#rev_ekaterina

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💛 Valentine’s series 2023 - Katya [3/11]

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Third one done! Finally! This took so long! But it turned out great, so can’t complain too much 😃😅 Definitely not going to put this much detail into many, if any, of the others though; as much as I love how all the flowers turned out (over 70!!). Just don’t have it in me lol 🥴 Still, I had a great time with this; she’s always so fun to draw, and I think everything turned out the best that it could have given the circumstances 💛 (the ribbon braid’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done ❤️)

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Little sketch of Katya from my IG stories! I’ve got a couple of other characters that’ll be uploaded later ✨

 These are so quick and fun; I should do them more often 🤭😅

Here’s a few facts about her, because I don’t think I’ve ever really talked about just her 🤔

• She has four cats throughout the story: Darya (Дарья), Blin (Блин), Zvezda (Звезда), and a calico that still needs a name; she also has a pet duck and a few favorite chickens • She has trouble reading and focusing; this often got her in trouble during school and her Pioneer years • Relating to this, she joined the Pioneers a year later than her friends • She can sew and embroider but doesn’t really enjoy it • She likes afternoon naps, preferably outside under a tree • She hates wearing shoes • She *loves* sunlight • Despite her hardy, gung-ho nature, she gets sick very easily, nearly every winter, sometimes horribly so • She’s an only child, but not for lack of trying; her older siblings all passed young, and her parents were older when they had her • She cut her hand on a fence as a child • She’s a natural dancer

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“Dvorovoi, Dvorovoi, whatever could you be doing in my wood?” “Last I checked, Vila, it was *you* who brought me here.” - - - - - Slavic folklore!AU with Alexei and Ekaterina. Unlike in canon where they meet as children, in this au their territories border each other’s (Dvorovoi, like Domovoi, are keepers, only of the yard/land and the livestock instead of the house; the Vily are essentially Slavic nymphs, usually, but not always, associated with the forests/woodlands). She’s the one who initiates, often sitting on the fence and conversing with him as he tends the land (and teasing, she’s still such a tease). He’s a touch stand-off-ish, but she’s not bothering his animals, so he doesn’t mind her company too terribly. They spend that spring, summer, and fall together; and by harvest’s end, they’ve established quite the friendship (and maybe have caught feelings. Maybe) - - - - - This was fun. I say that a lot, but this was really fun. Playing with textures, trying new techniques and brushes, messing with the background and the lighting; I had a blast. It’s probably one of, if not my favorite, things I’ve ever made; and this is definitely not the last time you’ll be seeing this sort of style from me. It wasn’t too different from my usual work flow, and it just has such a charm to it, I love it, it makes me think of old storybooks I’m also a huge folklore nut; it’s so much fun to work with. I tried to keep it as close to the traditional beliefs as possible, but I did definitely take liberties with Lyoshka/the Dvorovoi, choosing a bull/cattle/oxen motif instead of the way they’re typically described. Katya was way easier to work with, fae-like is something I’ve described her as before, and the Vila (despite not necessarily being very prominent in Russian folklore from what I’ve found) fit her perfectly. I hope that you can forgive me those tweaks to the lore. Also, I hope the embroidery on his shirt is semi-accurate; I did do research for what was used in the Voronezh Oblast, hopefully it’s sorta right

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Little bittersweet thing of Alexei and Katya. They have a bit of a spat over him joining the military and the eternal question of “so when are we gonna get married exactly??”, she runs off, he follows, it ends up like this

I cannot for the life of me decide how to keep Katya’s hair so for now it’ll keep changing (except the color, I quite like it :])

Also, little lore change!: Instead of joining the military in the winter of ‘39, Alexei instead joins in the summer of ‘41 (still voluntarily, though now at the age of 19 vs 17), right after the start of Operation Barbarossa, which signaled the beginning of the Eastern Front of WW2 (or the Great Patriotic War, depending on where you’re from). Not a huge change, but one I wanted to make note of!

The pose reference for this is by ThePoseArchives on DA!

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Some OC color palette sketches

All palettes are from colorpalettes[•]net ; colors with a “+” have been added

[left->right] • Arthur, unnamed Steampunk/Lovecraftian 19th century hybrid — #4257 • Ekaterina, unnamed WW1/WW2 historical fiction series — #4254 • Miriam, The Mysterious Manor of Dr. Evermore — #4253 • Tanya, Rinmeir — #4250 • Kel, Rinmeir — #4187 • Mason, Grey Heart — #4188 • Heather, Malady — #4161 • ???, The Wardens — #4094 • Rashashi, Rinmeir — #81

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Have my girl Katya with one of her duck friends. She loves them; they’re her favorite animal (she’s also quite fond of animals just in general, especially chickens, cows, and cats)

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Meant for Valentine’s Day, but didn’t quite make it. I still love them though :]

[Left to right, top to bottom] ○ Javin/Xerina ○ Spencer/Angie ○ Steven/Emma ○ Arthur/Annabel ○ Justin/Tim ○ Christophen/Bellamina ○ Alexei/Ekaterina ○ Mason/Elizabeth “Ellie” Mae

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Kiss Art February day 17 “Hair” and the last of Alexei and Katya for the month

They’re so sweet I love them :’)

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And part 2 of day 14 “Anything” (reunion/rendezvous) featuring Alexei and Katya

It's been years since they've seen each other, and they've changed, certainly, a little older and a little thinner and a little more ragged; but she still greets him the same fondness she always has; and for that, he's grateful

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And the other half of Day 13 “Farewell” with Alexei and Ekaterina

He's all of nineteen when he leaves for the war the summer of 1941. After the German invasion of the Union, he knows he can't just sit back and wait. Still, he never thought leaving would be this hard

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I’ve been working on violettenouvel’s (IG/Twt) KissArtFebruary challenge for the past little bit. I’m uploading these in batches in other places, and I’ll be uploading them individually here! A little snippet to go with this:

Alexei is fourteen when he gets his first kiss. It's not much, granted, just a quick peck on the cheek, from his best friend even; but it's enough to make his head spin. He isn't mad, certainly not; God knows he's thought about doing the same thing, thinks about it every time one of the other boys makes her laugh. Still, he only just catches her before she's turned from away from him completely, rambling muffled apologies from under her hand. His laughter comes easy, the reassurance easier. It's not long before she joins, bony shoulder leaning into his, just as it always had. If this is what growing up felt like, he didn't think he'd mind, not it it's with her.