your voice and characterization.  (Yes, I suppose you could call me a Sialia fanboy.)


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## Sialia (Dec 31, 2003)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> Sialia,
> 
> Commencement - This is heavy. When I glance at it, it is bright and colorful. When I stop and look at it, I am overwhelmed by my brain's attempts to make sense of it. This is because my initial reaction is to flinch at the seeming anger and violence and then my brain starts to look for a different impression, but I can't find it. I think I can pinpoint what it is that strikes me as violent, but I will hold off on mentioning it for now. Perhaps this is the impression you are shooting for and I don't need to explain it? But, if you want to know, I can certainly point it out.



Some endings are beginnings, and some beginnings are endings.
That is what I was working on when I started this piece--a good place to begin and end a story. But I'm afraid it's for the scrap heap--too out of style with the rest of the series. But there will need to be something similar to replace it--just something more in the watercolor and brush mode, and less in the airbrush mode. I'm going through an experimental period here, so some experiments work better than others, and some perfectly good things will neither stand alone nor play well with others.

It's a learning curve. But at least it was a place to begin.


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## BSF (Dec 31, 2003)

Oh my!  I was just looking at my posts from the past few days.  Spelling errors, grammar errors, missing words and plain old word misuse.  I am going to plead sleep deprivation on these folks!  

I'm sorry if some of it comes across as jumbled.  I may go back and try to edit for clarity.

Sialia - I was a bit curious on Commencement since it did seem different from the other pieces you posted.  Experimentation is good!  I will take your word for it that "some perfectly good things will neither stand alone nor play well with others."  Nonetheless, I like what you have posted here.  I hope my response of my emotional impressions has been helpful.


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## Sialia (Feb 2, 2004)

This picture needs a story.


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## Sialia (Feb 2, 2004)

Another from the same story as above, if I knew what story it was . . .

If I get enough of these, maybe a story will happen . . .?

I'm all out of words. No names, no places left in me. Only colors now, and light.

Things could be worse.


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## Sialia (Feb 2, 2004)

Must be a good night for this sort of thing . .


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## Sialia (Feb 6, 2004)

*Pathetic Cry for Attention*

I set up a new album:
http://www.enworld.org/modules.php?set_albumName=albuo99&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

I'd love to have some feedback on the new things in it. Please do open them and view the pictures at full size--a lot of detail is lost in the thumbnails.

I note that when I just put things in this thread, usually get comments in a day or so. The gallery seems to get no traffic at all. Perhaps it is only that no one knows of its existence.

Would those of you who enjoy seeing what I'm working on prefer that I put stuff here, or there?

And is it silly to put things in both places? Perhaps debut the things here for discussion and revision, and stick final versions in the gallery for display?
Don't wnat to be a server hog--picture files of decent resolution sometimes add up to large amounts of storage.

Thanks for your input.


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## alsih2o (Feb 6, 2004)

silvado (sp?) rocketh my worldeth


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## Ziggy (Feb 6, 2004)

My favorite among the new ones is "Searching for Daybreak", your style is perfect for an artic scene, and I could feel the cold wind blowing around me looking at it. 

Personally I don't go to the galleries much, so I'd prefer posting everthing in the tread. 

.Ziggy


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## Piratecat (Feb 6, 2004)

Those are amazing.

I think putting them in both places is a fine idea, specially for those folks who want to view them full size.


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## Sialia (Feb 6, 2004)

Ziggy said:
			
		

> My favorite among the new ones is "Searching for Daybreak", your style is perfect for an artic scene, and I could feel the cold wind blowing around me looking at it.
> 
> Personally I don't go to the galleries much, so I'd prefer posting everthing in the tread.
> 
> .Ziggy



Wow. This coming from someone in Norway.

Thanks.

I started work on this a year or so after I moved to California (about 1999), while I was in my "homesick for winter" phase. I remember having to call a friend to ask about the color of the sky, because I couldn't quite remember it. I knew I hadn't quite captured the feel, and I was frustrated with the piece, and put it away.

When I pulled the canvas out of an old envelope I found under my desk this week, I realized that what was missing was the wind. I went back into it and added in the wind, and the blowing snow, and moved the rats whiskers to be blown east, and a few things like that. I was much happier with the final result, and glad to have finished the piece at last. I've always wanted to set that one right. 

So much so that I asked Kip the Bold to do one for me bck around 2000--I love his version of this character. He did such a good job with the light and the snow and the posture. 

There might be a few more of these in me. I want to do one with three giant rats pulling a sled . . .


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## Ziggy (Feb 6, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> When I pulled the canvas out of an old envelope I found under my desk this week, I realized that what was missing was the wind. I went back into it and added in the wind, and the blowing snow, and moved the rats whiskers to be blown east, and a few things like that. I was much happier with the final result, and glad to have finished the piece at last. I've always wanted to set that one right.




There's two very different kinds of cold; the pristine, silent cold of a cloudless winter day and the freezing, face-numbing cold of a windy day with snow blowing everywhere. While the first will make me straighten my spine and think how lucky I am to be outside even when its 25 below (centigrade), the latter causes me to hunch, shielding my body from the cold even when its only 5 below.

To me the best aspect of the painting is the posture of the rider. He (?) hunches just the right way, shielding his face from the wind, looking for somewhere to hide from the wind. 



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> So much so that I asked Kip the Bold to do one for me bck around 2000--I love his version of this character. He did such a good job with the light and the snow and the posture.




Ah, I knew i'd seen something like it before....



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> There might be a few more of these in me. I want to do one with three giant rats pulling a sled . . .




I'd love to see them. Your paintings are the main reason I still visit this forum. 

.Ziggy


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## Sialia (Feb 6, 2004)

Ziggy said:
			
		

> I'd love to see them. Your paintings are the main reason I still visit this forum.
> 
> .Ziggy



Wow. Thanks!  That's the kind of encouragement I need to keep going.

Kip's drawing had that clear, still cold, kind of feeling, with the snow just wafting down silently. That kind of beautiful cold that holiday cards are all about, which was right for the description I gave him--I was looking for the heroic moment of the ratrider with lantern aloft, seeking for lost travellers after the storm.

This one I wanted to be _during_ the storm--that kind of winter that is hard to be nostaligic about. Thre's a certain kind of pride in being able to go out in that--knowing that you are not going to let it stop you . . . the ratrider is that kind of heroic, too.


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## Sialia (Feb 7, 2004)

Seem to be doing at least one a day. Wonder how long I can keep this up.


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## BSF (Feb 7, 2004)

Sorry to have been low profile lately.  The last few weeks have been weird.  I will initiate fan-boy startup sequence now:

Sialia, that one is great!  Before my son was born, we commisioned a piece from a friend for Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod.  I think you should see if you can get this done as a print, or in a calendar, or as a book illustration, or something.  It is beautiful.

I will confess that it doesn't speak to me the same way that some of your other pieces do, but it is gorgeous.


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## Sialia (Feb 8, 2004)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> Sorry to have been low profile lately. The last few weeks have been weird. I will initiate fan-boy startup sequence now:
> 
> Sialia, that one is great! Before my son was born, we commisioned a piece from a friend for Winkin', Blinkin' & Nod. I think you should see if you can get this done as a print, or in a calendar, or as a book illustration, or something. It is beautiful.
> 
> I will confess that it doesn't speak to me the same way that some of your other pieces do, but it is gorgeous.



It's good to hear from you--I've been wondering what you've been up to. You've been unusually quiet. Hope everything is ok.

After the Ceramic GM tournament I felt the need to do some pieces that were less emotionally taxing. Round 2 took more out of me than I expected, and I think that shows a lot in what I turned in for round 3. It's as if I wanted to see how far I could go in a certain direction, and having proved that I can in fact get there, I backed way the heck off and wanted to be somewhere else.

I'm still trying to find a way to balance things--to do pieces that are neither overwrought nor too sweet. Right now, I'm probably erring on the side of sweetness. Sping is in the air here and we went bicycling through the cherry blossoms today. The daffodils are poking thier heads up and the mockingbirds are starting to sing.

It's a good time to work on sweetness.


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## Sialia (Sep 7, 2006)

Vargr hairdryers.

From a Traveller game I was in, several lifetimes ago.

Enjoy.


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## Sialia (Oct 9, 2006)

Did the sketch a long long time ago. Did the coloring tonight.


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## Sialia (Oct 9, 2006)

Another oldie I found while I was going through my old sketchbooks. 
Thumbellina and the Fish


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## BSF (Oct 9, 2006)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Did the sketch a long long time ago. Did the coloring tonight.




Very vivid colors!  I am intrigued with why the snake is wrapped around the sign.  I feel like there is something more to say, but dang, I can't find the words.  I will use the excuse that I am just tired and maybe it will come to me later.  But I like the picture.

However, I like Thumbelina better!  Must be the addition of a new little one into the family!  But Thumbelina is a nice little picture.  Another one I think would do well as a print marketed toward parents.


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## Sialia (Oct 9, 2006)

Thanks. 

The snake is a long, long story, from a long long time ago. Unfortunately, I forgotten most of it.

But I will say the large guy is the first human in that world, and the Qatling on his shoulder is the granddaughter of the gods of Mischief and Adventure, Chaos and Time.

And the serpent is an avatar of the world tree. 

I'm afraid that's as much as I can recall--I remember who, but I can't recall what.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

I'm going to start adding more doodles to this thread shortly, and some of them are going to be pretty odd. These will be from a collection of things I drew as candidates for Ceramic GM competitions. Most of the ones I plan to post here are the ones that _didn't _ get picked.

(There might be some of the ones that were used mixed in occasionally--there are cases where I've lost track.)

Comments welcome, especially those that sugest stories for these illustrations. It's a bit like the book "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick." These are the plates. The stories are up to you.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

But first, a little ditty set to the tune of St. James Infirmary.  Because it's my thread, and I can.

Singing:


I went down to Walgreen’s pharmacy
To get me a pregnancy test,
And just after I opened that package
I had to go lie down for a rest.

I throwed up for several weeks then,
And also I throwed out my back,
Busted out of all of my clothing
And had to go dressed in a sack

There’s a tenant who’s a-livin’ inside me
And I don’t even know who
It don’t pay no sewer, gas, nor electric
And I can’t evict it or sue.

So slap a “wide load” on my bumper,
And also two flags for clearance
Set a truck with lights on before me
To clear my road in advance.

So now that you’ve heard my story,
Don’t pour me no glass of booze,
I’m dry from here to September,
I got me those pregnancy blues.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

I drew these in my own blood on the margins of an agenda when I accidentally cut myself during a meeting a few years back.

(I admit, I tweaked them a bit in Photoshop later.)


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

Can't recall if this one got used or not. Another sketch, this one on a Post It during an all day training session, later digitally tweaked.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

I can't begin to explain this.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

I got into doing montages and collages for a while, but I think folks found them too hard to write to.
But I liked making them.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

some based on watercolors


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

I have this sort of sad fixation with Woolly Mammoths.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

My daughter refers to this thing as "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Uncle."

In all honesty, it's probably more like a grandchild, but I didn't feel like explaining the timeline to her.


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## KidCthulhu (Mar 21, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> I drew these in my own blood on the margins of an agenda when I accidentally cut myself during a meeting a few years back.




I don't know whether to laugh or have you go for a little lie down.  They're wonderfull.  They're ooky. I love them.


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## Sialia (Mar 21, 2007)

A nap is always handy.

But tonight, I stay up late again posting the worst of my rejects: the images too lewd, too obscene, too wicked, too downright evil for any judge to sic on grandma-fearing Ceramic GM contestants.

I was so diappointed these didn't make the cut.

You has been warned.


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## Rodrigo Istalindir (Mar 22, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> the images too lewd, too obscene, too wicked, too downright evil for any judge to sic on grandma-fearing Ceramic GM contestants.




Worse than the fetus-golem?  (Not that that was yours, just that I can't imagine much more disturbing than that, at least to write about.)


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## KidCthulhu (Mar 22, 2007)

Rodrigo Istalindir said:
			
		

> Worse than the fetus-golem?  (Not that that was yours, just that I can't imagine much more disturbing than that, at least to write about.)




You don't know Sialia.  I'm all aquiver to see these new images.  Or it might just be twitching caused by the San loss.


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## Sialia (Mar 22, 2007)

The title of this one is "And so, we meet again . . ."

It was inspired by a piece by David McKean.

For those just peeking in, the purpose of these illustrations was as required story elements for the Ceramic GM competition.

For some reason, a whole bunch of different judges told me this was too evil a thing to set on the contestants. I'm sure I don't know why. It seems perfectly reasonable to me.


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## Sialia (Mar 22, 2007)

I only have time for one more just now. Here's one that was deemed "unlikely to produce grandma-friendly stories."

What harm could there possibly be in a well earned treasure bath after a long slog through the Underdark? I'm sure I have seen things more obscene than this posted around these message boards before.

I assume that it's just that dwarves are very reticent about sharing this particular fetish fantasy. That much gold lying around uncovered is bound to make someone uncomfortable.

Either that, or the judge took one look at this and assumed she was freezing to death in a pile of brown mold because _he_ has a sick mind.


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## Sialia (Mar 23, 2007)

I do have more, but I'm holding them hostage.

Will trade new pics for comments on posted ones.

Critique & suggestions are fine. We start with the premise that these were rejects.


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## Gulla (Mar 24, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> I do have more, but I'm holding them hostage.
> 
> Will trade new pics for comments on posted ones.
> 
> Critique & suggestions are fine. We start with the premise that these were rejects.




To quote a very good friend:

"Oh! Lord, I hate this damned machine
I wish that they would sell it!
It never does the things I want
it just does what I tell it!"

I just spent an hour writing comments on your pictures, and as I was proofreading it the browser crashed. I'll try recreating it, but with a totally different mood comments will not be the same, and this time I will not proofread anything   

I am not a very experienced art critic. In fact I haven't tried my hand at this since we had two mandatory assignments in high school (which was back in the eighties...).  Neither am I an artist, and normally my taste is strongly placed in art that "looks natural", but I do enjoy the occational "strange" picture. What I will try to do here is communicate how I feel when I look at (some of) the pictures, and what I see. Since formulating feelings is more that hard in my native Norwegian, I will not put any effort into being polite when trying in English. What I write is what I feel, but I don't try to be mean. After all remember that I like the pictures you make enough to write the comments to get more of them.   

So starting again from the top...

The blood-llamas is a nice enough picture, bit nothing special (except the method, which I find highly amusing). The blooded snowfalkes under the blood-stained moon, on the other hand, I find chilling. It gives me a feeling of a murder mystery in a cold (maybe Norwegian) wilderness in winter where only the moon is a witness and the falling snow covers all tracks. Or maybe it is three of the new monster Blood-demon? Two of them beating up the third, just because they can? In a frosen layer of the Abyss with the bleeding moon being the only (and constant) source of light?

The candle is scary. It is like one of the trick-pictures with two different interpretations. Either it is a lizzard or salamander trapped in the light, crawling towards the flame. Or it is the shadow of a (young?) asian girl/woman looking to the left kneeling with a bright pin holding her hair back. It suggests a story if trapping souls and draining them for power (or heat of light) and it gives me a sad feeling of lonelyness. Somhow the burning of the candle is all the light there is for someone, and it is needed to keep the dark away, but at the same time it destroys something beautiful.

I'm no big fan of collages, but I like the scaly girl in number two. Maybe she could get her own picture somehow exploring her curiosity?

The first watercolour used to be my favorite until i examined all the pictures again and again to write the comments. Now I feel her right arm is a bit strange, but mostly I feel the picture doesn't really decide what it is. It tries to be both sad/blue and gay/fairy and a bit regal and mysterious. Sometimes that works very well, but this time I get a feeling of being undecided instead of the much better feeling of seeing more than one thing.

The second watercolour captures the "seeing many things" much better. I change my mind almost every time I look at it. Is it reflections in a broken mirror? Is it the partially clouded sky? Is it a dream of the moon? But I guess the image from an hour ago still is my favourite: I feel I am inside a very old church or temple built all in marble. Even the windows are very thin marble (like an opaque glass, with patterns in them). It is sunken into the ground and worn and tired. I look out through one of the highest windows, still barely over the ground and I can see the moon, and the shadows of history dancing. The strong warrior, fallen for his cause at last, his dark love lamenting him, and the eternal moon watching in silence.

The third watercolour matched my before-crash mood perfectly, but doesn't math so well now. I'll try to remember... It is a perfect picture for the end of a really sad love story. She has lost her love. He is gone and she has finaly found the solitude to let the sorrow in. She is oblivious to the beauty of the sun's beams shinging on and around her. Only her loss and broken heart are real to her. And as her tears fall into the silent water they don't make rings, they make broken hearts. Sad, and very very beautiful (I have stolen a copy fo my harddisk   )

The three last watercolours don't come up to the first three for me, and the mammoths are just nice. Except the first one, but I have seen that one before? It is a lovely picture of trust, and maybe Faith (in the religious meaning). The fragile girl going without fear to the enormous, strange creature with a gift, and the love of the strong for the weak.

The flying car was used in the final of CDM this time, I think, and got much better treatment there than I can give it here. So that leaves us with the disturbing lines. I might agree with the judges, but to me the two charts/lines floating into wach other and seemingly destroying (at least seriously disturbing) each other is creepy. Even if I avoid the symbolism of having dark/brown flowing into and disrupting the orderly white (it feels too political, and I know too little of US politics and culture to go there). It just gives me the creeps to see this. It might be PirateCat's story of superheroes more or less flowing around, but I like it, and think there is a disturbing horror story behind there somewhere.

And then the Dwarven Erotica. I think the propotions of the dwarf are a bit off and he has far to little "fur", but seriously, we all know that is what dwarves do. They are no better than dragons, and if I remember my Nieblungenlied and Voluspå correctly there even is precedence for them becomming dragons because they lie on their gold

I hope that is enough comments to get a few more pictures? Pretty please?

Håkon
sending without proofreading in fear of another browsercrash


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## Sialia (Mar 25, 2007)

This is marvellous, and I thank you for perservering and being willing to write it a second time.

The main thing I want to know is which pictures seem like ones that would make good Ceramic stories--the ones that intrigue, suggest a story. I'm often deliberaretely ambiguous when I work for Ceramic, because I'm trying not to overtell the story--if I give too much away, it's harder for the contestants to find thier own voices. But it shouldn't be so ambiguous that it doesn't suggest anything at all.

So your comments are perfect--just the sort of impressions I like to get.

I'm particularly intrgued by your coments on the "And so we meet again" lines. Every time I've looked at this one, I've found interesting story ideas in it, but I didn't know if anyone else would.  The political angle would be something new to me, and I'd like to hear about it--it's not unreasonable to see it there, even if I didn't mean it.  There's a tension between the forces interacting that suggests various kinds of opposition to me--if the writer finds the tension, there's a lot of freedom to interpret the forces at work.

I'm not on my own machine at the moment and so don't have access to more pictures this morning, but when I am back at my own desktop, I'll surely post more soon.

Thanks so much.


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## mythago (Mar 25, 2007)

I think the "many induce grandma-incompatible stories" may have been a result of my being present. I seem to push the grandma scale even when presented with pictures of happy bunnies playing in a field of wheat 

No comment on photoshopping pictures of your own blood....


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## Sialia (Mar 26, 2007)

Glad to hear your voice Mythago. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

(Also wanting to hear all the gory details at some point, when you feel up to it.)

Somewhere around here I have some that I actually drew with you in mind as a competitor. I'll have to dig around and see if I can remember which ones they were.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

Quick disclaimer here: sometimes I do draw pictures with particular contestants in mind (as in, "gee, I wonder what Mythago would do with a picture like this") but I think this is still fair because I'm not doing the picture selection, and I never tell the judges which pictures were drawn for which competitors. 

To my knowledge, no judge has ever paired up one of these kinds of pictures with the contestant it was intended for. Proof of this is that despite the incredible number of woolly mammoth pictures I've done, Piratecat has never gotten stuck writing me a woolly mammoth story. 

Sigh.

They didn't stick him with my nice portrait of Tycho Brahe either. (Can't find a finished version of it at the moment. I'll have to keep looking.)


Anyway, I can't remember whether this one got used or not, but I remember wanting to see what Mythago would have done with it.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

This one I drew specially for Yangnome, even though he was a judge and not a contestant this time around. I figured the competitors would need to be darn careful writing about underwater stuff for a judge who dives off the Monterey coast.

Because, yes, I really am that evil.

He was kind and didn't give it to them.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

I wanted to draw something with some action in it--something really exciting, and not sentimental.

Had trouble getting the angle of the mast just right though--still looks odd to me. I excuse this because obviously, by now it's no longer at its original angle.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

I'd boast that this duck was sketched "from life" at the pond behind my office while I was on break one day, except it was pretty clear that this duck was a loooooong way "from life."

But gosh darn it, all the live ducks kept moving around too much.

Apparently none of the judges were interested in reading stories about ducks floating belly up.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

Can't recall if any of these got used.


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

a series of tone drawings


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## Sialia (Mar 27, 2007)

So, I think I'll take a break there. Comments please, especially as regards which ones would have been particularly fun or particularly icky to have to write stories for. 

(Please specify whether that's "icky" as in "would make me work hard but I'd get a cool story" or "icky" as in "boring, not enough meat to work with.")


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## hong (Mar 27, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> I can't begin to explain this.


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## Rodrigo Istalindir (Mar 27, 2007)

As I mentioned somewhere, I have a specific plan when I'm picking pictures for CDM, although I'll often have a subliminal theme to them just cause I'm curious to see if it infiltrates the story at all (and to date, they haven't).   When I'm writing the only thing that really throws me (for good or bad) is when some element is so concrete that it defines some story element (setting, or time period, or something).  The author is always free to stretch the elements as far as they want, but it's hard especially for less experienced contestants to feel comfortable doing that.  

But out of what you've posted this page:

1.  The dead duck.  It strikes a nice blend between the mundane and the bizarre, and while the duck is an ex-duck, the potential for describing how it came to be that way is a good CDM hook.  
2.  The dwarf-porn.  Sufficient ambguity to provide multiple ways it can be worked into the story, but still concrete.  As with the dead duck, while nothing is happening, the 'how do I get there' aspect for the writier is good.
3.  The Jane Jetson (post 119, #4).  It kinda pushes things in a sci-fi direction, but there are so many potential uses I think it could result in some very interesting and fun stories.  It's also one of those pics that's a good differentiator where one contestant might use it as a throwaway, but another could come up with a really innovative idea.
4.  The femme-fatale (post 119, #5).  I *love* this piece.  I wish (nudge, nudge) I had a better-framed one suitable for desktop background.  As with the Jane Jetson pic, it kinda suggests a genre (the hard-boiled one we seem to see a lot of) but dammit the picture is wonderful, and the odds are someone would have written a detective story anyway.
5.  119#2 (the child at the workbench) is a little too ambiguous, for me anyway.  It's mundane enough that a writer could drop it most anywhere and its missing anything to really sink the creative teeth into.
6.  119#6 is the opposite.  It pretty much guarantees at least one element of the story.  I'd be afraid if I used that picture that it would end up with two similar stories, and I hate that.  Not that it's ever really happened, but I wouldn't want to be first.
7.  The aquatic ferret is neat.  It provides a setting element that might be a little tricky to work in without dictating the whole story, the presence of the beastie needs to be worked in in a believeable manner, and the treasure chest provides a good hook.  This would make a really good CDM picture.

I don't think I would have found any impossible to write with, although I'd have been annoyed to get the one with the two half-naked men tihs last time around -- I got enough gender-issue-oriented pics to exhaust that topic for me for some time.  

The one thing I do find with a lot of your pictures, Sialia, is that the darkness and lack of contrast render some of them (IMO) difficult to work with.  It doesn't detract from them from an artistic standpoint, but it can make things hard (for the wrong reasons) for the contest.  For CDM I don't mind the bizarre, but I'd rather not end up tweaking the image in photoshop to get a better view.   I really appreciate the reworked version you posted for the finals.  I don't mind getting dinged on picture use, but I'd feel really stupid if I missed something obvious because I looked at the pics on my laptop.


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## mythago (Mar 28, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Anyway, I can't remember whether this one got used or not, but I remember wanting to see what Mythago would have done with it.




Man, the infamous Gay Vampire Story didn't scare you off?


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## Sialia (Apr 9, 2007)

mythago said:
			
		

> Man, the infamous Gay Vampire Story didn't scare you off?





If I scared easily, you'd see a lot less of me . . .

Come to think of it, when was the last time we saw each other?

I miss you.


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## Sialia (Apr 9, 2007)

Rodrigo, thanks very much for your comments! These are perfect--very helpful sorts of things for me to know.

I'll see what I can do about the contrast issues--it's hard for me to know how things will look on other monitors, but I can be more careful. Also, it may help you to calibrate your monitor. I had a cool cheatsheets on how to do this easily once--I'll see if I can dig it up to share. Doesn't require any fancy software--just a few minutes fiddling with your brightness and contrast settings.

Attached is the largest version of the rendevous I could come up with, and a version with the contrast turned up a bit.  Enjoy!


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## Sialia (Apr 9, 2007)

Try this:

http://www.alpenglowimaging.com/monitor-calibration.htm

And here's two pages to use to check your work:
http://www.bryce-alive.net/calibrate/ 
http://zonezero.com/calibration/english.html

It takes a few minutes, but it's cheaper than trying to upgrade a monitor, and it couldn't possibly do any harm.


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## Sialia (Apr 9, 2007)

Here's the really excellent set of instructions that makes monotor calibration easy--this is the one I was trying to find last night:

http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/calibration/index.htm

This is what I used to set my monitor up, so if your settings are done this way, you should be able to see the contrast levels I'm seeing, even if our color balance is all wonky.


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## Gulla (Apr 9, 2007)

After reading those links and trying a little calibration I find that my monitor is seriously flawed (in addition old and worn out). There is no way I even can get it remotely calibrated. You probably can expect no warm feelings from my wife when I show her the "proof" that I really need a new one    You wouldn't happen to have something as convincing for upgrading the rest of the system?

On the slightly serious side, those links showed me in a few easy steps (or impossible steps, depending on your monitor) why I have had problems with some of your pictures on the home computer. And learning something new is always good.   

Håkon
looking forward to more hardware shopping


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## Rodrigo Istalindir (Apr 11, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Rodrigo, thanks very much for your comments! These are perfect--very helpful sorts of things for me to know.
> 
> I'll see what I can do about the contrast issues--it's hard for me to know how things will look on other monitors, but I can be more careful. Also, it may help you to calibrate your monitor. I had a cool cheatsheets on how to do this easily once--I'll see if I can dig it up to share. Doesn't require any fancy software--just a few minutes fiddling with your brightness and contrast settings.
> 
> Attached is the largest version of the rendevous I could come up with, and a version with the contrast turned up a bit.  Enjoy!




Thanks for the pics!


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## Gulla (Jun 5, 2007)

Hi!

I finally got around to buying that new 24" LCD monitor, so I figured I should take another look at these pictures. And I'm glad I did. With a proper calibrated monitor none of them are too dark and all look much better. So, being in a good mood I found a few more pictures that would spark my imagination for stories. Not that I have the time for a CDM (except as a reader and maybe some comments), but anyway.

With my new view on the (EN)world the collages look very inspiring. I specially like http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28330 It invokes love, or blackmail, or wartime-story or a fall from riches to poverty or murder. It has so many associations 

And as I have said before, http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28356 is so full of conflict and struggle and underhand treachery that it really should be in a CDM. If for nothing else to see what the talented writers can produce out of a totally abstract picture.

Finally I now find the last three pictures very good. I didn't much like them on the old, too dark, no contrast monitor, but specially the middle (http://www.enworld.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=28439) one now seems like a very nice scene. Is it visions in the smoke? Is it a meeting between Gods? Is it clouds in the night sky? And what are they talking about? What important issue is being dealt with?

Håkon
with a slight hope that another comment might result in some more pictures, of course


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## gill_smoke (Jun 6, 2007)

*most likely to represent a Flumph*

Sialia,
    I like your work, Hongs allusions to your missed explanation captures the essense without comprimising th work. While you skipping the remark holds to the candle up for every grandma to see.
    Your visual inprobabilities help you hold the Flumph's avatar with grace. Please post more pictures, or finish that deck of many things.


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## Sialia (Jul 4, 2007)

Sorry it's been so long since I've been online. Real life caught me for a while and I just couldn't manage to log in.

Gulla, thanks much for comments and I hope your wife isn't _too _ mad at me. Congratulations on the new monitor.

I do love that abstract one--I always thought it was full of potential. Fraught with potential, even.

Gill_smoke, I swear I never thought about or noticed what Hong was getting at until he posted it. Afterwards, it's hard to see the image without thinking of that. But really I was just working on a series of candelabras of melting souls.

This particular soul, perhaps, may have had some special issues.

I'll work on the deck some more when I can.


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## mythago (Aug 4, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> If I scared easily, you'd see a lot less of me . . .
> 
> Come to think of it, when was the last time we saw each other?
> 
> I miss you.




Email me, you big galoot!


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## Piratecat (Aug 4, 2007)

hong said:
			
		

> ...



I don't get it. (scratches head)


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## Emirikol (Aug 12, 2007)

Sialia said:
			
		

> second part




You have a really enjoyable style.

Jay H


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