#gemthesylph

[gemthecolorist]

Back to writing, drawing and making people laugh

Hello. Its been awhile, per usual. But that is completely okay. I know the ones that care are the ones that stick around :)

So much I want to say. So much I need to do. Just...I’m gonna explode out of excitement! (Not to mention the beefy burrito I ate earlier, oh my god.)

So, let’s get down to business. Really.

For the past however many years that I have had this blog, it has been mainly personal. Next to nobody knows about me (well, unless you count the NSA I guess - hey, guys! Keep up the good work!)

It really is okay when you get down to it, but there are things about this blog that I feel ready to change. Not too big of changes I suppose, but enough to leave an impact, or at least attempt at it.

“What kind of an impact?” you may be asking.

Not too much, just that I am pumped tonight. Because of that, I feel like I can do anything with this  blog, starting with possible writing advice! I don’t know, I just feel like I can conquer anything right now. LIfe has been going so smooth and good and I want to share that with others I suppose. I may even be doing those videos I have always talked myself into doing one day and make that one day today. Posting vlogs about my process for both writing and for my art, for starters. Like, I know I may very well be talking about the same ideas, the same dreams that may or may not come across as a laundry list of things I say I need to do, but is there really anything wrong with that? I think not. It never hurts to dream in life, after all. For that last comment, thank you, Mel Robbins.

Today was a really good day in my life. Not only did I get to see my councilor but I also got to check out a martial arts dojo today, because martial arts is something I have really been contemplating doing again.

Just, I am up for literally anything when it comes to this blog! Really!

But how to start doing things like writing advice and vlogs and asking people’s questions. What knowledge could this hobbyist have to give to others who are professional or not professional in their crafts? Simple answer, tell them, the audience, what they would like to see or ask. There. That’s a good start. It would definitely help me come back to the blog sooner instead of hopping in only every few months like I am used to. What do you guys think.

Like I just said, I am up for anything. Ask me anything about writing, drawing, comics, you name it. The only thing I cannot answer about is getting published because I personally do not have experience with that yet, though it may come someday, so maybe for now I could give you guys links to some other authors that have already touched on the topic of publishing in the past? Already a few people I know of come to mind.

So yeah...that is what I am going to do this time. It just feels right. This hobbyist giving her two cents on what to do and what not to do when it comes to her favorite mediums in life! Bring it on!

New year, new me, new blog! Let’s do this!

If you are new or have been here before, leave a comment or a question and I will get to answering it on my next blog. I don’t know if it is going to be weekly or not, but we will see, won’t we?

With that, see you on the other side! Until next time!

[gemthecolorist]

Question of the week # 1

Hello and welcome to my first ever q and a on tumblr! Thank you all for tuning in for this week’s question and answer. You are all beautiful! :)

Well, let’s get on with it!

This week’s question is brought to us by a user named with-muffled-drum! Their question, or questions rather, are this...

with-muffled-drum: When thinking of a new project, which comes easier to you, character or plot? And how do you suggest strengthening your skills in your weaker areas of story telling?

Damn, those are good questions. Like, really good. Give yourself a pat on the back. :)

Hmm...let's see. First question.

When thinking of a new project, which comes easier to you, character or plot?

I find that with the past couple of babies (plots) that I have come up with, I think the correct answer to that is character. You can come up with a plot without thinking of your character, but you cannot have progress in the plot without one. For me, it is quite simple. For the past couple of tries, I have found that it all depends on the ideas that you come up with. Sometimes the ideas are character based, other times, plot based.

But 9 times of of 10, you will find me making up characters and coming up with plot lines that surround those characters. Even though there is at least one of my babies where I did come up with a plot for a character first. So really, the character was always there, I just did not know what to name that character until later. So to simply answer the question, character over plot. Plain and simple. At least for me.

Even when I have characters that sit on my shelf for years on end (mainly due to how big of an epic one of my stories is), they are always there for later when I can dust them off once I put a proper story line in place to fit their needs. There is just something satisfying of creating not just a character, but for me, it is more than that...

Initially, when writers create characters, what they are really doing is creating people. There has always been this air and almost magical feeling I get when I bring someone I know that is believable to life. Birthing somebody to life with the tip of a pen or key on a keyboard is something that, for me at least, changes you. It does not matter the plot I come with for them later. For just like if you were raising a child, you do not ever really know how their life is going to pane out for sure. It is very much like watching a child grow up when you finally find just the right plotline for that one character. And even when you do find the right plotline, just like with life in general, it can take so many unexpected turns, your plot and character both.

Which is exactly why that most of the time you will find me coming up with character over a story for that character, personally.

Now, second question.

And how do you suggest strengthening your skills in your weaker areas of story telling?

Again, good question. A question that I would not have thought to ask myself, but I will do what I can to answer to the best of my ability.

You tackle the points that you are weakest at simply by doing them.

It sounds simple, but for many, it can still be complicated. So let me break it down for you.

You can't possibly expect to get to point b without having gone through point a. The only way I can think of to strengthen what you feel is not your strong suit is to keep practicing that of which you tend to find a little harder for you to achieve.

A perfect example of this is when I was trying to learn shape and form when it came to my drawing. Personally, I was not one to want to go through the process of making the stick figure models before going in to do the detail work later. I wanted the details and I wanted them here and now. You want to know what happened to my drawings? For what I could do, most people thought they were good. Decent. I was always getting the compliment of,

"Oh, it looks good." or "That looks cool."

But do you know what was really going on for those who know anything about drawing? Yup. They sucked. They sucked because they lacked the shape and form that I was trying to go for. Because I did not want to do the necessary steps to get to a more 3-D looking figure and take shortcuts to get to the final product, they were lacking. Big time. Doing the first proper steps needed to make my drawings greater, to this day, is not one of my strong suits. But I try. Why?

Because when you take the time to do the thing properly, you actually get somewhere.

When you just do yourself a favor and just put in the work, the practice that goes into making your weak points strong ones, it is not only going to be satisfying, but you will also find that, in the end, it is just more worth your while. Just keep doing the thing that you know you have a hard time with and, eventually, what may be something you are not good at can turn into something that is.

So please, for your benefit, just work on what you think may not be a niche to you just yet. Because, eventually, if you work at it hard enough it will be a breeze. You only strengthen that of which you put effort in.Not just in writing, but in all aspects of life. Some things take time and effort. Plain and simple.

Another example that I can think of off the bat is the fact that I have been practicing my coloring skills by getting some adult coloring books. For some, it may sound silly, but it is actually pretty effective. For years, I have been meaning to be serious about my hobby that I actually wanted to have as a career, which is comics. Except, there are some parts to it that I simply just have not taken the time to consider and work on. For the longest time, it was a matter of I thought that I did not have enough resources to be able to pull off the dream (which was in actuality a lie, but I did not think of it that way at the time). No matter how many things I had to focus and perfect the craft of comic making, I felt I just couldn’t for the longest time. Then, one day back in December, I came across this gorgeous coloring book that I absolutely fell in love with so much that I bought two copies. One for me and one for a friend. I loved the coloring so much that it took me only a couple of weeks to finish it. Every day, I was at my dinner table, taking hours at a time to color in four to five pictures a day. My creativity came through in the colors that I was putting down. Sometimes I found that I would color out of the lines, other times I got it just right. Very soon, I was coming up with color themes and everything for each piece that I wanted to fill in. Maybe someday I will even post up a video showing off what I did, I haven’t decided yet. All I know for certain is that, at first, I did not necessarily suck at the coloring, but it was basically new ground for me, because I just did not take the time it deserved before. But the more I fooled with it, slowly but surely, the better I was able to get.

Once you just take the time and understand just how much of a privilege it is to give your craft, no matter what it is, the time and effort it deserves, you get somewhere. guaranteed. It’s all in the matter of how much it is important to you to get the job done. So long as you put in the effort, that’s all you can do. For when you do that, it only shows that you are doing it to the best of your knowledge.

Thank you for this week's questions. To get picked for questions, leave a note down below and I will see about answering more questions by you guys next week. Until next time!

[gemthecolorist]

Question of the week # 2

(Just pretend with me that I was able to do this on time...)

Hello and welcome to the second question of the week! This week's question comes from a close friend of mine and I will answer to the best of my ability. Much like I did last week. Here it goes.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I have already more or less answered my friend, but I figured it was a good enough question that I might as well also post it up here with a more elongated reply. So here it is.

There are actually a few factors when it comes to getting inspired. Mainly, I have to think about it. Not too much or too hard, but just enough to where a thought or event lingers in my head to the point that I start asking questions. For when I ask enough questions about a certain thing, such as an event that happened to me personally or when I hear about something that happened somewhere for whatever reason, its enough to get the cogs in my head turning. When that happens, there are two main sources that I like to go to. When it is not a journal, it is the place that I store potential writing ideas.

An example of this would have to be with what has been going on in my life recently. Not to spoil my work that I am currently working on at the moment, but I had a eureka moment when it came to lingering ideas when it came to the matter of raising the dead. I cannot at this moment quite remember what sparked it perse, but I remember where I was. I was in my kitchen cooking penne and spaghetti sauce when ideas of death were floating in my brain. How I wished there was a way to have a second chance from something that I thought I had done in my personal life so wrong. (I may talk about it someday, but not right now. I am doing what I can to move on.) But there I was, thoughts of death filling up my head. I wished that there was somehow a second chance to things. Not just for me, but others as well. Then, it clicked with me. Other thoughts started to fill my head after I started asking some questions.

What if there was a way to bring back the dead as if you were bringing somebody back from a coma? What would there life be like, depending on how far in the future that they are brought back? But how would they even contain the memories that they would supposed to have, based on the idea that their old brain would be completely decomposed and regrown?

It is ideas like this that get my mind going. Then, eventually, one thing leads to another and before I know it, I have ideas for a story in my lap. Some stay, some go. It all depends on what questions spark that initial inspiration I acquired at the time of getting motivated.

So one surefire way I can get inspired is when I am in the middle of doing something mundane. My other way is fairly simple. If I am in the middle of doing something, such as going out on the town and I see somebody doing something or something particular happening, depending on what it is, that will normally spark ideas and scenarios in my head that I will decide are worthy of writing about in the end.

A short example of that would have to be when I hear something on the news. A more recent example of that would have to be the death of Kobe Bryant, rest his soul. When I first heard about it, I did not even know who the man even was. I had to look him up. After hearing his story, I could not help but have my imagination go wild as to how this man and his daughter could have possibly died, apart from the mere wrong place, wrong time. It is at this point that I go wild with the questions. Usually, I tend to ask myself what ifs.

What if there is more to the story than they are letting on? What if, in reality, they got assassinated for whatever reason? What if it was aliens?

No matter how stupid the what if is, I will tend to think on it anyway. Not because it is in any way to offend the person that died. Let's face it, it's a complete tragedy that they had to lose their lives. Yet, the questions that come from tragedies like that one still come.

Inspiration is sometimes mixed with motivation. I said it and I stick by it. Sometimes, I find that in order to be inspired to do something, I have got to also be properly motivated to do it, which also means I have got to have a good enough reason to do it.

A pretty good example of this would be when I decided to start making these q an a blogs.

Reason?

There was a person that I would look up to when it came to writing. A writer by the name of M. Kirin, who has a YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter and maybe even an instagram account. Really, look them up. They know what they're doing. I had been a supporter of their work for the past few years, having in my kindle library a few of their works, such as Ravensgem and Justine's blood. (Both really good books in my opinion, you should go check them out.)

Just recently, right when I was about ready to write my newest novel, usually what I have done in the past was click on one of Max's videos to get my hyped and motivated enough to get me going on my project. Well, very recently, I did just that...only to find out that they have decided to take a permanent break from social media altogether. I was very late to the party, but I was still shocked when I heard the news.

Crap! I thought. What am I supposed to do now?

That moment taught me not to just appreciate people in the moment, but also that anything in life can happen. The short answer of what to do now was what I would expect Max to say: write!

Apart from this, the power was in my hands at that point. I wanted and felt like I needed to still have something to get me going as far as me writing went. At that point, I was my only hope, putting aside close friends, family and even more writers that I have grown to look up to in the past few years. I am now motivated to do my own thing now. Give my two cents into the game called a writer's life.

Hence, these new blogs that I will keep aiming to do weekly. Apply what I have learned from all of my sources and, perhaps someday, be a Max to the right person who needs me.

Things change, as a show I watched as a kid taught me. Make the most of it by having the courage to be motivated and get my inspiration out there into the world.

In their last video, Max tells the viewer that if they do something with their book to let them know.

Oh, Max. Someday, I'm gonna do more than that.

So, to recap. What inspires me most is the power of questions and the motivation needed to find my own answers to those questions.

As an old martial arts teacher of mine once put it, I will never forget,

"The only stupid question is the one not asked."

With that in mind, my job in life, as far as I'm concerned, is to look around and come up with endless supply of answers to questions in life, regardless of whether they are story material or not. It not only helps me understand the world around me, but, in the right hands, it is what gets other people asking life's hard questions, too. Because sometimes, you have no choice but to be your own voice of reason, and the best possible thing to do for yourself is to be the best voice of reason you can be by coming up with answers using your own two cents. Sometimes, its all you can do.

So I think that just about wraps up this week's question, guys. Leave some comments, questions, likes, anything really. Thank you for reading! Until next time!

[gemthecolorist]

How to practice drawing...

Just do it.

[gemthecolorist]

Things happen...

You know...I feel like I have changed. I am still the fantasy loving me that was here one year ago, but then I am not.

Really, writing and drawing fantasy was all I wanted to do as a kid up to now. I look outside the big window that is in the dining room of my grandfather’s farm and all I can think about is how much I wish I just done more for my goals. Actually make them happen apart from putting them off, wishing for a later time to do it all.

Even in my writing, my first true love when it came to the arts, I neglected to the point that last year it was just about screaming divorce. So much happened for me last year that I ma not going to get in the middle of it and tell you, just that I have come out a completely different...woman out of it.

See, woman. I used to never just call myself a woman. A young woman I guess, but now I am just a woman. A woman with a dream and no end in sight.

There are so many things that I thought was going to happen in my twenties, art wise and otherwise.

Things happen. It is what it is.

I am saying it again, that’s powerful.

Things happen. It is what it is.

It is what it is. Practically the family mantra on one branch of the family tree.

What happened was not my fault with getting sick back in 2017. It is what it is. Things happen.

The hidden catastrophe that happened in my life last year, also not my fault. It is what it is. Things happen.

It is my fault, however, for not keeping up with the arts. Not keeping up with the writings. But it is what it is. Things happen.

I will get there, someday. One day, I will see something of mine published, comic or not. That is my goal. That is my aspiration. Whether it will actually be achievable is yet to be seen, but we will see.

Things happen.

[gemthecolorist]

The magic’s still in me...

It has been so long I have forgotten my vision. One of the biggest artistic and creative sins I have ever committed to myself, but here we are.

A lot happened since my last entry. Too much. What I feel is most important to address, however, is that I am alive, healthy and healthy for the moment. You might get the whole story of what happened to me personally someday. For now, I have some big news that might kick me later.

I have decided to get into an art show.

For the first time in my whole twenty-six years of existence, I am getting serious. All of my training has led me to this moment. I have begged for it practically, so now I must make due.

Paintings, drawings both just penciled and inked, even some writings that have my touch of magic in them, it’s all going to be in there. I just hope that my paintings of animals and Mt. St. Helens is enough to get into this show coming up. It is yet to be seen.

Here are some examples and samples of the work I have been doing thus far, for those that have interest:

The paintings are coming along. I will never stop believing from now on that when it comes to painting, I cheated out myself. Drawing for the longest time was my only forte and I wish I went to actual art school more than anything in the world. But I suppose that the love for it along is enough to keep me going with it. It is the most freeing thing I have ever felt in my whole life apart from writing and drawing. It really has opened my world up.

(An alcohol marker drawing of my first tiger on canvas.)

Now to try and incorporate the drawings and acrylic paints and beautifully mesh them together. Almost like the painting above. That would have been paints instead of markers had I had the actual guts to do it. Now I am faced with the consequence of staring at a piece that I feel is now lacking all because of my indecision to have courage and make the jump. It makes me also have a new, deeper respect for those who painted in the Renaissance era who had only one chance to get it right as well.

It makes me ponder and ask the question of just how did they do it? Seriously!

Back then, there was no erase button. Once it was made, it was made. Mistakes and all. Once a mistake was made, you had to either get over it or completely toss and start all over again. It really makes me think of The Last Supper in a new light then from before. They were not called masters of art for nothing.

In the meantime, magic is calling me the most when it comes to this art show upcoming. The dream of being involved with fantasy had never died out, nor will it ever. My horizons on the topic has spread wide open in the past year or so and I cannot wait to put it to good use. Not to say that I have been working with just magic at my side. I mean, if I was able to sell artwork of ninja turtles only, I probably would. I love those little green guys. They are so much fun to draw, I could do it all day. (Perhaps there is to be a job with Image in the far future? Maybe.)

My dream of being in comics had almost died off. With everything that had happened to me up to this point, I was so close to losing my way forever. I may not have anything in comics published, not to mention publishable, that does not make me any less of an artist that is to one day reach the goal. So my dream is still there. I just need to take time and find what is worth filling up that dream with. Same goes for my writings.

I don’t call myself the girl that likes to write, draw and make people laugh for nothing. This is some of the most I have written in about a few months on the computer. Journals have been filling up since the start of the year, which makes me happy. I even have some fan letters out for those that are interested. It has been such a help in having me soul search deep and find who I really am again.

The show, called The Art of the mountain, is a couple of months away, which gives me time to hone my greatest skills and show what I can do. I believe I am ready, though the nerves are coming on. They usually do when I embark on something I have never tried before. But I have faith that it is going to be a good enough gallery of pieces that I have to allow for me to gain entrance to get a booth at this event.

Welcome to my new normal once again, or my name isn’t Meg ‘GemTheSylph’ Hitt!

[gemthecolorist]

That moment when you overwrite the wrong files and lose over half of what you've written toward your first draft...yes, I'm still crying.

[gemthecolorist]

Plan b, change of plans

Originally, I had a certain plan for this blog. At first, in the very, very beginning, it was meant for my personal use. But now? Now, it is becoming something I did not expect. So far, it has unofficially become my official handle. The name I wanted to go by. I tried using GemTheSylph for an art show that I was a part of earlier this summer.

So far, it is now the name that I have decided to go by professionally. Though with the little numbers I have, it’s hard to call me professional.

There was a certain way I eventually wanted this blog to go. Some could be behind the scenes personal, but on the other hand, I wanted it to be a place that was home to mainly fantasy. I mean, c’mon. You can’t get any more fantasy than GemTheSylph. But per usual with my life, as with how life goes in general, some things just don’t go to plan. I don’t write just fantasy as much as I would like to. It is not a place just for finished works either. It is not just behind the scenes. It is me. Purely me.

I have so many ideas for this blog still. I see myself writing more entries more frequently. I see myself even doing something like videos of my creative process. I have not done much on Tumblr mainly because I have been flooding my instagram and twitter instead. (Both of which can be found at the end of this entry.) Which means more work than I have been doing. I am ready. 

Really, I am sick of not doing any hard work towards the things I want. I mean, really, when was the last time you guys have even seen a blog entry from me? It has been a while. I practically keep going on hiatus when there is really no need to. I just need to get my feet wet and start doing. With that, see ya after Christmas, if not Valentine’s!

Just kidding. But that is how I feel, I’m not going to lie.

So let’s see if what I have in mind actually works out this time, shall we? Here we go!

(Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gemthesylph/     Twitter: https://twitter.com/GemTheSylph

[gemthecolorist]

The current project that I am working on...it’s like one of those books that it is so good that you don’t want to put it down. My soul says write as much as it says, “B****, go get some sleep!”

[gemthecolorist]

One more thing...that moment that you take a quick look at your past entries and realize that you keep writing the same damn thing...

[gemthecolorist]

Absent turned present

It almost doesn’t surprise me that I haven’t posted since October. Almost.

But I’m here now and that is what matters in this moment.

I’m in a different place now than from the last time I was here giving an update to my life’s comings and goings. My art comes into more quantity now, though I have not actually let you in on it yet. (Emphasis on the yet part.)

The art I’ve produced as of late has...the best way to describe it is that it has developed. Things are more in proportion, whether it’s drawings of people, landscapes, or simple objects. It comes faster and flows more naturally than before as well. It’s as if I can finally trust my mind and hand to be able to draw what I think in my head. That alone is something I was beginning to wonder I would ever accomplish. But recently, it just seemed to click in a way it never had before, and I can’t wait to share it what I’ve done with it to you.

With music playing in my headphone-covered ears and a cup of home brewed coffee right beside me and a pencil in my hand, it’s time to get to work.

[gemthecolorist]

The Grove of Graves

by GemTheSylph

(It is not finished apart from this one scene, and I do not know yet whether or not it will become part of a published work, but I figured that I could share, writing wise, what I have been up to lately. So here it is. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!)

With a hood over her head and a cloak wrapped as tightly as she could get it around herself, Atla stepped off the porch and began her march through the rain.

Of all the times for the wood to call out to her, it had to be not only raining, but on a day that was going to be awfully busy down in the village with her family. Especially since today marked the festival of legends. Atla did not mind too much of this, however. The call from the magick within her only came around so rarely often, and she knew better than to go against it. So she wandered through the trees with her hand outstretched with the lantern she brought with her, the glass sphere hanging from a string glowing with a bright orange radiance. Where she was going exactly, she hadn't a real idea. The call of magick had a mind of it's own sometimes, knowing where to take you if you trusted it enough. Soon the house was far behind her, and she carried on into the early morning, letting her body take her where it needed to go. It was not long before she came across the well worn stone path that she knew far too well from childhood. As Atla followed the path up the side of the mountain, it did not take her long to realize where she was being led to. Of course, whether or not that what she was thinking was really the destination was a mystery at the moment. But if it really was her grandfather's grave she was going to, it was peculiar that she would be called there of all places. Next to no one in the village went to that part of the woods when it wasn't the Night of Those Before Us. It was believed that doing so not only brought disrespect to the dead that laid to rest in the Grove of Graves, but could also bring bad luck to the one trespassing. A silly old superstition as far as Atla was aware. She had gone to the Grove ever since Grandpapa passed, and no ill will had befallen her yet. There were many magicks in Feyyalin, and being cursed for trespassing in a graveyard was not one of them.

It was difficult to see in front of her with the rain pouring down on Atla as she climbed the old stone steps that would soon bring her close to her grandfather's remains. But she pressed onward, the pathway into the grove would not take much longer to get to. She could tell because of how many steps she had left, which was seventeen.

Sixteen, fifteen, fourteen...

Ever since she was little, Atla positively loved the Grove. Some thought her strange for it, but she didn't mind. Whenever she was not out playing with her friends in the village down by the foot of the mountain side or helping her family tend to the mushroom crops, she was here. In a way, it was ironic how the magick inside her would lead her here, seeing as this was a place that she had come to know almost like a second home. It was such a quiet, tranquil place. Though in hindsight it was a burial place for loved ones, it had a homely feeling to it nonetheless. Not to mention that she never quite got over how beautiful the Grove was. In the gaps of the tall trees, stones of all shapes and sizes were lying into the soft grassy earth. Some were in rows, others were not, depending on the person in question that was buried.

Thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine...

Personally, Atla loved her grandfather's grave the most. Yes, loved. Not because it stood out as the most interesting grave stone that was in the Grove or that it was almost at the mountain's peak, oh no. What she loved most about it was something that even some of her family laughed at her for.

Eight, seven, six, five...

The rain was starting to give as she made her way to the top step. It was still present of course, but not as hard as before. Not that she minded at all, she was accustomed of coming to the Grove in any kind of weather by now.

Four, three, two...

"And there." Atla said aloud, taking the last step, her boots touching ground with the path that would lead to Grandpapa's resting place.

Passing through the archway made of twisted twig and tree branches, she made her way down the path, walking by dozens if not hundreds of gravestones as she did so. To some, like her mother and sister, they never would have ever dreamt of coming to the Grove when it was still dark like it was. And Atla had the inkling that if Mother ever found out that she, her eldest daughter, did such a thing, she wouldn't have let her leave the house for awhile. Her mother was a fairly superstitious woman. Though Atla had to admit, even for her, there was something that seemed quite different about the air of the Grove at this hour. She had never really been to the Grove before sunrise before, so this really was something of an adventure for the young woman.

Only one way to find out, Atla thought.

It did not take her long to finally reach her grandfather's grave. Up ahead of her, Atla could see the sihoulette of the the grand tree that the rather small stone would be resting in front of. She could not see it due to the faint small light from her lantern, but she knew that as she would get closer that it would come into focus. When she finally reached the base of the tree, there was the stone...and there was someone there.

She stopped dead in her tracks. There was someone else here? Why?

Then, as strongly as the magick that led her there urged her to come to the grove, the same magick was now practically commanding her with one profound word.

Hide.

She immediately found cover behind the nearest tree that was by her, putting out the lantern as quickly and quietly as she could. There, she stood still and waited. Did they see her? Who was that person? Atla peered over the edge of the trunk, trying her best to get a look at the figure. From what she could tell from the dark sihoulette, they were just standing there in front of her grandpapa's grave. Ghost silent, as if they were not even there at all. As if they were just a mirage, a hallucination. Still, Atla kept to her hiding place. She had never been urged by her inner magick to take a certain action like this before. But why hide? She wondered. She cautiously continued to look on at the figure. She almost jumped out of her skin as this person, whoever they were, appeared to be suddenly making a move by leaning forward, almost kneeling from what she could tell, then they got back up and stood there once again. Then, the person began to speak in a rasped tone that was enough to send shivers down Atla's spine.

"There once was a time in ages past when the war overtook everyone that got caught in the middle of it. There was no hope for a victor against the tyrants as the people struggled. They fought to the last breath for generations, with no end of the fight in sight."

Atla, taken aback already, stayed silent, her lips so pierced together that she worried that the bite would draw blood down her chin. This man, whoever he was, was by far the most mesmerizingly creepy storyteller of the morn so far. Just what was he here for?

"Then, when all hope for a winning side was lost, the people themselves could not take the hunt any longer. The Chaos Queen's reign would be no more if the people had anything to say about it. So sword, they picked up and began to fight with the armies. Some would win, others would fall. It would be during the rebuilding of the whole village that got destroyed in the war's wake that one emerged, wanting to lift the spirits of the people around him, doing so by reciting a tale he once witnessed before his eyes while in the midst of a battle he took part in. The others listened as if he were telling a tale of old, surrounded by those he had known his whole life as well as those passing through the rubble that was to be their home once again."

"By the time they were done, food eaten, houses roofed, and people telling their own ventures and braveries by the end of the night, it had been made almost a festival."

"As is today, old man. For it was you that told the stories first, were you not?"

From the young woman's vision, Atla saw through the dark of the night, the soft glow of the little stone she took out of the sphere on her walking staff, hovering it in front of her as she peered outward at the man there. Catching just in time him moving forward toward the stone that carried her family name on it. He was there for only a slight moment, saying to himself,  

"Big times ahead, old man."

He slowly stood back up, looking down at the stone some more, his hood not faltering. Stepping backward, he was back in his original spot.

"Just as 'twas in the tales of old..."

Big times ahead? Atla echoed in her mind. What could that mean?

She pondered as she waited for the man's next move. As if the wish was heard and grandted...

Atla could see the man tilt his head toward her direction.

"And very soon, little fae, you shall see."

Her eyes widened and she froze. He could see her. He knew she was there. Then, with a blink of an eye, he was nowhere in sight. He was gone.

Where'd he go? She wondered in amazement, the anticipation in her face apparent.

She waited for some time before finally coming out of her hiding place. Atla went inside her cloak, pulling out a crystal and tapped the lantern back to life. Lifting it in front of her, she looked all around. The man really was nowhere to be seen now. Just who was he? What was he here for? Did he know her Granpapa personally before he died?

"Odd." She spoke softly.

She stopped when she caught glimpse of something on Grandpapa's gravestone. Resting on top of the old stone was a small tied up pouch that appeared to be full to the brim of something. It was as if it was waiting for her. Like she was meant to go over and see what was inside. But was she really supposed to?

"What do you think, Grandpapa?" Atla asked the grave, more to herself.

Atla crept cautiously forward. Paranoia ran thorugh her at the fingers as she reached out her free hand and picked up the pouch. Whatever was inside the thing, it felt heavy. She pressed her thumb into the fabric slightly, trying to get a feel for what could be inside. Something hard, possibly metallic? She placed the lantern atop grandpapae's grave, her curiosity really getting the best of her now. She loosened the ties and looked down into the bag.

She gasped.

Marbles. Inside there was nothing but marbles. She brought the pouch closer to the light to get a better look as to what kind of marbles they were. If they were the kind she was thinking of...

Glistening in the orange light, Atla could see that they really were silver marbles, all of them!

"I can't believe it, a whole bag of silver marbles...but why?"

Just then at that moment, a new light was coming from beyond the grand tree, appearing over the edges of the far off mountains on the other side of the valley. The sun had risen...which meant that mother and the rest of them would be up soon as well. She looked around to see if anyone was there one more time as she placed the pouch inside her cloak. She grabbed the lantern, bowed her head to Grandpapae's grave and made her leave down the path she had come in.

Waves of confusion and curiosity went through Atla as she made her way back to her home, the call of her magick having subsided completely by this point.

There were so many questions that she wanted answers to. There was no doubt in her mind that perhaps it was the man in the cloak that she was meant to come to the grove for. As to why, she may never know. But all she could do now was return to the homestead and help prepare for the festival of legends. It was going to be a big day.

[gemthecolorist]

Dreaming and doing

by GemTheSylph

I would give anything to have a new camera. The one on my phone does not work with transferring from the phone to the computer anymore and the one we do have is shared by, in my opinion, too many people now.

Why I bring this up is because I have such the vivid idea of what I could be doing with the video content I could make. It could show my art process and what it is I am up to as far as the fantasy works other projects. Even the fan ones like Ninja Turtles.

Really, they have been my life for the past few weeks. Writing, scripting, drawing, you name it. I have been occupied in nothing but their way of the ninja for a long time. Almost to the point where I wonder if getting a gig with Image or DC about it would be possible within the next few years. That is, if I even have that long...

Thanks to my condition, I don’t even know how far I will be able to get in life now. It’s that delicate.

Who knows how far I will be able to get as great as I wanted to be before getting it? I do my best, yes, but who knows if I can even make it to a professional level of artistry before I’m gone?

I can dream of it all I want, it doesn’t change anything.

So perhaps the following is in order...

Once, there was supposedly an interview that the great Rumiko Takahashi once had and said,

“The day I stop drawing manga is the day I die.”

With the skills I am trying to get back after all this time, so do I. The day I stop is the day I am forced to stop. There is no other option. Write, draw and live. Soar.

...I dream of the day that everyone I can come in contact with can soar, too.

Until then, back to the drawing board. Literally.

[gemthecolorist]

Halloween, Inktober and looking ahead

Yesterday marked the beginning of October, my favorite time of the whole year for four reasons.

The first has always been Halloween. Seriously, this day has trumped Christmas always ever since I was a teenager. Truly the only time I can fully express myself and not look weird to other people. (I imagine that I would be one of those people that uses Halloween props to decorate my future apartment with.)

Apart from dressing my room up with skeletons is the fact that this is the month which hosts Inktober, the online challenge of making an inked piece of art every day for all 31 days of October. My first participation in this event was last year. I don’t think I completed last year’s unfortunately. Something I want to push myself to do this year however. So far I’ve gotten a good start with this illustration:

Now, I think that adding color and gray tones is ‘cheating’ when it comes to the point of Inktober, but I felt that this month would be a golden opportunity for these things, on account of that I feel that my gray tones and coloring could use more work than inking itself, which I more or less feel confident in doing by now. Evidence of this is the girl in the upper left corner. Either way, this is what I consider my first official Inktober drawing.

So far, I’m really liking the theme of the Tanuki girl. (A tanuki is a japanese raccoon dog, fairly big in their folklore and about as popular as the kitsune.) 

A few different things inspired this to be my theme for this year. Part of it came from after watching Jake Parker’s video on designing 100 somethings, which you can find here if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxa01j9Ns7o

What Jake had to say in this video really got to me, and I realized almost to my horror that I don’t have a single finalized original character that has been drawn yet. Don’t get me wrong, I have the initial basic foundations for most of them. But as far as actually looking at a character and saying, “Yes, this is how this character is supposed to look.”, that has not happened yet. Something that has to be remedied, among other things when it comes to my art.

So I guess you could say my theme is going to be a mix of both Jake’s idea and Inktober, making 31 different versions of this one character and see where it ends up by Halloween. A tanuki girl with her cute ears and and tail, along with possibly pink hair in a manga/anime style.

(Originally what inspired it was the fact that I’ve been watching a lot of Steve Universe and InuYasha as of late. Plus I’ve never really made a character quite like this before, so it should be interesting but fun. Not to mention that this can count as an attempt to going back to my roots. I did start out with manga drawings after all.)

Who knows where all of this will end up. Hell, it could end up being another bust for all I know. But I owe it to myself to at least try. I’m never going to be the artist I was meant to be otherwise.

[gemthecolorist]

Adventure’s inside you

Adventure's inside you. Always has been.

So why fight it, huh?

It's waiting for you, so go and grasp it while you can.

It'll be daunting sometimes, and you may come across roadblocks that will, at times, make the thoughts in your head replicate that of a twister. Sometimes, you'll want to turn back from whence you came, having the ever so tempting desire to run away from the journey ahead forever.

You'll persevere though. Why? Because at the core of your being, the call to make the trek and unlock the grandest, most precious things inside you is too grand not to.

So go. Walk the path. Take flight. And above all else...

Don't be afraid to live in your own little world.

                                                                               - GemTheSylph

[gemthecolorist]

Gem’s art of the week

Over the past week I have worked on a few pieces of art that I really had fun with and would like to share with anyone who’s interested. All of them are heavily fantasy-based (because that’s what I know best, and it’s what I enjoy the most when drawing.)

So, for your enjoyment as well as mine, here is my art of the week.

Like I said on my DeviantArt already, this was very inspired by the film The Fox and the Hound by Disney, but I was able to put my own spin to it. Though some may identify it as a kitsune fox due to the three tails, it’s actually a magical fox-dog hybrid that appears in a fantasy world that I have created, but have not shared online yet (mainly due to it not being completely fleshed out, and there are certain key things about the world I want to get right before showing everyone, but that’s another story). Though I technically created this character months ago, I’m still in the stage of character design, and this was one I so happened to come up with while on break at my day job. I’m really happy with how it turned out, even if it may not end up the finalized version of this fox-dog. Still, she’s pretty damn cute.

Just like the first one, this was something I did over the course of two days while on break at my job. With the limited art supplies that I was able to bring with me to work when I worked on this was very limited. I wasn’t even able to pack a ruler. With that said, I’m a little surprised that this turned out the way that it did. A lot better than expected to be bluntly honest. This really had no direction in the beginning, just a bunch of random stuff of the same page at first, but I was able to put together at least some of a story behind what’s going on in the ‘scene’.

I usually don’t draw this girly of stuff, but sometimes I get an itch to do something like this. It was really fun.

Finally, we have this one that I call Lying in wait. I explain in a lot further detail of what’s going on the pic here on my DeviantArt, but for the purposes of this, I’ll keep it a little shorter. She is a fairy, or fae as I call them, who was ambushed by an animal of some sort. She, being an experienced huntress, lies on the ground, practically playing dead, waiting for the creature to turn it’s back to her, giving her a chance at payback. I’m not sure exactly what prompted me to do something like this, but I’m not complaining, I think this one turned out really badass. I love it.

And with that, there you have it! Again, hope you enjoyed! Maybe I’ll do more of these in the future, who knows. Anyone who’s interested in the idea, hit me up, tell me what you think!

If you want, you can check out all of the pics displayed here separately by going to my DeviantArt page here:

http://gemthesylph.deviantart.com/

Thanks for reading, and happy drawing!