So I guess I took the summer off or something. I dunno, just haven't really been doing much that I felt like posting. School's starting back soon, and I'm getting back into the groove....I'm going to try to pull off my Directed Study project this turn if I can, and I'm getting geared up.

I'm not sure if I'll do Hurricane Simeon, because I'm seriously considering doing Anything Under the Sky instead. To that end: some character designs. First up, Anders the Dryad.

Anders is one of the clerks for the store that Will scouts out. She's noted for being charming, but can't really branch out (pun....oh, who am I kidding, totally intended) because she's magically tied to her tree.

I guess it's a nature spirit of some sort? I don't know. Not a Dryad, but probably related, I guess.

I'm not totally certain about the inspiration or the use of this design.

So Peist, lead supporting character of Ballad, is a fairly powerful fairy. I decided to give him a full-on fairy form in addition to the more humanoid form he spends much of his time in.

I don't know if I've quite got it yet, but I'm getting closer.

I've made a bit of progress on the script for Ballad, but not as much as I had hoped. I didn't get around to work on any Ballad art today, but I did get to do a sketchbook entry.

I've been working on a new layout for Shining Beam for when Ballad goes up, so that took up a good part of my time today. Maybe I'll make a bit more progress tomorrow, though.

This is my Christmas Present for my mom this year. Since I'm a dirty hippy with no money, she lets me get away with giving her drawings for presents, so I put extra effort into these drawings, and this is the latest. And possibly one of my best pics to date, if you ask me. It features Tam Lin and Janet from Ballad.

Ballad, which I think I've covered here before (I know I've posted drawings...), is an adaptation of The Ballad of Tam Lin that I'd one day like to pitch as an animated series. The scene in today's picture is one that's played out in my head in the recent days, and I imagine that I'll find a way to get it into Ballad if at all possible.

It's a bit late, but I did a picture for my mom for Mother's Day, like last year. She had requested a fairy picture earlier, so that's what I did. And it's conveniently sized at 1024x768, so maybe I can trick her into making it her desktop wallpaper. Probably not, though, since I doubt she regularly checks this site. I'll be giving her a printed out version to make the gift "official."

Maybe I can do this more often if I just start posting sketches instead of trying to finish whole big drawings? At any rate, I can try it. Here's some for today. I've actually got two, so I'll just update twice today, I guess. Maybe again later, if I feel like drawing anymore. It's a lot less pressure when I'm essentially just doodling.

I am very, very sick. It is a most uncommon cold. But I valiantly perservere against nature and pestilence to bring you a new drawling for the day! Where are my accolades?

Magpie, the character in today's piece, is a new character, in that I've never drawn her before, though the idea for the character has been around for a while. She's the chief retainer to the Forest Lord Peist in Chronicle of the Feathered Knight.

I'm sick today. T_T

All I've got today is the finished version of yesterday's piece. So there's really not a lot to say that hasn't been said yesterday.

That symbol on his forehead is the special Celtic Knotwork symbol that I have arbitrarily assigned as the Symbol of the Stag Crown. To explain, the Stag Crown is the artifact by which the Sidhe choose their leader. It finds the appropriate bearer, and bonds with them, becoming a part of them, leaving only that knotwork symbol on the skin. When the King chooses to, the crown manifests as a pair of antlers. When it is not bonded to a particular King, the Stag Crown appears as a silvery crown made up of metal twisted into knotwork, the center of which resembles that symbol.

I'm doing minor characters now, as you might have noticed, so before I'm ready to actually finish the scenes I want for RSE, I've got to do a few denizens of the City of Fireflies, Maria, and the Demonic Trio for NPCs, as well as three or four monsters (I know what one of 'em will be already), and

Today's drawing is unfinished, I'm afraid. This is a concept piece I'm working on for the Forest Lord in Hurricane Simeon. The Forest Lord is the title for the king of the fairies, and though he looks vaguely dwarven, he's human-sized. Maybe he's more of a troll, then. Trolls and dwarves are both modern adaptations of the Black Elves of Norse mythology, so it's not reaching too far to say a troll looks like a grown-up dwarf. XD

Survival! No worries, friends, we made it through Katrina scratch-free. Although I nearly didn't finish my picture on time.