Sick with Siuan

Got a little sick literally, and by the time I've finished half her shoulder, my nose is already dripping wet. And I thought I've finally gotten all the time to finish her this vacation week. I was planning to do a little plant shopping tomorrow and work on the garden a little more, just in time for Easter. Ah well, let's see what happens tomorrow. Maybe I'll work on Siuan again tomorrow night.

Stretching with Siuan

It's been a while since I was able to post something and I guess it's time to stretch my little fingers a bit once more. I realized that all the characters I paint had something 'significant' happen to them, especially in the last book, and trust me, it's not something I expected in the first place.

Maybe my blog is the unofficial prophecy book!

Siuan Sanche

Obviously, it's Siuan! Siuan Sanche as we know her, was the previous Amyrlin Seat, here in all her ageless mystique. I really tried to achieve that ageless look, where a face makes you second, or triple-guess an age. Moiraine describes the look clearly in her narrative, as an estimation of a twenty year old face quickly causing one to second-guess it as a forty-year-old's.

I wanted to veer away from that Zooey Deschanel look people portray her in, and instead give her latin-inspired features. Her nationality was Tairen - Robert Jordan's version of Spain, or some other latin country. I based most of her features from Jennifer Connelly, with those thick, dark brows, making her eyes so intense. Siuan was described as having a strong face, and an intense blue stare.

Although the books say she didn't have concern over her clothes, I interpret it as 'having no care whether what she wears is beautiful or ugly'. So I added lace, partly because there's a small line in New Spring where she smiles in delight at Anaiya's lacey room, and also because it looks so appropriate to give off a hispanic feel.

I really do hope I can finish this one within the week. But at least I got most of the hard part down. Oh wait... what background?!

Egwene al'Vere

Finally, I'm done. Tweaked the colors once more as I found out they were too saturated. and also added some more elements like a falling 'raken', and the sa'angreal she used. I think I've done a little justice to Ms. Egwene al'Vere here.

Egwene al'Vere during the Seanchan Raid

Still got a lot to learn though! 

An Egwene Update

Another long weekend is coming up and I'm so excited. I get to do my stuff! Clean the house, the office, work in the garden, and of course, finish the painting. Maybe do a craft or two. Considering how stressful the job is, these little tranquil days of quiet are so precious.

As for my second painting, I've finally added a hand! Based off my own of course, and I had to strain to get a nice meaningful pose - not just your average gnarly fireball-conjuring hand.

I also toned down the colors a bit, which is a wild guess. I will have to go over the other computer to view it again, and see if my colors are right this time.

I think I'll be done before the weekend comes and I'll be posting this to my deviantart account!

Backgrounds are Hard Work!

I showed my unfinished Egwene to my boyfriend and he gave me some nice suggestions on how to improve my little painting. So I took his advice, and it got even better!

I must say, painting the background is hard. Even if they're just clouds and smoke, I really wanted to get a good mix of both drama and realism. Anyway, I still have to view this on the other computer and see how the colors turn out. My laptop's colors are screwed!

Long Weekend with Egwene

It's a long weekend once more as the Palace declared today a holiday. So I finally got some R & R and some more time to work on my Egwene project. Here's how it's coming along:

I've been trying to tone down the colors every now and then, and given that my laptop isn't calibrated, I really can't see if the colors are too intense. I'd really like a dusty look filled with debris and smoke, but I think I'll add that last. And yes, no hands yet! I have a hard time making hands so I'll be making those last ;-)

A Change of Mind

Ok, so as time went by, I kept scrutinizing my sketch of Egwene, and I finally changed my mind about it. Thankfully I did. The old sketch was a bit too rigid, with a weird arm gesture that wasn't really my first intention. I realized I wasn't following my normal thinking process, I was thinking through all the painting tutorials I found on the net. So I erased everything and started anew.

This time, I first made the flow of things, then made a really rough sketch to let the gestures flow with the movement. And I went back to my old habit - coloring without finishing the sketch!

Well, I think I've made a good job of it, as I'm much more satisfied with the progress.

I thought I could use the time-tested process, that sketches and details come first, then colors and highlights come later. I can't! I must paint immediately! Scrap the details, I'm adding highlights right now!