First post, fanart

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Hey folks! New reader here. I just finished KoA, and I felt compelled to do fan art. Since I am typically a writer, it takes me really liking something to do fanart! And I thoroughly enjoyed KoA.



Full color image, no spoilers, @ Deviant Art: Attolia with inkpot.

Sketch & zoom here.

Comments

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Love your icon...

The photobucket image was unavailable but I viewed the deviantart link. Very nice colors you used there, catches the eye and the striking image of Attolia was very beautiful...wait, why do I sound like I'm an art critic? Oh well...

Write something soon...and welcome. You'll love it here ^^.

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

oh wait...I can see it now...never mind. ^^

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I just fixed it. =)

Thank you for the comments! And for the welcome. I very rarely do fanart, usually because it's so time-consuming, since I'm a tight artist and a perfectionist. But good books make me want to give it a try.

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

SPOCK! Another cute icon ;). I guess your perfectionism pays off, your fanart shows how much effort you put in this. It's that good.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Thanks, it really means a lot for me to get comments on art.

The icon is fanart from irrel, check out her stuff. =)

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Yay! First I find irrel here, and now you -- awesome! Love the coloring, great work on the pose (that's a tough angle to draw an arm/hand at, but you made it look natural), and I always approve of more Attolia.

Rather off topic

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Hmmm about drawing hands, I heard that it's the hardest part of the body to draw, and that is probably true. Am I right to think that it is an indicator of true talent or can everyone do it except me? Just something I needed to ask everyone, I am very clueless in these matters.

Re: Rather off topic

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Hands are tough, no question. I learned to draw them by looking at my own hand in a mirror, and also by copying a lot of pictures out of comic books with hands and arms in unusual positions. So no, it isn't just you. :)

Re: Rather off topic

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Ah thank you, glad to know I'm not the only one with difficulties like those. All I can draw are birds...and it makes me wonder what KoA fanart I can do with that. An Attolian bird perhaps?

Even more off topic

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Hey, RJ, I'm in the middle of your book and really enjoying it!

Re: Even more off topic

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, thank you! I hope you enjoy the rest as well!

Re: Rather off topic

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

My sisters an artist, and she constantly complains about drawing hands. She makes me model all the time. She is very annoying.

I believe most artist have trouble with hands. My sisters says they are difficult to draw, because they are so detailed and can move in so many different ways.

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

Great Irene!

I'm assuming, from your DA gallery, that you're the Rashaka who writes the great Avatar fanfics. I hope you're similarly inspired with QT. :D

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's me. Thank you for the double compliment! I am not sure about fanfic...I find most book series difficult to write/read fanfic for (excepting HP), which is why I veer toward art. But who knows what lies ahead?

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

Hello! I really like the style of dress. How did you decide on it?

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I saw a few fanarts that had her in Northern European, medeival sort of clothes, but in my head I'd always imaged her dressed in an older, Mediterranean or Mesopotamian style. This is my naive imagining of what "older, Mediterranean or Mesopotamian style" looks like, mostly based on Hollywood movies and the vague, cloudy memories of high school textbooks. I wanted her to be alluring, but not a sex object, so her clothes are attractive but not overly-revealing.

I kind of imagine Irene looking like a tougher, curvier, sturdier version of Keira Knightly. A beautiful young woman with very dark hair, able to look cold, distant, and cruel while still being alluring. I also imagined Attolia as resembling the Greek goddess Pallas Athena, who was ruthless in war and who valued knowledge, progress, and the evolution of cities.