Exalted Art Challenge - 2 - Regional Fashion

I wonder sometimes if I would even recognize myself back then. I still remember the soft light of Gem's crystals and the teeming underground marketplace that never slept. As a slave of Iblan, I was dressed in attire to represent the household of my master, an aging master goldsmith. 

I owned no finery of my own, not even the bangles I wore which served as an example of Iblan craftmanship for all to see and admire, for even their slaves must convey everything about their stature as Gem's famed goldsmiths. Instead of gems sewn into my shawl as any fine lady of Gem might own, mine was painted and embroidered to mimic gems. I was a pale imitation of what a noble Iblan lady might be.

- Memoirs of Kalara Vadras, The Uncrucified, RY 800.

Here we are on Day 6 and I've only gotten through 2 topics!  It seems like this one's going to be more of a 'when I'm done' instead of a daily thing, but that's quite alright because I had a lot of fun with this!  I may have to come back to the concept of Kalara stealing some time for lunch beside a crystal cluster in the city, as I really enjoy the casual slice of life of it.

Stay tuned to my Patreon later this week for an exclusive Patreon Early Access peek at all the sketches I did for this particular piece and a little more behind the creative process.

Painted in Procreate.

The prompt list.  Join in by using the hashtag #ExaltedArtChallenge!

Introducing My October Exalted Art Challenge!

Cross-posted from my Patreon blog

The time is neigh, my October Art Challenge approaches!  So far, this year has been about allowing myself to rest and recuperate while also letting my muse off the chain to wander different paths for awhile.  The next excursion is going to be with the Exalted Art Challenge that I created with the Exalted RPG Discord community!

For those who don't know Exalted, it's a tabletop roleplaying game much like Dungeons & Dragons where you get to become a character with epic-level powers!  It features a world full of mystical places, vengeful gods, and faerie creatures with a rich tapestry of lore to explore.  Its roots in non-Western mythology have made it one of my favorite worlds to play in on my days off!

I've even drawn illustrations and written many words for a story set in this universe entitled The Uncrucified.  I've been sorely missing the characters from this story and wanted to get back into the mood of creating in this universe by challenging myself to a list of 31 art topics inspired by this fantastic setting!  I expect many characters from my storyworld to show up for this art challenge.

I know many of these topics don't make sense to non-players, but I hope to introduce you to them with a bit of explanation and art to go along with each one!  In fact, enjoy a little sneak peek of thumbnail sketches for a few of the topics for a taste:

 

Patreon-Only Sneak Peeks!

Because my Patrons are the coolest, I wanted you guys to feel special during this event!  You'll be getting Patreon-Exclusive Early Access to my collection of exploratory sketches with my thoughts and notes on the topics each week , while the finished paintings and prose will be shared at The Uncrucified's project blog.  A compilation of the finished art will be posted here on Patreon once I've completed all topics! 

For those keeping up on my Patreon Discord Server, I'll be sharing the sketches as they happen in my Ang's Sketchbook channel as well!  (Read here for instructions on how to join my Discord Server dedicated to my Patrons and fans)

The Goal

I'm hoping by doing this event I can create more art in the TTRPG vein which is work I'd like to do more of in the future to channel my long-time passion for gaming!  I also plan to experiment with an expressive painterly digital style, since I have been so married to detailed tight line work for a long time now!  

With luck, I can finish all the topics in a month, though I won't be too hard on myself if I can't finish one a day.  The big goal is to remember how to play with art again and enjoy the process more than perfectionism!

--

I hope you all are ready for the ride!  I'm excited to see what happens during this hugely experimental time.  Are there any Exalted players here?  Sound off in the comments!  If you're an artist who loves the game, I invite you to do this challenge with me and share in my Patreon Discord in the dedicated Art Challenges channel!  I'd love to see what you all might do for this list!

More soon.  I can't wait to begin!

♥ Ang

Hard Times + Art Catch Up!

It'll be almost a year now since I've written a chapter of The Uncrucified and that makes me feel monumentally sad!  It was about this time last year that everything just went wrong.  My husband was diagnosed with a rare form of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which put a stop to everything.

Even when we got out of the gauntlet of surgeries and treatments and finally celebrated my husband being in remission about a month ago, we had been simultaneously saddled with medical debt and a level of stress that absolutely crushed the creativity and energy out of my life.  I really couldn't do much more than what was required of me so when I finally had spare time to pay attention to my personal projects, I just couldn't get motivated.

This story fell by the wayside and while I want to finish it and have visions of where I want it to go, now I'm wondering if anyone out there is still interested?  My motivation has been at an all-time low...

...So if you're out there and you give a damn about this story, let me know?  Any little light of encouragement (and especially anyone willing to leave much-needed feedback) will help me rekindle that spark for it!

Art Catchup

There HAVE at least been some art developments for this project that I forgot to share here, so at least it's not all doom and gloom eh?  Behold all the art I forgot to post here in the past year or so!

Character Sheet: Kalara Vadras

Kalara's gotten some fan love in the community in the past, so I finally did this sheet a long while ago to help collect all of her visual odds and ends for easy reference!

You can see a complete detailed biography of Kalara + a gallery of references here!

You can also watch a time lapse of how I made this sheet here:

Khazan by Jadehand

A character you haven't met in the story yet is Khazan, the Starless Dragon, a Fire Aspect bandit who becomes a mentor of sorts for Khalara during her fledgling Solar days!  I've actually written out a good deal of their story in the unpublished sequel created during NaNoWriMo of long ago that inspired me to go back and rewrite The Uncrucified, so consider this a teaser of things to come if I can ever finish this prequel story!  You can like Jadehand's tumblr post of this art here.

 

I love how Jadehand gave him an over the top beard and a cheesy dad presence.  It fits him perfectly!

Character Biographies

If you just want to be spoiled on what happens in this story and want to have fun getting to know some of the characters from it, I've gone ahead and created in-depth character biographies as references over at Refsheet.  Enjoy!  Ye have been spoiler warned!

• Character Biography - Kalara Vadras
• Character Biography - Khazan, the Starless Dragon
• Character Biography - Laughing Fox

Exalted Art Challenge

In an effort to pull myself back into Exalted and get motivated for this story, I'm considering trying to do the 30 day art challenge I created with the help of the Exalted community.  Perhaps I could share my progress here to bring some new life to this blog?  Would that be something you all would be interested in?

That's all I have for now!  Things have been looking up in life with my husband's improving health, a new job, and a relief from all the stress.  I really hope it won't be another year before I can come back to this project fresh and fluffy and ready to show the world the awesomeness of a Solar learning they can change the world AND punch gods in the face! 

Concept Art: Kalara Vadras Casual Set

I haven't had a lot of time to write on The Uncrucified lately with conventions and a busy schedule, BUT I have been chipping away at these clothing concepts for Kalara's iconic casual look over the past few weeks!

2 represents the first ever outfit I drew her in for the fanfic cover.  For Kalara, I wanted something fashionable and elegant that she could move around in.  If possible, I also wanted to show her habit of wearing the craftsmanship of her Guild of artisans, which she likes to advertise by wearing their creations directly on her person.

Kalara's first iconic design. 

In the end, I favored the gold-green color scheme for her, which helped to set off her eyes and hair with the complementary color scheme.  I also like 2, 3, and 10 for their functional simplicity that still balances her fashionista nature without going overboard.  Funny enough, even after all this exploration, I still really enjoy the color scheme and outfit from that first original look!

I kept coming back to the gold trim with the swirling flame motif, which just felt right in reflecting her Southern desert heritage, as the region is represented by the element of fire.  She operates currently in the Central-East area of Creation, which, to me, says she would wear clothing acclimated to the region, while still showing hints of her Southern pride in her garb's motifs.

The asymmetrical cut of her shirt in my favorite choices also seemed to feel right and presented more unique shapes that were less overtly derivative of real-world cultures.

5, as eye-catching as it is, was the pure fun design where I focused more on visuals than rationale.  I think it's a cool outfit, but very out of character for her.  Too flashy and more dancer-esque than stylish.  I think it might be a cool outfit for her if she ever had to go in disguise on the road as a performer, perhaps!

Mood board for Kalara's casual look.  See more plus individual image sources at The Uncrucified board on Pinterest.

By the end of this exploration, her look started to get too formal looking, which will make them a great jumping off point when I move into her Formal and Business sets next!  It's nice to have variations also if she ever decides to change clothing in the comic that might one day be.

Which looks do you guys like?  It's always interesting to hear what resonates with other folks outside of my own POV!

Did you miss the live broadcast I did while I was drawing on her outfits and chatting about characters?  Watch them on my YouTube channel!

ART SNEAK PEEK: Act 1 Banner Art

I'm still enjoying a break from the draft to gather my thoughts, read up on lore, and wrap up a few other things that have me working late these days while the new readers here take the time to catch up on the story thus far.

In the meantime, I managed to sneak a couple of hours over the weekend to sketch an idea I had for promo art for Act 1 of The Uncrucified!

Kalara leans against a wall at Taresh's elegant estate, the skyline of Chiaroscuro behind her as illusionary butterflies float by.  I worked in a foreshadowing of her choosing as an Eclipse Caste in the wall carving behind her with the caste mark in the design.  She's also wearing the gold dress from the high stakes game and her 'lucky' jade necklace.  I finally have my chance to paint succulents, as well!  They act as a fun decorative way to tie the climate of her setting to the desert.

I've been adding some really cool examples of modern stained glass and skylines of Dubai for Chiaroscuro inspiration over at my Pinterest board for this story, for those interested in mining for inspiration!  I really want to tighten up the skyline and make it more unique as I start refining details for this image.

I can't wait to work on this image when I have time!  I'm hyped by the moment of quiet introspection and glittering desert city I was able to capture here.