The nights are silver (self-mod)

[Trista]

Early spring, 510

Trista got more than a little uncomfortable if she went more than a day or two without working on her art. So this morning, she had resolved to start a drawing as soon as she got back from breakfast.

The fish here were different from the ones she was used to, smaller and more timid. Akvatari were rare enough here that they weren't as wary of her as they were around Abura, but she had to catch several in order to feel sufficiently full.

At any rate, having dispensed with her culinary activities, Trista cleared a space in front of her and opened her pad. Next to it, she placed a sheet of paper that contained one of her sketches from Mura. The sketch was barely more than an outline, but she wanted to have it to aid her so that she didn't have to work completely from memory.

She started with a medium-hard pencil, one light enough to be easily erased later, but not so hard that it would permanently scratch the paper. With a practiced hand, she did the first rough placement of the figures. There was only one person in the composition, a Konti, framed on either side by antique-looking columns. She was taking some liberties by including them -- they were really more the style one might see in Zeltiva's Old Quarter -- but strict realism wasn't the goal of this drawing.

[Trista]

Once the basic placement was finished, she went back to work on the main figure. Carefully, she began adding features, starting with the woman's face.

Mura was home to more than a few ethereal beauties, but this woman didn't really fit in that category. Her eyes were both feisty and troubled, as if already preparing to push someone away. She lacked the buoyant mien of most Konti, appearing instead to be awkward in her own skin. She wore trousers, and her hair was slightly disarranged.

Nonetheless, as she worked, it was clear that she viewed the woman with sympathy rather than contempt. Despite the woman's obvious internal conflict, she had a very real strength to her, which Trista indicated in the line of her jaw and the bearing of her shoulders. If her expression indicated that perhaps she had seen too much, it also showed that she had to no degree broken under the pressure of vision.

Idly, Trista sketched in some details on the columns, drawing designs on the capitals without really thinking about it. A line for the rock wall at the back of the picture, some outlines of clouds, and then she was ready to move to the next step.

[Trista]

She began to fill in details in the woman's face and shoulders. Her shading was light -- Konti skin was notoriously pale, after all. She used just enough pencil to create some depth.

Next, she began going over the folds of the fabric, giving texture to the clothing. She imagined that there was a slight breeze moving across the page from left to right, and adjusted the lay of the fabric accordingly. The clothing was fairly light-colored as well, and so she again resisted the temptation to add too much heavy shading.

The columns were easy to do, so easy that in barely five minutes, she had finished adding shadows to them and a small amount of detail. Cylinders were easy -- at this point in her career, she could draw them all day without having to stop. The rock wall was a little trickier, largely because Trista chose to make it out of irregularly-shaped stones, just to give herself a bit of a challenge. It made a nice contrast to the almost minimalist main figure, as she added pitting and cracks to the wall's worn surface.

[Trista]

Now, she worked a bit more slowly, adding in the shading and texture. The figure began to fill out, gaining dimension and weight, and the background too gained depth. She erased, crosshatched, and went back over her work until she adjudged it to be sufficient.

If this were a piece she were going to display, she might have gone over it one more time. But this was simply a study, and as a study, it was sufficient. She nodded to herself, and then put away her art supplies. It was time to get something to eat.

[Puck]

Thread Award Trista - Skills Drawing: 1 Notes: I was close to giving this two experience, perhaps next time a wee bit more length or detail and I would not hesitate to award two. Also, my sense of time passage was warped. From the writing (and length I suppose), I got the sense that this was a quick sketch that took no more than an hour. Yet you detailed Trista eating at the beginning of the thread, and then going off to search for food again at the end. Of course that may just be me ^_~ Anyway, I really liked the detail and technical terms you invested into the thread to make it that much more effective. Even though the thread was short, I felt like the sketch was complete. The description of the Konti in particularly was interesting. Excellent thread my love.