Illustrated SA Scenes & Characters

[The Honor Spren]

3 hours ago, sheep said:

And because Sylphrena was mentioned earlier, one last piece of Kaladin and Syl art.

It’s an older one that I left plain because I thought the minimalist look was better for a desktop background, which was why I originally drew it.  That and the fact that I rarely draw Syl outside of her pocket sized mini form. 

This was inspired by something in WoR that made me feel sad.

I'M BROKEN

  Hide contents

I draw big Syl with floating Rapunzel hair to mimic her “ribbon of light” appearance when she’s in her windspren-like form.  It must be very weird for people to see Kaladin talking to the air like that.

Super big desktop background version HERE.

I really like that Syl you have there. Do you have any sort of separate image with just her that I could possibly use as my profile pic . . . ?

Edited July 2, 2016 by The Honor Spren
When autocorrect changes "Syl" to "asylum" ಠ_ಠ

[sheep]

3 hours ago, Hitoshizuku said:

'daddy windrunner' made me cackle. Also, hi, lurker here who absolutely adores the art on this thread, and is really impressed.

I made a lurker reveal themselves.  

Feel free to post in this thread, I enjoy the discussion.

 

 

3 hours ago, CarolaDavar said:

Yay! These are all great (again.) I'll tell you that i'very drawn for nine hours today and am still loving it, so. . . After it's finished, I'll probably post some of my art on the Guild of Arts  (it is actually surprisingly good. I watched an interesting art tutorial, and so I tried to practice that, and now i'm on my second drawin. (I've been drawing it more about six hours, and it's only half finished.)

Anyway. Thanks for the tip. I'll try to keep that in mind (i've notice a few times that my art was terrible because my mood about drawing was bad. That's hy it's nice to keep being happy about how good I am)

The more you practice a new technique, the more you refine and streamline your drawing process, and the faster you get.  What takes you 12 hours to finish will take you only 4 hours a few years from now.  I used it think it was crazy how speed painters could do so much in an hour or two, especially the ones who title their pieces "quick midnight scribble", but then I watched their videos and there is a logical procedure to how they start from a rough concept to a finished picture. 

I used to be really slow, because I agonised over colour palettes and colour placement, always worrying if it looked weird or if I was doing it wrong.  Becoming used to drawing and using digital painting programs let me get more confident about my abilities, so I stopped second-guessing myself.  I draw fan service-y fanart for my own entertainment, so there was no reason to get stressed about it. 

It's all a learning process.  You'll get good soon.  And when you get good, you'll want to get better.

 

 

 

32 minutes ago, The Honor Spren said:

I really like that Syl you have there. Do you have any sort of separate image with just her that I could possibly use as my profile pic . . . ?

 

Do you mean like this?

Syl without Kaladin

Spoiler

Link to download.

She looks so lonely without her Kaladin.

 

and more Syl if you want it.

Light and Dark Syl

Spoiler

Link to download.

 

 

[maxal]

19 hours ago, sheep said:

Discussing subjects of intimacy would be as awkward for Kaladin as it would be for Adolin.  Kaladin would be aware that every bit of help he gives means that Adolin gets closer to the girl he’s crushing on.  And he probably feels guilty that during the time he and Shallan wandered around in the chasms, he has probably spent more time with her than Adolin, who only got 2 dates which got interrupted by a highstorm and Amaram.  In fact, the night he spent cuddling Shallan in that hole is as close to a girl than he has been since Tarah, which is more than Adolin has had in his entire life.

Prickles?  Spiky?  Spiny?  Any of those names would make Kaladin roll his eyes.  He doesn’t like nicknames, since he told his parents to stop calling him “Kal” when he was a kid.

I had wonder if Adolin would ever find out about Kaladin and Shallan' time in the chasm... It is true this "adventure" allowed them to spend more time together than all of Shallan and Adolin's dates combined. They also were completely outside of society, so neither had to actually behave.

Adolin has never been close to a girl before and I fear he will never experience intimacy unless he passes his inhibition and he settles on a prostitute. Marriage seems heavily unlikely for him.

My daughter is suggesting: Pike, Piky, Monster or Warg. We should start a thread: how to name your Whitespine 

20 hours ago, sheep said:

The scoring for Quidditch is just one of those things about HP that shows how much it runs off amusement and quirkiness rather than logic for the first 3-4 books.  And don’t get me started on Time-Turners.  I guess it says a lot that we are posting on this forum rather than one for any other series. 

Relis and Elit Ruthar would make good Beaters!  They would practice beating in the Quidditch pitch, and in the school hallways, and probably in the bathroom too, when there aren’t any prefects watching.  They are smug and rich and like showing off, which makes them perfect Slytherins.  And they are the type of the rival who would make Adolin’s eyes bulge if they flirted with Shallan.  I know you hate Wit for encouraging Kaladin to flirt with Shallan in WoR, but if it actually happened, I would laugh way more than if intimate advice was discussed.

The scoring for Quidditch simply illustrates how little knowledge Rowling has of team sports... She designed a sport with the intended purpose of making Harry a hero, so she incorporated a position which enabled him to save the day, all by himself, despite being part of a team.

To be fair, Relis would be more like Adolin, another Chaser. After all, he was yet another very skilled duelist, if one with disputable morality. Elit certainly is a Beater considering he spend his entire duel trying to injure Adolin. Anyway, considering he was balding, I always took him as much older  I know you can go bald in your early twenties, but Elit just sounded old  

I absolutely hated Wit for hating Adolin and for being willing to hurt him in order to favor, yet another, Radiant. 

I do not know how I would feel about Kaladin flirting with Shallan... Part of me wants for Shallan and Adolin to work out, but the other part keeps on thinking it will never happen in a million year because nobody can compete with a Radiant.

20 hours ago, sheep said:

Here is a pink version, in magenta pink.  Unless you prefer salmon pink or lavender pink or some other shade.   

Why pink?  Whitespines are supposed to be white, or else they would be called pinkspines.

 

Ah it is perfect  I wanted pink because I wanted my Whitespine to fit with my shoes and my head band  I mean, everyone's got to love a pink Whitespine, no? I found a few places for shirts, I am just not convinced on the shirts they sell. I have to keep on looking.

[Mestiv]

10 minutes ago, maxal said:

I mean, everyone's got to love a pink Whitespine, no?

You mean a Pinkspine?

[maxal]

29 minutes ago, Mestiv said:

You mean a Pinkspine?

That's it. This is how Shallan should name her Whitespine: PinkSpinky or PinkSpiny 

[FeatherWriter]

That image of Syl sitting on the end of Kaladin's spear may be one of my favorites of all time. I love the flowing Rapunzel hair, it's perfect!

[sheep]

On 03/07/2016 at 6:12 AM, maxal said:

Adolin has never been close to a girl before and I fear he will never experience intimacy unless he passes his inhibition and he settles on a prostitute. Marriage seems heavily unlikely for him.

My daughter is suggesting: Pike, Piky, Monster or Warg. We should start a thread: how to name your Whitespine 

Adolin has had opportunities in the past to see a prostitute, but it seems he is uninterested.  Or maybe he doesn't want to embarrass himself in front of a "professional" and have the gossip spread to her next customer.  

Name it Toothless?

 

On 03/07/2016 at 6:12 AM, maxal said:

The scoring for Quidditch simply illustrates how little knowledge Rowling has of team sports... She designed a sport with the intended purpose of making Harry a hero, so she incorporated a position which enabled him to save the day, all by himself, despite being part of a team.

To be fair, Relis would be more like Adolin, another Chaser. After all, he was yet another very skilled duelist, if one with disputable morality. Elit certainly is a Beater considering he spend his entire duel trying to injure Adolin. Anyway, considering he was balding, I always took him as much older  I know you can go bald in your early twenties, but Elit just sounded old  

I absolutely hated Wit for hating Adolin and for being willing to hurt him in order to favor, yet another, Radiant. 

I do not know how I would feel about Kaladin flirting with Shallan... Part of me wants for Shallan and Adolin to work out, but the other part keeps on thinking it will never happen in a million year because nobody can compete with a Radiant.

Rowling wrote Quidditch as a sport to make Harry feel valuable and part of a team after being lonely all his life.  And that is why an 11 year old boy with no previous experience gets to be the Gryffindor team's star player and win the House Cup several years in a row.  Now I see how very Kaladin-appropriate it is.

Relis as a Chaser fits, I like it.  He would probably be afraid of Dementors and fall off his broom if they wandered into the Quidditch pitch.  I always thought Elit had premature balding.  It seems that people who fight Shard duels and go on the rankings are all young men with things to prove and nothing to lose.  As soon as their reflexes slow down, they don't want to risk the Shards they have and retire from duelling, which explains why Sadeas doesn't duel anymore even though he's been lusting for a Shardblade for years.  If he is older than the rest of the group, I'd think Elit is still under 30.  And high testosterone levels cause early balding, so that could explain why he is so angry and aggressive.

Wit doesn't hate Adolin.  He just thinks Adolin is just another puny mortal in a world full of insignificant puny mortal chess pieces.  Considering that he's thousands of years old and has seen everything, I interpreted the scene as his attempt at humour (YMMV if Wit is actually funny) because life gets boring when you live forever and have all the powers.  He's not favouring Kaladin or intentionally trying to hurt anyone.  He just wants to eat popcorn and laugh at people. 

Being a Radiant doesn't make a person instant boyfriend material.  If anything, all their duties and oaths them less desirable, because they have a spren partner who is always around talking to them, and they are too busy saving the world to spend time going on dates.   Dalinar isn't going to dump Navani if another Radiant pops up.  And Navani isn't going to get jealous if Dalinar the Bondsmith might happen to work with other Radiants who happen to be female.

 

 

 

On 03/07/2016 at 5:20 PM, FeatherWriter said:

That image of Syl sitting on the end of Kaladin's spear may be one of my favorites of all time. I love the flowing Rapunzel hair, it's perfect!

I imagined Syl was like Tinkerbell from Peter Pan when I first read WoK.  It was easier to picture windspren and spren in general if I imagined them like magical sidekick pets that Disney characters have, like Mushu or Iago, because I was a noob who didn't know what Realmatic theory was and the idea of physical manifestations of concepts was just too weird to grasp the first time around.  That first impression sticks around forever.

 

 

Art time

 

This is an older piece that I drew as a companion piece to "Eshonai's Victory" from a couple of pages ago.  I intended to do it in a hypercartoon style to match Eshonai's but changed my mind and went for something more dramatic, because this is one of the most dramatic scenes from the book and it really sets the tone of the series.

 

Quote

Szeth screamed, kneeling, infusing Stormlight into the wooden balcony, Lashing it downward. The air frosted around him. The tempest roared, traveling down his arms into the wood. He Lashed it downward, then did it again. He Lashed a fourth time as Gavilar stepped onto the balcony. It lurched under the extra weight. The wood cracked, straining.

The Shardbearer hesitated.

Prologue, "To Kill", The Way of Kings 

Szeth's Victory

Spoiler

 

Extended cut (you have to keep scrolling forever lol)

Spoiler

 

It's interesting, because it's the first time Shardbearers are introduced on-screen, and the impact is like POW!   And then everyone who read it had to wait until WoR before they got to see an official depiction of Shardplate. 

Quote

Another figure stepped from the king’s quarters; he wore glistening blue armor made of smoothly interlocking plates. Unlike common plate armor, however, this armor had no leather or mail visible at the joints—just smaller plates, fitting together with intricate precision. The armor was beautiful, the blue inlaid with golden bands around the edges of each piece of plate, the helm ornamented with three waves of small, hornlike wings.

Prologue, "To Kill", The Way of Kings

 

Close up - Gavilar in Shardplate

Spoiler

 

 

Process pic:

Spoiler

 

 

This came from the movie posters thread, Jasnah Kholin in a minimalist-style artsy abstract poster.

 

Words of Radiance - Jasnah Minimalist

Spoiler

 

 

I really liked the design.  There was something really epic about it and I wanted something worth printing an actual poster for, so I painted it.

Words of Radiance - Jasnah Kholin illustrated

Spoiler

It was a culmination of a lot of ideas and thoughts I had floating around.  I took my old character face design and costume design, and the Soulcaster design, and what I thought Ivory would look like as a Shardblade, and melted it together.  The polestone/gemstone of Elsecallers is Zircon and their essence is Oil, so I drew Jasnah's theme colour as yellow.  But I have no idea because zircons come in all sorts of colours... 

 

Close up - Jasnah's Soulcaster

Spoiler

You may be wondering why I made Jasnah's nails red.  Well, in-canon, Jasnah is very glamourous and makes an effort to present herself well.

Quote

She wore a beautiful dress, deep blue with golden embroidery. Her sleek black hair was done in braids and pierced by six thin golden spikes; her cheeks glowed with blush, her lips bloodred with lip paint. She stood out in the white room like a flower upon a field of barren stone.

Chapter 48, "Strawberry", The Way of Kings

Everyone I know who bothers to do the full face of makeup doesn't skip the manicure.  And long nails (not the Lana Del Ray plastic claws) make her seem more elegant and refined and definitely not someone who works for a living.  Alethi ladies only need to do one hand, so it's half the price of a full set.  

Jasnah is the Miranda Priestley of Alethkar.

 

Process pic:

Spoiler

 

Movie poster version:

Spoiler

 

Speaking of movie posters, how about this?

 

Stormlight - Team Adolin vs Team Kaladin

Spoiler

I always wondered why the Twilight movie was so blue, but the New Moon movie was yellow.  

Here's the non-parody version:

(Shardblades are described as silvery but I colour Adolin's Shardblade as a green-grey instead of straight grey because it's an Edgedancer's blade. )

Adolin and Kaladin

Spoiler

 

Shattered Plains - alternate background

Probably makes a better poster...

Spoiler

 

Process pic:

The first sketch always looks like absolute chull dung.  I move arms and fiddle with the pose and proportions a bit because it's easier to do it in the sketch than try to fix a messed almost finished painted picture.  That Shardblade is huge, man.

Spoiler

I hate colouring Adolin's hair!!!!  AHHH!!!!

 

And no for something different...

Character Design - Rock the Pacifist

Spoiler

For some reason, everyone images Rock the same way when reading about Bridge Four. 

I always thought that for someone who says he's a pacifist, he's pretty good at using pointy things with sharp edges.

Process pic:

Spoiler

That first sketch ahhahahhahh

 

Character Design - Jakamav

Spoiler

He doesn't get much pagetime or description, but since he's a clotheshorse, I wanted to try designing some lighteyes' fashionable clothes.  It's something sort of military-inspired but definitely not a uniform, with an Asian-inspired silk tunic with frog buttons and a silk scarf  around the waist where a side sword would hang.  The jacket is influenced by the "fashion folio" coats from WoR.  And I added a Shardhammer, because I don't think anyone has drawn it before.  It has a haft as thick as a man's wrist and takes two men to carry.  So I went for something that's RPG-huge.

Quote

Both of the other men at the table wore the sort of outfits Adolin’s father frowned upon. Short jackets over colorful silk shirts. Toral wore a thin yellow silk scarf at the neck and another around his right wrist. It was quite fashionable, and looked far more comfortable than Adolin’s uniform. Dalinar would have said that the outfits looked silly, but sometimes fashion was silly. Bold, different. There was something invigorating about dressing in a way that interested others, moving with the waves of style. Once, before joining his father at the war, Adolin had loved being able to design a look to match a given day. Now he had only two options: summer uniform coat or winter uniform coat.

Chapter 58, "The Journey", The Way of Kings

After finishing WoR, I kept thinking what a sleazy friend Jakamav is, so I drew this (really really stupid) comic:

 

Jakamav the sleaze:

Spoiler

...I think it was only funny in my head.

Jakamav gets a ponytail because Sadeas has long hair and everyone knows Dalinar doesn't approve of long hair since it's against the Codes.  It must really sweat up the inside of a Shardplate helmet, though.

[Blackhoof]

Hahaha I thought it was funny 

[Rasarr]

Oooh, those Szeth and Jasnah pictures are really climatic. I do love your character designs (especially Jakamav, for some reason. He looks so cool with this giant hammer). And the comic makes me chuckle. 

I've just noticed... I have a folder in my computer where I save the Stormlight fanart I want to keep, and today I've realized that half of it is sheep's art. 

[Erunion]

Dat Jasnah though 
That's amazing. 

One thing on the Shardhammer - it's probably more like a giant version of a medieval warhammer. So sharpened points, more proportional and balanced of a look. Still huge, but not THAT huge.... Doing some quick estimation math (0.4m*0.4m*0.6m), the hammer you just drew weighs over 1600 lbs, around 750 kgs..... 
So, uhhh... that would take 4 people to carry..... Or more. 

Other than that, AWESOME job

[maxal]

8 hours ago, sheep said:

Adolin has had opportunities in the past to see a prostitute, but it seems he is uninterested.  Or maybe he doesn't want to embarrass himself in front of a "professional" and have the gossip spread to her next customer.  

Name it Toothless?

Toothless? Really?  Poor Adolin. I think just as in our modern world, giving out your first time to a prostitute isn't quite everyone' first genuine choice: you have to be really, really, really desperate to do it. Those who seek prostitutes likely are married men unhappy about their marriage and/or their wife or men being separated from their wife for too long and not wanting to remain chaste while warring. Just as it is the case here, most people don't go to the prostitutes, but there are those who do. The fact Adolin would refuse such advanced isn't surprising, especially if he's never done it before.

8 hours ago, sheep said:

Rowling wrote Quidditch as a sport to make Harry feel valuable and part of a team after being lonely all his life.  And that is why an 11 year old boy with no previous experience gets to be the Gryffindor team's star player and win the House Cup several years in a row.  Now I see how very Kaladin-appropriate it is.

Relis as a Chaser fits, I like it.  He would probably be afraid of Dementors and fall off his broom if they wandered into the Quidditch pitch.  I always thought Elit had premature balding.  It seems that people who fight Shard duels and go on the rankings are all young men with things to prove and nothing to lose.  As soon as their reflexes slow down, they don't want to risk the Shards they have and retire from duelling, which explains why Sadeas doesn't duel anymore even though he's been lusting for a Shardblade for years.  If he is older than the rest of the group, I'd think Elit is still under 30.  And high testosterone levels cause early balding, so that could explain why he is so angry and aggressive.

Wit doesn't hate Adolin.  He just thinks Adolin is just another puny mortal in a world full of insignificant puny mortal chess pieces.  Considering that he's thousands of years old and has seen everything, I interpreted the scene as his attempt at humour (YMMV if Wit is actually funny) because life gets boring when you live forever and have all the powers.  He's not favouring Kaladin or intentionally trying to hurt anyone.  He just wants to eat popcorn and laugh at people. 

Being a Radiant doesn't make a person instant boyfriend material.  If anything, all their duties and oaths them less desirable, because they have a spren partner who is always around talking to them, and they are too busy saving the world to spend time going on dates.   Dalinar isn't going to dump Navani if another Radiant pops up.  And Navani isn't going to get jealous if Dalinar the Bondsmith might happen to work with other Radiants who happen to be female.

The fact House Gryffindor won the cup several years in a row was a rather weak plot point: why did everything Harry touched have to be super successful? Because it was a kid's book and in a kid's book, the hero always saves the day. Quidditch was definitely designed such as to make Harry plausibly shine by giving him a role he needs no prior training to be good at. Arguably, being a Chaser, a Beater or a Keeper demands more training as seen when Ron tries to do it. 

Kaladin it seems has also been given surges he has absolutely no trouble mastering within a few days... quite unlike Shallan who can't soulcast for the life of her and is only exploiting half of her illumination capacities or quite unlike Jasnah who took 6 years to be below Kaladin in terms of advancement. It would have been great to see Kaladin not succeed on his first trial, to have him not manage to control one of his surges, just because... it would be normal.

Balding typically starts towards the mid-twenties and gets more apparent towards the late twenties, early thirties. Typically, by the time you can tell a man he's balding, he's probably nearing thirty if he isn't older. There are those who bald in their early twenties, this is true, so he could be one of those. However, if I take the majority (say statistically wise), I'd say Elit is probably in his late twenties, early thirties which makes him several years older than Adolin. Also, in most sports, unless they get injured, people can typically compete up until at least their mid-late thirties. Considering they are wearing Plate, Elit could have very well still been very competitive while being in his forties. Reflexes don't start to slow at that age, people in their thirties can rock the Olympics and teach lessons to younger people. I see gray heads by-passing young guys everyday on the running trail. One of the Canadian athlete for one of the running competition (I think marathon but I am unsure) is 38 years old and only started up training in her thirties, after she had 3 kids  So age is no matter. Adolin's competition could very well be a decade older than him and it wouldn't show if not by their increased level of experience. Young people are often too brash and have a harder time knowing how to pace themselves, they'll rush forward, but run out of juice towards the end. Not always, but it happens quite often. People usually start to try to pace themselves after they get injured which usually happens somewhere in the twenties, based on my personal experience.

A small parenthesis... I read the passage to my husband, about Elit, and I asked him, based on the balding comment, how old he thought the guy was... He said 50  because in his head, this is how old you are supposed to be when balding starts to be apparent.  So huh, I doubt Elit is 22 years old. He could be, but the odds are against him.

Wit doesn't care if he hurts Adolin while he tries to teach a lesson to Kaladin whom he deems much more important. It bothers me, the fact the only important people are Radiants. I'd really, really, really love to say a "normal person" ending up "saving the day" and "doing the impossible" when all the Radiants have failed. It would be neat to show others can contribute.

I think Dalinar and Navani are not going to feel jealousy because they have waited a lifetime to be together. They won't let go now.

8 hours ago, sheep said:

Character Design - Jakamav

  Reveal hidden contents

He doesn't get much pagetime or description, but since he's a clotheshorse, I wanted to try designing some lighteyes' fashionable clothes.  It's something sort of military-inspired but definitely not a uniform, with an Asian-inspired silk tunic with frog buttons and a silk scarf  around the waist where a side sword would hang.  The jacket is influenced by the "fashion folio" coats from WoR.  And I added a Shardhammer, because I don't think anyone has drawn it before.  It has a haft as thick as a man's wrist and takes two men to carry.  So I went for something that's RPG-huge.

After finishing WoR, I kept thinking what a sleazy friend Jakamav is, so I drew this (really really stupid) comic:

 

Jakamav the sleaze:

  Reveal hidden contents

...I think it was only funny in my head.

Jakamav gets a ponytail because Sadeas has long hair and everyone knows Dalinar doesn't approve of long hair since it's against the Codes.  It must really sweat up the inside of a Shardplate helmet, though.

I love you Jakamav designs. Now should we play at how old is Jakamav? How old do you need to realistically be to be a land lord?

 

[Argel]

Great stuff as always. I think you really hit it out of the park with Jasnah. I mean, finally, beautiful looking, but with a scholar, take-no-prisoners face.

[CarolaDavar]

I love your design of Jakamav. I've been trying to get a feel for how I imagined him for a long time now, and you just nailed it.

And the comic was hilarious.

Also, any tips on digital painting skin? I've been trying for a while

[sheep]

On 11/07/2016 at 3:20 AM, Rasarr said:

I've just noticed... I have a folder in my computer where I save the Stormlight fanart I want to keep, and today I've realized that half of it is sheep's art. 

I enjoy making character designs!  It's always a bit sad when I make one of a minor character with only a few lines of mentions and the next book adds new description that turns out completely different.  But until then, I love using my imagination and seeing other people's designs and how they imagine things.  For example, the Vorin havah - most people draw it completely differently, if they aren't following the Michael Whelan official endpaper illustration.  The safe sleeve goes from as formfitting as a sock over the hand, to as flappy as a kimono sleeve.

I have a folder of Stormlight fanart too...and like 90% of it is my own.

 

On 11/07/2016 at 10:10 AM, Erunion said:

One thing on the Shardhammer - it's probably more like a giant version of a medieval warhammer. So sharpened points, more proportional and balanced of a look. Still huge, but not THAT huge.... Doing some quick estimation math (0.4m*0.4m*0.6m), the hammer you just drew weighs over 1600 lbs, around 750 kgs..... 
So, uhhh... that would take 4 people to carry..... Or more. 

Other than that, AWESOME job

I intentionally designed it as a fantasy weapon rather than something that was historically accurate, because I gave up trying to do the maths ages ago, haha.  I try to be realistic when I can, for example, clothing designs that can feasibly be made without a sewing machine.  But when it comes to Alethi arms and armour, I threw up my hands and just went "it's magic".  I will agree it is useful to consider how much things weigh when depicting realistic weapons and their size relative to a human.  When I first tried drawing Shardplate, I went and looked for descriptions of its size to figure out how much extra height Shardplate gave a man.  When I saw the weight measurement, I was like "this can't be right" because it was in stones, and when converted, was enough to break a horse's back.  Ryshadium are magic horses, and maybe they can carry the weight because magic, but Elhokar, Sadeas and Renarin all have regular horses.  And these horses can carry them 4 hours or more over plateaus, fight, and then carry them back to their warcamps.  What.

So yeah, a smaller hammer would be more realistic.  Something like this, probably:

 

Jakamav's backup hammer

Spoiler

But artistic license plays a part, and I thought a larger hammer would look cool.  And Roshar seems to run off coolness when reality is just too limiting or too boring, like the whole stripy hair and spiritual DNA deal.  

 

 

On 11/07/2016 at 10:39 AM, maxal said:

Toothless? Really?  Poor Adolin. I think just as in our modern world, giving out your first time to a prostitute isn't quite everyone' first genuine choice: you have to be really, really, really desperate to do it. Those who seek prostitutes likely are married men unhappy about their marriage and/or their wife or men being separated from their wife for too long and not wanting to remain chaste while warring. Just as it is the case here, most people don't go to the prostitutes, but there are those who do. The fact Adolin would refuse such advanced isn't surprising, especially if he's never done it before.

Well, if you have a whitespine, and you're not going to leave it in a cage all day, you have to train it.  Any animal that you can apply a "How to Train Your X" tagline to is perfect for being named Toothless. 

Some people go to a prostitute because they just are bored, and it's a novelty thing, or they don't think much of "purity" and just want to get it over with so when they have to do it "for reals" they aren't fumbling around not knowing what goes where.   What we know of Vorinism is more about social hierarchy and Vorin Heaven than what they think of that.  But Adolin isn't religious, open prostitution is an established thing and not a novelty like in Las Vegas or Amsterdam, so purity must have some personal value to him.  It feels weird speculating on a fictional character's unicorn bait status.

 

On 11/07/2016 at 10:39 AM, maxal said:

The fact House Gryffindor won the cup several years in a row was a rather weak plot point: why did everything Harry touched have to be super successful? Because it was a kid's book and in a kid's book, the hero always saves the day. Quidditch was definitely designed such as to make Harry plausibly shine by giving him a role he needs no prior training to be good at. Arguably, being a Chaser, a Beater or a Keeper demands more training as seen when Ron tries to do it. 

Yeah, the reason why I dislike the Seeker position so much is that you don't really need to train with your other teammates to be good at it.  You just need to have good eyesight, decent flying skills, and stay out of the way of the other people.  An 11 year old boy can do it.   Compared to the other positions like Chaser, where you have to learn to fly formation with your teammates, everyone relying on each other and defending one another from the opposing team.  The Seeker just feels superfluous.

Here's a video of Chasers formation flying.  Team sports are about the team and about the audience who pay to watch.  Everyone wants to watch the formations.  The Seeker just circles slowly around the pitch until just before the end of the game.

That's why I thought the Keeper position would be better for Kaladin.  Sure, he picked up Surgebinding in two afternoons, but the non-magical things he does like the spear kata and bridge carries are done through lots of hard work and practice.  Is Kaladin's unrealistic skill level a result of Surgebinding being something that someone can be innately talented at?  Do spren look for people who have innate talent as well as following their moral codes and being broken?  Pattern wouldn't have come to Shallan if she couldn't draw.  But she wouldn't have gotten so good if she hadn't practiced since she was a kid.  But kids don't start drawing unless they like drawing.  And now it's a chicken or egg problem.

It's still weird that Sadeas, if he is physically capable of it, isn't participating in duels, since he is skilled and has years of experience.  It could be that Shardbearers over the age of 30 settle down and get used to their cushy Fourth Dahn life and don't care about the rankings for honour duels, and don't want to put that comfortable position at risk to get a Shardblade if just the Plate works well enough with hammer or grandbow.  But Sadeas is a highprince, and his Shardplate is his own and not a loaner, and he would still be highprince without his Shards so I have no idea why he hadn't gotten his own Blade years earlier.  Other than narrative convenience to free the bridgemen.   And balding can mean anything from shiny egg bald to hairline receding.  I know one guy whose hairline started to thin at age 23, and one guy whose hair started going grey at 20.  Receding hairline is still technically balding, but some people would just say that the person has a huge forehead since it's not totally obvious unless you know what you're looking at.

Dalinar and Navani are going to stay a couple because both of them are willing to and are going to put in the effort to make their relationship work, Radiant-ness or taboo-ness or not.  The reason why Radiant/non-Radiant couples break up, or never become a couple in the first place are for the same reasons why other relationships fail - because they're incompatible, uncompromising, uncommunicating, or a mix of all of these things.  Not because of the spren.  Radiants are human and magic powers in their spiritweb doesn't change that.

 

On 11/07/2016 at 10:39 AM, maxal said:

I love you Jakamav designs. Now should we play at how old is Jakamav? How old do you need to realistically be to be a land lord?

I assumed he was a few years older than Adolin, but not that old.  Maybe 25-26?  And there are no requirements to being a landlord other than having the right family or owning a Shardblade.  These lords hire stewards to manage their estates (Lin Davar had one, and how else would Alethkar be run when everyone is chasing gemhearts?) - and their wives do the paperwork.  They don't need to do any actual work, so they don't need to fulfill any requirements.  Moash, a darkeyed ex-slave, got to be a landlord.  Adolin could have been highprince at 23, and would have been hilariously out of his depth if he had to do the work himself, since he can't read. 

Jakamav couldn't risk his Plate in duels so who knows if it is truly his.  It could be that it's a family Plate and he's a landlord in name only.

 

 

4 minutes ago, CarolaDavar said:

I love your design of Jakamav. I've been trying to get a feel for how I imagined him for a long time now, and you just nailed it.

And the comic was hilarious.

Also, any tips on digital painting skin? I've been trying for a while

I just imagined him as really smug and cocky.  Like how Adolin presents himself in company, but with this guy, it's part of his personality rather than a public persona.  I think it's easier to get down the "feel" of a character if you can narrow them down to one or two main traits.  Especially if there's not much text-description to go on.

The important thing to skin is to understand the structure of the body.  The muscles over the skeleton, and the planes of the face.  Once you have the background information down, you can practice technique.  One thing I learned to avoid when I first started digital painting was over-airbrushing and using the "blur" tool.  It looks too artificially smooth and plasticky when you do that, like a really bad magazine cover featuring a person who has no pores.  Skin has texture, so don't be afraid of brushstrokes showing through.  It gives a bit of depth, and when I see them, I look at the brushstrokes, and think "I laid each one down, and it was on purpose".

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Skin texture - airbrush and hard round brush

Spoiler

It's a really quick and rough job, I know, but the smoothness of shading wasn't what I was looking for.  If you know what you're doing, airbrushing can look really good, but the effect it has is to give the impression of soft and smooth, perfect skin.  It's good for painting the skin of younger characters like children, or something ethereal like fairies and other things fantasy, but it wasn't what I was going for in this piece. 

A good tip is to figure out the capabilities and effects of different types of brushes and densities and combine them.  Hard brushes in high opacity for sharp edges, airbrush for smooth, and something in between to transition from one to the other.  There are plenty of guides out there that can explain better than I can, I think.

 

 

Art time

Candid Shardbearers:

 

Jakamav:  "The worst thing about Shardplate  is...

Spoiler

...what it does to your hair."

I wanted Jakamav's design to show him as a stylish but vain sort of person.  The type of person pre-WoK Adolin would have liked being seen with, part of the popular crowd who have reserved seats in the most popular wine bars, just like the "cool kids' table" in a high school cafeteria. 

 

 

Renarin:  "Dad, does this Shardplate make me look fat?"

Spoiler

"Is the Shardplate shrinking to fit supposed to feel this weird?"

"I think I have a wedgie now."

 

 

Just me playing around with colours and lighting and stuff.  Jakamav is in green and yellow because he sided with Sadeas, and I couldn't remember what colours Roion has, since that is Jakamav's official liegelord.  Renarin is in grey and blue because grey is the colour of Dalinar's unpainted Shardplate, and blue is the Kholin colour.   Gavilar and Elhokar's Plate is officially canonised in the WoR Shallan's Sketchbook, but Dalinar's Plate has no official depiction, unless you count the weirdness that is the Michael Whelan cover of WoK.  The in-text says that it's plain slate grey, no ornamentation, and has a high collar covering the neck.  So I drew it with fantasy-RPG-style aesthetics, with the big ol' pauldrons.  I watched the Warcraft movie not too long ago, so I was inspired.

[Rasarr]

@sheep, your art continues to be the awesomest (also, I'm not the one who asked about it, but thanks for pointers on painting skin!). And I absolutely adore your Jakamav design. *sigh*

[CarolaDavar]

Ahem. . . Anyway. I love this. Your art is great and your ideas are both amazing and hilarious. Thanks for the tip! That will be really helpful!

[esamitch]

Somehow I missed this topic! A lot of my art is in the galleries, but I have some new things that I haven't uploaded yet, so I guess I'll add them in here! I don't have a lot of "scenes", but I'm working on it. 

Here are some of my newer pieces!

Spoiler

Up first, Szeth murdering the King of Jah Keved.

Spoiler

Shallan and Adolin when he's looking through her sketchbook!

 

Spoiler

Kaladin and Adolin!

 

[Hitoshizuku]

Oh my god, @esamitch, that is an amazing Szeth.

Even if I must say I'm not sure what Adolin's hair is doing in the last drawing.

[esamitch]

2 minutes ago, Hitoshizuku said:

Oh my god, @esamitch, that is an amazing Szeth.

Even if I must say I'm not sure what Adolin's hair is doing in the last drawing.

Thanks @Hitoshizuku!! He's definitely a hard one to capture...I'm glad you think I was successful! 

Haha my personal image of Adolin is him having sidecuts/undercuts on his hair, with cool designs shaved into them. I thought it would be an interesting way to show his interest in fashion, and maybe a more frivolous side, while still being acceptable for battle and court.

[maxal]

6 hours ago, sheep said:

Well, if you have a whitespine, and you're not going to leave it in a cage all day, you have to train it.  Any animal that you can apply a "How to Train Your X" tagline to is perfect for being named Toothless. 

Some people go to a prostitute because they just are bored, and it's a novelty thing, or they don't think much of "purity" and just want to get it over with so when they have to do it "for reals" they aren't fumbling around not knowing what goes where.   What we know of Vorinism is more about social hierarchy and Vorin Heaven than what they think of that.  But Adolin isn't religious, open prostitution is an established thing and not a novelty like in Las Vegas or Amsterdam, so purity must have some personal value to him.  It feels weird speculating on a fictional character's unicorn bait status.

Of all the things which popped into my mind when I read the words "Adolin, "Toothless" and "prostitute" within the same sentences, I have to admit How to Train your Dragon was the least of them  It isn't exactly what I had in mind.... Huh... Well, can't really expand on that one  The How to Train your Dragon comparison is much more neat 

There are many reasons why people would go to the prostitutes, but my point is very few would give away their "first time" to one of those. It isn't so much about purity, it is about yourself. Would you get intimate, the first time with a complete stranger paid to do it to you? Adolin's problem isn't so much purity, it's the fact he never had a serious enough girlfriend to actually feel comfortable enough to even start to think about doing it.

6 hours ago, sheep said:

Yeah, the reason why I dislike the Seeker position so much is that you don't really need to train with your other teammates to be good at it.  You just need to have good eyesight, decent flying skills, and stay out of the way of the other people.  An 11 year old boy can do it.   Compared to the other positions like Chaser, where you have to learn to fly formation with your teammates, everyone relying on each other and defending one another from the opposing team.  The Seeker just feels superfluous.

Here's a video of Chasers formation flying.  Team sports are about the team and about the audience who pay to watch.  Everyone wants to watch the formations.  The Seeker just circles slowly around the pitch until just before the end of the game.

That's why I thought the Keeper position would be better for Kaladin.  Sure, he picked up Surgebinding in two afternoons, but the non-magical things he does like the spear kata and bridge carries are done through lots of hard work and practice.  Is Kaladin's unrealistic skill level a result of Surgebinding being something that someone can be innately talented at?  Do spren look for people who have innate talent as well as following their moral codes and being broken?  Pattern wouldn't have come to Shallan if she couldn't draw.  But she wouldn't have gotten so good if she hadn't practiced since she was a kid.  But kids don't start drawing unless they like drawing.  And now it's a chicken or egg problem.

It's still weird that Sadeas, if he is physically capable of it, isn't participating in duels, since he is skilled and has years of experience.  It could be that Shardbearers over the age of 30 settle down and get used to their cushy Fourth Dahn life and don't care about the rankings for honour duels, and don't want to put that comfortable position at risk to get a Shardblade if just the Plate works well enough with hammer or grandbow.  But Sadeas is a highprince, and his Shardplate is his own and not a loaner, and he would still be highprince without his Shards so I have no idea why he hadn't gotten his own Blade years earlier.  Other than narrative convenience to free the bridgemen.   And balding can mean anything from shiny egg bald to hairline receding.  I know one guy whose hairline started to thin at age 23, and one guy whose hair started going grey at 20.  Receding hairline is still technically balding, but some people would just say that the person has a huge forehead since it's not totally obvious unless you know what you're looking at.

Dalinar and Navani are going to stay a couple because both of them are willing to and are going to put in the effort to make their relationship work, Radiant-ness or taboo-ness or not.  The reason why Radiant/non-Radiant couples break up, or never become a couple in the first place are for the same reasons why other relationships fail - because they're incompatible, uncompromising, uncommunicating, or a mix of all of these things.  Not because of the spren.  Radiants are human and magic powers in their spiritweb doesn't change that.

Which is why Seeker would be perfect for Kaladin... No matter where he goes or with whom he fights, he is always doing his own thing: even in Amaram's army, he was the "special one". I certainly think Kaladin would be naturally more attracted to the position of Seeker as opposed to Keeper. 

I agree about the Seeker though, a pretty useless position. You can't possibly pay to see the Seeker, but you end up rooting for him because he is basically the only one who can win the game. The rest is just fluff. 

As for Kaladin's skills, I am of the opinion he picked up everything too quickly, including spear fighting and bridge lifting, which is just bulk strength, really. That last one gives credence to my claim stating Kaladin isn't some skinny guy: he must have impressive upper body strength. opSurgebinding though brought us to another level entirely: only a few days and he beats up a more experienced opponent, even surprising him with his skills with the sword. The sword, really? He practiced twice with it. Adolin needed 17 years to reach his current level and he couldn't even land a blow on Szeth. Alright, there was this thing called stormlight, but still. Did Syl choose Kaladin for his combat skills? I do not know, but she was looking for a knight within an army, so maybe the thought crossed her mind. Shallan's skills are drawing is plausible for me: she has been drawing since childhood. I can actually believe she got this good, she had years to practice. Kaladin is a tougher sell, for me.

My thoughts on Sadeas is he didn't come with his Plate until his later years. When he killed Yenev, during this duel, the telling of this story made me think it wasn't a duel for Shards... They wagered lands and money, but Shards were never mentioned. Had Yenev have a Blade, Sadeas would have win it. Had Yenev no have a Blade and fight Sadeas with Shards, then Sadeas would have had no Blade to borrow as there is only one sets of Shards for renting. It just seems to me as if Sadeas didn't have his Plate back then. WoR doesn't give us the right sense, but winning Shards is extremely hard. Gavilar was willing to go to lengths to secure the Iriali's Plate which I think was meant for... Sadeas. In other words, I think "earning" his Plate has been so gruesome for Sadeas, he probably wasn't willing to wager it for a Blade. Duels for Shards are extremely rare, one every few years.

As I said, yes, you can have a receding hairline and grey hair at 20 (I sure had grey hair at 20), but for most people, it tends to happen at a later age. The fact Adolin identify Elit as "balding" indicate us he probably is closer to his thirties, if not above, than closer to his twenties. Of course, this isn't conclusive, but statistic wise, it makes more sense.

7 hours ago, sheep said:

I assumed he was a few years older than Adolin, but not that old.  Maybe 25-26?  And there are no requirements to being a landlord other than having the right family or owning a Shardblade.  These lords hire stewards to manage their estates (Lin Davar had one, and how else would Alethkar be run when everyone is chasing gemhearts?) - and their wives do the paperwork.  They don't need to do any actual work, so they don't need to fulfill any requirements.  Moash, a darkeyed ex-slave, got to be a landlord.  Adolin could have been highprince at 23, and would have been hilariously out of his depth if he had to do the work himself, since he can't read. 

Jakamav couldn't risk his Plate in duels so who knows if it is truly his.  It could be that it's a family Plate and he's a landlord in name only.

To have earn the title of "land lord" and to be of the 3rd dahn indicates he was born into his position, he didn't achieve it because he won a Plate on the field. Moash was made 4th dahn upon being given Shards, the 4th dahn, not the 3th dahn and he was asked to join an already existing house. Adolin said he could start his own, but details were scarce. Moash has not been given land... So all in all, Jakamav no doubt inherited his titles and him being the land lord as opposed to the son of a land lord means his father is probably dead. So huh, he's probably older than Adolin.

Jakamav couldn't risk his Plate most probably because Roion would not allow him to. My thought are he acted outside the authority of his Highprince during the 4 on 1 duel which would explain why we didn't see him on the Plains afterwards.

I LOVE you Shardplate Renarin  Totally adorable.

[sheep]

20 hours ago, Rasarr said:

@sheep, your art continues to be the awesomest (also, I'm not the one who asked about it, but thanks for pointers on painting skin!). And I absolutely adore your Jakamav design. *sigh*

I am glad people want to know about how stuff works!  I post process pics so you guys in this thread can see that cool arts start from very humble origins.  I don't feel like I'm qualified enough that my answers are the ultimate answers, but I can answer a question or two to the best of my ability.

 

 

20 hours ago, CarolaDavar said:

Ahem. . . Anyway. I love this. Your art is great and your ideas are both amazing and hilarious. Thanks for the tip! That will be really helpful!

I found an old example that shows the difference between airbrushing and textured painting. 

 

Spoiler

I think it illustrates the techniques much better than the hamfisted 2 minute job I posted earlier.  The first one is a sketchy, textured painting done with chalk brushes.  This kind of look has hard lines and exaggerates shadows, and gives a more stylised, storybook illustration type of effect.  The second picture is the first one redrawn from eye (not traced, so it's not exactly the same) with a combination of airbrush and hard round brushes.  The cheeks and chin are smoothed with airbrushes, and the nose and lips detailed with hard brushes.  This gives a soft and smooth appearance which is good for portraits and photorealistic copying.  

Brushes are tools, and tools aren't bad.  You need to keep working at it, so you can get better at using your tools to their full potential.

An example is this one that I drew around 7-8 years ago.

Spoiler

I used the airbrush to shade the arms and they look like tubes.  I used the dodge and burn tools to shade and highlight.  That's another tip digital painting - don't do that!  It looks bad on skin, it looks bad on cloth.  You think you have discovered the new pro-tip shortcut (that doctors don't want you to know about) but it's not a shortcut because it makes your paintings looks weirdly flat.  The hard way works the best way, sadly.  And now you know how long I've been level grinding to get to this point.  And I still think I can improve.

 

 

19 hours ago, esamitch said:

Somehow I missed this topic! A lot of my art is in the galleries, but I have some new things that I haven't uploaded yet, so I guess I'll add them in here! I don't have a lot of "scenes", but I'm working on it. 

Here are some of my newer pieces!

That Szeth one is awesome!  I feel so sorry for poor King Hanavanahananahanahaha (gosh I can't even remember how his name is spelt.)  It's so dramatic!  Everything Szeth does is so dramatic and literal overkill and you showed it really well.
As a note for the Shardplate, officially there are no gaps, and in between the big plates are small layered ones like scales.  The way your drew it looks like there's bare skin showing underneath (I don't know if you intended it for it to be pants).  So now I'm a bit concerned for poor Adolin's inner thigh area, the bits that aren't covered by the codpiece.  

 

19 hours ago, Hitoshizuku said:

Oh my god, @esamitch, that is an amazing Szeth.

Even if I must say I'm not sure what Adolin's hair is doing in the last drawing.

 

19 hours ago, esamitch said:

Thanks @Hitoshizuku!! He's definitely a hard one to capture...I'm glad you think I was successful! 

Haha my personal image of Adolin is him having sidecuts/undercuts on his hair, with cool designs shaved into them. I thought it would be an interesting way to show his interest in fashion, and maybe a more frivolous side, while still being acceptable for battle and court.

 

Everyone draws Adolin's hair a different way.  The description in WoK says it's a "messy mop of blond sprinkled with black" and it's vague enough that all artists take their interpretation of it, and I love to see how people do it differently.  It's one of the things I enjoy about the Cosmere fandom, next to everyone's designs for the Bridge Four and Kholin Army uniforms.  Michael Whelan drew it on the cover of WoR like a strange fusion of a utility jumpsuit and a Middle Ages doublet.  Mine is closer to a Napoleonic era army uniform.

@maxal and I had a long conversation a while ago about Adolin's hair , for artistic research only, of course.  That is why I came up with this handy chart so you can see what best fits your personal mental image of his character and appearance. 

 

THE OFFICIAL ADOLIN KHOLIN HAIRCUT CHART

Spoiler

 

The reason why I draw Adolin with the first style is because it's standard young man hair.  The "Bieber" makes him look too young, like a boy.   The "Dalinar" is the soldier's haircut to fit under a standard helmet and Adolin hated the standard uniform in WoK.  So something that is in-between fits him when he is referred to as "lad" or "youth" through all of WoK.

It's the same hair as Gilbert's from the Anne of Green Gables animated series.

 

 

13 hours ago, maxal said:

There are many reasons why people would go to the prostitutes, but my point is very few would give away their "first time" to one of those. It isn't so much about purity, it is about yourself. Would you get intimate, the first time with a complete stranger paid to do it to you? Adolin's problem isn't so much purity, it's the fact he never had a serious enough girlfriend to actually feel comfortable enough to even start to think about doing it.

Well, I'm not even going to ask what sort of strange things poppped into your mind.  I think my own imagination on that is more than enough.  And a whitespine named Toothless is so deliciously ironic and so cute that even hipsters who don't do irony even ironically would like it, because everyone likes the How to Train Your Dragon movie.  

Everyone values their purity differently, and it's down to culture and then personal preferences.  But generally speaking, for cultures where it is valued, it is more important for the woman to be pure than a man.  Since there's no way to tell for men, so it comes down to the honour system.  Alethi might value purity on wedding day for both bride and groom, but I don't think they expect it, not for a high ranking lighteyes that can get away with lots of things through connections.  So Adolin must be an odd one out in his society for his purity, even though everyone is supposed to be proper and reserved in public.  Dalinar and Navani are proper in public and he resents her trying to get close to him in WoK because it looks bad.  Makes you wonder what Elhokar is up to .  His wife lives in the capital and even if he doesn't miss her, he must be restless.

 

13 hours ago, maxal said:

As for Kaladin's skills, I am of the opinion he picked up everything too quickly, including spear fighting and bridge lifting, which is just bulk strength, really. That last one gives credence to my claim stating Kaladin isn't some skinny guy: he must have impressive upper body strength. opSurgebinding though brought us to another level entirely: only a few days and he beats up a more experienced opponent, even surprising him with his skills with the sword. The sword, really? He practiced twice with it. Adolin needed 17 years to reach his current level and he couldn't even land a blow on Szeth. Alright, there was this thing called stormlight, but still. Did Syl choose Kaladin for his combat skills? I do not know, but she was looking for a knight within an army, so maybe the thought crossed her mind. Shallan's skills are drawing is plausible for me: she has been drawing since childhood. I can actually believe she got this good, she had years to practice. Kaladin is a tougher sell, for me.

My thoughts on Sadeas is he didn't come with his Plate until his later years. When he killed Yenev, during this duel, the telling of this story made me think it wasn't a duel for Shards... They wagered lands and money, but Shards were never mentioned. Had Yenev have a Blade, Sadeas would have win it. Had Yenev no have a Blade and fight Sadeas with Shards, then Sadeas would have had no Blade to borrow as there is only one sets of Shards for renting. It just seems to me as if Sadeas didn't have his Plate back then. WoR doesn't give us the right sense, but winning Shards is extremely hard. Gavilar was willing to go to lengths to secure the Iriali's Plate which I think was meant for... Sadeas. In other words, I think "earning" his Plate has been so gruesome for Sadeas, he probably wasn't willing to wager it for a Blade. Duels for Shards are extremely rare, one every few years.

As I said, yes, you can have a receding hairline and grey hair at 20 (I sure had grey hair at 20), but for most people, it tends to happen at a later age. The fact Adolin identify Elit as "balding" indicate us he probably is closer to his thirties, if not above, than closer to his twenties. Of course, this isn't conclusive, but statistic wise, it makes more sense.

 

Harry was marked as the "Chosen One" from birth and Voldemort kept following around for years trying to kill him.  Kaladin chose himself by deciding that he had to be the one to stand up and protect everyone.  Some readers praise his willpower and determination but to me it feels like he has a martyr complex.  And his belief that he is responsible for everything and blaming himself if something goes wrong is ... tiresome .  I don't think Harry got that annoying, even if he was as blind and unobservant as a flobberworm.  

Oh man, have we derailed this into a "let's complain about Kaladin" thread?   I think most people who don't particularly feel an emotional bias towards Kaladin have criticised him for how fast he picks up Lashing skills.  And I totally agree, it's way too fast - but I accept it because it's part of narrative convencience, like a training montage in a kungfu movie where they play "Eye of the Tiger" and have the student break planks with his face in slow motion.   It doesn't make sense realistically, but if you get hung about it, you can't move on to the next chapter and enjoy the story.  Adolin couldn't land a blow on Szeth twice, but in the prologue of WoK, Gavilar hit Szeth a couple of times, but Szeth healed each time.  It has been commented in that duel with Resi (I think?) that Adolin is the best, better than Dalinar in his youth.  Adolin in top form without panic-mode would therefore be able to land a hit on Szeth, even though he wouldn't be able to kill him.  But of course he couldn't, because Kaladin needs people to protect.

So the big question (which probably won't be answered because he's dead) is where Sadeas got his Plate from.  If he won it from someone, then why couldn't repeat his performance?  Unless people refuse Shard duels with anyone who has won one in the past, because they don't want to lose.  I think Gavilar getting Plate for Sadeas of all people is a bit of a stretch.  Uncle Toh and Shshshsh wouldn't give their family heirloom to a stranger.  Shards are family heirlooms that go to family.  You can't just loan Shards and expect them to be given back once your son is old enough to hit the practice grounds.

Quote

“I will return to Alethkar,” Dalinar said. “Though I hate to leave our army here down a Shardbearer. Could I…but no, I could not give them up.”

“Of course not!” Adolin said, aghast. A Shardbearer, giving up his Shards? It almost never happened unless the Bearer was too weak and sickly to use them.

Chapter 52, "A Highway to the Sun", Way of Kings

 

And I would say Elit is around late 20's.  He hangs with the group of young lighteyes, including girls that Adolin dated.  It would be kind of weird for a 30+ year old man to be socially involved with young 20-something unmarried girls.  

 

13 hours ago, maxal said:

To have earn the title of "land lord" and to be of the 3rd dahn indicates he was born into his position, he didn't achieve it because he won a Plate on the field. Moash was made 4th dahn upon being given Shards, the 4th dahn, not the 3th dahn and he was asked to join an already existing house. Adolin said he could start his own, but details were scarce. Moash has not been given land... So all in all, Jakamav no doubt inherited his titles and him being the land lord as opposed to the son of a land lord means his father is probably dead. So huh, he's probably older than Adolin.

Is there a difference between having a house under a highprince's banner and being a landlord?  I don't understand the distinctions between the dahns and the requirements for each rank.  Jakamav is a landlord at Dahn 3 which is the same rank as Renarin.  Does Renarin have land under his own name?  Or does his rank just come from having a highprince as a father?  I don't get it, and it's confusing.

When Feather sees the Renarin picture she will die.

Quote

“Fine,” Adolin said, striding back into the room. “You. Moash, was it? I guess those Shards are yours, now. Congratulations. You now outrank ninety percent of Alethkar. Pick yourself a family name and ask to join one of the houses under Dalinar’s banner, or start your own if you are inclined.”
Chapter 66, "Stormblessings", Words of Radiance

 

 

 

In other news, I cleaned up, repainted and coloured a picture that has been sitting around in my art folder for a while after I abandoned it.  I posted it on Page 1 of this thread and wasn't happy with it so it got revised.  It's now slightly better, but I think my monitor settings are off because it's more yellow than I intended.  Oh well. 

 

 

Disgusting Shadolin Cuteness (pls close your eyes if you ship Shalladin or Shallastick)

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Original pencil sketch

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All of my sketches are messy as Braize.  I draw with red coloured pencil then go over with graphite pencil, and when I scan it in the red pencil lines can be removed with some easy digital editing.  I also adjust things slightly, moving and rotating lines around so things come out proportionate and symmetrical. The final piece looks a whole lot different from the original but the skeleton is the same.

How big is a Shardbearer exactly?  On Page 1, in the "Shardplate Proportions" picture, I estimated Adolin in Shardplate to be around 6'6"/200cm.  So yeah, I based the proportions on that.  And in Shardplate, when you touch things through your gauntlets, you can feel what you touch through the Plate.   Lesson 1 of Shardbearing is jumping off the roof, Lesson 2 is eating dinner, Lesson 20 is hugging someone without breaking them.

[Rasarr]

It's not "disgusting", it's sweet! (unless you're sugar intolerant, I suppose). And I love the lighting in this piece.

Also, Adolin a la Pompadour killed me  It is now my personal headcanon that this is how Adolin used to keep his hair back in the day. 
"Dad, it's not a phase!"
*cue the Blackthorn shaving Adolin's head with a Shardblade*

[esamitch]

2 hours ago, sheep said:

As a note for the Shardplate, officially there are no gaps, and in between the big plates are small layered ones like scales.  The way your drew it looks like there's bare skin showing underneath (I don't know if you intended it for it to be pants).  So now I'm a bit concerned for poor Adolin's inner thigh area, the bits that aren't covered by the codpiece.  

Thanks for the compliments and the artistic advice @sheep! I appreciate it. I didn't have any sort of reference on hand when I drew the Shardplate (I was both without book and without internet I believe) so I expected it to be a little inaccurate. Just to clarify though, that's not bare skin in the gaps, it's more of an undersuit thing. I guess I should have made more of a difference between its color and the color of his skin!

[Erklitt]

Shallastick ?!?!?

That word alone really sent me rolling on the floor, laughing!

(And as a usually silent admirer of you art, @sheep, I'll take this opportunity to thank you for those special moments! My all-time favorites are still the "Let's draw... (K/S/A)" series - that was another ROFL moment.)

[CarolaDavar]

@sheep thank you! I tried the skin tip you gave me (all the while deciding what a Soulcaster looked like), on a hand, and it is already 120 percent better than I used to be. Also. . . Could you perhaps look at this and give me some constructive criticism? (I live and breathe other artists' constructive criticism)

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