Art Progress - October 2024

While I do rely on AI art quite a bit in my worldbuilding, I do draw and make my own art when I have time. I'm no expert at it (expecially with people, and especially with the eldritch abomination known as hands), but I do try.... This article will gather works as I create them, along with a short description of each one if I feel it is necessary.

These were the first set of images I made after I bought a new screen tablet. Clip Studio Paint is a stupidly powerful program, and the custom brushes definitely made drawing all those urchin spikes and tentacles easier to do! When I drew the Knidari, I tried to make them look alien, and also unsettling if you think about it too hard (the human eyes and skulls). All of these images are primarily featured in the article below:

The most important sword in my setting. I have no idea what the legend behind the sword's creation is going to be yet, just that it unlocks the power behind a sky fortress and... well, that's too spoilery right now! To make the basic shape, I outlined the weapon entirely with a mouse, using the path tool in Gimp. Then I did the coloring/shading with a screen tablet. The text on the blade was created in Gimp, then exported to Font Creator. I originally created this script for use with my Sci Fi World, but I think it also works as a placeholder for an ancient runic script that I haven't created yet.

This heavy bronze dagger might be a little incomplete because I'm not sure how to texture the gilded handle and crossguard. This weapon also had its own article already for almost three years now. With this and the Misara I have the two primary weapons for Saya Diaz complete. (I do still need to redraw her rifle to not be AI at some point, but that's a problem for future me...)

The Sword of the Unworthy, carried by the King of Cassel. Drawn in a similar manner as the Misara. While these newer weapons have some ornate qualities about them, I'm trying to draw them for functionality too. Unlike the Misara, I actually have the story behind this weapon's creation (which also explains a little about the Misara at the end). I'll make an article describing the weapon itself later this year.

This one took longer to make than I'm willing to admit since I couldn't figure out a practical way for the daggers to be attached to the sword. If you look closely you can see the folding mechanism the daggers have, folding and unfolding at 90 degrees (I also debated over whether to keep the crossguard on the sword or not after the daggers detach). Now that I fully redrew the weapon, I need to rewrite the article as much of the information in there is no longer relevant. This article might also be worth entering into the Worldbuilding Awards next year...

It's a meteor sword. There isn't much else to say about it. I might make the blade significantly darker, but otherwise I am happy with the simplistic design.

The Fortress Lily is a symmetrical longsword used by Isabel Vernador, and the Castle rose is a single edge backsword used by Renelle Vernador. As the two are twins, I figured I would make a set of twin blades that each reflected their personality and abilities. Since I decided to do this, the current Rose of Cassel article is completely obsolete and needs to be rewritten, but at least the art is updated for now...