#fresco learns to art

[greennoobartist]

I think this is the best way i ever drew a hand in my entire fucking life like bro! It's from a different angle than the one i got used to and it actually still looks like a hand (kinda)! And the fact that i used my very own hand as reference is funny to me lol :)

[mochibiscuit]

Another Pangur piece :3 @pangur-and-grim

[lxoys]

Day 414🦉

[mossgodd]

“Don’t resists the flow, move with it.”

HYDROKINESIS RAZ HYDROKINESIS RAZ HYDROKINESIS RAZ 😭😭

Also I love myself a menacing looking Raz every so often

[lemongogo]

i need 2 get back into painting fish

[doesbrunomarsishomosexual]

did a portrait of my gf

[blueiscoool]

Naples Welcomes Exhibition of Ancient Stolen and Looted Artifacts

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is showcasing 600 recovered objects, which date to between the Archaic period and the Middle Ages.

For more than half a century, a specialized Italian police unit has been confiscating valuable artifacts from the black market. Some 15,000 recovered items are housed at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples—and now, the museum is displaying 600 of them for the first time.

Titled “Treasures Rediscovered: Stories of Crime and Stolen Artifacts,” the exhibition focuses not only on ancient artworks, but also on the “often complex dynamic” of illegal trafficking that brought these items to the museum, according to a statement.

“It is a beautiful exhibition that tells a beautiful story, a story also of redemption for our stolen archaeological artifacts, which often find their way into private property or even international museums,” exhibition co-curator Massimo Osanna, director of national museums at Italy’s culture ministry, tells the Associated Press’ Francesco Sportelli. “Thanks to the work of the public prosecutor’s office and the police, together with the ministry, [these artifacts] are finally coming home and to light.”

Strict laws govern the ownership of archaeological artifacts in Italy. Looting has been happening for centuries, but today’s criminals have turned to advanced technologies—including sonar, drones and underwater metal detectors—to pluck treasure from shipwrecks and other ancient sites beneath the Mediterranean Sea, per the AP.

The exhibition begins with a history of collecting, which has long fueled illegal excavations and trafficking. Visitors learn about international markets and law enforcement, important court cases and the stories of looted items that haven’t yet been recovered.

Artifacts on view include coins, marbles, bronzes, weapons, armor and pottery. They come from all over southern Italy, and they date to between the Archaic period (roughly 650 to 480 B.C.E.) and the Middle Ages.

The show highlights several stories of illegal exchange: In one case, a man from Naples used archaeological finds to pay his pharmacist. In another, a French archaeologist bought sculptures from the ancient city of Pompeii off a local farmer for the equivalent of about $28. Three frescoed slabs from a fourth-century B.C.E. tomb were found in the private collection of 20th-century opera singer Maria Callas.

Also on display are “the classic tools of grave robbers, spilloni [soil probes] through which gravediggers pierce the ground,” says Pierpaolo Filippelli, deputy prosecutor of the Naples prosecutor’s office, in an AP video, per a translation by Euronews. “But today, art traffickers operate on a more advanced level, using tools like the dark web to sell stolen works.”

According to the statement, the exhibition is a “journey of collective memory” that highlights the importance of protecting cultural heritage. The Italian police’s cultural heritage protection command recovered over 100,000 artifacts in 2023 (the most recent year with available documentation), as the AP reports. Officials estimate that the haul is worth about $299 million.

By Sonja Anderson.

[teameagleworks]

Today was a very good day.

We went to tour Michigan Central Station, and it was spectacular. This train station was the main transit hub in Detroit from 1914 to 1988. If you aren't from here, it's important that you know it was owned by a local billionaire who just let it rot. It was in horrible shape, flooded, every window broken, and pillaged of all of its relics.

But, while it was a sad broken building, it was also home to tons of amazing graffiti art. Ford bought the building in 2018 and began a huge undertaking of restoring it. I could write pages about all the amazing restoration. Thousands of people put in millions of hours. I figured all the graffiti was lost to the renovation.

I was so excited to see that they saved an entire hallway of the original artwork, and I saw this exhibit today.

Here is the text if it's hard to read:

GRAFFITI PRESERVATION

From 1988 to 2018, Michigan Central Station became an important location for graffiti artists who made the building their canvas. There was great respect for the graffiti found in The Station, including early work from Detroit's own Fel3000ft- who says he learned and honed his craft here - and many other prominent artists.

As The Station changed hands, previous owners took steps to remove the graffiti, in some instances damaging the building's walls through improper cleaning techniques. Under Ford's ownership, the significance of this art was not lost on the restoration team. Local artists helped to assess each piece and to ascribe credit to the creators of the graffiti art where possible. The College of Creative Studies documented the work for archival purposes Italian Renaissance art experts who specialize in fresco preservation advised on how best to remove panels of fragile plaster for safekeeping

The guidelines for landmark restoration required that The Station be returned to its original state, but it was important to the team that some of the art remain in place to preserve this chapter of the building's life. They successfully argued for permission to keep some of the graffiti intact, and as you leave through the southeast exit, you will find a hallway where some original graffiti remains.

I love this vibrant city, and I'm excited that if we have to have everything owned by billionaires, that we switched this building to one who has reverence for Detroit and all that makes it beautiful.

[door]

tracking down a fresco for fun and profit*

in my ongoing reposting of my entire painting tag, i reached this image:

lovely painting. clear why i reblogged it in 2020. the caption is as follows: "Achille Casanova, The Night (detail), 1894-1897"

whenever i see something described as a detail, i like to look up the full image. for context, and for fun (this is all very fun for me). so i did that here, and found that everything that came up in relation to this image, artist, and title was only this detail specifically. next, i went to the source of the tumblr post, and found that it was a flickr post from a since-deleted user. searching for the artist and title brought me to this instagram post, which mentions the Palazzo Ratta-Pizzardi in Bologna and we were off to the races.

i had a false start in bologna, as i didn't realize that there are multiple palazzo pizzardis in bologna. then naturally i got sidetracked by the Palazzo Rosso, with its gorgeous Zodiac Room.

these frescoes are attributed to Augusto Sezanne, but those in the stairwell are thought to be by our guy Casanova.

anyway, once i got myself into the correct palazzo, i finally found the fresco:

good to know i'm in the right place, but that's not the image i want. (although still a very cool find--it was taken by Pietro Poppi, whose archive dates it to c. 1897, when the frescoes were completed.) i started playing around with various wordings in searches and got myself onto this page, with its very small image of what i was sure was the room with Casanova's frescoes. i plugged it into tineye and got the original, slightly larger version of it:

(important to note that i spent an hour or so trying to access sources from a list i found, hoping there would perhaps be a pdf or even print book with better images in them. and there may be, but none that i could get to from my desk at work.)

i kept at it, and eventually found a pdf about the various pizzardi buildings, including an image of this room with--miracle of miracles--a photographer's name (A. Samaritani). i searched for that, plus bologna, plus fotografia, and found him. poked around on his website and finally FINALLY! i had color photos of the owl bat fresco.

and that's the end of my journey. i didn't find a large image that i could share (aside from the watermarked ones i included here), but that's genuinely a-ok because i had a really good time and also learned a LOT about late 19th/early 20th century italian dec arts, which i didn't even realize was a blind spot for me. over and over, i saw Casanova's frescoes referred to as "Liberty" style, which is soooooo cool because i'd put money on it deriving from Liberty's London. (edit: im right)

Liberty's is a department store which had a very strong British Arts & Craft aesthetic primarily due to the design leadership of Archibald Knox in the 1890s. i doubt that it was known as liberty style at the time--most of the terms we know art movements by were applied decades if not centuries later--but it's still such an interesting connection to me. in part because none of the liberty buildings and frescoes i've looked at today looked particularly "Liberty London." Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau, yes, but Knox and Liberty's had a very strong, distinctive style, and Stile Liberty isn't it.

and speaking of distinctive styles--Bologna has one. the specific vernacular of stile liberty for bologna (and the wider emilia-romagna region) is referred to as "Æmilia Ars," taken from the applied arts society founded by Alfonso Rubbiani of the same name (much like William Morris did in England). the society lasted only 5 years, but the textile arm stayed together longer and was present at several decorative arts fairs in the first decade of the 20th century, including the exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

the palazzo ratta is now part of the municipal health network, so while i do think it's possible to visit and see these frescoes, it's primarily a building with a job (local health authority). but i know a lot more about the bats and owls and the context in which they were made now, and maybe you do too.

* absolutely zero profit will occur

[arrowfortea]

da:i has an emphasis on historiography, and encourages players to excavate bias and context from paratextual elements alone (e.g. one codex entry is "From A Treaty on the Pagan and Heretical Customs of the Elven by Senallen Tavernier of the University ofOrlais, commissioned by Empress Celene").

therefore THE WRITERS MUST KNOW WHAT SKYHOLD'S ARCHIVIST IS DOING

archivist banon, my nemesis, wrote the codex about the rotunda frescoes, but he also wrote some others, within which he: — acknowledges a pair of urns are probably left untouched out of "superstition", or maybe just because they're heavy, because when he tried to move the ancient urns with his bare fucking hands, he couldn't — is asked by solas for, as far as we know, "resources on the fade", and decides to include "dalish myth and the collected truths against" by sister petrine (whose other books on mythologies do not include collected truths against, hmm) as well as an untranslated tevene text about elves and their false gods. banon i have seen codexes dictated by dalish elves, TO INQUISITION SCRIBES, i know you can find SOMETHING to balance it out — believes the andraste statues in skyhold MUST be altered chasind figures and "likely had animal heads or some such", bangs on about how brutal and barbaric the chasind are while citing a "rumoured custom" before continuing to speak about it as if it's true. you're meant to be cataloguing the statues!!!!!

archivists are not historians, their job is keeping records. because skyhold's resources are not unlimited, the archivist's job would also include sifting the chaff—deciding what's "important" enough to preserve, organise, catalogue etc. what he archives will significantly affect historical narratives. and he's like well why stop at archiving??? why not contribute?????

similarly his codex entry on the rotunda frescoes is not about the frescoes, at all! leliana requested "a thorough examination of the fresco adorning the rotunda", and most of it is banon fawning over solas—who explicitly directed the topic of the frescoes away from himself—and being ignorant about fresco/elves.

he calls it "elven fresco"—possibly, fresco exists elsewhere (antiva?) and he doesn't know the elven word for it; possibly, it's only elven and is just "fresco", yet he called it elven fresco. who knows. anyway

"on the mural, all messere would say is-" okay so he explicitly asks solas about the mural, followed by solas saying they're of the inquisitor's actions.

"on the medium and method, it is-" oh so.. did you ask solas this? unclear i guess. anyway, despite banon saying he's ~rarely been privileged~ to see fresco done, he calls the medium and method "pigment and plaster and it is grand" before immediately moving on. and doing the written equivalent of vaguely gesturing. "it is considered, with long periods of study before the image emerges, whole cloth"? what the fuck are you talking about???

i had to delete two sentences of nitpicking why this description makes no sense for fresco. this makes no more sense for fresco than it does for sculpture or pottery or a painting just—DESCRIBE ANY PART OF THE TECHNIQUE. you said you've seen it done! did you NOT ask solas????

"the more I learn of his experience, the more awkward I feel not using a formal honorific" / "i should expect such [fresco] competence of messere, given his probable years of study". WHAT DID YOU ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT?????

anyway the medium and method paragraph ends with "speaks of how i imagine elves view the world, and the measured nature of their step".

also, he notes that fresco is a rarely-practiced art, "even amongst the Dalish". EVEN amongst the dalish! those MOST in a position to perform it, i'm sure, as statistically speaking, any civilisation a clan is nearby would love for the dalish to permanently leave a mark upon their architecture! since FRESCO REQUIRES WALLS, BANON

maybe city elves could do fresco IF ONLY WE HAD A SOURCE FOR THE TECHNIQUE OH WELL GUESS IT'S TIME TO BROWN-NOSE MESSERE AGAIN

[greennoobartist]

WOOOOOOO❗❗❗

I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!!

My blorbo committing arson :3

After soooo long finally here to post my art. This is THE ONLY ART PIECE im actually PROUD OF!!! This one has a lot of "first time to" stuff so yeah :3

Everything's a bit off (especially the arms i think) but I'll leave it as imperfect (*^ｰ^)👍 And yeah there's no shading but this is my first time drawing fire so yeah, imma leave it like this idc

This one also has a plenty of hc too hehe :]

Also I don't think that this should be tagged as LU or LU Legend since it's based on Link from Oracle of Ages not the LU, so I won't tag it as LU.

(Did I watermark this a bit too much?... Nah... Nonsense)

Some thanks (tags), pics I used as reference and the list of "first time to" things I drew here under the cut ⬇️

First time drawing:

The Hero of Legend (yeah believe it or not)

Fire

Drawing over the whole paper

Background

Hands

Expression that's more than just :) or :|

Headcanons that are included here:

The pink hair (thanks to LU Legend ofc XD)

The blue feather behind his ear (that's the blue feather from Oracle of Ages that allows you to jump, i hc that he tugs it behind his ear when using it instead of holding it in his hand lmao)

Red eyes (long story :|)

Pics I used as reference:

Some people I'd like to thank:

@deebiggestg - im not sure if you remember, but I didn't forget when you gave me an advice about drawing head and face. It helped A LOT here and it actually worked!

@cokoakeostuff - the post about drawing expressions you posted that one day helped SO MUCH in this drawing. I used it as a guide and reference (i hope you don't mind) and it was very useful! Thank you so much for sharing that with us! I wouldn't be able to draw this without it❣️

So yeah, that's all :)

This is my first art to post here, so I'd like to hear what you guys think ^^

[aychama]

Im gonna be saying bye bye to Adobe and start drawing on Clip Studio Paint!

I already started tweaking with the program and oughou there is so much I need to learn. I hope the transition will be ok...

I also hope I can find an alternative to Vine Brush 5 from Fresco on Clip studio because that brush is crucial for my rendering style!

So what Im saying is I might not be posting art for a while!

Its time to relearn!

[lxoys]

Today I’m celebrating 400 days of daily drawings!!🦌

[freshvanillapng]

mycenaean odysseus

this is a result of 'what if portrayals of the Odyssey set it in bronze age greece rather than classical' christopher nolan when i catch you and my months long obsession with Epic the Musical

i have degrees in archaeology and public history so here are the sources i used and also a little explanation:

this is just a fun little exploration into more mycenaean greece archaeology and combining it with the musical and the vibe of the amazing animatics and art that have been made by the fandom~

Casual: my biggest and most helpful resources for this outfit were this post by the lovely @littlesparklight as well as the blog Gorgeous Tangents and their recreation of Mycenaean chitons. there's a little bit of bronze but very minimal.

Troy Saga: the armour here is made out of bronze (surprise) aside from the helmet, which is created from boar tusk. the helmet specifically is inspired by this one that was also described by homer in the iliad! as for the armour, it is inspired by the work of artist Dimitrios Katsikis who combines archaeology with academic papers and other sources like frescos to create accurate armours from 15th century BC - 15th century AD. he has created armour sets specifically for Odysseus as well as other characters like Achilles. the armour here is inspired by his works but is not copied directly from the artist's designs - instead i used them as references to create a look i feel fit the vibes of Epic.

Ithaca Saga: so Odysseus returns to Ithaca naked in some interpretations but i can understand why the musical animatics don't. do that. the cape/cloak used in them is incredibly cool so i decided to settle in the middle and just give him a sort of skirt/kilt. this is inspired by the chitons of Gorgeous Tangents but also the Seated Woman of Mycenae. its been twenty years, bros been through it. i dont think Odysseus was too concerned with his fit when killing the suitors and getting back to Penelope.

im not gonna claim this to be fully accurate. a) because there is little surviving artefacts from the period we think the trojan war took place in (between 1260 BCE and 1180 BCE), b) im not a classics student/bronze age specialist, i currently specialise in the stone age - the earlier the better - and finally c) a few creative liberties have been taken for the designs to fit the feel of Epic the Musical. mostly in terms of a simplified art style. if you want detail, absolutely go check out Katsikis work and the rest of the sources credited here.

i plan on designing more of the characters and will keep doing more research. who knows i'll maybe even come back and redesign this after i've learned more!

[an-established-butt-dent]

“Solas?“

“Yes, Vhenan."

“What are you drawing?“

He still has his eyes on the piece of parchment in front of him, but slows down the repetetive movements of his hand tracing the shapes on paper, as if that might offer him more time to find his answer. "Oh, just some practice. It helps me sort my thoughts," he says with the casual air of somebody trying to evade a question.

“Can I see, then?“

He glances up briefly and notices she has stopped reading her book on the early history of Neromanian magic. She has one elbow propped up on the table and rests her chin on her hand. She is looking at him expectantly, her book clearly forgotten.

He pauses the scratchy movements of his pencil and says rather hesitantly.

"It's not finished."

She leans forward a bit more, trying to catch a glimpse at his paper. He subtly angles it away from her. She might have barely noticed, had she not noted his newfound secrecy regarding his recent drawings. She has become increasingly curious over the past few weeks, and his forced casual demeanor after her question only fills her with more anticipation.

It makes her think of the first time he showed her his artwork. …

The first time she had walked into the rotunda in Skyhold and found Solas high up on the scaffolding with a paint brush in his hands and a concentrated look on his face, she was surprised to learn of his motivation.

"History needs to be documented," he had said when she asked him what he was working on.

After climbing down the scaffolding and taking a step back to admire the process of his work, he continued, "Not by the words of diplomats, but through the eyes of those skilled in artistry. Words will be forgotten, but images? Those will hold significance across time."

She had been moved then. By the bold lines in the fresco and the fierce look in his eyes as he regarded her as he spoke. Like she was someone worthy of admiration. Like he truly saw her. It reminded her of his words before their first kiss.

'You change everything.' He had said.

She didn't really believe him then. She didn't want to be put on a pedestal, far removed from the world and the simple and nomadic lifestyle of her clan that she was accustomed to. She missed roaming mountains and hills, not fighting blighted Templars and navigating treacherous games of power with nobles. That life had seemed like such a long time ago, even though it had barely been a year.

But perhaps she didn't need to suffer though all of this alone. She had her friends. Dorian with his jokes. Varric with his stories. Cassandra with her quiet support and camaderie. Iron Bull helping her with her fighting stances and teaching her new drinking games with Cullen. Even Cole, though he was still figuring out what the word friend even meant. She would help him with that, she had decided then. Friends; they made the aching pull of homesickness more bearable.

But Solas.

Who was he to her? She could call him her friend the supposed. She had the feeling they were becoming closer and yet there was an undeniable distance. Always leaving space for interpretation and mystery while never backing away from any of her questions. So much knowledge he shared, and still she had the feeling she barely knew him at all. He had slowly and unknowingly developed a talent for surprising her with new insights and he did so later again that same evening.

The next hour passed quickly while they were still talking about art and the different depictions of elven lore. He had stared at her intently for a moment, considering her.

"I want to show you something." he had said.

She never passed up an opportunity to learn more so she had indulged him, following him to a plain-looking crate to the side of the room. He removed the protective wards with a wave of his hand. He then uncovered some, by the looks of it, handbound books. He observed them one by one carefully, with a nod of acceptance when he seemingly found what he was looking for and handed her one of the books.

As she opened the first few pages she discovered they were sketchbooks filled with rough outlines in preparation for the next installment of the mural.

Excitedly he pointed to notes in the margin and spoke of where he learned the techniques for collecting and grinding his own pigments. There was a red ocre in the Western Approach that he had recently discovered on one of their missions which was apparently incredibly well suited for his purpose. At her encouragement he had shown her more of of his other drawings too. First of symbolism and color studies, but then more personal ones: of the views of the mountains from Skyhold, running Halla, drying herbs and even of some of the members of the inquisition she recognized.

In turn she told him about how she used to carve wood, especially when winters were rough and her clan was stuck in the same place for long waiting out the biting cold and punishing snow. To keep her fingers from freezing and her mind from wandering to dark places, she had started to carve.

"I haven't had the time since, well you know, this whole mess." she waved the fingers of her marked hand which flashed a sliver of green. Solas had looked thoughtful after her comment, almost like there was a tinge of regret behind his eyes.

The conversation steered in a different direction afterwards, like the seriousness of their predicament weighted more heavily on their shoulders than before. The mysterious books disappeared back into the chest and not long after she had excused herself and called it a night. Somehow she couldn't shake the feeling she had overstepped.

A few days later she returned from a short scouting mission. She climbed the steps to her sleeping quarters, exhausted. She hardly noticed there was an odd-shaped package leaning against her bedroom door until she almost stumbled over it. Her tiredness trading itself for curiosity, she moved to pick it up.

There was no note attached but once she unwrapped the bundle she discovered a beautiful and distinctive elven carving knife and a solid piece of oak wood.

She couldn't help the warm feeling that spread though her body, feeling the comforting weight of the wood and the cool metal of the knife in her hands.

….

She shakes her head as she's brought back to the present. That same rotunda they have since spend so much of their time together. Researching, reading and talking. There had been barely an evening where she didn't end up in the rotunda with Solas. At least when she wasn't away from Skyhold, trying to save the world on missions throughout Thedas.

She looks at Solas from her spot at the table with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

It takes a lot of effort to hide her smile.

Whith an amused tilt to the corner of her lips she says, "You know, Dorian told me he found some sketchbooks laying around, depicting a rather familiar elf. Anything you would know about that?"

Is he… Is he blushing?

"Um, Well you see." he cleares his throat trying to school his expression. "Those were private… And hidden for a reason."

She can't contain a smile. Solas flustered, that's a rare sight.

"You've seen them?" he askes quietly. She notices he has started fumbling with the edges of the paper. She didn't believe his ears could turn a brighter shade of pink.

"Maybe," she says while averting her eyes to the ceiling. She glances back to him out of the corner of her eyes.

Solas looks at her like she has grown an extra pair of ears.

She leans back in her chair and stretches out her legs comfortably under the table. Knowing she has him she doesn't want to push more and decides to spare him some of her teasing. She turns to look at him and softens her expression.

"I rather liked them."

Knowing that is probably not enough to explain why she had looked at his private belongings without permission and seeing the dumbfounded expression on his face slowly making space for embarrassment she decides to tell the whole story.

"I know shouldn't have overstepped, but Dorian said he had something urgent to discuss and before I was even halfway up the stairs he assaulted me with flying books, shouting about discovering my secret admirer. Either I would have stumbled to death or caught them. And, well… Once I started looking I couldn't look away… " she trails off with a slight tinge of shame in her voice.

"You liked them?“

She lookes at him, surprised by the hopefulness in his voice.

A wave of understanding washes over her.

He hid the drawings from her, not because he didn't want her to see them but because he was afraid of her rejection. Even though they had spent the last few months becoming more and more tangled up with each other, stealing fleeting glances and sometimes passionate kisses, they still hadn't really taken a moment to talk about what there was between them.

When she saw the drawings he made of her she had finally understood his interest in her was genuine and went beyond anything resembling a casual dalliance - something she can now confess to have been rather afraid of, because she had developed deeper feelings for him from the moment he started sharing detailed stories dreamt in the fade and his perspective on magic intertwined with life. And then there had been that first kiss… Wel let's just say she's in way too deep to turn back now.

And for all the effort he put into keeping emotional distance between them, he had apparently failed from the moment he had started putting her likeless on paper. For she could see the passion and emotion in the lines, soft shadows and hidden meanings. It made them stand out from all the other drawings she had seen by his hand.

What he couldn't yet put into words, he had found a different way of showing.

"Yes I-" suddenly feeling unsure she pauses for a moment and crosses her arms looking for the right words. "The drawings, they reminded me of who I could be." She takes a deep breath finds her courage and continues. "Someone who people will tell stories about. Not stories about Divine intervention, but of an elven woman's fight for justice. For a kinder world. Somehow I never really managed to see myself that way when I look in the mirror. But those drawings… I guess it's easier to understand who I've become by seeing myself through your eyes. To see the change I'm part of, but most of all to remind myself of where I came from."

She had uncrossed her arms and angled her body towards him over the table. A determined expression rests on her face. He hadn't taken his eyes of her from the moment she started talking.

He looks at her thoughtfully for a moment, considering his reply.

"Very well" he says while some of the tension visibly drains away from his body. She raises her eyebrows in question. "Then it's only time you started showing me your carvings in return. Some good blocks of wood have gone missing. I overheard Blackwall complaining about recently." He shares the accusations with a bemused smile on his lips.

Now it was her turn to blush.

"I was planning on showing you, but first I wanted to practice… " she trailed off her sentence, knowing she doesn't actually have a valid excuse for hiding it from him. And it was not like she hadn't backed him into a corner first.

Feeling relieved he wasn't pulling away at her recent discovery she changes her mind with newfound courage and stands up abruptly while extending her hand in invitation. The purpose of their late night reading session forgotten.

"You're right. And I'm willing to offer you a tour of my recent carving exploits, but only if you can refrain from commenting over the woodchips carpeting the floor." He starts to move as if to get up but she makes him pause as she isn't done yet. "But in turn I will pose for your next drawing." Solas looks at her confused for a moment, as if considering her question.

She pauzes for a moment and adds without hesitation.

"Naked."

"What?"

"That's right."

From a balcony upstairs they could hear some muffled movement followed by a familiar voice echoing down "You know Solas, if you're looking for nude models you only need to ask!"

"Dorian!" they say in unison, horrified.

Solas quickly tucks the sketches under his arm and stands up to grasp her hand, surprising her by pulling her close so fast she has to steady herself with her other hand landing on his chest.

Only a breath away from her ear he says softly so only she can hear.

"It seems like you found yourself a deal, ma Vhenan."

She squeezes his hand in response and when she looks at him there isn't a hint of his previous embarrassment. Instead there is a look of hunger and challenge in his eyes. It's so easy then, to lean over and kiss him, her lips a promise and Dorian's earlier interuption temporarily forgotten. Before she can get lost in the soft press of his lips she pulls back and feels a delighted thrill in the way he slightly chases them as she takes a step back. With a teasing smile on her lips she tugs on his hand bringing him back to reality and encouraging him to follow. As they make their way quietly towards the door she throws a judgemental look over her shoulder towards where she imagines Dorian to be hiding.

She is just able to make out a muffled conversation on the first floor "… These lovesick fools seem to keep forgetting this is a public space, if they don't want an audience they should find a room!"

Not sure if she should be terribly embarrassed or slightly thankful for Dorians intervention she doesn't manage to hide her smile.

"Let's get out of here then." she says as they start to make their way through Skyhold.

He squeezes her hand.

"Gladly."

[badgalsasuke]

An Interview with Masashi Kishimoto The Creator of Naruto. Shonen Jump Issue 6 (June, 2003)

This interview had already been posted by @narutouzumakiarchive from pictures of a magazine [LINK]. But I want to share here not only the interview again but also the site from which I got it which I think can be pretty useful to look for Naruto resources. Looking for Kishimoto interviews on the internet I found an old site called saiyanisland, it no longer exists, but some of it got archived on the Wayback machine and I found that same interview!! [LINK]

Saiyan Island used to post info, scans and interviews of popular shonen mangas like Naruto, Bleach and Dragon Ball Z but eventually it was shut down around mid 2010s. I'll be checking how much info we still got preserved from it.

This interview was published originally in the issue #6 of Shonen Jump June 2003.

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Naruto: Interview with Creator

Shonen Jump interviewed the creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. Here it is:

Shonen Jump: What were you like when you where younger (say in middle school and high school)? Masashi Kishimoto: I had manga on the brain, and I was constantly drawing, hardly ever doing homework. In short, a bit of a brat.

Shonen Jump: How did growing up in a rural environment influence your manga, or your personality in general? Masashi Kishimoto: This is a story set in a slow-paced, relaxed setting, far away from capitalist society. My personality is very slow-paced, too, so that's why I often just barely meet, my deadlines for the manga.

Shonen Jump: I've heard that you where a huge fan of Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball" and "Dr. Slump". What was your favorite storyline of Dragon Ball? Or, if you prefer, who was your favorite character? Masashi Kishimoto: I love all the stories up until the first appearance of Frieza. My favorite character is Kuririn, because he has the most "human" feel, and I really associate myself with him.

Shonen Jump: When you where younger, you were attacked by monkeys. Can you tell us about this experience? Masashi Kishimoto: I accidentally stepped on a young monkey, and the alpha male of the group and the mother of the monkey attacked me. Ever sense then, I have been afraid of monkeys. But these days, I look back on the incident and realize that the protective, nurturing aspect of the monkey is just the same as what a human would feel.

Shonen Jump: You grew up next to a military base, and the ninja in Naruto behave something like a military force, with discipline and training. Are you a military enthusiast, and did you ever consider joining the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF)? Masashi Kishimoto: I don't really consider myself a military enthusiast. Where I grew up didn't really have a military base, as Japan doesn't have a military, just a Self-Defense Force. What I did was use the training grounds of the SDF as a reference, in addition to books on the Mossad and the SAS. I never wanted to join the JSDF, as I wanted to draw manga.

Shonen Jump: I've heard that you where most inspired by "Akira" the anime, and the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo. Why is this, and what inspired you? Masashi Kishimoto: I consider "Akira" (1988) to be the first Japanese anime to use the "fresco" style of art. Unlike the other works during that time, the character designs, lines, and sense were very realistic, as was the manga itself. Even the buildings were very detailed, and the sheer amount of information that the art conveyed was incredible. It was a very cool science fiction manga. I think it's also the reason anime became so popular in the U.S. I got a bunch of storyboards for "Akira" when I was 14, and I remember constantly copying them.

Shonen Jump: What was it like going to art school? What was the most useful thing you learned there? Masashi Kishimoto: I trained in plaster mediums and the drawing of the human body to increase my skills as a design artist. I also learned graphic design, coloring, and perspectives. Manga is still an art form that you pick up by yourself-that's the current reality of the Japanese manga industry. Although the drawing skills that I learned in art school were quite useful, I had the ability of drawing and perspective prior to entering art school. Thus, going to art school was more of a step backwards for me.

Shonen Jump: What was it like being "trained" to be a professional manga artist for "Weekly Shonen Jump"? What kinds of things did you learn? Masashi Kishimoto: Of course, art is a big part of being a manga artist, but equally important is being able to write a story well. I do everything pretty much by myself, from the characters to the story to the backgrounds. Also, receiving advice from the editor is important, but I think getting a good editor who is supportive of you is the key.

Shonen Jump: You played baseball as a kid, and at one point you considered making a baseball manga. Do you still follow baseball? If so what's your favorite team? Masashi Kishimoto: I love playing baseball, but I don't really like watching it. I don't have a favorite team in Japan. If Japan had major league teams as impressive as the Americans, I might have a team I would root for.

Shonen Jump: I've heard that you are a fan of traditional Japanese adventure stories. Do you like "chabbara eiga" (Sword fighting movies set in Japan's Feudal period) or historical fiction? Masashi Kishimoto: I like chabbara, but the recent chabbara films don't have the feel that the older movies have, and I'm not a big fan of the recent ones. I'm hoping a much cooler director comes out and creates an awesome chabbara film.

Shonen Jump: Especially since the early 1980's ninja have been very popular in America n movies and comics. Have you been inspired by American ninja stories? Masashi Kishimoto: I know a little bit about the popularity of Sho Kosugi (star of many action movies) during the period, as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'm happy, from the perspective of someone from Japan, to see the new way ninjas are perceived in America. Although I hear there are some people who are upset about how the entire "ninja mythology" has been screwed up because of it.

Shonen Jump: This may be an American misconception, but when I think of "ninja" I think of figures wearing completely black outfits, usually with masks. But the ninjas in Naruto look completely unlike the old stereotypes. How did you come up with the interesting "Konoha Style" of ninjas in Naruto? Masashi Kishimoto: If I created a world that recycles the traditional concept of a ninja it would have ended up just like all the other ninja manga. I wanted to create a ninja world with a twist, something fresh, so I completely threw out the preconceived notion of what a ninja wearing yellow clothing, who is suppose to be part of a secret intelligence gathering organization. There's no way that a ninja who stands out that much would really exist. (Laughs)

Shonen Jump: Samurai are of almost equal fame to a ninja, and in pop culture, in some ways, they seem like the opposite of ninja - forthright instead of sneaky. Are there any powerful samurai in the world of Naruto, or are ninja the overwhelmingly dominant power in this world? Masashi Kishimoto:I do have a few samurai character: Zouri and Waraji (although they're kind of "lame" samurai.) But there are way too many samurai manga out there, so to stay original I'll continue with ninja stories.

Shonen Jump: The character Jiraiya, who appears in Naruto, is based on a legendary ninja. Is Naruto inspired by any other particular legends? Masashi Kishimoto: Jiraiya is about the only character who is like that; the others are all original.

Shonen Jump: Your work seems to have a science fiction influence. Approximately speaking what is the technology level in the world of Naruto? Masashi Kishimoto: Actually, the world of Naruto doesn't differ very much from our present time. TV, refrigerators and air conditioners exist in the world. The only exceptions are weapons and explosives, which I've decided to set in a much earlier era. That's why you don't see firearms.

Shonen Jump: Many "Shonen Jump" mangas have puns for character names. So can you explain some of the puns in the names of the characters? I know that Naruto is a word for the spiral fishcakes in ramen... But I've also heard of a place off the sea of Japan called the "Naruto Uzumaki" (the Naruto whirlpools), like Naruto's a first and last name. Masashi Kishimoto: Uzumaki (spirals) are a very cool Japanese pattern. "Weekly Shonen Jump's" philosophy for naming characters is to create a name that the readers can easily associate with the character, by combining it with puns and gags.

Shonen Jump: How did you develop the chakra power system in Naruto? Are you interested in East Indian mysticism? Masashi Kishimoto: I actually have no interest in East Indian mysticism. I needed a hook to tie in those points in the story when characters would use powers that were beyond normal human capabilities. The term is chakra, which is used as an explanation for readers to better understand the powers. Its similar to "the Force" in Star Wars, or chi (aka. - Ki) in "Dragon Ball", or magic points in RPGs.

Shonen Jump: How did you develop the mystic hand gestures used by the ninjas in Naruto? Masashi Kishimoto: As an alternative to the standard verbal method of casting spells, like in RPGs, the ninja use hand gestures instead

Shonen Jump: In Naruto, the frog seems to be associated with the character Naruto. Also, in an early drawing you associate the snake with Sasuke, and the snail with Sakura. What about these animals caused you to connect them with these characters? Are ninja associated with frogs in Japan? Masashi Kishimoto: When you talk about ninjas, you invariably talk about frogs. There is a ninja manga whose main character is "Hattori-kun," who (also a joke in the story) does not like frogs, so this connection between ninjas and frogs is a close one. (In Japanese folklore, frogs are concerted magical animals, and the oil from a frog's skin is a traditional ointment for wounds and other ailments.) The triad of snake, snail and frog is from Japanese mythology. The snake is more powerful then the frog, the snail is more powerful then the snake, and the frog is more powerful then the snail, Making a paper, rock, scissors" sort of situation. These three are collectively called the "Sansukumi".

Shonen Jump: What inspired you to do a story about a demon fox? What interests you about foxes? Masashi Kishimoto: Because the fox, in particular the nine tailed fox, is considered to be one of the most powerful supernatural beasts.

Shonen Jump: What is the relationship of Naruto and the demon fox? Was the demon fox killed and reincarnated inside Naruto's body, or was it sealed inside the baby Naruto with out dying? Are there two souls within Naruto's body, in a mystical sense, or is it more like two personalities, in the psychological sense? Masashi Kishimoto: The demon fox has been sealed inside of Naruto without having been killed. It's because the nine tailed fox couldn't be killed, so they had no choice but to seal it away... probably... which us why there are two personalities inside of Naruto.

Shonen Jump Question: Do you get more fan letters from boys or girls? Do boys and girls like different things about the series? Masashi Kishimoto: Fan letters are typically written by girls, as it seems that "boys don't write letters". About 90% of the fan letters seem to be from girls, even though the majority of readers are suppose to be boys. It was like that when I used to read Weekly Shonen Jump as a kid, and apparently it's the same today.

Shonen Jump: Naruto and Sasuke kiss (accidentally) in the first chapter where they appear together. Does this add a special dimension to their rivalry? Masashi Kishimoto: I didn't have any particular reason for it, other than to surprise readers. I mainly did it because I don't think there has ever been a manga where two rivals kissed. Also, by having this encounter, it was easier to set up the love triangle: Sakura, who had intended to be the first one to kiss Sasuke, has it stolen by her rival Naruto, Sasuke and Naruto are rivals, so there's and added tension there. And so on and so forth.

Shonen Jump Question: Is there ever going to be a manga adaptation of "Ichalcha Paradise"? (Make-Out Paradise" or "Cum-Cum Paradise") Masashi Kishimoto: Never

Shonen Jump Question: In closing, what advise would you give fans who are interested in becoming artists themselves? Masashi Kishimoto: Creating manga isn't just about drawing well, but writing a good story. Keep the art and the story real, and you can't lose. Also, watch a lot of good Hollywood movies. Those who rail against the entertainment industry are just being close-minded.