gwennafran - Tumblr blog

[gwennafran]

Watercolour practice

Postcard size

From this photo

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights, Book 2 chapter 39 - Tolomontera Residents

Adjusted Yue’s hair a bit.

We don’t actually know what has happened to former 49th patron Dionora. So, she’s still on the sheet. For now.

Added a section for the not at all too intelligent and oversized pets of this island. Say hi to Sakkas.

[gwennafran]

Galaxy Tiefling

Playing around with water colour. Post card sized fun. 

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights, Book 2 chapter 38 - Scholomance students

A few updates.

The towering Someshwari man that is captain for Twelfth Brigade is added. Lots of room for interpretation on this one. Between him and Ira in the same Brigade I think we’re close to covering the Someshwari extremes in just one cabal.

I also marked the two expelled students in 49th into greyscale. (Now leave it to EE to have them show up next chapter.)

[gwennafran]

No chapter art, Today.

Have an updated Work in Progress on this one. Already finding stuff I want to correct on the lineart.

Also, poor Maryam need more sun. And some shading that'll make the bags under her eyes look more as I'm intending them to look.

[gwennafran]

Behind you!

Sometimes, you just feel like drawing tieflings in trouble.

[gwennafran]

Some general text and layout updates overall. And well… A bunch of student updates. Seven new students were added, for starters (turns out a few of the Malani nobles already had been around).

This is one of those chapters where it is more obvious than usual, that I ignore bruises, but does add more long-lasting cuts.

Also, I made this a bit more Tumblr friendly, splitting it up in four sections. Because this file has gotten really long.

Awonke got added. I’m by now developing the same love-hate relationship to beads as I have to ringlets and tiny braids.

Zama got added. So bright. His hat kinda looks like a crown, but… Happy accident, I guess.

Lindiwe got added. Between the high collar and layered sleeves, I went full Renaissance. That hair isn’t going anywhere during combat, though. And the hat is undoubtedly very tightly pinned to it. On top of it, the top part of her dress actually is cut a lot like a doublet. I could see it be a secret duel getup. 

Angharad got some small face adjustments. Also, it’s been long enough I removed the small cut from book 1 on her face (the other cut still is hinted).

Tristan got his hat back. Rejoice!

Kasigo was already on the sheet. Now with an entirely different expression. And fancy clothes. I reused the hat, though.

Emini got added. Pearls are always in fashion. I hope for her she doesn’t get into an honour duel while having her stay (corset) strap in her shoulders like that.

Forty-Ninth Brigade:

Is no more. But things are still a bit up in the air for some of them.

Ramona got some cuts on her cheek and a crunched nose.

Tengfei has been called handsome by Song twice now. So, he got prettied up. Which is extreme considering his look is changed as he’s going away. I guess am nothing if not thorough.

Malani Nobles of Unknown Brigades:

Fanyana with his neat cloud of hair. I forgot it was meant to be a jerkin instead of a doublet. Let’s just retcon this into being a jerkin on top of a doublet, made to match each other.

Branwen and Morcan: When you mirror the file and add some tiny differences. Justifying it with saying they like to mess with others like that. I kinda cheated on the headpiece and updated the fashion. A silver band with a veil just sound so very, very medieval. And while they certainly like to live on their ancestors doing one notable thing a very long time ago, that seemed a bit extreme. 

[gwennafran]

Messy sketchbook experiment.

I need a new eraser. My very old one I haven't used for years ruined the paper. Then i learned that my sketchbook paper also isn't as good as actual watercolour paper for watercolours.

I guess you can say I learned a lot. About very basic stuff I already should know.

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights, Book 2 chapter 34 - Tolomontera Residents

It’s been a bit. Have some updates on this one. I’d joke about it starting to grow to a pretty decent size. But then… there’s 7 new students to add to the other overview after this chapter. I started here to have more time working on the other overview.

Salimata Bouare and all her underlings fell into the “must have two showings before I add them”, so no cool Jahamai or living lie detector. As already hinted, I have my limits.

Wen got an overall wardrobe update.

Osian got overall updated, as we now got a real description of him.

Cence got added as a backup teacher. It’s never flat out stated she’s Malani, but hints strongly point in that direction.

Combat uniform updates: Mandisa, Kavita, Tenoch, Rhys and Nandi

[gwennafran]

Oh, no worries.

I basically do fanart for me. And just me. Showing it off is just a bonus, but there's a reason I don't do commissions.

By now keeping up with the chapter overview art is a bit of a thing, so it'll probably keep happening for all of book 2. I might skip it for book 3, though. By now the challenge has been tried. (and it does take a lot of art time)

No Pale Lights chapter art this week.

Have a consistently neglected WIP I haven't touched since January.

It keeps getting down-prioritized whenever a new chapter drops.

[gwennafran]

No Pale Lights chapter art this week.

Have a consistently neglected WIP I haven't touched since January.

It keeps getting down-prioritized whenever a new chapter drops.

[gwennafran]

Love this week's update as always! Slightly worried, though. Normally Bellerophan has their agitprop posted on the current chapter by now.

Huh. You're right.

That said, I had my second Wordpress comment tagged as spam two weeks ago, causing my comment last week to also not show up. It took 12+ hours after the second for both to be manually approved for the public. Could be as simple as their comments having been assigned as Evil Spam by Nasty Capitalistic Faceless Company Bots. In that case, they'll eventually be cleared.

Wordpress is a constant issue for me, as the links to my art sparks Wordpress' spam filter. Posting two links in a comment will instantly get me marked as a spammer. It used to be that I could post one comment with a link. And then reply with another comment with a second link when i have more than one picture. But that was got me tagged as a spammer two weeks ago, with the second comment not showing up. Could be that posting several comments very close to each other can also get the spam filter's attention.

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights, Book 2 chapter 32 - Scholomance Students

A bunch of smaller wardrobe updates. Notably I’ve changed the combat uniform design a bit.

Tempting as things are, I’m not putting students into the fancy Renaissance outfits they tried on this chapter. Also, clearly, EE is a cruel and indifferent God of this world, giving me practically nothing on Angharad’s dress. (At some point we’ll probably get a big reveal)

Imani: Adjusted lip tone. From all the way back in the Angharad chapter.

Tristan: Adjusted his hair + wardrobe update

Zenzele: Wardrobe update, now in regular uniform.

Combat uniform upgrades: Salvador, Song, Angharad, Kiran, Silumko, Ferranda, Shalini, Ramona, and Muchen

[gwennafran]

Figure drawing

Three minutes

Chalk everywhere

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights, Book 2 chapter 31 - Reference Sheet

Every so often, I return to this and give it an update.

This time, Wen has clawed his way onto the sheet. And Tristan got some anatomy fixes.

Other than that, a bunch of wardrobe updates. It’s always fun when you have the same characters wear the same thing differently.

Wen’s outfit is an unholy mix of two very distinct styles that doesn’t belong together at all. Which honestly is very Wen

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights Uniform Design Concepts

The fighting fit overcoat has a collar… I had to redesign it. So, well… Time to make myself some proper references for myself to pull out going forward. Because I draw these things a lot and have a lot of characters on the same images.

Changing stuff as I feel like while I’m already looking at the prospect of changing a bunch of clothes in the overviews. Renaissance and Baroque stuff merged together here. A lot. XD

Regular’s uniform: The tunic is ending under the knees. I’m actually drawing it too short. But I like being able to just glimpse the pants.

I’m assuming the tunic is an actual tunic. As “military tunics, only became a thing mid nineteenth century. And there definitively are limits on how far I’ll stretch something when WOG is style inspiration is pre-Rococo. Also, the length goes towards traditional tunic as well.

Formal uniform: I based this on Renaissance fashion with a (very basic) doublet. I’m so tempted to fancy up the sleeves on this, but I am trying to also be practical here. The only things not a perfect fit for Renaissance in the description are the boots and the mid-tight length.

Fun fact, going from descriptions, this is by far the shortest uniform top out of all of them.

Combat uniform: The lower layers are described as a similar foundation as the regular’s uniform. I cheated. I turned it from a tunic to a waistcoat and made it a bit shorter than it should be. Because that just looks more right to me under the overcoat. And I’ll probably draw this a lot going forward.

I tried to maintain some period accuracy with the overcoat’s button closings. But the rest is honestly Rococo rather than Baroque.

Navigator’s robes: Based on Renaissance scholar’s robes. Picked a length that wasn’t too impractical. On top of regular’s uniform.

[gwennafran]

Pale Lights book 2 chapter 30 - Zenzele – Duck Patron

Just Zenzele. Feeding ducks.

I made the ducks Ruddy Ducks, as it fits the description. The geography is off, though. But then, Vesper. Nothing fits compared to our world.