Another Smol writing thingy

Sharing this post from tumblr about my writing:

May, 2, 2022

I think one of the most creatively frustrating things about writing is that I have a really good emotional scene in my head that I want to put down on paper. But to get to that scene, I need to make context (worldbuilding, timeline, character behavior and arcs, etc) around it so that I understand what made that scene so important in my head. And it takes a while to get there and build up to it.

Maybe I should just write the scene down as-is without all the context or put more focus on the characters??

May, 22, 2022

So that little tidbit grew into several drafts that further developed some character and world-building stuff that I was stuck on for the past few months. Really proud of myself! It's still in my ultra super rough draft with 1001 grammar mistakes but I finally got it out of my system hah hah!

Also, note to self, make a map of the Realms now so you're not doing guesswork while writing!

Taken some screenshots of my super rough draft below with some world-building context notes! It's a bit long, lol. Quick CW for discrimination.

From my chapters super rough draft, Trial of the Century:

 Democritus ask Doomgreater what does that entail for her sentence. Death by magical burnout. Gwuenevere will be forced to burn through her own magic until it consumes her, then when she is revived, she will remember the pain and horror of it all. According to her records, she never faced death. It will be her first, a dose of reality to shock her. Gwuenevere speaks up, telling everyone that she had already faced that reality months ago when she tried her first spell. While she did not die, that experience only taught her about her limitations back then. It never convinced her to fear magic, only to respect it and learn more about it. Doomgreater’s punishment will only solidify her convictions. She will not be driven by fear. She knows exactly what she is doing with her powers and she will understand them to the fullest no matter how many times she die. She will not be restrained by fear.

Democritus moves. 

A massive metal fist slams directly in front of Gwuenevere, cracking the marble below. While Luther is taken aback by this, backpedaling away from Democritus, Gwuenevere only made a small flinch at it. Then she looks up at the massive war-torch metaiudex. Democritus ask her if she fears them. She shrugs, of course she does. She spent this entire trial and investigation afraid of how she would be sentenced by them. But she is willing to face it. It’s her trial and they are the judge. Democritus looks at her thoughtfully. She is a foolish object. The laws are there to protect her, yet she still wants to pursue magic? Why? Is her life as a mere altrix enough?

(Gwuenevere is judged by Democritus for practicing magic as a fragile object. Gwuenevere (cloak) uses she/her, Democritus (Metaiudex monolith war-torch) uses they/them, Doomgreater (war wrecking ball) uses he/him/Greater, Luther (broadsword) uses he/him)

For some context in this segment, fragile objects are more vulnerable to damage, both from their environment and from their own magic. Due to this, all fragile objects must wear a magical suppressor to keep their internal magic at low levels. The suppressor must be worn at all times and for the remainder of their lives. However, Gwuenevere found a way to overcome this after experiencing an accident that nearly killed her. This discovery paved the way for her to develop semi-permanent core strengthening techniques. This also later enabled her to practice magic with spells that would have killed her.

In the Mundane Realm, fragiles are by law never to practice magic. If their kingdom allows it, low-level magic may be allowed, but higher levels are not permitted. These restrictions were put in place centuries ago after the Relic Wars, a war between Relickind over who controls the living objects in the Mundane Realm. After the war, objectkind won their independence from Relickind, but suffered the loss of many object groups, including the extinction of living weapons. To ensure the survival of objectkind, all surviving kingdoms after the war must make sure that all objects yield multiple kernels at the end of their lives. Basically, the longer the object lives, the more kernels they yield at the time of their true death. Dying too early will only yield one kernel, but dying at the end of their lives will yield multiple.

Centuries later, the Mundane Realm is populated by a mixture of hardy and fragile objects. All hardy objects are given priority to materials for revival and repairs. This is because most hardy objects would become refits, replacing the extinct living weapons and other rare hardy objects that died out centuries ago. Refitted objects are living objects with modified cores that are stronger and more durable than other non-refitted objects. Both non-refitted and refitted hardy objects has plenty of freedom in their kingdoms. From the multitude of careers and public offices to serving as a war-object, hardy objects are given vast advantages due to their greater durability and prominence in society.

From my chapter super rough draft, Amelia's Draft: 

But, Amelia continues, it’s something they needed, right? Gwuenevere shakes her head. No. She found ways to protect herself from her own magic, so much so that she has no need of a suppressor. She will not be forced to give up. Amelia is shocked by Gwuenevere’s passion. They wish they still have it, but doing so now... They stop. Amelia realized what had happened to them. They were trained to be afraid of their own power. Magic is dangerous to fragile objects, but Gwuenevere’s discoveries would change everything. They need not to be afraid anymore. Amelia gives Gwuenevere their support and promise that they will keep her discoveries a secret.

While these restrictions were once created for good centuries ago, they later fostered negative stereotypes about fragile objects. Many hardy objects see fragiles as physically and mentally weak, requiring brave hardies to defend them from the horrors of wars. Some hardy objects also think that fragiles are not capable of much due to their lack of magical education. Fragiles were seen as “in the way”, weak, feeble, broken (for low durability objects made of soft or brittle wood, stone, or metal), and vapid. They are taught to fear their magical potential by their kingdoms, the hardy objects further reinforce this point of view.

The old restrictions still controlling fragile object lives are the following:

For the entirety of their lives, Fragiles must wear a magical suppressor to keep their magic under control to prevent damage to their cores, while hardy objects don’t need to wear a suppressor to stop their magic from damaging their cores.

Fragiles must work “safe jobs” including recordkeeping, becoming an altrix of an abbey, serving certain low-risk establishments, etc. Any job that is deemed too rough for a fragile is not permitted. This includes any public office, as it is a requirement that a hardy object must have some experience as a war object to participate in politics. Not all safe jobs are the same in each kingdom. One job that is considered safe might be declared unsafe in another kingdom.

Fragiles are permitted for low-level magic for basic needs, but cannot pursue higher feats of magic. Hardy objects have the freedom to move up in their magical education and pursue magical careers.

Fragiles must stay in the villages of their home kingdoms of their hatching unless evacuations are in order. Travel is deemed a hazard for many fragile objects by many kingdoms. Hardy objects have freedom of movement between villages and kingdoms at any time.

 

 
 

Gwuenevere and her First Spell

 

A short mini-comic about Gwuenevere casting her first spell at 32. It did not go well. 

Ink and ink wash for the majority of this sketch. Acrylic paint and ink for the crystal.

 

And a special blurb that inspired this below! Warning, it's a bit rough, so mispellings and typos abound! CW for self-injury, body horror, and near-death.

Important things from I have learned from Drawing 100: Introduction

 EDIT: Just a few changes made (citing the sources for the two worksheets), sorry for the delay.

One of the first classes I took at SCAD is Drawing 100, a class that focused on teaching students how to use basic skills and techniques used in creating wonderful pieces of artwork.  These skills and techniques include using contour lines and cross-contours to describe the form of an object in space, and using the theory of chiaroscuro to show how light and shadow on an object, and how to use simple but important tools like the viewfinder and thumbnail to analyze the composition.

From a viewpoint of my animation major, the skills and techniques taught in this class are very important in creating storyboards, designing characters, creating a layout or a setting, and so much more.  Even though I had experience in other art classes before this one, I still need to refresh my artistic skills to become a better artist and to develop into an amazing animator.  I'll say, one of the most important things in developing my skills is drawing what I see, not what I think or know.  In other words, I need to observe the world around me.

Drawing from life helps refine my understanding of how I draw my fantasy creatures and also encouraged me to draw other subject like people, inanimate objects, and animals.  Drawing from life also helps me to recognize shapes, patterns, and proportions in my subjects.  By using sighting and measuring techniques, I can establish an object or two on a page and use parts of that object to help me find the proportions of other objects.  I often draw boxes around some of the objects as long as the boxes have the height and width of the object.

Original thumbnail sketch showing objects drawn in boxes.  The thumbnail is useful in figuring out how a composition looks before drawing the final artwork which is featured in my last post.

This is extremely helpful in sighting and measuring objects in perspective.  Knowing that an objects' edges recede in space, I can measure the height and width of a subject in perspective and draw it according to what perspective I see it in.  I use boxes once again to draw around the subject, but this time in one or two perspective.

1. According Professor Clifford, this worksheet shows different scenarios for objects in two point and one point perspective.

Drawing ellipses, circles in perspective, were difficult at first because they almost appear to be 2-dimensional.  I use the same boxes with the ellipses' height and width.  To get a perfect ellipse I bisect the boxes to find its horizontal and vertical axis and use them to create a smooth ellipse.

2. A worksheet by Zimmer, copyright 5-2-01.  The author show how to draw different ellipses correctly.

Another important thing I learned in class is creating a composition which demonstrates an inventive use of the picture plane (your canvas, paper, etc.) and use a variety of lines, rhythm, and scale.  The composition is the inventive organization and arrangement of design elements: line, shape, texture, color, and space.  In Drawing 100, we draw still life objects we assembled ourselves or a group of objects the teacher installed in the class room. 

Drawing still life art may sound boring but if we create a composition that engages the viewer by a using movement, rhythm, and scale.  We didn't just draw a cup, water bottle, and an apple; we drew a clutter of random objects of different shapes, texture, and sizes.  We use a 3x2^1/2in viewfinder, a scaled downed version of our 18x24in paper, to select a grouping of objects within the still life.  Then we draw the subjects in a 3x2^1/2in thumbnail to analyze the composition.  From the thumbnail I can see which areas are faster or slower, which objects have vertical, diagonal, or horizontal lines, and if I'm doing a value drawing, which local values of each objects are affected by different lighting conditions.