#redid these doodles from 2 years ago

[vacantgodling]

let’s have some compare and contrast

[meowthiroth]

been meaning to post these here for AGES now but I keep forgetting to. explodes 💥

but ANYWAYS! i redid the ref art for my Stranger oc from Myst/Riven! and also finally got around to drawing the aged-up version I thought up for him between Myst 3 and 4.

also wrote out a sort of messy bio for him a while ago, which i'll put under the cut since it's kinda long lol

ACE

Basic info

• Born October 7, 1782. He is 24 during the events of Myst & Riven, 33 during Exile and 42 during Revelation.

• He stands about 5’6” (1.6m) and is around 120 lbs. Pretty scrawny and definitely built better for agility than physical power.

• He is transgender and uses he/him pronouns. That caused quite a few problems for him back home, given the social climate at the time. He really doesn’t like to discuss his past or his birth family & will quickly change the subject if asked.

• He's very kind, easygoing and silly, and he loves to help others. But he can also be quite scatterbrained, forgetful, and prone to emotional manipulation.

• While he can be a bit absent-minded at times, he’s actually quite intelligent & quick-thinking, and he excels at problem- and puzzle-solving. He often cracks Atrus’s puzzles within mere minutes, but then can't recall his thought process when asked how he did it.

• Most of his favorite pastimes involve creating and fixing things. For instance, he’s very skilled with a needle & thread, and he makes and mends all of his own clothes. Drawing is another big one for him— his journal contains a lot more doodles in the margins than actual writing.

• He also LOVES animals, especially frogs, reptiles and bugs. He’s good at reading animals' behavioral cues and often has an easier time gaining their trust than most people would.

Early life/childhood

• His birth family were early settlers in the Northwest Territory, moving out west with him in tow when he was just a small child & starting a homestead there. His family consisted of his father, mother, and 3 brothers- 2 older and 1 younger.

• His gender identity caused friction with his family later in his childhood, since they had assumed he was just a tomboyish child and would eventually grow out of it. Obviously, though, he never did.

• His refusal to adhere to his assigned gender eventually escalated to his parents viewing him as hysterical & mentally unwell. Things only continued to get worse as he grew older, which eventually led him to go on the run. He kept a low profile & travelled mostly on his own for years, pressing farther into uncharted territory in an attempt to get as far away from his family as possible, which was how he first stumbled across the Myst linking book.

Life with Atrus & family

• Despite everything Saavedro did at the start of Exile, Ace still finds himself understanding of the man's predicament (perhaps relating the experience to his own upbringing in an abstract sort of way), and he takes it upon himself to help him get home by any means necessary. He often wonders how things worked out for Saavedro after their encounter & genuinely wishes the best for him.

• Slight deviation from canon- After the events of Exile, Ace got so worried about someone else coming after Atrus and his family while he was gone that he insisted on staying with them to help keep an eye on things. He moved in with them in Tomahna and helped out, both with Atrus’s projects and just general home/family things. He sort of took up the role of another older brother figure to Yeesha.

• Over time, he begins to view Atrus & Catherine not just as friends, but sort of as a new, more accepting family. He's definitely slipped up & called them “mom” and “dad” by accident before. SEVERAL times. He was really embarrassed about it at first, although they weren't bothered by it.

• He and Atrus work well together! Although Ace can’t write his own Ages, he often helps test Atrus’s creations and suggests ways he could potentially improve them. His ideas tend to fall somewhere in between Atrus & Catherine in terms of realism- a little wacky but still somewhat grounded in reality. He’s also quick to remind Atrus to take breaks & not get TOO into his work.

• Ace also spends a lot of time back home with Catherine and Yeesha. He does a good job earning his keep by helping around the home, and he and Catherine often like to bounce ideas off of one another. He finds her creativity super impressive, and a favorite pastime of his is to try & draw various creatures and landscapes that she describes.

• Since he lives with the family in between Exile and Revelation, Ace learns about what happened to Atrus’s sons much earlier than in canon, and he often tags along with the family when they visit. Usually he doesn’t go visit the brothers by himself, since he isn’t sure how comfortable Atrus would be with that, but he has offered to deliver things like care packages to them before & he’ll often stop to chat with them for a while.

• Ace has sort of always felt drawn towards Achenar. Despite the older brother's obvious shiftiness, Ace couldn't help but feel bad for him. He'd actually collected every blue page and was going to free him before he was (thankfully) stopped by Atrus. Despite being made aware of the attempted trick, Ace still forgave Achenar pretty quickly after seeing how much he’d changed over the years, and now he's always eager to go visit him with the rest of the family. The two get along surprisingly well & become close friends over time, and Ace will often stay behind to talk to him long after the rest of the family decides to head home from their visits.

• Ace, however, has always gotten bad vibes from Sirrus ever since he first arrived on Myst. He already has a disdain for greedy rich-guy types, and Sirrus always struck Ace as very disingenuous and closed-off, which further limited their ability to connect on an emotional level. Deep down, though, Ace still has a soft spot for Sirrus, and often displays it by teasing him in a playful little-sibling sort of way. While Sirrus generally finds his jokes more annoying than amusing, it clearly isn’t malicious and at least breaks up some of his day-to-day tedium, so he begrudgingly tolerates it.

[browzerhistory]

8, 7, and... 4

putting all this under a cut because um... it got long

8. show us at least 2-3 drawings from 1-2 years ago

man you can't do this to me... ok fine

these are from june and july 2022, before i changed to my current art style. the main differences are the noses and shading style. i actually redid gabriel and maria's ref sheet recently.

7. do you prefer sketching, outlining, or coloring?

out of the three, i think i like sketching the most because you can be as messy as you want as long as you refine it before lining, which is a pain in the ass and my least favorite part. coloring is fun, if only because i like picking color palettes.

4. how often do you draw?

literally every day. i don't do fully finished pieces every day since those take anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on complexity, but i'll usually sketch a couple of things. i bring my sketchbook to school every day too so if i'm bored in class i can just doodle. i don't really post traditional stuff on here, but i like how this turned out, so you can get a little look this time :3

i looove torturing my little guys :3 this is yanny immediately post-fall, and the words (which are in alt text if you can't read them) are lyrics from SLITHER by the black dresses.

[mycrookedcreek]

Taking my Bullet Journal on the go!

**This post contains affiliate links. Click here for more information!** Bullet journalling has been a great thing for me. When I first started last month I wondered if I would keep it up and so far I have. I really enjoy using the habit tracker to hold me accountable for important things like my personal Bible time, eating well, drinking enough water, and getting in bed at a decent time. However, my new hobby was taking over the dining room. Then if I wanted to journal in the living room, I'd have to lug it all in there. Long story short, I got this cool little tote at Michael's and loaded it up with my journaling and brush letting supplies.

It's so handy ^___^

On top there is a removable tray that is full of my pens, washi tape, and more (full list below).

In the bottom I keep my journal and brush lettering practice book. I also keep a clipboard, my BuJo stencils, and my favorite set of colored pencils (Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless Color Pencils). I keep these in the box so nothing bad happens to them.

So what do I use in my bullet journal and for brush lettering? Better question might be 'What don't I use?' LOL! I've been obsessed with craft and office supplies since I was old enough to doodle so I have amassed quite a collection.

Full list: Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless Color Pencils Crayola Twistables Erasable Colored Pencils Tombow Beginner Lettering Set - Includes the two large brush pens, Fude pen, Monotwin pen, pencil, and small mono eraser. Sharpie Pen Sharpie Marker Kelly Creates Brush Pen Set - Large, medium & fine tips BIC Velocity Max Mechanical Pencil Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens Sakura Pigma Micron Pens, Sizes 005, 01, 02, 03, 05 and 08 Papermate Flair Pens Silver gel pen A simple compass for making circles Washi Tape An old reward card for tearing washi tape X-ACTO #2 Knife Small pair of scissors Ruler Two sized pencil sharpener Correction Tape Staedtler vinyl eraser Post-It Notes BuJo sized stencils What do I use all that stuff for exactly? I'll show you some of the pages I've added to my BuJo since I last posted about it. This gratitude spread is near the front so I see it often. I plan to make a list of praises and things I'm thankful for as the years go by. The sunflower is an acrylic painting I did a few years ago (tutorial) that was hiding in my mixed media book. I rescued it and glued it in to cover the first Sponsored Posts & Reviews page I didn't like.

I redid my Sponsored Posts & Reviews page for several reasons. Mainly I messed up the first one's header and it was driving me CRAZY! I decided to move it to the back where I'll be adding my review product notes so they aren't scattered between my weekly and monthly pages.

Also in the back is this swatch page for my colored pencils. The wraps are deceiving on some of the Koh-I-Noor pencils so this helps me see which one will go best with the project I'm working on as well as matching them to the washi tape.

These are some of my one-page weekly spreads from the last few weeks.

I also started on the March section and did this for the title page. I love how the wreath, March and days of the week turned out, but I'm not at all happy with the numbers. Calligraphy numbers should only be attempted by experienced brush calligraphers, which I am NOT! I should have gone with a simple contrasting font. My bad.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a great week!

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