Closed [Knirin Gardens] Part of the Scenery

[Robinson Gilli]

Robin couldn’t really disagree with that he suppose, he enjoyed using his battle axe and composite longbow. Naturally it had led him to becoming like his da and become a mercenary, and while he couldn’t say he had plenty of ups he did certainly enjoy any chance for him to display his skillset.

And of course, he was learning new things to enhance his skillset and maintain flexibility. It paid a mercenary no good to be too specialized as it created more weaknesses to exploit.

‘ Roight, I’m getting’ los’ on the path here… ’ He chided himself mentally as he snapped himself out of his thoughts. It the briefest of moments his gaze would resume watching the other folk, noting all the little things. Then he stilled once he heard Martini’s question.

It wasn’t… unexpected? Yes he didn’t feel it surprising but it caused him to still all the same. How does one explain they’re a mercenary in a city largely independent of the need of sellswords? If he were a part of an ongoing caravan it would sound less strange but as a likely long term resident? It could either bring about suspicion or a sense of pity. He would rather not have either, more the former than the latter.

Oh but he was no good liar so coming clean as it were was his only choice. He let out a little sigh, feeling depressed with himself as he now tapped his lap again with his pointer finger.

“I’mma merc, uh…Martini” He began, rolling his tongue against his teeth “ ‘S normally good payin’ where I’s from. But uh..” He shrugged as if the answer would be obvious. Then quickly he thought of changing the subject before she asks of where he previously came.

“So uh… This drawin’ stuff… uh, how’s it work? Uh.. issit easy?”

[Martini Elwood]

So Robinson was a mercenary? He didn't really look it though... then again, she shouldn't judge based off appearances alone. She hummed her acknowledgement before she gave pause. He said were he was from, right? Perhaps he could tell her -- Her thoughts were dispersed as he mentioned her line of work.

She looked up briefly to gauge the man's expression. Was he seriously interested? Or was he just being polite? She couldn't really tell. He looked serious, but as she knew, looks could be deceiving. She would just go with her gut then.

"Its hard to explain. I feel like practicing makes it easier, but sometimes when you focus on practicing you notice mistakes you'd never realized before." The brunette sighed and combed a hand through he hair. She knew that it was a good thing, but finding mistakes was something she disliked. Even when she righted them she was still critical of herself.

She couldn't help it, she wanted to be the best in her craft. Mistakes were usually tolerated, but to her they weren't. Sure you could learn from them, but that didn't stop the frustration that built in her when she noticed one to many.

"I could tell you how it works... or I could just show you? If you want to try that is. It's up to you." Martini had enough ink to share, plus the other quill was tucked behind her ear waiting to be used. She had never given a lesson before though... where would she start? She looked up expectantly for Robinson's answer.

[Robinson Gilli]

‘ Arrow dodged’ He mentally breathed in relief as he made to look attentive, which was more sincere as he did indeed have some interest. It was something so different than he was used to, after all. Back in the Berth he was much more focused on things like survival and perfecting his own craft to really pay attention to other stuff.

He supposed he could understand her own frustrations of noticing flaws in her own technique. He grunted in understanding, mind drifting to moments where his own techniques with the axe and bow were less than they should and he had to actively correct himself. He grabbed his his own chin as he looked up and winced at one particular memory involving archery.

Yeah, the burns from that were not easily forgotten as he unconsciously rubbed at his arm.

Then came the offer for her to either show or have him try a hand at it himself. Mentally he scoffed, knowing well enough about his none-existent skills that he wouldn’t even be able to draw a straight line. But…. The more he thought of it the more he thought why not?

Its not as if he’d lose anything except perhaps a bit of dignity and even then he didn’t have much of that for the moment. And if he were an optimist he could cite that it might be useful to get a first-hand view of this. After all, life was an unpredictable thing.

He gave her a single thumb up, citing his agreement as he got up and made his way to sit next to her. His eyes focusing on the tools of her trade before sitting down. Somewhat awkwardly as he was wary of intruding too much on her personal space.

‘ Now ta see if I’z me the chops for it, eh?’ He mused, knowing the easy answer to that.

[Martini Elwood]

Martini nodded enthusiastically, happy to be able to share her craft after seeing his thumbs up. He seemed hesitant to get closer so the brunette let him go his own pace. He might even take interest in it as a hobby. Her lips quirked up at that, being able to get someone else in to drawing. She decided then that she would wing it and hope for the best.

She took the other quill from her ear and handed it to Robinson. She was positive that she could teach at least one thing, but was worried she wouldn't be able to explain it the way she hoped. Either way she ripped a few pieces of paper from her sketchbook and handed them to Robinson. She moved the ink vial so they both had access to it before beginning.

"Since we're using ink it's best if you don't stack the papers. It'll just bleed through." She had learned that when she first started drawing and had only done it a few times since then. She was good at landscapes, but it took her a long time to learn them... Maybe humans..? She could try. Ah, she had just the thing!

"I'm not sure how much you already know, but it's easier to start with the basics no matter how proficient you are. There something called the line of action, mainly used when drawing people. I use it for drawing scenery, but people uses it for drawing human figures too. Um, I guess I should give an example..?"

Martini tried to think of something she drew a lot, but nothing came to mind. She was panicking to much to concentrate. She shifted her gaze to the area around her before spotting an Akalak swinging an axe. Perfect. She tried to memorize the stance before moving to draw it.

"See the Akalak wielding the axe over there? He's got a line of action no matter how he moves. Uh, it's something like this..." She jerked a thumb in the Akalak's direction before tapping the sketchbook to regain his attention. She took her quill and pictured the raise for a swing before replicating it in lines. She worked quickly and what she though was precisely. It looked something like a and oddly drawn 't' with a circle at its start.

"Um, what else... oh! The line of action doesn't always follow the spine and can be more than one line. Its used to get the flow of the pose on paper before starting to fill in the body. Most of the time I use two lines. The first is the bodies position, the second is the arms. And... Um... oh! The line of action doesn't have to be - and almost never is - straight."

She hoped she was explaining things alright. She had to admit that she was still learning herself, so it wasn't as if she couldn't improve while teaching. Martini looked at Robinson to see if he was understanding the process before speaking again.

"I'm happy to answer questions if I can. I mean, I'm still learning myself so..." Martini trailed off as she began to speak sheepishly. She then gestured to the sheets of paper she had given him. She learned best for doing, so why not encourage it?

"You can try it if you like."

[Robinson Gilli]

Robinson barely understood anything. Oh he understood a couple of things, such as only using one sheet of the papers given since the ink they were using would seep through and…… Alright that was the only thing he understood as he sat there dumbly like an owl trying to catch the words she was saying but all it came out to him like;

‘can do this bit for that bit, sometimes folk do this bit for other bits but I usually do it for that bit’ As filtered by his mental thought processes.

He felt sweat trikle on his back. How was he going to handle this bit?! He caught the bit about the Akalak, but again the rest came out as gibberish that he couldn’t comprehend. If he asked her questions he wouldn’t really know where to start.

For example, what was this line of action she spoke of? He tried following what she did on the parchments to get an answer but instead he found himself more lost than before.

‘ Thinkin’ I can follow them blue folks lingo better than known’ what she’s sayin’ ‘ere’ He mentally though. He looked at the quill, the feather like tool to be used and gulped as he dipped the tip into the inkwell.

Pulling it out he put quill to paper. He didn’t know what to draw, so there was that Akalak they’d used as an example. As expected of someone who’s creative talent had never seen the day of light since childhood, and even then he thought grimply, it didn’t really come out well.

It was something a young child would indeed draw, the lines were hardly straight and were more a squiggle as the figure presented was a stick figure with a large deformed circle for a head holding something approximate to an axe though it may have been a cudgel…

Honestly Robin himself didn’t even know as he raised the paper in question with one hand while the other hand was pointed away as his fingers were covered in ink.

“Uh…s’alright then?”

[Martini Elwood]

Martini watched quietly as Robinson started to draw. He obviously hadn't taken the lessen to well, that and Martini realised she probably hadn't explained correctly. He held up the drawing, and Martini looked like she had seen a ghost. The squiggly lines, the larger than needed circle - that she assumed was the head - and whatever the stick figure was holding... It looked like a two year old had sprawled his ideals on paper.

Martini hoped she didn't look to disappointed, but if she did it morphed in to disappointment and finally determination as she decided she would set him on the right track. She fixed him with the strangest look she could, piercing his eyes with her own before looking back at the paper.

She gently peeled it from his hands before before noting that the thing in the figures hand was most likely an... axe? She hoped so at least. She analyzed it carefully, taking her time to pinpoint all the mistakes she could before speaking as she continued to scan the... drawing.

She didn't dare answer his question so she moved on.

"It actually has okay properties... Though there's a lot of work to be done. If you want to improve that is." Martini paused at this to look up at Robinson, realizing that he looked confused earlier. So she hadn't explained enough? Or maybe she hadn't explained right? Martini inwardly slapped herself. She needed to try harder.

"What did you not understand? I can be more thorough if you'd like? Or did I not explain it right?" Martini compared her drawing to Robinson's, found her lines were a little more purposeful. Perhaps if we observed the drawing she could find out what she hadn't explained well enough. She compared it to hers for reference, and took a few ticks to examine the work before she noticed he hadn't gotten any of it.

She had offered so the best thing she could do was deliver. From what she could tell the lines were okay, they just weren't actually lines of action, it was a stick figure after all. It had - what she assumed to be - legs. That usually wasn't included in the line of action. How to explain it though...

"Ah! Maybe a standstill subject would be better... I'll try to go slow this time, just ask questions as they come. Don't worry about if they sound silly, just blurt out whatever's on your mind." The brunette would only start talking if Robinson gave her the okay. He was also free to interrupt her, something she didn't allow often - or at all. She hated being interrupted, but it was better if he asked questions as they came. If he had questions at all.

[Robinson Gilli]

Robin grimaced, really it was impossible NOT to read the disappointment on her face. But what did she expect of a total novice? It would be like him asking her to shoot his composite longbow, oh sure he could explain the basics but the first shot will almost certainly never be a good one considering the mistakes that would no doubt be made and how one requires proper shoulder and back strength to even pull the string and keep it drawn for more than a few seconds.

Though perhaps what was more worrying than her disappointment was her determination. It was those types of look that particularly passionate folk wear whenever they see a wrong in their field of work that must be righter and by the gods did he see that look on his Da quite a few times.

“I…I dunnp” He mumbled worryingly, resuming the nervous habit of tapping his fingers on his thigh as he shifted uncomfortably “Everything…?” It was an answer though it came out inquiringly as nervousness filled him. A gulp resonating throughout as he took in her words.

He looked at his drawing again, feeling severely disappointed in himself even though rationally he knew he shouldn’t. “I dunna get any o’ this drawin’ stuff, Mi- Martini “ He quickly corrected himself. The tapping on his thighs quickly turning to a scratch.

“ ‘S like, whats a line o’ action an’ whats a flow?” He said embarrassed “ ‘s all gib ta me ears it is”

[Martini Elwood]

Martini - from the questions Robinson had asked - determined she hadn't explained in the right way. He was foreign to the jargon of the crafting world apparently, so maybe she was being to advanced? So she needed to teach at his level then. She supposed it couldn't be too hard seeing as she herself was partially self taught, but mainly took classes. She supposed she could remember some of her lessons, maybe she could just recite them?

"I think I get it, what you need that is. Should I start from the beginning..?" The last sentence she spoke mainly to herself as she attempted to think of then basics she learned. She could simplify some of it, but most of it had complex explanations if she put herself back into to her younger selves shoes. She twisted the quill between her fingertips and forced herself to think.

"Okay so, first I'll explain flow?" She looked at Robinson, hoping she wouldn't bore him. Art had some lengthy explanations, but if you were interested they weren't so hard. The question then, was if Robinson was truly interested or if he was humoring her. She bit her lip a bit, released it, and spoke.

"So the flow is like... um, the movement of the pose? Like... if I were to move my hand, it has a flow, or motion if you prefer. I like to think that the line of action captures that movement." She paused here and there trying to gauge Robinson's expression. She hoped that had explained it, if not, she had no clue how else to say it.

She looked over his drawing once more. She could try to draw a line of action for the picture he drew, then she could teach him with step by step instructions? "Are you better at learning through doing? Or maybe watching?"

OOCSorry for the delay and short post.

[Robinson Gilli]

He tried to listen as attentively as he could, and he thought he understood flow. Movement, flow, motion and all that seemed pretty obvious when taken out of its current context, in his mind it translated to something else such as the flow of battle. How one would move to attack, their stances, etc. But in art he had no idea how it translates and largely remained confused about, apparent by how his face scrunched up and he raised a hand to scratch the side of his head.

When the questions came on how learned bet, he simply shrugged even as he reached back to his memories growing up “ Uh, doin’ I’m supposin’…. “ He scratched his chin, how he learned most things really, oh sure there were verbal explanations but then he had to apply it so it was largely the doing part.

He then sighed to himself, his tongue licking the back of his teeth as his brow wiggled. They were largely getting off track by going on this lesson however and he wasn’t sure if they were even sure if they were going to return to it.

He glanced at her and felt that he may as well be stuck though, that look of determination earlier broke almost no mercy if he had to put that way and once more he had to resign himself.

Still, he could at least think of a few practicaly reasons if he somehow got something out of this. He uh… just had to figure out what those were. Wanted posters maybe? He had to think of SOME practical application to keep him focused on this all.

Oh he could leave all that for later, back to focusing on learning for him else he feels like a jerk.

[Martini Elwood]

As soon as Martini had explained, his expression lightened just a bit. She hoped that meant Robinson had at least somewhat grasped the information. She didn't have a better - or simpler - way to explain the line of action. She was skeptical when Robinson said he learned best by doing. Not that she thought he was wrong, he just seemed put off by the question so she was hesitant to give him full credit.

She nodded despite this and decided it was better to just let him off for now. Through Martini's eyes, he wasn't interested in learning since it probably had no value to him. It didn't improve his skills for his occupation, so it wasn't something he wanted. She could understand that, she supposed.

It was like she had said earlier, there was no appoint in doing something if you weren't interested in it. It was pointless to try to teach someone who wasn't interested. She shook her head slowly to clear her mind before speaking.

"I suppose you're not really interested in learning. We can stop, I won't be upset." She didn't want it to seem like she was guilt tripping him. She wasn't. She was disappointed at the missed opportunity, or perhaps she had chosen the wrong person to give lessons to. She needed to be more aware of others discomfort or rather pay attention to it.

She had noticed his discomfort earlier, but had urged him through it. It seemed like that had only put them both in an awkward position. Martini giving horrible explanations that only seemed to confuse Robinson further. And Robinson growing more and more uncomfortable in the situation she basically forced him in to.