Completed Painted Peaks

[Lyra Nix]

The 5th of Fall 520

Lyra awoke at the end of the Dawn Rest, the first rays of the day's sunlight streaming through her window. The morning light illuminated her apartment in a gorgeous amber glow, a harmless fire steadily ablaze around her, her favorite time of day to wake up to. She took the liberty of allowing herself to gradually come to, wiping her eyes and stretching in her bed before swinging her feet to the floor and standing up. She'd lain her clothes out before going to sleep, draping them over the back of the chair at her desk, her artist's toolkit and travel notebook sat atop it, ready to grab and go once she was dressed. Wasting no time dawdling, Lyra put on her shirt and pants, donned her shoes, and brushed her hair, tying it back out of her way. She turned next to slide her notebook into her kit and once secure, she tucked it under one arm and headed out the door.

Once outside, Lyra inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, and turned away from the plaza, heading instead towards the edge of the peak. A small trek in that direction would bring her to Tain's Studio, its skyglass walls glinting beneath Syna's rays. Lyra never tired of the Studio, for how could she ever bore or grow weary of its beauty or expansive views of the region. She could not fathom any place more perfect for practicing artistry, a thought she suspected was the basis for its construction.

Heading inside, Lyra navigated her way to the painting studio, finding Nat inside already at work on a new piece, blonde hair bouncing around her head as she swayed to and fro with her vision.

"Good morning Nat! Your new piece is coming along nicely," Lyra said as she placed her kit down on a nearby table and walked over to where Nat was working.

It was only the beginnings of her piece on the canvas, but she'd chosen a beautiful palette of colors so of course her piece looked excellent already.

"Thank you Lyra. I'm excited to work on it today and hopefully even finish it by tonight. Inspiration struck me the moment I woke so here I am putting it to canvas. That reminds me. I have a commission for you today. A landscape piece of the Peaks under both day and night."

Focus returning to her own canvas, Nat went back to work painting, leaving Lyra to gather her materials and get started.

"Thank you Nat. I'll start right away."

Tucking her kit back under one arm, Lyra made her way to the available canvases, choosing one she felt best suited the subject matter of her commission. Once in hand, Lyra scanned the studio for a good spot to work, choosing an area close to the windows at the edge of the building, giving her the best and widest view of the Peaks from her location. Gently setting the canvas against the wall, Lyra rummaged through her kit, pulling out her notebook and collection of charcoal pieces. Pulling up a stool at a nearby table, Lyra began jotting down notes in her notebook for her commission, things like color palette and visionary ideas chief points on the page. Satisfied with her plans and direction, it was time to get started.


Word Count: 554

[Lyra Nix]

Taking a few moments to set up her canvas on the easel, Lyra picked up a piece of charcoal, one that was thicker with a wider tip for larger lines. Stepping forward, Lyra began on the left side of the canvas, using the charcoal to start outlining where the Peaks were going to be painted. She was careful to apply enough pressure that the lines were easily visible and would do well beneath the paint when she got to that stage, but weren't too dark either, in case she was mistaken in their sizing and needed to redo the lines. She wouldn't know until she was further along.

Lyra drew her lines slowly, keeping them steady and mostly straight, allowing for a small amount of wobble in her hand to give the shape some realism. After each Peak was drawn, she would step back to look at the canvas from a distance, making sure each shape felt right from a viewing distance. It took some trial and error to get them right, with some Peaks being ill-shaped or ill-sized in between. Getting their placement correct took careful sizing of the inner Peaks to give the illusion of depth in the scene. Several lines had to be smudged out and redrawn, but with diligence, Lyra prevailed and was finally satisfied with the Peaks portion of her painting.

Trading her piece of charcoal for one much smaller and thinner, Lyra started at the top of the canvas, above the Zintia Peak, and drew a very faint line down the center to the top of the Peak, breaking contact there and continuing it further down and to the bottom of the canvas. This would be her dividing line when she moved on to paint to showcase both day and night in the piece. The line served only as a reference point and would not be visible once the piece was completed. Using that same piece of charcoal, Lyra drew a line from left to right in an inward curve motion, applying the same pressure she did when drawing the Peaks. This divided another portion of the canvas to be dedicated to the water below Lhavit.

Moving back up to the top of the canvas, Lyra lightly sketched a placement for the sun on the left corner, and a moon on the right corner. More reference lines, they would be fleshed out and done in much more detail when she got to that stage of her painting. For now, reserving their place on the canvas was all Lyra needed to do for them. Pausing a moment, Lyra once again stepped back to a viewing distance, carefully studying her outlines and shapes to make sure they all flowed and worked together for the bigger picture. Satisfied, she moved close again with her small charcoal and lightly sketched areas in each Peak that would later represent the populations of the Peaks once she gave them more detail. She stepped back once more for overall focus, smiling warmly to herself that the beginning stage had come along so nicely.


Word Count: 512

[Lyra Nix]

Basic outlines in place, Lyra returned her charcoal set to her kit, swapping those tools for her brushes and bowls. Next was a quick trip to grab a cup, water, and rags from nearby and return them to her station. Lastly, it was time to choose paint. Making her way to the available paints at the Studio, Lyra considered what colors she would need. A deeper grey and white for the Peaks, blue for the water, a blue and grey mix for the night sky, yellow for the sun, brown for some depth on the Peaks, and that should about cover it for the larger sections of canvas. She’d be painting those subjects first so that the smaller details could be layered on top once it dried.

Lyra gathered what colors she needed from the Studio inventory and after several trips back to her station, was ready to set up to begin painting. Individual colors went into bowls, with an extra one for the blue-grey mix, carefully mixing up the correct portion of each for the color she desired. Picking up her large brush first, Lyra dipped it into the grey bowl, carefully wiping away the excess before bringing it to her canvas. Turning to angle the brush with the tip downwards, Lyra started at the left side of the canvas, along the outline of Sharai Peak, slowly dragging the brush in an upward stroke to the tip of the Peak, and then turning back downwards to the bottom again. Dipping the brush again for fresh paint, Lyra repeated the process on the second Peak, following her outlines all the way across the canvas, hiding their existence beneath the first coat of paint.

Once the Peak outlines were coated in grey, Lyra rinsed her brush out, wiping it with the cloth in order to clean it and change colors. She dipped it next in the blue, careful to not take too much of the color on the bristles before returning to her canvas. There she followed the same technique she'd used on the Peaks, following her outline from left to right across the space. Once the initial border was in place, Lyra was free to coat her brush a little more diligently with the color to fill in the remaining area of the canvas devoted to the water. She made sure her strokes were even and uniform, all flowing together across the space at hand. Some were straight across while others were waved in nature, resembling real water as best as she could at this stage of work.

Once the water was painted, Lyra once again cleaned her brush off and dipped it next in yellow and began painting the sun in the left corner, using circular strokes in its circular shape. When the sun was finished, Lyra cleaned her brush once more and used white to paint a moon in similar fashion in the right hand corner. That completed the first phase of painting, allowing Lyra to now move on to phase two with her medium brush to begin some of the smaller details and colors.


Word Count: 517

[Lyra Nix]

Beginning stage two of her painting, Lyra first made sure to thoroughly clean out her large brush, blotting it as dry as possible with a clean cloth and returning it to her kit. Next, she grabbed two empty bowls and mixed together white and brown in one, and white and blue in the other. The resulting mixture gave her a sandy tan color to work with as well as a lighter blue. Picking up her medium brush, Lyra dipped it first into the sandy color, and working in small short strokes, began painting the outlined area on each Peak where she planned to incorporate a homage to the buildings and business of Lhavit. The process only took a few moments as the areas were rather small and by painting them first, they would have time to thoroughly dry by the time she began painting in the tinier details.

Once the tan areas were completely, Lyra stopped a moment to take in her surroundings. Looking outside through the skyglass, she noted it was now afternoon, having worked right through the Noon Rest without realizing it. Becoming aware of it now, Lyra stifled a mild yawn, pushing her body to adjust and hold steady. There was plenty of work still to do. She could sleep later. Taking a moment to adjust her canvas with the moving light, Lyra then cleaned her brush out once more and returned to the grey she’d started with earlier.

Dipping part of the bristles in the grey, and the other part in the undiluted brown, Lyra moved over to the canvas again, positioning her brush with the bristles flat against the canvas. Staying inside the grey outlines of the Peaks, Lyra began painting in downward strokes, slow and steady, from the top of each Peak, around the lighter tan in the middle of each one, and down to the outline of the water at the bottom. She took her time, stopping a little short of the water line to reposition her brush and use upward strokes to fill in the rest of each Peak.

Having two colors on her brush allowed her to easily mix the colors as she painted, giving each Peak a sense of realism with the streaking color variations between the grey and brown. She carefully worked her way through each Peak, avoiding the tan areas she’d already painted, allowing that set and begin drying while she moved on to other areas. Cleaning her brush out, she moved on to the lighter blue mixture she’d made, and careful not to take too much, dipped her brush tip and returned to the canvas. Maneuvering around the yellow already in place, Lyra used left-to-right strokes and slowly painted the blue in for the sky surrounding the sun.

Using that same blue and only a corner of the brush, Lyra painted a few well-placed strokes of the lighter blue over top of the already painted water on the left side of the water area, giving it some depth on the sunny half of the canvas. When that was done, she repeated the process from around the sun with the grey around the moon, a mild mixture of blue and grey setting the opposing night sky into place. With that done, it was time to let that dry a bit and move on to her small brush and begin the details that would tie the whole painting in together.


Word Count: 571

[Lyra Nix]

Taking a small break, Lyra went back to where she’d seen Nat when she arrived, not surprised one bit to find her still hard at work on her piece from that morning. Giggling to herself as she strode up to her, she inquired how things were progressing along.

“Haha, all work and no play today Nat? How’s it coming? Looks great from here.” Pausing only long enough to shoot Lyra a chiding glance, Nat continued painting as she spoke. “Hey now... I told you inspiration struck me today, and it struck me hard. I’m pleased with it thus far, thank you for asking. And for your thoughts. How’s your commission coming? First I’ve seen you since you arrived and got started. Must be going well, huh?”

Smiling at her, Lyra nodded. “It is going well, thanks. Taking a short break and then back to work on the smaller details and finishing touches.”

Nat nodded in acknowledgement. “I’ll leave you to it. See you in a bit once I get it done.”

Returning to her work station, Lyra cleaned out her medium brush and swapped it for her small detail one, beginning first with white. Gently rolling the tip through the color and taking just a small amount at a time, Lyra moved to the top of her canvas, choosing to work from top to bottom so that she didn’t smudge anything as she moved from section to section. Hand moving to the corner with the sun in it, Lyra began painting a couple of white fluffy clouds with slow and careful strokes, drawing an outline against the blue sky and then deftly filling in each shape. Returning to the paint bowls, Lyra took a moment to mix up a very small amount of paint, mostly grey with just a tiny bit of white added to give the coloring some variation and depth. Using that mixture, she painted a few thin clouds near the top of the night sky, saving room for some more detail. Cleaning her brush and returning to the white color, Lyra used the very tip of the brush to blot a few white dots amongst the night sky, varying their size and placement to represent stars.

Next, she used the white at the top of each Peak, placing small snow caps on each one across the canvas. Changing colors again, Lyra dipped the end of her brush into a black paint, taking a very small amount, returning to her canvas with a nearby stool. Once sitting comfortably, Lyra began painting very small lines of varying sizes inside the tan area of each Peak, placing just enough lines so that anyone viewing the piece could tell they were buildings. She took her time, diversifying the building shapes and sizes, placing small blots to represent windows and skinny outlines along the front of the buildings to vaguely represent roads. This part of the process took some time, Lyra noting that the Dusk Rest was approaching faster than she was all that comfortable with. Thankfully, she didn’t have too much left to do and believed she would finish in time.

Once the buildings and roads were in place, Lyra cleaned her brush and moved back to the white, using it in small doses as a highlight along the lighter blue layer in the water, loosely placing them as reflections of the clouds at the same time. Next she dipped back into the grey and white mixture, and did roughly the same thing on the side of the water beneath the night sky portion of the painting. With those lines in place, Lyra stepped back to really take in the piece as a whole. Seeing it from general viewing distance, a sense of pride and accomplishment filled her. All five Peaks of Lhavit were clearly visible, half the sky depicting day time and the other half depicting night with the corresponding details for each in place. Buildings could easily be made out on the front of each Peak, with flowing water at the bottom, the same half and half depiction of day and night visible there as well.

Satisfied with her work, Lyra left the painting sit where it was to dry, and began rinsing and cleaning her bowls and work station. Once everything was cleaned up and returned to its place, Lyra made sure all of her brushes were clean and put back in her kit, and made her way back over to Nat.

“Commission is finished Nat. It’s at my work station drying and will be ready to go after that. Best of luck finishing your piece. I’m headed home for the night.”

Goodnight pleasantries said, Lyra headed out of the Studio and made her way home just in time for the Dusk Rest. Fatigued and eager to rest, Lyra wasted no time getting to her apartment, undressing, and flopping in her bed for a well-earned nap.


Word Count: 818, 2972 total

[Oralie]

grade award!

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Lyra

Skills

• Observation: 3
• Planning: 2
• Drawing: 1
• Painting: 3
• Socialisation: 1
• Cleaning: 1

Lores

• Nat Hawker: Appearance & mannerisms
• Nat Hawker: Painter at Tain’s Studio
• Drawing: Adjusting pressure for varying line weights
• Drawing: Adding depth through perspective
• Drawing: Stepping back to check your work as a whole
• Painting: Varying brushstrokes for painting water
• Painting: Different brush sizes for different parts of the painting
• Painting: Using two colours on a brush at once

Notes
Lovely detail with the painting techniques!
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Please PM me if you have any questions or concerns and don't forget to edit your grade request!