Esa concepts

So, yesterday I made a new warlock character on World of Warcraft, and caught myself trying to create a character for her. It all started by trying to decide what talent spec I wanted to make her - affliction or destruction. I didn't really want to go the typical "leveling spec" route of demonology with her. I wanted to have fun and just run quests with her.

I started formulating a personality - she was wearing an heirloom headpiece, so I decided that as a worgen, she was ashamed of her face and didn't like people looking at it. Depsite her implied meek, sweet personality, I thought it would be funny that she actually had a bleak outlook on the world, and just wanted to set it all on fire. So, I went with Destruction.

Something clicked in the back of my brain. One of the things I've really been struggling with lately for August Rye is that I needed a female character that could fit somewhat into the circle of August's 'friends', or rather a loose collection of people August can somewhat get along with. The only female August's age was a girl who she hated, plus was dating the boy that she was smitten with. This creates a bit of a sterotyping problem, because on the surface it looks like 'two females who can't get along because they like the same man.' I'm not too big on that kind of cliche, so I've been trying to think of a suitable female character to fit into the narrative. The problem is that the main character, August, is not exactly a friendly little ball of sunshine, so the trick was finding someone that was not so like everyone else that she'd get shot down by August as just another peasant. No, this girl had to be someone special.

So yesterday, Esa was born. Roughly around the same age as August and Billy, Esa roams around the demon world, keeping only undead and a few other demons as company. She's absolutely erratic and eccentric when compared to the main cast, which may be part due to her upbringing with other demons in the demon realm. She absolutely hates when people look at her actual human face, to the point of being ashamed of it. Instead, she always wears a hood, or a mask that resembles the face of the species of one of her closest undead companions. Her main powers are lighting things on fire and necromancy on Thursdays. When it comes to her outlook on life, she sees no problem with her rampant acts of destruction - as far as she's concerned, everywhere you look is something that needs to be destroyed, so you might as well watch it all burn. Despite her bleak outlook on life, she's very pleasant and polite, if you can get past her cultural quirks.

The Demon Lords cards

For August Rye, there's a huge backstory and world behind the "demons" that inhabit the story. The Demon Lords are not actually particularly in leagues with one another, but a select number of highly powerful and influential creatures and characters in the demon realm. In the story's present day canon, there are currently eleven lords, with several old relevant ones either deceased, defeated, or missing.


Since I picked up some small 2.5x3.5" bristol cards, I've been drawing these demon lords (and some other characters) onto individual cards. I plan on coloring them eventually, but I want to get them all drawn and inked first. The twelve I have in progress so far are nowhere near close to the actual number of characters, but maybe a little over halfway.

In order: Helvizar, Sangri, Ymara, Cheshiredame, Lilith, Galeo Cavier, The Songstress, The Reaper, Snuggles, Billy Bay, August Rye, and Ravenfang.

I'll post more when these are finished and when I have the rest drawn as well. August Rye's been on my mind lately again, which is good. I'm getting inspired to get back to work on the story, just in time for the summer. :)

Things to keep busy with

School has a lot of them, don't you know.

The spring semester of Foundations is split into three workshops, and I was in a couple called Figure Drawing, Color Abstraction, and my current and final workshop is Shrinkstallation. I think my work's generally improved since the fall.

Three pieces from my Figure Drawing class, from January through February.

 Figure Drawing involved a lot of steady work and practice. I felt pretty good about it towards the end, and apparently I got one of the higher grades in the class.

Having some fun with my feet.

The three paintings in the center and the scales and spectrum next to it are my work.

My color abstraction final - a palette and painting based on a particular 4-part sound.

Color Abstraction was an interesting one, and I learned a lot about mixing colors and paints. Unfortunately it's not something I want to experience again, because it burned a huge hole in my funds for paint supplies.

My building model, in progress.

My final workshop involves making a to-scale model of an actual location, and then creating a public artwork proposal to place in it. I chose the abandoned Michigan Central Station as my location, and it's still in progress. The artwork proposal will involve some figures inside.

Semester ends on May 11th and it's been quite an interesting year. All of my professors have been really awesome and I'm looking forward to start working with my specific major in the fall. Plus, apartment hunting. Woo!