Colored Entrails (Open)

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on August 16th, 2012, 1:30 am

OOC :

Tock scowled at Iris, not much liking it when people pushed her on something when it wasn't any of their business. So she just decided to lie, "I lived in bloody Syliras, awright?" Technically, it was true. She had lived there for nearly two years. It just wasn't where she'd been born.

"An' she's a bloody 'ell'ole," she muttered. "What where everybody's done got a big ol' pointy stick shoved what way up 'eir bloody arse'oles!" Hopefully that would discourage the woman from probing any more into Tock's past. If not, maybe a good smack upside the head would shut her up.

Tock then returned her attention to the project, and with barely any thought ran her fingers across the top of what would be the ship's wall in the painting. "Border across the top, prolly waves o' sommat." She then traced her fingers around the porthole and added, "Fish 'ere. Two o' 'em. Curved-like," she held up her hands to demonstrate, fingers curled to form a semi-circle with each hand. "Tails 'ere, ta mouths 'ere," she placed two fingers at the bottom of the porthole, then traced a line around the curve in either direction until her fingers met once more at the top.

Then she tapped the table leg and said, "An' 'is part should what been rounded, wit' a design, like she were done up wit' a lathe..."

by **Wart** on August 30th, 2012, 7:22 am

oocI'm going to try to get a lot done in this post to get this thread closer to a close, I may "assume" some actions by others (particularly Tock) so I apologize, feel free to either go with or contradict those instances however you like. I just don't want to take up more time by ending the post and waiting for an answer to move on.
oocAlso with everyone so busy as of late this is likely going to involve lots of skipping around of "turns" as I'm not sure who's actually back and who isn't. If you are back feel free to "jump in" to continue interaction with each other, just know Wart's going to be largely focused on getting the painting done so we can finish this up and get it submitted soon.

Wart paid careful attention as she listened to the things Tock said. She understood most of what the woman was describing, and smiled as she brought up designs and ideas she wouldn't have been able to think of on her own. When she'd finished Wart said "A'right, lemme see if I got all 'is right" and went to try and lightly outline in each spot that had been mentioned.

She hadn't initially thought of a top border for the wall, so she added a light line there to indicate that. Then she tried adding a little wave patter, something that curled so that it kind of looked like it could be coming from either above or below. She didn't go all the way down the length with it, instead stopping and checking with Tock to make sure that it was the sort of thing she was talking about. If it needed changes or fixing, she'd listen to each correction, but otherwise continued.

The fish were a little more tricky. She went from bottom to top, tail to mouth, as Tock had demonstrated, but had to wipe it off a couple times to fix their shape and the symmetry of their positions. After a check once again with the other woman to be sure that they were correct, she moved to the table.

Wart wasn't actually very familiar with what a "lathe" was or what it'd look like if one were used, so asked for more clarification regarding the leg and what it was that had been described. She'd listen to the explanation, and if she was willing, allow Tock to outline the sort of shape and design she'd had in mind. If not she would go by what she was told and try to get as close as possible.

Once all of the outlines for the woodcarving details were complete and approved by Tock to be reasonably realistic and accurate to her knowledge in the skill, it was time for the actual paint.

Stepping back Wart looked over the whole thing. This was going to involve a lot of variants of brown. She had her own jar of a basic brown, plus red orange and yellow, so she'd have enough to make the different colors but she wasn't certain whether she'd have enough to cover it all. Looking towards the other artist helping her she noticed she'd brought out, among other things, her own set of paints. A hand in her hair and she started explaining the next step and what was needed.

"So, this is gonna be the easy part, layin' down the base color for each different wood, an the grain detail and stuff 'll come after. Problem is its gotta stay consistent. I got an idea of what kinda' mixes for each, but you prolly know more 'bout this than I do so if you have other ideas or whatever to fix em, I dunno make it more like actual types of wood, tha'd be great."

With a few gestures she explained that she wanted the wall of the cabin a sort of golden-orangeish-brown, the table a darker orangish-brown, and the frame of the painting and window a deeper reddish-brown. She then showed this by mixing a small sample of each color in a small spot in each place. After this she listened to any suggestions about the colors, and adjusted the mix samples accordingly. Usually it didn't matter to her what people thought of the pictures she put on their houses, but here she didn't dare paint unrealistic wood on the house of someone whose craft was wood. That would have simply been stupid, especially when she was right out here and willing to help.

Now that the colors were set Wart took out one of her thicker brushes. "I'll go 'head 'n start the wall, if you wanna do the frame an the window?" After a second she added " I don't have too much paint," she gestured to the jars on her belt, which couldn't be too big or they wouldn't have all fit, "but ''tween us we should have enough for it all, if you've got the colors we jus' used for the mixes."

Once any clarifications or answers were taken care of, she started to the far right of the wall. The brown paint went on, then each color to be mixed in, and the paint would be brushed and spread in smooth up and down strokes, in order to keep to the vertical orientation of the boards. "Oh and the carving details, if you want you can paint around em and they'll get done with the other wood detail, or if you really want you can always fill them in with a shade or so darker."

by **Nai'shee** on August 30th, 2012, 2:15 pm

OOCHey, guys, I'm back!
Sorry for the absence. I don't really know how to jump back in without a kilometer long post I know I won't write in the end, so I'll just write Nai's way out so things would be logical. Feel free to interact with her while she's leaving if you wanted to say something, I don't mind writing some more here.

Soon enough they finished cleaning the wall completely and Nai'shee haven't had anything to do anymore but watch. And watching Tock and Iris making a fight out of nothing wasn't as pleasing as watching the almost done painting. She couldn't help feeling Konti was adding salt to the wound on purpose. It was obvious Tock didn't want to talk about her past. Even Nai'shee didn't know much - erm, thinking about it she really didn't know who Tock was before she came into Zeltiva. The girl was naturally curious, but she knew this was sting not worth pulling, and she didn't really care who was Tock and where was she from. What was important is who she is now.

And currently Tock was a woman in bad mood provoked by a Konti trying to focus on work. And Nai didn't like it one bit.

"Hey, guys... I would really like to see the painting when it's finished, but I'm kinda wasting my time standing around. If there's no more work, I'll just go catch up some class or something like that."

Of course she wasn't going to do that with her current level of Djed, but she really wasn't into standing around. She could at least read, no matter how much she disliked it or pickpocket around. Or sleep. That would be the best idea. She needed rest after last night.

"See ya all! Tock, I'll be visiting sometime to see the finished project!"

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on August 30th, 2012, 5:58 pm

OOCYou can feel free to 'assume' actions on Tock's part. When I've threaded with someone enough, as I have with you, I feel like I've developed the trust that you won't do anything that I think is crossing a line

Tock helped out with professional directness, just as she would when collaborating with another crafter on the job site. She often helped the on-site architect draw blueprints, where each of them would be offering input in their particular areas of expertise. So she gave Wart her pointers, and stepped up to offer some hands-on adjustments here and there when needed.

When they started discussing colors of the wood, Tock frowned in a bit of confusion and scratched her head. Tock was only slightly experienced with painting, especially when it came to mixing paints, so things like 'golden-orangeish-brown' and 'darker orangish-brown' didn't really make sense to her. Instead she told Wart, "'Old on a tick, Conch..." She then headed inside briefly, and returned with an armful of wood. She tended to keep a wide variety on hand, having gone out and cut down her own trees from time to time. She showed Wart a few different pieces: oak, ash, cedar, birch, and some of the other trees that were common around the Zeltivan mountain range. Mostly she only had small selections (the vast bulk of her wood being White Oak from the tree she'd cut down with Nai'shee and Kaeson). The rest was mostly random scraps she'd collected here and there, but it would help get the coloration down.

She let Wart lead the way in the actual mixing, however. She paid close attention to the process, sucking on her teeth as she watched the mixtures thoughtfully, making mental note of each combination. She added her own paints into the mixture, making a note that she needed to buy a wider variety of colors sometime. She didn't often do much painting (all of her Automatons being merely polished wood and metal), but it was an area of interest for her.

While she was assisting with the brushing, watching Wart to try and duplicate her technique a bit, Nai made ready to say her goodbyes. Distracted by the project, and completely unaware that her behavior had been making her friend uncomfortable, she just gave her a nod and said, "Thanks fer yer 'elp, Conch. We's get ta work on yer boat soon, aye?"

She paused in her work to step over and give Nai a quick hug, then turned her attention back to the project.

by **Wart** on September 3rd, 2012, 9:57 pm

Wart had smiled wide when Tock brought out the wood. That would make it so much easier not only to get some accurate color, but for adding in the detail later. She never spent much time around wood and so wasn't sure how well she'd do at replicating things like grain an maybe knots simply from memory. With Tock's help and guidance the mixes were adjusted so that the wood of the walls were at least close to the color of the oak, the frames cedar, and the table birch.

When the "non-Konti girl" (Wart was terrible at remembering names, especially in the midst of a project) started expressing her goodbyes, she paused and turned around. She'd been helpful with cleaning the wall and hadn't whined like the boy, Kaeson. After Tock's thanks, she added "Yeah thanks, 'f I ever see ya 'gain I owe ya for helpin' without bein a lil vagik!" It wasn't much of a thanks but where Wart was concerned it was more sincere than anything she'd usually say, and she really did appreciate someone who could work without putting on a scene. She wouldn't, however, go so far as to follow it with a hug as the other woman had.

Turning back to the wall she continued the same brushing, taking the time to carefully paint around the outlines of the other shapes. If either she or Tock did make any mistakes, it wouldn't a huge deal. It could easily be rubbed off with the cloths or even just painted over. Painting around the table Wart did accidentally go over its border a few times, and simply made a note that she'd fix those spots later.

The nice thing about painting on a wall was that it was hardy. It could take the fixes and layers of paint without being damaged and eventually soaked like paper so often did. Once dry it would all be quite permanent, but while it was still wet everything was easily fixable.

As she went she made sure help Tock or answer anything if it was needed, but other than that kept her focus on getting the wall of the "cabin" finished and even. The other woman would likely finish the frames before she was done, and if she was she'd ask her to start doing the border above the wall. It'd be a fairly simple job if she accepted, just filling in the outline of either side of the waves. She'd demonstrate the mix for the top part of it, which would be a lighter version of the color of the wall, and then the bottom, which was darker. If not however she would ask her to 'hold on a 'sec,' as the only other major area was the table, and she wasn't quite decided on how to go about it.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on September 4th, 2012, 3:34 am

Now that it was mostly down to just quiet work, Tock started humming as she painted. She usually did so as she worked, having no particular tune or song in mind, but just letting the simple rhythm carry her through the work. She wasn't even consciously aware that she did it.

She traced out the fine lines of the wood grain as best as she could, trying to largely follow the actual grain of the wood of the wall. She almost wanted to say petch the painting and just carve the designs right into the wood. But that wasn't what the Bosslady wanted, so she stuck with the brushes.

She did notice some definite differences, though, since the color they were using was of a different type of wood than the wall. It was a subtle but important difference, which became more and more apparent the further she got into the painting. Though aside from the color difference was the fact that her painting skill was quite poor compared to the way she did woodcarving, and she felt with frustration that each section of the 'cabin' she painted looked less realistic than the natural wood she was covering up.

Before she knew it, it was starting to look like they were almost done. It was hardly a grand masterpiece, but she looked over the painting with pride, glad she had been able to help with it. She only belatedly remembered that this was her wall, but the other girl's project. She brushed her hand through her hair, completely unaware that she smeared paint on herself in the process, and said to Wart, "Lookin' pretty good, Conch. Whatcha think?"

by **Wart** on September 14th, 2012, 10:22 pm

oocI hope you don't mind, I hate leaving it unfinished, but I think I may leave it as is and have Wart come and finish up the last details as a solo. I just want to get this finished up so we can end the thread and get it submitted and out of everyone's hair already.

Stepping back Wart gave it all a general look-over. It actually looked pretty good. Save for the window and the stuff to go on the table, it was just about done. Before replying she gave the sky a glance and noticed that it was already getting late. Soon enough they'd loose the daylight needed to go on working. That and her paints were running low and the jar of water getting quickly murky beyond being useful for rinsing.

"Well, 's a beautiful picture. The help made it lots faster than it would'a been, but I don' think we'll be gett 'er done tonight. 'S only a couple details left but I'd like to make em real precise." Biting her lip she thought it over for a second. "Whattya say we call 'er done for now an I can come back an finish it up myself when there's some more daylight?" She absolutely hated to let something like this sit unfinished like that, but with as much time as had been taken figuring out the washing of the wall and the bucket and whining etc, there just wasn't enough time to get the real important details she wanted on there. It would just be easier over all if she could come back alone one day and finish it up without interruption.

Of course though, this was the other woman's house and if she didn't want an unfinished there on her wall Wart would deal with it. Anyone else and she'd say "Petch it I'm going home whether you like it or not," but there was something about this woman and her overall attitude that she liked.

by **Minerva Agatha Zipporah** on September 15th, 2012, 5:33 pm

OOCThat's fine by me. Why don't you go ahead and turn it in for grading? We've got plenty of Autumn projects to move on to soon anyway.

Tock gave a nod and replied, "Aye. Ain't no good fer ta work inna dark, anywho. I swear, one day I's gonna make me a magic sun what fer ta gimme light when I needs 'er," she thrust a thumb against her chest, all but declaring herself a force of nature.

"'Is were fun," she declared, stepping up and giving the not-quite-stranger a hug. She didn't notice or care that doing so just got more paint smeared on the both of them.

She gathered up her tools and her children, and brought them all inside. This had been a good day. She had learned a few things, met a couple of interesting people, and yelled at Kaeson a lot. Yup, a good day...

by **Arcane** on October 25th, 2012, 12:53 pm

Rewards and Treasure!

Everyone :

Wart :

Kaeson :

Nai'shee :

Iris :

In Conclusion
Wart and Tock were the most involved in the thread and did the most stuff, so naturally the awards may seem a little skewed towards Wart. This is a huge thread, so I may have missed something. Let me know if that's the case.

The socialization was nice, it's such a fun party. Buuut... you ladies are being Gossip Girls to Kaeson. It's not nice! He's one sad bullied boy now xD