#omg the charcoal is hard even in digital format

[iamamythologicalcreature]

Keeping Neverland

Sometime after my fourth Neverland dream, I started to draw sketches. Whatever I could remember from my dreams. Everything I could remember. Drawing became preservation and sanctuary. Once captured onto paper, I’m able to return to Neverland whenever I want, simply by flipping through my sketches. It isn’t the same, but it’s something. Something tangible, in a way my dreams are not.

Excerpt from Lost Boys, Chapter 2, by @mooncello

(I can't believe it's taken me a month to post the art from chapter 2 of this beautiful, beautiful fic, but here it is at last! Of course, it's been viewable inside the story this whole time so if you haven't seen it yet... well. Ahem. XD)

Keep reading below the cut for some extra info on what went into this particular illustration!

One of the things that got my attention from the get-go - not just as a reader, but as an illustrator - was Baz's artistic side within his story. He develops his talent for visual art almost out of necessity; he has no other way to record his adventures in Neverland, and thus preserve them in something less flimsy than his memory.

And, in particular, I was drawn to how Heath writes his artistic journey. In Chapter 2, he states, via the narrative, that he began working in graphite, but by the age of 15, charcoal was his preferred medium. (It's written far more eloquently than that, but I don't want to spoil your reading experience...)

It was (is) very important to me that I do my best to illustrate that side of Baz's artistic journey as best I can. And thus, the illustration from Chapter 1 is very much a pencil drawing, with sketchy elements, and in Chapter 2, I've used (digital) charcoal. (I did use actual charcoal for a couple of the sketches that surround him on the bed, though.)

I'll do my best to stay with Baz as he explores new artistic mediums, and we'll both push ourselves to be the artists we need to be to somehow (somehow!) help Baz find (and keep) the boy of his dreams. XD

(Seriously though, if you haven't checked out Lost Boys yet, you're missing out!)