#Leyendecker you can’t keep doing this

[elodieunderglass]

J.C. Leyendecker, famous queer artist of dapper 1920s people, across a hundred years of separation: so sometimes we need to get a little athlete, I mean a real small one, posing like he’s going to kill and eat someone, leaving no shards of bone.

Me, humble disciple: absolutely absolutely

J.C. Leyendecker: he could kill a horse by sneering. That’s how cunty he is.

Me: doin my best, boss -

J.C. Leyendecker: you must then put him in the silky underwear -

Me: of course.

Leyendecker: do your absolute best to shine up the silky, shiny, thin underwear. Oil it.

Me: I’m not great at this -

Leyendecker: think silk. Think shiny. Think, “this is how you sell clothing to straight men.”

Me: is - is it?

Leyendecker: the whip must, of course, be slightly suggestive. No, more than that. More than that. It’s important that he be provocatively catchable, AND YET - he can defend himself!

Me: got it, boss. Um - you know I’m not actually - I don’t know how to paint -

Leyendecker: shhh, I am telling you. to sell suits we also need a suit guy. we model the suit guy on a Suit Guy, one of my 1920s Suit Guys, it’ll be great.

Me: I can probably draw -

Leyendecker: suit guy could kiss him on the head. 😘 . Like that. Say that.

Me: 🫡

J.C. Leyendecker, “man and jockey clothing advertisement,” 1923. This is how we sell men’s suits, apparently.

[blueathn]

Obligatory coffee shop au art

Close-ups and ramblings under the cut because I spent waaay too long on this

Welcome to my brain soup.

Disclaimer, I didn’t really plan this piece and just kept adding concepts as I went, so it’s kind of all over the place. It’s more a big patchwork of dumb ideas I got excited over, rather than a well thought-out drawing, but I like it as it is! It feels like my brain did when I was reading htn :]

1. The whole concept behind this is just "Vintage coffee ad but make it the griddlehark coffee shop au". I was aiming for cheerful but also not quite right, in a very stock photo kind of way if that makes sense. Gideon is smiling but she is not a willing participant in this. Also that coffee is cold.

I - very predictably - took inspiration from Leyendecker’s work, since his ads and posters are the first that come to my mind when I think "vintage ad", and also because I do feel like his painting technique is close to how I naturally paint. This is not meant to be a study of his style tho, I didn’t try to break it down on more than a very superficial level.

2. 3. Nothing special to say, just Gideon’s arms (her perfect biceps are hidden from view lest they cause a riot in the cafeteria). Also arm hair. I feel like it’s becoming a recurring feature in my art lol

4. I debated whether or not to add a foam skull on the coffee then ultimately decided against it. That’s one skull too many, and honestly Gideon neither has the skill nor the patience to attempt one. Let’s be real, if they let her have access to the pitcher she’d make tits. So here is your tits-free coffee, courtesy of the Cohort photoshop editors.

5. Isaac, sporting the Fourth’s blue not only in dress but also in his questionnable choice of eye makeup. They have matching haircut only so Jeanne can showcase how much better it looks on her.

6. This is where I finally have something clever-ish to say. Thoughts ! I have them ! Sometimes. So. Harrow. You can’t see it but she has a nose piercing as well - this is relevant to spreading my agenda that Harrow is full of bone (piercings, that is). Sue me, I forgot that they let her keep her face paint in this scene. Onto the actual thought process.

This is where Abigail interrupts the scene, before Harrow can catch a glimpse of barista!Gideon. Her interruption is shown by the unfinished look of this panel : the sketch lines peeking through (in a reddish hue, to mimic sanguine, the red chalk that artists used to draw sketches and studies - and also because the contrast of the colors makes it pop better against her skin) + the rendering is messier from the neck and down.

Abigail is blocking half of Harrow from view - I wanted to have her hide Harrow’s eyes and thus line of sight entirely, but I feared Harrow wouldn’t be as recognizable with more than half her face hidden, frowny eyebrows and all.

Abigail herself is meant to look out of place here, without taking too much attention away from Gideon. I drew her in a much simpler style, using a more monochromatic palette and cell shading, to contrast against the rest of the gang, where I used a lot more color variation and a more detailed & textured painting style.

That’s about all I have on this, if you got this far thank you! Your support is much appreciated. If you liked this drawing I’d be overjoyed if you reblogged it and left your thoughts in the tags/notes! I’m always happy when I read them, even just a "#nice" makes my day.

[missygoesmeow]

wip whenever thanks for the tag @angellayercake :) i have very many wips but these two i am working on atm when I can (left is leyendecker redraw)

and some words! because of the "I prefer my liquor served in a quivering belly button, distilled in fear and arousal" line

You try to keep still, your body unable to stop quivering as the devil nears. A hand touches your hip and you can’t help but twitch at the contact.

“Ah, careful now, little mouse,” he says, those deceivingly gentle eyes finding yours. “You’ll make a mess if you don’t keep still.”

You stare up at the ceiling, trying to focus on the intricately carved detail of a demon and not the body heat emanating from Raphael as he leans over you. Your body is tense in anticipation as you feel the embroidery of his doublet scratch softly against your skin. His mouth seals over your belly button and you bite your lip; his mouth is hot and when you feel him drink the liquid there you suck in a breath. The devil doesn’t move though, you feel his tongue dip in and around your naval as he catches any last remaining drops of the liquor causing you to shudder. His tongue feels strange—too long and oddly shaped—how you wish it would move lower.

tagging: @sucharide @zombiequeenblog @visiosatanae @sky-kiss and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it :)

[liminalmemories21]

Year in Review: Favorite Lines

tagged by @iboatedhere. thank you!

RULES: Share your top three/top five/however many favorite snippet(s)/line/quotes/paragraphs from your published fics (or wips, I don’t care!) and don’t forget to share the link of course!

One each from Knave 2 and Knave 3 because they're in conversation with each other.

The Knave of Hearts . . . he said he'd steal no more

“You didn't steal me, TK,” he says softly. “I’m here because I want to be, eyes open, and my choice. You didn’t con me, and I don’t want anything from you except you.”

TK’s hand tightens on his shirt, and he laughs faintly. “You say that like it isn’t everything.”

The Knave of Hearts . . . brought back the tarts

“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the Leyendecker for you.” She laughs ruefully, “I saw it and I couldn’t help myself, I know how much you loved it, how much it tore at you that you had to give it up for me. I’m sorry I couldn’t give it back to you.”

TK’s voice is amused. “I went straight, Jack, I couldn’t have kept it anyway.” He pauses. “And it turns out I don't need it as much anymore. I have the real thing now, I don’t need to look at a painting of a possibility.”

“You’re really happy?” She sounds dubious, but willing to be convinced.

“I really am. I love my job. I love Carlos. I love the life I have here. I know it’s not what either one of us imagined, because I didn’t know how to imagine this. But I’m not running anymore, not from or to. I think I’ve found where I’m supposed to be.”

We Were in Screaming Color (Chpt 1 & Chpt 11)

okay, so I love this partly because I put this in Chapter 1 so I could have a pay off in Chapter 11. I don't know if anyone else remembered that 11 chapters later, but it was on purpose and I like the symmetry.

Chapter 1

Once, staring at his ceiling gritty-eyed and unable to sleep during the endless months after he bought the loft, he’d cataloged the way TK uses pet names; a grim taxonomy of words he thought he’d forfeited the right to hear.

Babe is casual. It's a substitute for his name. It's an interjection, or the exclamation point to a sentence.

Baby is more intimate. Sometimes it’s teasing, and sometimes it’s serious, but it’s always affectionate.

TK had tried darlin' once and promptly made a face and admitted he didn't have the drawl he needed to pull that off.

Sweetheart is only ever for the two of them, soft and private.

Always Carlos, unadorned, when TK wants to be sure Carlos is listening, when TK needs to be sure that Carlos understands that what he's saying is important.

Hearing TK say babe now is a relief. TK wouldn't be using it if things were broken.

Chapter 11

TK still looks troubled. “I don’t want to lose you to this. I don’t want you to let this eat at you. I get that you want answers, but what happens if you can’t get them? When do you stop looking?”

“Not yet,” he snaps. “It’s barely been a week, and nobody else seems to even be asking the question, let alone looking for an answer. He deserves better than that. He gave his entire life to the Rangers, don’t they owe him something in return?”

“Carlos, no.” And TK’s words are gentle, but his tone is sharp, sharper than TK usually is. “Your dad lived for his family, not for his job. At the funeral, the people who showed up came for your mom, for your sisters, for you, because your dad’s legacy isn’t his work, it’s his family. Don’t take that away from him.”

tagging @rmd-writes, @lemonlyman-dotcom, @paperstorm, @strandnreyes, @heartstringsduet in return.

[jaskwritesthings]

I have a Dream x Hob prompt. I would love a fic where Hob talks about being in or having had a relationship with a man, dude's hundreds of years old and I refuse to believe he never tried this, and Dream is just lowkey being jealous. Maybe he knows why, maybe he doesn't either way he's just mad someone else got to know Hob in ways he hasn't. Would love it even more if Hob just gushes on without realizing that Dream isn't just being all regular dark and broody, he's in Advanced Darkness and wants a name and that name's worst nightmares. Thank you. I would just love to see our emo boy being all jealous.

tags: none

(ao3)

“You appear to have a fondness for this magazine?” Dream said as he admired the framed covers hung up on Hob’s walls. The style was new to him, more sketch-like than the art he’d seen before his imprisonment. The mixture of men, women and children looked like dolls in some ways, almost all of the individuals had ruby red cheeks and the faces were familiar enough to suggest a single artist behind all of the pieces. A faded handwritten tag named the artist as ‘J. C. Leyendecker’ below each print. 

“Hm? Oh, that. No, no interest in it, but the man who made the covers, old flame of mine. Damn good artist, couldn’t help but collect his pieces. Got a few originals tucked away,” Hob offered up just as easily as he did every aspect of his life for Dream.

Dream felt a flicker of something dark in his chest, it lashed out like the thump of a cat���s tail, a warning of its ire, “He drew for you?”

“Anything and everything, not just me. But he did paint me once or twice, can’t really loan those ones out to a museum though. People might catch on a bit, you should see what they say about Keanu Reeves,” Hob chuckled as he handed Dream a cup of steaming tea he’d been preparing as Dream snoped around his flat. 

“You remember this artist fondly?” Dream questioned softly, no longer admiring the work.

“Joseph? Very, I always try to remember the ones I love. Gets difficult over time, wish I’d never pawned Eleanor’s portrait, can’t really remember what she looked like anymore,” he sighed sadly, an old grief that Dream recognised in himself.

“I’m sorry,” Dream offered though he knew from experience the words were never quite enough.

Hob smiled, it wasn’t as bright as some of his previous ones, tinged as it was by an old ache that had never fully healed, “Not your fault, learned from my mistakes anyway. I try to keep some things from old loves.”

Dream turned his attention from his friend to the artwork proudly displayed in his living room. There was little else of note in the room that Dream could guess at having belonged to someone other than Hob. To hold such value in Hob’s heart, the relationship must have meant a great deal to the immortal. The dark thing in Dream’s chest thrashed its tail more, a growl growing deep within it. It unsettled him how the fact of this relationship could upset him so.

“You loved him dearly, to keep his works in your home,” Dream pointed out.

“I did. We parted well, not always the case. Plus his work is beautiful, not really a hardship to hang it up,” Hob admitted with ease, why wouldn’t he. Why was Dream expecting him to hide his love affairs as though they were something to be ashamed of? He never had. Nor should he have to hide them. But it still set him on edge, a strange anger bubbling under the surface.

“You do not keep the trinkets of others here, just his,” Dream said and even he could hear the coldness of his tone, the accusation he had no right to lay out.

Hob appeared oblivious to this new mood as he sipped his own tea, “I try to keep with the fashion of the times. Minimalism is a hard one to shake, glad we’ve moved on from the white interiors, right pain to keep those clean. Clutter’s coming back in so I’ll probably bring some more stuff out of storage, not everything mind you, some of it’s too fragile. These are prints, good way to have him here without wrecking his originals.”

“How long were you together?”

“Only a few years, I didn’t stay in America long, England’s home for me,” Hob smiled fondly, though for the memories of his former lover or of his homeland Dream couldn’t guess. A voice within him that sounded too close to his siblings whispered spiteful things he didn’t want to examine too closely.

“Such a short time, yet a lasting impact,” Dream said, aiming for an aloof air and knowing he fell short by quite a distance.

“I seem to have a fondness for the quiet brooding ones,” Hob teased a touch tentatively as though worried he had a right to tease Dream anymore. 

“You found him not long after our parting,” Dream surmised and he wished he could take back the words as Hob’s face dropped into something colder at the reminder.

“You mean after you threw a tantrum and ran out on me making me think I’d never see you again?” Hob reiterated as he left Dream’s side to flop down on the overstuffed sofa. His absence left a cold bitter wind in its wake and Dream shrunk just a little into the folds of his coat.

“I have apologised -“

“And I have accepted that, as I hope you will accept the fact that I needed more than one friend that I only saw every hundred years,” Hob pointed out and the truth of his words irked Dream. He was right as he had been in the White Horse Inn all those decades ago. It didn’t appear it was getting easier to accept that he wasn’t always right. 

“I do not begrudge you your friendships,” Dream said, settling down into one of the armchairs, it hugged him and pulled him in. He shouldn’t be surprised by such comforts. Hob was a hedonistic creature, greedy for life and all it offered. His home reflected that in a way, comfort and warmth in equal measure. A sanctuary against the ever changing world that he could retreat too.

“But my lovers?”

Dream paused too long before offering a begrudging, “…nor them.”

Hob appeared unconvinced, rightly so, “Joseph was a good man, we loved each other.”

“I am glad,” Dream said, a pale offering that landed as heavy and as welcome as a brick.

“You hate him,” Hob said, lips twitching in amusement.

“I do not -“

“Calliope isn’t my favourite muse,” Hob interrupted and it was such a sudden change of subject that it took Dream a moment to process the absurdity of the statement.

“You dislike Calliope?” Dream asked slowly as though ensuring he had heard Hob correctly. Hob nodded.

“For the same reason you want to burn my art prints,” he explained and clarity snapped into place like a missing jigsaw piece.

“I do not wish to burn them,” Dream attempted to defend but it was a weak attempt.

“No?” Hob asked, almost laughing.

“…Perhaps replace them,” Dream admitted in a whisper he wouldn’t repeat if asked.

Hob heard him though, he seemed keenly aware of Dream in a way few were. He leant forward, elbows on his knees, as he fixed Dream with a warm, hopeful look. Dream suspected they had moved on from discussing art prints, “You can’t replace them. Any of them really. But you can join them if you’d like.”

[buggymel]

any tips for staying motivated while drawing?? ive been struggling with that a lot recently and i always find it freaky when art blogs are constantly pumping out art cause i cant seem to do it myself haha

I wanna begin this by telling you that you shouldn't feel pressured to be creating a ton of drawings at once in a short period of time - everyone has a different pace!

I can't speak for other artists so I'll be saying this in my personal experience, but I think the best way to stay motivated is to keep your mind open and DO NOT berate yourself for making mistakes or creating drawings that "dont look perfect."

I think many people lose motivation to draw when they see that their drawings don't quite look like the idea they envisioned in their head or they compare their art to other artists and feel bad about it. This used to be me and I still am guilty of doing this often, but i think I've gotten better at moving past these negative thoughts by simply viewing these imperfect drawings as stepping stones to create something even better.

I think the best tip I can give you to be able to stay motivated is to find a source of inspiration and start from there. Personally, I am inspired by so many frickin things starting from songs in my playlist to little things like what the plants in my backyard look like! Often times I'll be listening to a song and I hear lyrics that make me think OH I can make a drawing out of that!! Also I think it's important to start off by drawing what you love/are comfortable with, and then steadily reach out into territories you haven't quite yet explored. I really fucking love jojo and I'm hyperfixated on it, so I'm always thinking of ways to create more fanart for the characters I like. I also find Araki's journey of developing his art style to what it is now, super inspiring!! I want to experience the same process of what it took for him to reach a style he's comfortable in so I'm constantly motivated to keep drawing and tweak and adjust my style. Obviously, this will be a very long process since araki has literal decades of experience while I dont.🤧🤧

Some of the artists I'm always turning to for inspiration are:

-edwin georgi

-JC Leyendecker

-Hirohiko Araki

-Alma-Tadema

-Caravaggio

I also really like looking at pictures of people cuz I think humans are all really beautiful. I follow a lot of fashion blogs with unique models and I get ideas from that as well. Music videos are very helpful to look at too :D

I think I ended up rambling and this didnt end up making much sense but I really hope this helped at least a little!! Just trust the process and dont pressure yourself to "pump out drawings." Feel free to DM me if u ever wanna talk more about this!!! 💖💖💖💖💖

[aralisjpeg]

Hello, pencil, pastel and/or tablet for the artist meme?

pencil: when did you first take in interest in art?

I can't pinpoint it tbh. I guess a big chunk of it were the animated movies I watched as a kid, I was obsessed with Anastasia, Beauty and the Beast and Prince of Egypt back then. Also, my Mom has always had a love for museums, so that comes from her. And there's the story books my parents would read to me; I found the illustrations magical and I would spend hours staring at them (I still keep most of them to this day).

pastel: what colors/color palettes do you like to work with?

I usually go for cool tones and play with complimentary colors. I like to do cyan and yellow, blue and violet, deep green and brown. I also like to work within a limited, unnatural palette and see how that works for skin tones, etc.

tablet: who is/are your art inspo?

Oldies: JC Leyendecker, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec, John William Waterhouse, JMW Turner, Artemisia Gentileschi, Remedios Varo, Klimt, etc.

New bois: Loish, Kevin Wada, Lukas Werneck, Abigail Larson, Isadora Zeferino, Sybilline Meynet, Rachael Stott, Felix d'eon, etc.

I also draw a lot of inspiration from fashion photography 🤩

[dimespin]

Why people like your doodles better than your finished works

Learn from your doodles rather than resent them

I frequently see artists complain that their finished works got less attention than mere sketches, doodles and other smaller or less serious work. Which is frustrating! But almost as often, I can see exactly why the doodle got more attention. I’m going to cover some of these reasons, so you can use that information so you can do more than fume about it.

The doodle is easy to read, the polished work is busy

The polished work is completely drenched in little details that the artist slaved over, but the details create a kind of overall noise that makes everything harder to understand, making the whole image less appealing.

Don’t get too lost in little details, work from larger shapes to small details, use things like a highly readable silhouette, contrast, variance in line width or negative space to keep the image understandable. Pay attention to the composition to guide the eye where you want it.

The doodle is high contrast, the polished work is low contrast

When you do lots of details all equally well lit and easy to see, overall you lose the strong lights and darks that make a work pop. You have to sacrifice some of those details, let them be in shadow or out of focus in the background, to create a more appealing image overall.

You might also be forgetting that without lineart you need to use strong lights and darks, since lineart creates it’s own natural high contrast.

Contrast draws the eye, use that to create focus where you want it.

The doodle is simple to understand, the polished work is highly ambiguous in meaning and message

Many doodles that outstrip the artist’s polished work are jokes. Jokes usually have a specific clear focus and message, the viewer can understand it immediately (if they couldn’t, it wouldn’t be funny). You don’t have to make everything funny, but like a joke, you need to get to the point and give the audience the information they need to “get it.” More details can be present, but the viewer should not be confused about what to look at from the outset. Remember: people will look at and interpret your art in milliseconds. They might give it a longer look but only AFTER that millisecond look.

The initial glance is like the first page of a book. If it wows them they keep looking to understand more, if they are lost and confused, no second chances, they’ve already scrolled away.

You can use things like composition, basic structures of shapes and simple shape symbolism to give viewers the initial information they need to stay interested. Don’t feel like you have to abandon more personal and difficult to parse symbolism, these things can work together to create intrigue.

The doodle is fluid and expressive, the polished work is stiff and dead

The sketch for your polished work needs to be done with spontaneity and fluidity. When you want to really flex your drawing skills and show the world your beautiful realistic human faces, your sublime anatomy, gorgeous textures - it’s easy to forget about the undersketch and jump to rendering as soon as you can, creating a stiff or boring sketch that isn’t worthy of all the time you’re sinking into the minute details.

Practice quick gestures, read up on line of action, and before you make a polished painting, make sure you have a sketch that’s fun to look at even without the detailed rendering. Thumbnailing helps. Studies too. Sometimes you have to do the bad boring sketch, but you can take a few stabs at it.

You can’t make a bad sketch good by painting more details on it, you need to work out the sketch first before moving to the details.

Remember, if you’re going to spend 20 hours painting the thing, you can afford another half hour sketching a few different takes on your idea before digging in.

Lots of doodles, very few polished works

If you mostly post one kind of thing, your audience will be people who like that. Also, you may not have much practice with the techniques you are using in the polished work, while you have become a pro at doodles. You become an expert at what you practice, do more of what you want to be known for, become an expert at it, make it the only thing your audience is there for.

The audience is familiar with the subject of the doodle, unfamiliar with the subject of the polished work

Many artists do doodles of fanart and get fed up that people like that more, but the truth is, they don’t like it “more” they just already know they like it. You can increase the chances of people appreciating your original works by making sure they can understand what’s going on in the illustration without prior knowledge of who these characters are, or simply sticking to it until you have garnered an audience. Just keep at it.

Remember, the creators of the property you made fanart of are themselves artists who were pushing an original idea at one time. You can follow in their footsteps.

The doodle is quirky and unusual, the polished work is stale and samey

This can happen when an artist has an image in their head of what a SERIOUS and PROFESSIONAL painting looks like, usually based on a very narrow subset of artwork, often itself based on the same cargo cult of seriousness.

Try studying works outside your usual stomping grounds. Look to artists that likely inspired your faves (if you’re talking about realistic artists who inspired your favorite concept artists, here’s some likely culprits to get you started on the google search: JC Leyendecker, Alphonse Mucha, Norman Rockwell, James Gurney, Rembrandt), look to artists outside your genre, and look at your doodles and ask yourself what “not serious, just for fun” source of inspiration is making them so fresh and vibrant that your audience is connecting to them so strongly. Study that, respect that fun and try to pull it into your serious work.

The polished work was hard to make and no one cares

Being an artist is hard, and that we keep at it is commendable, but struggling and taking more hours doesn’t make a piece better necessarily.

There are a few things to consider here. First, you need to realize looking to the vague faceless masses of the internet for a fatherly “I’m proud of you, son” moment is always going to be disappointing and painful and attempting to guilt strangers into fulfilling that role for you is awkward and inappropriate. You need artist friends who can recognize your hard work and cheer you on and you need to be your own cheerleader, value your own hard work and practice.

Second, you need to realize torturing yourself doesn’t in and of itself make art better. Hard work is something people love about art, the meaning of someone spending that time, but if I screamed for 8 hours, drew a single line, then posted that, the internet wouldn’t be wrong to be unexcited about it. Rather than blame the viewer, think about two things: how can you make the art itself more appealing while still doing the painting that you’re interested in doing, and how can you do that faster and with less pointless suffering?

It’s okay to be a masochist when it comes to art, many artists are, just make sure you’re spending your time and suffering wisely.

You’re complaining about someone else’s ��doodle”

Sketches and cartoons are deceptively hard to make appealing, rather than fume that they are getting more attention, look to them for lessons. What could you learn from them? Could you do it? Maybe you should try. Would make a good exercise.

And never get mad that their drawings are more appealing to the internet than yours, even though they spent less time on their drawing than you did on yours. See above for why time is not important here, but also keep in mind they may have been practicing longer than you or may be more established than you.

Keep working on your art, keep posting, push to be seen, advertise your work, put yourself out there. These things take time but work.

[crystalvfae]

Any painting excuses you recommend?

I have so many! 

“My arm is sore,” “I’m too tired today,” “I can’t find my tablet stylus” 

Just keep going and you will have infinite excuses to not paint!!

(if you mean exercises, do life painting, paint a photo reference, or do a master study of classic artists like Sargent or Leyendecker!)

[eluari]

I found you through your giveaway post and wow! Your art is so pretty and I am honestly in awe! Do you have any tips for people wanting to improve?

Hi there, welcome to my blog. 🤗 Thank you so very much for your lovely compliment. That’s very kind of you. I still make a lot of mistakes myself when it comes to art but I’ll gladly share some tips that have worked for me in my art journey. They are in no way universal of course and I can only speak from my own experience but if some of those tips help a fellow artist out, I’d be happy. 💕

Practise regularly. Despite of what some people might think you aren’t getting born with the gift to be a good artist. It’s all about practise. Don’t let it get you down when you struggle to draw certain things. Keep in mind that repetition is the key. You need to build a visual library first before you can draw properly. And building that visual library will take a long while, especially when it comes to anatomy.

Use references. There is no shame in using references. In fact, you need references to build your visual library. Whenever I paint, I always use multiple reference images for everything that I’m not quite certain about. For example, let’s say I’m wanting to paint flowers but I have no real clue what those flowers actually look like, then I’ll get myself a reference image. When I’m looking into a complex pose, I might even take some pictures of myself in that pose just to create a reference that fits my needs. Those pics tend to look rather funny sometimes. 😅 But hey, they are just for studying purpose. And also, don’t aim for an exact copy of your reference (unless youmake a study), you’ll hardly ever find a reference that fits your needs completely, so try to improve it. Make it your own.

Flip your canvas regularly. I can’t stress enough how important it is. When you’re in the zone it happens easily that you get blind to your own mistakes. Flipping the canvas allows you to have a fresh eye on your art and suddenly you’ll see all of your mistakes and can fix them. Apparently, some people don’t flip their canvas because they think their drawing looks ugly when flipped. Guess what, everyone sees it that way. 😆 So do yourself a favour and keep flipping that canvast hroughout your process.

Study values before you begin to study colours. Learning everything at once can be overwhelming so it might help to learn painting in greyscale first to get your values right before you jump into colour. You might get some nice results quickly that way, especially when you are starting out with portraits. Turn your references to greyscale as well when you study.

Grab yourself some nice brushes that feel comfortable for you to work with. I’m personally a fan of dry oil brushes or chalk brushes (I do like textured brushes) but the main point is that you feel comfortable with them. But keep in mind that the brushes are just a tool, they won’t do the work for you.

Find artists you look up to and observe their work. Why does their work appeal to you so much? What makes it special? Some of my favorite artists are J.C. Leyendecker, J.W.Waterhouse (Pre-Raphaelites in general), William Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, Alfons Mucha, Leonardo DaVinci and Caravaggio

Check out Youtube! There are so many good channels around with helpful tips. Marco Bucci for example has this series called “10 minutes to better painting” with a lot of helpful tips! And those episodes are quite entertaining to watch as well. I also enjoy Swatches, and I like to watch WLOP’s or Astri Lohne’s process videos. I find it very inspiring to observe their process.

And last but not least be kind to yourself and be patient. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Only when you allow yourself to make mistakes, you’ll eventually overcome them aswell and that’ll allow you to grow as an artist. There was a time when I couldn’t stand to look at my sketches because I found them ugly. That actually got me down until I realised that they merely serve as construction lines for my finished paintings.

This turned out rather long and even though there is so much more I could list I don’t want to overwhelm you. If there is anything else, you’d like to know feel free to ask and I’ll gladly answer. 💕

[thehappyaccidentsteamblog]

Chapter 7: Preparing to Reckon Once Again

The doorbell rang and no sooner had the final chime echoed through the house, running footsteps thundered into the entryway. Leyendecker, who had been keeping an eye on the time, bolted upright from the couch and launched himself at the door. Behind him, he could hear Gilbert taking the stairs two at a time, but Leyendecker’s hand reached the door first.

Gilbert scowled playfully at Leyendecker, who suck his tongue out at Gil. By the time Leyendecker actually opened the, though, they were both grinning amiably. Standing on the welcome mat was a dark elf, slightly shorter than Gil with close cropped white hair. And he was staring at the two elves crowding the door wide-eyed.

“Ilya Kabakov?” Leyendecker asked.

“Uh.. ja,” Ilya blinked, eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. In his hand was a very large duffle bag, which he unconsciously held closer to himself. “Uhm ze Happy Accidents?”

“Yup, that’s us,” Leyendecker nodded, stepping out of the way of the way. Gil followed suit. “I’m J.C. Leyendecker, team captain, and he’s Gilbert Stuart - “

“Unofficial co-captain,” Gil interrupted Leyendecker, mischievous smirk across his face.

Leyendecker’s attention snapped to Gilbert. “What? No, no you are not,” Leyendecker glanced at Ilya, whose expression had not changed and in fact his eyes had gotten wider. “He’s one of our line elves - we’ll introduce you to everyone tonight.”

“T-tonight?” Ilya stammered, dutifully stepping inside.

“Do you have any other bags?” Gil stuck his head out the door, looked around but didn’t see any.

Glancing over his shoulder where Gil was looking, Ilya shook his head. “N-no. What iz tonight?” Ilya asked again, swinging his head around to Leyendecker.

“Oh, oh right, we’re making dinner for the team,” Leyendecker explain as he and Gil fell in on either side of Ilya and steered the man towards the stairs. “But first we’ll show you your room and you can settle in and such.”

Ilya faltered, catching a step and then righting himself. “You are too kind...ahh…”

“What’s up boys?” Elizabeth chirped as she swung onto the stairs in front of the trio. “This the new catcher?” She peered down at them from a couple of steps above.

“Yiss,” Ilya answered. “I am Ilya and you?” Despite being stuck between steps and off balanced by his large bag, he managed to force a smile.

Elizabeth paused, leaning further over the three and squinting down at Ilya. Narrowing her eyes, she glanced between Leyendecker and Gil and then back to Ilya. <Ilya, are Leyendecker and Gil here being overly friendly? Don’t worry, that’s just how they are and don’t mean anything by it. My name is Elizabeth. Pleasure to meet you.>

<You speak my language?> Ilya gaped. <But you are not a dark elf.>

<I picked it up over the years> Elizabeth shrugged. <Do you want me to rescue you from these two goofballs that pass as the leadership around here?>

<Yes> Ilya glanced apologetically to the elves on either side of him. <Not everyone on this team is like them right?>

For Leyendecker and Gilbert’s part, their expressions were mirrored quirked eyebrows and confused glances as a conversation in a language they didn’t understand swirled around them.

“Leyendecker!” He almost didn’t recognize he was being addressed and his head snapped back to Elizabeth’s direction. “Can’t you see you’ve scared this poor guy?” Elizabeth wagged her finger at Leyendecker’s nose.

“Ahhhh…” Leyendecker cringed at the accusation. Gilbert hung his head in guilt, though none of the parties present could tell whether it was real or feigned for effect.

“Why don’t you let me take it from here?” Elizabeth continued. “Second bedroom on the left, correct?”

Leyendecker nodded mutely.

<Nah, we’re all pretty quirky here> Elizabeth turned back to Ilya and took the next few steps as she waved Ilya to follow her. <C’mon, follow me.>

“Thank you uhh… Leyendecker and Gilbert,” Ilya inclined his head to both of them before trotting up the stairs after Elizabeth.

~~~

“And you are absolutely, one-hundred percent sure they are not together?” Elizabeth squinted across the living room and into the kitchen. Standing side-by-side, Leyendecker busily chopped ingredients on a cutting board, while Gilbert adjusted knobs on the oven and the stove-top simultaneously. Several large pots steam atop the stove and something was in the oven. Occasionally, laughter would filter out over the simmering of water. The prompt for Elizabeth’s question was a playful hip-check Gilbert had swung into Leyendecker, causing him to start, lose his balance and then hop halfway across the kitchen to regain his balance. Leyendecker was currently scolding Gilbert in a tone of voice that was causing Gilbert to hold his sides in stitches of giggles.

“As far as we know, they’re not,” Tom answered, having been the one Elizabeth addressed her question to.

“Not even casually boning?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she watched Gilbert flick tomato sauce onto Leyendecker’s nose and Leyendecker’s subsequent change of completion to that of the sauce.

“I mean I’d put money on them finally getting together,” Robert added. He stood in front of Tom and leaned gently against his chest.

Elizabeth nodded sagely and considered the rest of the room. Around the three of them, the rest of the team milled about as they all waited for dinner. Edgelord, Frida and Louise chatted with Albrecht on the couches and chairs. Earlier that evening, Elizabeth had introduced Ilya to the Fragonard, the other dark elf on the team and since then he’d seemed more relaxed - the two of them now talked quietly off to the side. Having just finished setting the table, Elizabeth, Tom and Robert stood at the threshold of the dining room gazing idly into the kitchen. “You two knew them before all this right? From way back?”

“Yeah, are families were all friends when we were children. Then we went to different colleges, but we kept in touch,” Tom turned him and Robert so that they were facing Elizabeth.

“Do you know what happened between them? When GilBert first got here, Leyendecker could barely look at him. And now - ” She motioned across the way just as Leyendecker was stealing a doe-eyed glance at Gilbert while he was turned the opposite direction. “If you’re comfortable with telling me of course,” she added hastily.

Tom shrugged, “Honestly, we don’t know exactly.”

Robert nodded his head in agreement. “Jay never told us details and we didn’t pry.”

“But,” Tom added, “He would deny it, Leyendecker wasn’t the same for years afterwards. And Gilbert flunked out of college and we hadn’t heard from him until this team was put together.”

“Then why now are they so…?” Elizabeth scrunched up her nose and made some vague gestures with her hands.

“Beats us,” Tom and Robert answered in unison.

“Well they’ve clearly come to some sort of understanding,” Elizabeth waved a hand over their shoulders at the kitchen. She couldn’t see around Tom and Robert very well, but it looked as though Gilbert had grabbed the back of Leyendecker’s underwear and yanked up. From the kitchen Leyendecker screeched.

“Do we want to put money on it?” Robert grinned and thumped his head playfully against Tom’s chest.

Tom rolled his eyes. “No, that’s betting on someone’s happiness and that’s a little sketchy.”

“Oh c’mon,” Elizabeth spread her hands in front of herself imploringly. “The bet would run under the assumption they are getting together somehow. We’re just betting on the nature of it.”

“That is not much better,” Tom rubbed a temple with a finger. Robert turned his face up to Tom and stuck out his lower lip. In response Tom sighed heavily. “Fine. My bet is that they will get together and Jay is going to try and keep the relationship private. Whether or not Gilbert goes along with that is anyone’s guess.”

Clapping her hands playfully Elizabeth added, “I think its going to be public from the very beginning.”

Robert nodded sagely and paused a dramatic moment before weighing in. “I think one of them is going to do the walk of shame. And then they are going to get together.”

At the same time, Elizabeth and Tom raised their eyebrows at Robert. “Ya think?” Elizabeth asked.

“100 gold says that’s what happens,” Robert held out one hand to Tom and the other to Elizabeth.

“You’re on,” Elizabeth took the offered hand and shook it firmly. Tom sighed again, but took the hand anyway.

[templeofgeek]

We interviewed amazing artist Jessica Chrysler!  Her work is dreamlike and has an amazing imaginative style to it, it was a pleasure learning what influenced in her youth and what keeps her creative mind going.   Let’s get into the Q&A with Jessica….

Q.  When did you first realize you had this amazing talent and that you could make it a career?

I always loved to draw and create stories as a kid, but I didn’t know I could make a career out of it until high school when I met a pair of incredibly talented artists, Brian Damitz and Ming Ong. They took me under their wing and introduced me to their friends in animation. I toured one of their studios and when I found out that a whole crew of people worked on just one of the many shows I loved as a kid, I was hooked. I wanted to do that too—I wanted to bring my stories to life and share them with others. But while I loved the idea of drawing and creating awesome worlds for the screen, I still loved books and the play between words and pictures. That’s when I was drawn to comics and graphic novels, picking up my first manga, Vampire Hunter D, and wanting to create stories people can hold in their hands.

Q.  What was it about National Geographic that inspired you?

Growing up, I’d split my time between playing sports and reading and drawing. I love exploration and adventure, so I was naturally drawn to the images and stories in National Geographic magazine. I’d cut them apart and make collages and I’d trace my favorite images and make cool scenes that my mom would hang on the fridge. I still do collaging as part of my process and when I need inspiration.

Q.  You also have a very unique style can you tell us some of your influences?

A heavy influence of mine, both visually and in storytelling, would have to be Don Bluth. The Land Before Time and The Secret of NIMH are some of my all time favorite movies. When I began studying art in college, I gravitated towards the greats of American Illustration and the Pre-Raphaelite era: J.C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, Jean Gerome, to name a few. I also have a special fondness for illustrated manuscripts, middle-eastern architecture and French comic art.

Q.  Does working with children give you great ideas?  Do you ever pull ideas from their imaginations?

I love working with children, either by helping them read, write, or draw, and they always teach me something new. The world is so new and fresh in their minds that the mundane becomes extraordinary. They help me to remember to stop and observe the world, to enjoy the sunlight as it catches on a leaf and wonder at the night sky as it fills with its billions of stars. What I often pull from them is their character—their likes and dislikes, funny words they make-up, or a habit of using a certain color pencil. Once in a while they’ll share a cool idea with me, but their personalities are usually my inspiration.

Q.  Let’s talk about Monolithium… what is it and how did it come about?

Monolithium is a young adult, illustrated novel that I’m currently querying for publication. It’s a blending of sci-fi and fantasy, and features a strong heroine (who’s not so strong at first) that goes on an inter-galactic adventure to reclaim her throne. I’ve already had some great feedback from fans who bought my teaser last year at WonderCon, so I’m hoping I can share more with everyone soon!

Q.  What do you do to get over a creative block?

I read. Reading is my number one hobby, and when given the choice of listening to a podcast or reading the article that goes with it, I’ll usually read the article. If I really need to get out of my headspace, I’ll go for a walk or watch a movie with a friend.

Q.  What are some tips you have for young artists?

Read—no, seriously. Movies are great and so is watching tutorials on Gumroad to learn techniques in Photoshop or Maya, but when it comes down to getting inspired or getting that awesome idea no one else has, you can’t beat sinking into your favorite book. Something magical happens when we read—we experience the world through a different pair of eyes, and our brains have to conjure the images from the letters on the page. Movies and comics already have the images there for you, so it’s hard to deviate and discover something new with your own hand later. You can always use them as reference though, after you’ve done your sketching.

Which brings me to—research! Researching is your best friend. It will show what’s lurking in the sewer and what stars you’re really looking at when you look into the Australian sky. When you know the difference between a bowler and a fedora and what year they were popular, it will make your pieces stand out from someone else that just thought the funny looking hat looked cool on his futuristic Russian mobster.

Q.  How was your WonderCon?  Any highlights? Lowlights?

WonderCon is always a great time for me. I enjoy getting out and interacting with fans and seeing all the incredibly cool cosplay. This year I met a lot of great people, both at the con and outside of it, while my highlight was getting to trade sketches with some of the kids on Sunday. I just wish I drew better with crayons!

Q.  What’s one thing you wish fans knew about the Artists working at a con?

I come to shows like WonderCon so I can engage and interact with my fans directly. I love to hear their stories and latest favorites to help me get ideas for my next project. It also helps me know that I’m making stuff other people like and care about too, not just making paintings for my own little cave.

Q.  Where can our readers find you next?

I’m doing live demos of my drawing and painting process on my Facebook page every Friday from 1-2pm. You can check out some of them right now and get updates on my work and convention schedule by following me there or on Instagram and Twitter @jesschrysler. I will also be on a few panels during San Diego Comic Con this year, though I don’t have any specifics as of yet. If you prefer email, feel free to join my mailing list by visiting the contact page my website at JessicaChrysler.com

Artist Spotlight… Jessica Chrysler! We interviewed amazing artist Jessica Chrysler!  Her work is dreamlike and has an amazing imaginative style to it, it was a pleasure learning what influenced in her youth and what keeps her creative mind going.   

[thehappyaccidentsteamblog]

Chapter 6: It Could Have Gone Worse

“Well I guess I can’t criticize your pre-game ritual anymore,” Leyendecker chuckled weakly as Gil tucked bed sheets around his shoulders.

Gil returned the laugh, equally as strained. “No, you’re still absolutely correct,” he turned to sit lightly on the edge of Leyendecker’s bed. As one of the few elves left on the pitch, Gil had helped his team mates limp home after the very difficult game. “To keep myself honest, I'll admit I took several shots at the half.”  

“And we didn't give up a single touchdown after the half,” Leyendecker groaned.

“I am pretty sure the alcohol had nothing to do with that,” Gil shook his head and laughed quietly.

Leyendecker joined him in chuckling at the logical folly. They quieted rather quickly because neither of them had much energy.

“How is everyone?” Leyendecker asked after a moment.

“Oh not too bad considering,” Gil forced a smile. “I followed Elizabeth and Albrecht to the hospital.”

“And?”

“They’ll both be fine, but will have to sit out a game. Al was asleep, but I talked to Elizabeth,” Gil continued.

Leyendecker sighed. “That's good news.”

“Yeah and Elizabeth couldn't be happier.”

Gil saw Leyendecker begin to quirk his eyebrows in confusion.

“In her words, and I quote,” Gil paused to let confusion fully filter into Leyendecker’s expression. He then affected a flaunting pose, throwing out his chest and forcing his voice into a higher register. “‘Hot damn this is great! Journeyman insurance never would have covered this. And I can wear a bitchin�� eyepatch. I'm gonna be so badass!’”

About half-way through the imitation, Leyendecker snorted loudly and buried his face into his pillow. “Oh my gosh,” he said, voice muffled by the pillow.

“And of course Tom is taking care of Robert, Frida has the two that live with her and Fragonard is just fine,” Gil added while Leyendecker was still laughing. “Could’ve been worse but it wasn't.”

The last of Leyendecker’s giggles left him and he gazed up at Gil. “You are right, Gil.” He sighed again and sank further into the folds of his bed.

Gil nodded firmly, then as one topic of conversation drew to a close, Gil glanced up to the wall beyond and then back down at Leyendecker. He shifted his seat towards Leyendecker then decided that was too awkward and went back to sitting sidelong. There was something Gil had been wanting to ask Leyendecker and it made his palms sweat. At least Leyendecker didn't seem to notice - in fact he was staring rather placidly at the ceiling.

“So J, can I ask you a question while you’re a captive audience?” Gil blurted out into the silence of the room.

“Yeah sure. What’s up?” Leyendecker rolled onto his side, giving Gil his full attention.

Gil suddenly felt flushed and he sort of wished Leyendecker had said no, I want to sleep. But now he couldn't backtrack and so he pushed on, trying to keep as much inflection from his voice as possible. “Back in college, you knew that I wanted to ask you to be my partner right?”

Leyendecker’s eyebrows knit together and he hesitated before answering. “...yes…” he paused again and when Gil didn't reply, added, “And you knew I was waiting on you?”

Not expecting Leyendecker to volunteer information, Gil stuttered, “...yeah...so uhh…” He gulped mentally and tried his best to keep his eyes on Leyendecker, but his courage failed him and studied the bed sheets instead. “If I had, what would you have said? Before everything went to shit.”

Gil couldn't tell where Leyendecker was looking, but he suspected it was at the horrendous blush Gil knew he had across his cheeks. “I would have said yes,” Leyendecker replied simply.

The next question came out much too quickly. “What about now?”

“What do you mean?” Leyendecker’s voice had gone soft in such a way Gil couldn't quite place. He didn't sound guarded, but it didn't quite sound like a normal speaking voice.

Clenching his fists into the bedsheets, Gil continued before his nerves could fail him. “If I were to ask you out now, what would you say?” There was an answer that Gil wanted to hear, and he'd spent a very long time thinking it up. And it wasn't a simple yes or no, but if he received anything but what he knew the answer should be, he wasn't going to like the answer.

There came a very long pause from Leyendecker in which Gil swore his heart stopped beating. “...What if I asked you the same?”

When Leyendecker replied, Gil’s breath caught in his throat and his next sentence sputtered out of existence. “Umm ahh,” Gil faltered, of all the things he was prepare for, a counter question was not one and of course Leyendecker would stumble on that.

Fortunately, Leyendecker didn't let Gil flounder for long. “I would say no,” his voice was careful, the ‘no’ hardly sounding absolute. But Leyendecker also seemed conscious of how his words still sounded like a flat rejection and he quickly continued. “But not because I uh...I’m not attracted to you or haven't thought about it myself.”

Finally Gil was able to pull his eyes back to Leyendecker’s and they held each other’s gaze steady. Gil stared, maybe a bit wide eyed, so stunned that he had heard what he’d wanted, he couldn't figure out what to say next.

As Gil drew out the silence, yet didn't seem distraught, Leyendecker continued. “So much has changed between then and now, that…” Leyendecker accompanied the mention of time with a sweep of his hand from one extreme to the other, “that I feel so unsure - about everything - and I don’t think that that is a good way to go into any relationship.”

When Leyendecker finished speaking, a great weight lifted from Gil’s shoulders and he laughed a short laugh that made his whole body tremble with anticipation. His earlier blush came back worse than before and he found his tongue only slight functional. “That’s uhm...actually…” he mumbled, eyes flicking from Leyendecker to the sheets back to Leyendecker, “That’s how I feel as well. To answer your question.”

Leyendecker blinked rapidly into the silence that followed. “Well...that conversation certainly worked out better than I thought it was going to.”

“You and me both,” Gil smiled and ran a hand through his hair. “So ahhh…” In fact, the conversation had gone so well, his plan to leave at the conclusion seemed wholly unnecessary now.

“So now that we’ve established that we both still have an attraction to the other, what do you want to do about it?” Leyendecker asked. He rolled onto his back again, looking up at Gil expectantly.

“We don’t have to do anything and that's OK with me,” Gil replied quickly, hands held in front of his face disarmingly. “I’ll leave it up to you.”

Leyendecker crossed his arms over he chest and regarded Gil with a bit of a smirk. “Well. I know that I want to get to know you again.”

Gil couldn't quite tell what Leyendecker was getting at. “That can be done,” he leaned forward eagerly. “How would you like to do that?”

“Like...maybe go do something to spend time together. Ya know outside of the team setting,” Leyendecker was unabashedly smirking now.

“You mean like a date?” Gil’s heart jumped.

“Now I didn’t say date, per se,” Leyendecker rolled his eyes so hard he moved his whole head.

“I think you just described a date,” Gil retorted and when all Leyendecker did was continue to smile, Gil understood that a date was exactly what J meant. Returning his own lop-sided smile, Gil teasingly chided, “Leyendecker are you asking me on a date after all these years?”

Leyendecker’s pale complexion quickly became bright red. “I - I - have two tickets to a Bard College theatre performance. Do you want to go with me?” 

“And he already has the tickets, how presumptuous?!” Gil crossed his arms and tossed his head in mock indignation. But he finished the motion by leaning slightly over Leyendecker and giving him a full smile.

Leyendecker sputtered, crossed his arms even more firmly over his chest and tried very hard to sink into his bed.

“Of course I'll go with you, J,” Gil answered softly, sitting upright once again.

A broad smiled pulled across Leyendecker’s face as he uncrossed his arms and relaxed. Rolling back onto his side, Leyendecker gazed with heavy eyelids up at Gil. “I look forward to it,” he murmured.

“Me too,” Gil replied.

Leyendecker nodded against his pillow as his eyelids fell shut. “I'm going to sleep now though. Wake me up if anything happens?” He was trying his best to sound authoritative, but his words were just shy of being slurred together with sleep.

“I will,” Gil promised dutifully with a nod.

“Thank you,” Leyendecker yawned and Gil nearly squeaked when he felt Leyendecker pat his hand. His eyes snapped to the contact then back to Leyendecker’s face, but his eyes were already closed and the hand withdrew. 

Smiling to himself, Gil gingerly got up from the bed and tip-toed from Leyendecker’s room. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it as his knees suddenly felt weak. Breathing out slowly, Gil righted his balance and made his way down the hall. Still smiling of course.

~~~

Leyendecker's usual post-game speech ended up being being delayed several days until Albrecht and Elizabeth returned from the hospital. When they did, the elves gathered in the living room of the house, which also lacked enough seats for all eleven of them.

As elves gathered on the couch, Robert sat on top of Tom and then yelled, “Yo Captain!”

Having not seen what transpired, Leyendecker turned from making his way to the front of the room with an actual concerned expression. “The couch is a little lumpy!” Robert finished his complaint with a wide smirk. He bounced up and down where he sat to demonstrate his point. Tom grunted.

Leyendecker narrowed his eyes and shook his head at the two of them. On the far end of the couch, Fragonard shrugged. Louise, the unfortunate elf in the middle laughed. Shaking his head, Leyendecker turned back around lifting his foot to continue to the front of the room and nearly stepped on Gil, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor directly in front of him. While Leyendecker did the one-foot hop to avoid Gil, Gil blinked innocently up at him.

“Guys you are so silly,” Leyendecker laughed and Gil scooted on his bottom to a more reasonable distance.

Then, Leyendecker turned to the rest of the room and cleared his throat. The other three chairs were now occupied, Elizabeth seemed to have brought down a chair from her room, and with Edgelord and Frida also sitting on the ground, everyone fit.

“So this’ll be sort,” Leyendecker began. “Coach's notes to us were mostly curse words and it being all her fault.”

“To be fair,” Gil interrupted, raising his hand as he did so. “Putting everyone on the line worked out last time - we are a group of hardy elves.”

Someone snorted.

“C’mon more confidence erfs!” Gil grinned.

Leyendecker shook his head. “Regardless, it was a mistake we didn't pay permanently for. And that's good.”

“And coach seems like she's more down about this one than us,” Gil nodded sagely.

“It's true,” Leyendecker agreed. “Coach said she doesn't want to talk about it - it never happened, so let's just move on?”

Various affirmations filtered in from around the room. “Who are we playing next, Captain?” Gil asked when the noise died down.

Leyendecker looked at his clipboard. “Uh… Dead Reckoning again.”

“Huh, well that should be fine,” Gil said.

“Oh and,” something about Gil's question also reminded him and he thumped the clipboard with a finger. “We have a new catcher joining us!”

“Really now? We made that much money?” Tom asked. “No, they probably just needed the money like the rest of us,” Robert smirked. Tom made a face and Robert laughed.

“I will have you know - “ Leyendecker wagged the clipboard in the general direction of the couch.

“They’re probably desperately in need of a job so we could hire them for less,” Gil added glibly.

“No,” Leyendecker frowned, jabbing the clipboard at Gil. He, of course, knew they were all joking and he was playing into their teasing. But that was just fine. “I will have you know we can afford to pay them the proper salary and - “ Then he paused, screwing up his face as he tried to remember if the new catcher was actually in need of money just like the rest of them. “No, I think they do need the money,” Leyendecker concluded aloud.

“That's okay, they’ll fit right in then,” Elizabeth laughed.

There was a chorus of knowing murmured from the room.

“Anyway, we’re going to have a welcome dinner for them on Friday and that's the end of team meeting.”