The world would be a better place if....

.... people took the path less traveled.

This was my entry for the Reflections competition by the California State PTA. 

Tea and Lighthouse Days

While watching Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service', I got inspired to create something of the same feeling and mood of the film. I've lived near a coast for 10 years and I've never realised how much I've taken it for granted until I'd moved to a desert area in a completely different continent. Miyazaki's storytelling keeps me sane, more or less.

This was the original sketch; done in a plain Moleskine notebook and edited on Photoshop Creative Cloud.

As I was painting this on Photoshop, I realised that a couple of elements could tie the piece together. So I looked to my two current professional inspirations in the art industry - an artist by the name of LoisH and another named Pierre Antoine-Moelo.

These artists have influenced my art style in ways incomprehensible. They've even influenced my storytelling style. As a result, my friend Alina and I are creating a collaboration project known as 'Imminent'. I'm very excited to share the details once we've laid down some good foundation on the plot, but so far, it's promising to be spectacular!

All in all - Studio Ghibli, LoisH, Peahart, Alina J (as well as oolong tea and lighthouses); they are my life currently, to put it plainly.

Mind Gap

A visual requested for a life coaching presentation. Learn more about it here.

Eve de la Neige

Cloud Creator

Streets Girl

Arctic

Listened to Arctic by Sleeping at Last on repeat.

the Archangel - Verity

While the Archangel's first book 'Knowledge' is almost refined enough to begin putting pen to paper (so to speak), I must also keep in mind about the development of the further books in order to create a feeling of constancy that ties the series together, giving the impression that it's one huge story and not separate stories in separate books. But during this process, my mind had become drawn to a specific character, of whom will be introduced in the third book - Verity Rouldan. 

And while becoming intensely focused on one character may jeopardize the equality of the other characters featured in the story, I found that this exercise of concentration actually defines the other characters through their relationships formed with Verity as well as their interactions with her. I've chosen three specific pieces I've done of Ms. Rouldan to emphasise her three main qualities - mystery, harmony and wonder. 

Breath of Life. Verity explores a place with incredible and yet unknown potential.

Verity has always had an air of mystery. Though her life was a comfortable one, Verity couldn't help but feel that there was something she didn't know, something hidden from her by the people around her. In her desperate attempts to find out what, she would always reach a door at the end of every tunnel and find that door to be locked. Due to her failures, she'd unconsciously adapted this 'air of mystery' as if she was hiding something from everyone else in order to either feel as if she fit in with everyone around her, or to try and get something out of anyone. Her little knowledge about the secrets around her define her strength and determination as well as her flaws - her unforgiving nature and her hint of pride emerge from this. On top of the meaningless whispers, she must also handle society's expectations of her age. Due to this, she has a set breaking point that would be extremely dangerous to trigger. She mostly keeps her more negative emotions hidden but she would never deny them. 

During the creation of this piece, I repeatedly listened to the song Breath of Life by Florence and The Machine. I believe this matches her story perfectly - the sound of it is just so intense and yet the lyrics convey that she is just wanting for something simple. Something like an answer. 

When Verity is thrust into such a strange and unknown place, her feelings of being kept in the dark rush back. Anonymous organisms whisper in her name and entice her towards them and Verity questions 'Why?' only to get the same repeated phrase. I emphasised her eyes and the strange floating light behind her to contrast the dark forest texture I'd added. The light draws her to the answers she's searching for.

 Calmness and Green. Verity winding down and taking in the tranquility of the day.

Verity is surrounded in a world of peace and tranquility. It has become part of her personality to help people and to be compassionate. This comes especially with the help. As the regular community would act in the setting of the Archangel, the help were people to be looked down upon. Verity didn't agree. She defends them if there were ever situations where she had to do so and would never see herself as their superior. She even dresses in the common wear for servants when she can and helps the gardeners around the 'green dome', which is a massive dome shaped greenhouse connected to the Rouldan Estate. She finds more life in the green dome than with other people. She doesn't approve of the way people act in society, especially their actions that suggest their superiority. Verity often likes to sit down on the steps in the dome and wind down after a day at school. It is from her vast fascination with natural life and botany that she would wish to become a biologist in the Visalian Society of Science and Discovery.

This piece shows Verity in her natural habitat. More often than not in the story, she tends to help the people around her who need help. I love the colour scheme I used which consisted of an incredibly deep colour (black/dark brown), a stark bright colour (white), and a vivid green which was overlayed with yellow airbrush to emphasise the crisp warmth of the colour. It sort of symbolises the stark contrast of different people but life still ties them together. Kind of like how Verity keeps the team living in harmony.

Verity and the Light. A ceremony in the city of Visalis causes the youths to participate in a tradition in which they seem to 'bend light'.

It wouldn't be too hard for Verity to have a sudden spark in her eyes as she is wonder-struck. Due to her absolute fascination with biology, she is interested with all life forms in general. At a point in the story, she will become familiar with organisms made of light and magic and complete and utter mystery that nobody has ever seen before. She finds wonder in the simplest of mannerisms in people as well as the way something simply moves. Her breath gets taken away by the vastness of landscapes and the feeling of discovery. The others in the team usually have to tug on her shoulder to grab her attention in order to move forward. The Artener brothers appreciate her nature - they have seen many a feature in the world they walk and surprise doesn't come easily to them most of the time, so Verity's wide eyed personality allows them to appreciate their surroundings as well as sharpen their senses. This is only one of the examples of how Verity influences the team. She finds wonder in the world just as much as the team finds wonder in her.

Contrasting light and colours are often a prominent feature in my art as I find the effect enchanting. I, myself, carry the same quality of wonder as Verity does, and writing her point of view and thoughts become easier. It even becomes wondrous to me writing and visualising the landscapes and settings she will enter and then pouring all those feelings into Verity's point of view. 

Verity Rouldan is, in my opinion, quite a rounded character. Her influences of mystery draw up her strongholds towards the secrets kept from her as well as defining her flaws at the same time. Her love of nurturing the life around her gives her compassion and a harmonious nature. Finally, she finds wonder in everything, from the simplest of people and plants to the expanse of endless landscapes. She is strong and yet vulnerable, but as she continues her path in the story, she learns her true potential and that she is much more than she has ever dreamed about and this gives readers strength and determination to become the hope people believe in.

the Archangel - Concepts and Development.

the Archangel's first book is deep into development. So far, there have been four chapters, all of which are to lead up to a strange event that will change Copper's life forever. But with every closed door, another one opens, leading him to meet new people and new possibilities about the strange pendant that was given to him. 

All these concepts have been created with a lot of thought as to the events that will take place in these character's lives. I've gotten most of my inspiration from the high fantasy and arcanepunk series such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter (respectively) in order to get a better idea of the writing styles involved with the fantasy genre and to get a visual on the type of world I am to create, as well as the characters. 

River fights. Some poses of my character, River, as what she'd look like in a fight.

River Avalon is a proud, brave and honest character. If someone were to hurt her family or loved ones, no doubt will her vengeful side begin to surface. I draw most of my characters with a scarf; something to keep their identity hidden. This motif will appear a lot in the third series. This is because I find a huge fascination when it comes to scarves. On one hand, they can conceal you; but on the other hand, they could be your most prominent feature. River wears light earthy tones to correspond with her overall appearance. Her color palette is the same all around - this shows that she is defined by herself and only that. 

River is the type of character that would lose her temper easily. She can hold a grudge and think that it might be for the best. Her anger and shielded personality is her justification to keep her loved ones safe.

And I will try to fix you. The two of them, Verity and Anthony, share an emotional moment.

When I created this concept, I was listening to Kokopelli choir's take on Fix You by Coldplay. It truly is an emotional and powerful piece of music; one that you can easily associate with any of your favorite books, TV shows, movies etc. I associated this song with these two characters. 

Both of them are what I'd call 'loose cannons'. They are very different to each other but with one similarity - they are both extremely unpredictable. Verity loses control sometimes -of her powers, of her emotion- but she has every reason to. Anthony loses control of his temper and will use whatever reason he can to win an argument. Here, they are trying to understand each other and the moment becomes emotional for the two of them.

Please, find me. Anyone. Please. Annie James gets lost in a snowstorm. She kneels and is on the verge of giving up.

Annie, or as her full name would have it, Annetta Mallory James, runs from her home town when her parents have their lives taken by a mysterious force. The town is slowly being taken over by the sharpness that settles in with winter, an unfortunate circumstance considering that most of the townsfolk are farmers. Annie is desperate to leave and takes any route she could to do so.

In this piece, I decided to show one of my strongest characters in a weak position. The snow and the darkness and her colours just contrast each other heavily, showing that she is not usually in a situation that weakens her.

Old times. My characters, Anthony and Nelvin (respectively), as children.

These two characters show more tension between each other, especially as they grow older. This picture I drew shows their innocence and childlike personalities when they were younger, but even as I will portray them in the books, they're just teenagers. Even if they are both just 16, they act so much older because they were brought up in an environment where there was no room for error. 

Thank you all for taking the time to read this and to learn more about my characters!

Read the first chapter of the Archangel here.

Pele - The Volcano Goddess

Pele, the Volcano Goddess of Hawaii for sketch_dailies on instagram.

Frozen fanart

 

Anna and Elsa

Also some Gypsy AU Frozen!

Calypso de la Reine - Character Sheet

This is my original character - Calypso. More of her and the story the Archangel on this blog.

The Traveller

The Archangel Crew

The main characters of my story 'The Archangel'.

More information, look in the Projects page or my blog.

Celestial Sequel

 Inspired by the Salar de Uyuni