Solo [The Quills Rest] Solace in Art

[Lexa Maze]

11th day of Spring 513AV Lexa woke up on her first real day in Zeltiva full of happiness. She had slept a good 10 hours, and was extremely well rested and in a wonderful mood. She was in Zeltiva. A new place. This was her first day and Lexa was adament that it would be productive. She swung her feat off the bed and landed them on the floor. She stretched and yawned and then stood up too quickly, making her head spin. She thought of nothing but the places she could go today. But she didn't really know where everything was, so, Lexa though she would just wonder. Lexa headed to the downstairs of the Worlds End Grotto, where she stayed, for breakfast. She smiled at everyone who looked at her, ate very quickly and then briefly went back to her room to make herself presentable for walking around town. She brushed her hair, rubbed the sleep from her dark eyes, washed her face, and put on her white tunic and brown trousers, dusting them off a little first. Lexa wasn't sure what led her to The Quills rest. Maybe it was the atmosphere of warmth and tranquility. Maybe it was her often ignored will to sketch. She had often though about drawing. The closest she had ever come was to imagine creations and carve simplest copies into trees or into the ground. Whatever it was, she didn't stop to consider, She just ended up entering. It was quiet, tranquil, beautiful. The absolute perfect place to pursue creative endeavours. She lead herself over to a chair and desk near the fireplace and stared at the blank page in front of her. A blank page was always going to be the most difficult part about drawing. She picked up the Quill and, with it in hand, hovered over the page, still not clear on what to sketch. Inspiration comes from the most simple of things. It wasn't even in her surroundings from witch she drew her muse, it wasn't found in the people who sat around the place, in other nooks. That day, the first day Lexa had ever put quill to parchment, her inspiration came from the writing utensil it's self. Or rather the feather of the Quill. It was in her hand, and it seemed fitting. So what had feathers? The answer was a bird. But her ink was black, so she would draw a raven. Raven :

[Lexa Maze]

It was a thrill to see the finished result. The drawing was simple, balck and white, and hadn't required anything difficult like shading. This drawing didn't say much, she supposed. But it was her first one. It surprised, and delighted Lexa to find out how much she enjoyed this. She wanted to keep drawing. She must. New ideas were flooding in. Her first drawing had been of silhouettes, so Lexa would extrapolate on that theme. This one would be much darker, but just as simplistic. This one, Lexa figured, would carry more meaning. She etched into the paper, face a mask of deep concentration. This picture, right now, looked like lumps of black ink. It looked like nothing. But it was a work in progress. Unfortunately, Lexa had failed to draw a focal point, and so the sketch was disjointed, and un proportionate. Lexa's brow furrowed, and she was un able to figure out what had gone wrong. The image she had in her mind was feather like blobs of blackness, like a bad dream. But it needed something else to pull it together. Lexa found herself stuck. She knew she'd get frustrated if this went on so she went to go order herself some tea. As she waited for it to come at her table, she held her head in her hands. She though of her big brother. That madman was the focus of most of her nightmares. She though about ways she could represent that. She sat there, brow furrowed, so zoned out that the waitress with Lexa's tea made her jump. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. This will be five copper miza, Thank-you" Lexa nodded and gave her the payment. It was then, after tasting the fine concoction that she realised she had the idea already. It should be as simple, as subtle as a Silhouette of Alar. Only she would know it's meaning, and Lexa liked it that way. She sketched a male figure into the centre of the page, very small, with the feather-like blobs intersecting him. Alar, though far away, was always there, in the back of her mind, imprinted on her memory like a cancer. This was the drawings message. To Lexa, anyway. Alar :

[Lexa Maze]

That drawing of hers had brought about more emotion than Lexa had reckoned. She felt a hollowness inside her. She hadn't been successful in making any friends yet. Maybe a person like Lexa didn't deserve friendship. Alar had taken more than he mean to on that day. Lexa's mother had just gotten in between the crossfire. Alar had taken more than a life. He'd taken Lexa's spirit. He took away faith she had in herself. She had been in such a great mood this morning. Her tea sat, now cold, with only a couple of sips gone. She couldn't stand it any more. What was she living for? A better question would be who did she live for? She only had herself. She needed to find someone she could look out for. To have someones back, and to know they have hers, that would be wondrous. Her mother had always said, one can only become truly strong if they are fighting for someone they love, or something they want. Lexa took joy, if nothing else, in her new found love for art, and drawing. This trip to The Quills read had been productive for that reason at least. Lexa closed her book carefully. She would treasure this book. There is no way she would ever show it to somebody, unless they meant a great deal to her. Lexa decided to do one more drawing before she left. It was the simplest of them all. It would be a sad drawing, but one she would need, and treasure. It was something that she would draw many times in order to get it right. She would draw her mother. It would be a a tribute to her. No back ground, minimal detail, but obviously her. All she could do today was a few sketches. Her mother had been shorter than her with brown hair and soft darkish blue eyes. She couldn't do her justice right now but it was enough to start her off. And with a final ink sketch she was finished. She was happy with herself for finding this hobby. She would be coming here again,definitely. -End

[Fallacy]

XP Award! Name:Lexa Maze XP Award: Drawing- 2 Lore: The Blank Page- The artists first challenge Finding Inspiration in ones surroundings Finding Solace in Art Secret Sketchbook Notes: -5 CM + Drawings (whatever you want to list them as in your CS) The thread was centered around drawing, but it was more than that. It was about Lexa moving past her past, and finding something to enjoy in this new life. It was short and simple, but it had a deeper complexity to it. I rather enjoyed that. However, when you are doing a drawing thread, you should describe how you draw whatever it is you are drawing. You did a good job relaying emotion behind the drawings, but hardly any drawing technique at all. I would like to see that corrected in the future if you'd like to get more drawing exp Just a little warning. Overall it was a good thread. Liked what you did, and if you want any more lore of have any questions at all please dont hesitate to PM me. Any questions or concerns about the rewards gained please send a PM