haikujaguar: Dragging...

M. C. A. Hogarth (

haikujaguar) wrote,
@ 2008-01-28 22:50:00

Current mood:	bleh
Current music:	Wham - All She Wants
Entry tags:	art, brushes, photos, process

Dragging...
Frustrating night, but I got some progress done before I had to stop. The frustrating part being that I spent two hours on things that I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who will notice. Darkening the background so that it will pop the leaves of the tree better, salting the background with more layers, darkening the tree roots, lightening her skin, darkening her hair... *sigh*

Anyway, while the salt was laying in, I worked on the cover for the Aphorisms, so I photographed them both before I called it. I didn't scan either of them because... well, like I said. I'm not sure who'll notice this kind of nitpicking.

Progress for the Night

In the past two days I've finished one commission and made progress on these two paintings and I still feel like I'm not getting anywhere. I probably won't feel okay until enough of these things are finished that I can start working on new things, and get that printer funded. I appreciate borrowing

hyanan's, but I want the matter done with, you know? *rubbing eyes*

I'm not finishing many sketches at this point, but I'm almost grateful for that. The last thing I want is to draw something new I want to finish when I already have six or seven things in the queue...!

Bleh.

Edit: By the light of the daystar this morning, I see it's not quite so bad as I thought. I might actually finish this in another two or three sessions.

Getting there

Stardancer Home.

(Post a new comment)

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith
2008-01-29 04:33 am UTC (link)

Perhaps no one but you will notice these tiny details now. But. You will know they are there; you will know that you did them; you will know that they made the picture better. And the finished picture, however long it takes to reach that state, will be one of your pictures; will be the best that you can make it; will hold inside it the sun and shadow of the hours you poured into it; will whisper these things to viewers wondering silently, "How did she *do* that?"

And this is why we love your art. And you.

(Reply to this)

eseme
2008-01-29 05:04 am UTC (link)

Ye gods! She looks amazing. And sort of haloed with light- there's this white outline around her hair I hadn't noticed before.

*blinks*

I'll end up wanting a print of this. I'm sure of it.

And the cover looks like it is off to a good start too- all warm colors. Do all Ai-Naidari have coloring that matches their personality? Because it seems that the Caligrapher and Shame do.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	archangelbeth 2008-01-29 12:51 pm UTC (link)
	Perhaps the tests for their vocations take fur color into effect? (They're aliens. I wouldn't entirely be surprised if it works that way for them!) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	haikujaguar 2008-01-29 03:44 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think fur color is all that important to them, except when it's weird. :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	archangelbeth 2008-01-29 04:58 pm UTC (link)
	Another promising theory blighted! O:D (Actually, I made nasty gestures at the d20 Everquest: Luclin book, because it suggested fur-colors had some effect on stats, for the Vah Shir. My bard is not rogue-like, thankyouverymuch. O:p ) (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: coloring and their personality

haikujaguar
2008-01-29 03:40 pm UTC (link)

Not in particular, no... while you'd think it would because the caste boundaries would seem to enforce it, there's enough cross-over between castes (people moving around, or people having Winter children) that the coat never correlates to job function or personality.

Most Ai-Naidar, though, have light fur and light eyes. Shades of caramel brown, gray, white, a sort of reddish color, cream, etc, etc. Darker shades, like Shame and Raezha (from the picture down here, linked), are rare and considered... startling.
Ghost

Ghost

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	endlessland 2008-01-29 05:38 am UTC (link)
	Amen to everything Ysabet said above, plus I must profess my immense love for what little I can see of the cover from your photo. It looks absolutely splendid! You, my dear Jaguar, make magic every time you touch an implement of art. (Reply to this)

archangelbeth
2008-01-29 12:50 pm UTC (link)

People may not notice "Oh, the leaves pop out because it's darkened there!" But they'll notice "Oh, wow, the tree, it looks so... COOL!"

Honest. My spouse and I double-take and stare at things and we don't know how the effect is achieved, but we notice that something looks good. (3-D effects catch me. When I look at something and it's looking through a window, that always makes me O_O )

Remember, this is one of your biggest, most detailed pictures, and you're doing it with a small baby around. I remember shelving the books in the library, with a small kid who was very attention demanding; or, to be more detailed, I am still traumatized by that memory... So I'm in awe of you.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

haikujaguar
2008-01-29 03:43 pm UTC (link)

I remember when I was in college, I was totally like, "You will NEVAR understand how busy I am."

Then I got a full-time job, and when people in college told me that, I laughed and said, "You think you're busy? Get a real job and talk to me then!"

Now, in my head, some part of me is thinking of the me who said that to the college kid and is thinking, "You think you're busy? Have a kid!"

I am finally--finally--understanding the "not enough hours in the day" problem after decades on this planet. It used to be if I didn't get things done, it was almost always because I did something else I wanted to do instead.

Yeah... not anymore.

This? This here is a traumatizing life lesson. :,

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

archangelbeth
2008-01-29 05:02 pm UTC (link)

*pats condolingly*

They do grow up. Honest. And forage for themselves in the fridge, and dress themselves, and go to the bathroom by themselves and stay out of the bathroom when you're in there (eventually)... Honest. It just takes....... several years. (And they find more things that you need to do to help them on their way to becoming a self-sufficient, responsible adult; but at least they're different things and they can entertain themselves for a while now and then!)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

haikujaguar
2008-01-29 05:38 pm UTC (link)

I count myself fairly lucky in that Wigglet likes to play by herself a lot. I'll sit with her and talk and move things around, but sometimes when I do that she just squints at me at me and is like, "Okay, mom, whatever" and pays attention to some other toy.

So sometimes I just sit next to her while she works on things on her own, and I talk and sing to her and she chews on her lion or eats her toy druid or figures out how to turn the pages in her fabric book and we are both pretty content.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	archangelbeth 2008-01-30 04:14 pm UTC (link)
	You are incredibly lucky. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	artfulruin 2008-01-29 02:36 pm UTC (link)
	I always get new ideas when I have absolutely no time to do anything about them. I think my muse is warped. Srsly. (Reply to this)

	floorlamps 2008-01-29 05:23 pm UTC (link)
	I agree with archangelbeth: I may not be aware of the specific things you do to make a painting work, but I will surely be in awe (already am!) of the overall effect. It's looking lovely, as is the Aphorisms cover. Mmmmsopurty. (Reply to this)

	naturespirit 2008-01-29 06:29 pm UTC (link)
	God, you do amazing work. (Reply to this)

	soldiergrrrl 2008-01-29 06:54 pm UTC (link)
	Stunning! (Reply to this)

	befers 2008-01-31 04:32 am UTC (link)
	I just think the blue background in that last photo is so vivid and beautiful. I think whatever you did is noticeable :) (Reply to this)

	wolflady26 2008-01-31 01:33 pm UTC (link)
	She's absolutely stunning. (Reply to this)

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