ExMachina

@Natans: Thanks for dropping by! Super late response back... I think I've made some good sketches on most of the parts of Shardplate, so crossing my fingers that I'll be able to do a full drawing of an entire suit soonish. But probably not before WoR hits and I have to read that monster. @Argent: Ah, that's a shame... Thanks for taking the time to look for the vid nonetheless! Depicting different ethnicities is definitely a big interest of mine, I'll keep an eye out in case the footage pops up elsewhere... I haven't been too productive Cosmere-art-wise during my disappearance, but here's a few odds and ends... In a hollow in the stone: Sketches of Kaladin at various stages of his life and a few related characters: And some Shallan + related characters sketches (Kabsal, Yalb): You can tell how far I was into my WoK re-read for those 2 sketchbook pages... not very. Burning question: how do Brightladies play the zither exactly?

@Feather: Aw, thank you! Seriously though, your responses to my art on tumblr (and the amazing tags on reblog) make my day. :> @Chaos: Glad that you like the SA sprites and the Mistborn pic! @ecksmachina is my (sadly rarely used) Twitter. @Joe: Thanks~ And judging by your response to Wax on tumblr... methinks I shall draw more Alloy of Law stuff, hehe. @WeiryWriter: Glad to be a welcome sight on your dash! I am probably going to steal your idea of Axies Ketchum and draw that at some point, heh. Been meaning to give the interlude characters some love and that'd be a fun way to start. PokeSpren would be cool too but I don't know anything about Pokemon beyond Gen 2... :X @Argent: Yeah, was going for silly expressions when I put together those sprite sheets, heh. Might as well have fun with 'em! I can understand feeling weird about the Elhokar sprite since I had a strange time drawing him. I settled on making him very similar to my Gavilar but it's hard reconciling his physical description with his personality and actions. Clearly I should just push the paranoid/pouty expressions more if I use his sprite in the future, heh. Yep, the original brothers Kholin and Kal+Tien. The great Shardblade known as Rectangle, quail before it. xD Oh man, I immediately wanted to draw winter!Shallan when I read that excerpt... The first thing that sprang to mind were fur-lined garments, but when further description wasn't forthcoming a ton of questions cropped up: What kind of hat is appropriate for a high-ranking Vorin lady and would go well with their dresses? What materials are commonly used for winter clothing for Lighteyes? Do they even have fur in any reasonable amount on Roshar considering their fauna are mostly crustacean?! etc. etc. ...and I would probably cheat and just generate a fractal for Pattern, heh. >.> Digital art a crutch? Preposterous. @Malliw: Thank you for viewing them and commenting! :3 Hopefully I'll be able to share more consistently in the future... @Satsuoni: Nope, I refuse to believe that you'd be incapable of coding a complete game after seeing that amazing highstorm simulation you posted. (If I may ask, is it something pesky like perfectionism keeping you from finishing a game project? 'Cause I get that, any creator is their own biggest critic and never satisfied with what they make... Just have to keep trucking along work to work and learning as you go.) Re: Elend and Vin - I'd actually never drawn Elend before (and didn't have a really strong mental image when I started that piece either) so I'm glad that people are digging it. Those 2 are just so sweet together, tempting me to re-read the trilogy... Re: Stormlight video game sprites - Honestly, the comments on these have been welcome but surprising... I felt somewhat insane following my impulse to draw 8 characters each with 20+ different features for no real reason, heh. So thanks for the kind words, guys. If anyone does want to play around with the sprites for whatever purpose, I'd be happy to give you high-res versions. Or if you have any ideas for mockup screenshots, let me know and I can easily throw those together if you want.

I grew up using both PCs and Macs, but right now Windows is my OS of choice. Mostly because I'm a major computer gamer. I still use Macs plenty for image and video editing though.

@Natans: And we need to get Bota to post more! @Feather: Dalinar's greatest success indeed. I will spam Kaladin in uniform in order to convert more over to my fangirling of the guy. Who can resist him in that sharp outfit? No one, I tells ya. @Argent: Again, thanks for the detailed responses... I've been keeping your feedback in mind when doing more Shardplate drawings and casting a wider net when it comes to reference (including more futuristic stuff, Samus included). And I would love to see those examples from the Rothfuss hangout if you still have the link on hand @Inkthinker: Ben... has seen my art and posted in this thread?! *faints* Thank you! And we definitely would love to see you around the forums more. So! Sorry about disappearing for a while, been kinda busy and computer-less for a bit. But I have a bunch of stuff to share, including some *gasp* non SA-related pieces! Spoiler warning for the preview chapters from Words of Radiance. There are a few sketches of characters that I've stuck at the bottom of this post and without context I don't think they spoil much at all... Still, if you're on a media blackout for WoR you should probably not take a peek. On with the art spam~ I had some profile doodles of characters that... escalated. Into visual novel/RPG style sprites, complete with multiple feature options for different expressions. Even threw together a quick Shattered Plains background image so I could make mockup screenshots. Kaladin and Syl in the rain. 2 sets of brothers when they were younger. A WIP shot of a Shardbearer in profile. Waxillium Elend and Vin Words of Radiance...

These are awesome! Love your style... as already mentioned, the expressiveness is so excellent. In particular I'm digging the Bridge 4 image (and would love to see them in uniform along with Natans :3) and Adolin on his Ryshadium. Looking forward to seeing more SA art from you.

@Natans: Whoa, seriously? Of course you have my permission if you ever want to base a cosplay on my design, it would be an incredible honor to see it brought to life! I do want to get more details down for the uniform and expand on it, so I'll be sure to post any updates on that. I will definitely put in ornamentation on the Shardplate once I nail down the forms of each piece to my satisfaction. That'll be the fun part, hehe. @Mailliw: All of my art is sloppy, I can just hide it thanks to the joys of digital editing usually. Thanks again~ @Argent: Yeah, the many tiny plates fitting into each other without gaps is a really difficult thing to visualize... I thought about how a seamless, uniform, fluid layer of plating would work and all I could come up with was a scalelike configuration of diamond-shaped pieces (I've included a bit of that in the sketch below). Thanks for sharing mighty5cent's artwork, I hadn't seen it before and that does seem like a closer fit than other depictions I've seen. @Bota: Thank you! It's really awesome to see you on 17s, by the way. Figuring out how to draw the plate and blades, that's going to be a long road... the fact that no one seems to have a very distinct picture of them is kind of why I wanted to take them on. Here's a couple of quick sketches of Adolin in plate. Still trying to figure out how the pieces most snug to the body could fit while the larger stuff on top (pauldron, tasset, grieves, etc.) can be easily toggled on/off or modified. I'll likely be iterating on these sketches, messing around with the arrangement and seams a lot. O.x Also, I just got a new brushpen... and one of the first things I drew was Kaladin in uniform. Sans brand for now since I'm still not sure what it looks like and it'd be done in permanent ink!

My username is a reference to the plot device "deus ex machina" (which I learned about long, long ago in middle school) and one of my favorite video games of all time (Deus Ex). I spend an inordinate amount of time on computers and generally being techy so I feel like it fits me really well. I go by exmakina in a few places too, whenever the properly spelled version isn't available (or inexplicably not allowed, thanks PlayStation Network!).

Thanks, guys! Sorry 'bout the late response, haven't had much time for art lately. D: @Shivertongue: Thank you! I'm glad to be here. @Windrunner: I'm probably happiest with Dalinar out of those portraits (pretty sure I spent the most time on it too) so it's cool to hear that it captures the character well. @Mailliw: My pleasure, thanks for taking the time to stop by and take a peek at my art! Kaladin was another character that I spent a lot of time on trying to nail down. @Feather: Oh no, I don't want to be responsible for making you expire from art-overload! xD And your lock-screen... that is awesome and flattering, dang. :X @Natans: Sweet, as that's the design I'm leaning most towards. Except probably with the higher vest neckline of the last 2, since exposing so much of the white shirt looks sparse without a tie of some sort... I definitely want to draw Kaladin in full uniform (perhaps with the rest of Bridge Four...?) at some point. Decided to start on another track of SA art - depicting Shardbearers, including both their blades and full plate. Which is slightly mad because I don't know the first thing about how to put together plate armor and haven't really delved into bladed weapons before. Oh well, that's what research is for... 'Ere are some sloppy initial sketches: Hopefully I'll have more and better stuff to share sooner rather than later.

'Ello, Sharders! Decided to start a thread to share any Cosmere-related (though let's be honest, 99% of it will be from the Stormlight Archive ) art that I don't upload to the gallery. I'd love to get some feedback from you all on drawings while I'm working on them. Without further ado, let's begin the art spam~ Face Sketches Szeth - with various expressions Kabsal - I'm incapable of making someone with a shaved head and a square beard look good (agh, all the bald people I draw look weird!) Portrait WIP Shots Kaladin | Shallan | Dalinar | Adolin | Navani | Jasnah | Renarin Trying to do one of Szeth next, but he's a tough cookie to draw. Fullbody Sketches completed so far - Kaladin | Shallan | Dalinar height comparison - will continue to be updated as I add/complete more characters Kholin military uniform sketches - currently revising my design, since there are new descriptions in Words of Radiance... Random Stuff Renarin cleaning his glasses action pose! (late WoK spoilers) super old drawing of Vin jumping around in her Mistcloak, my first Cosmere fanart ever

@The Question: *high five for the Cass Cain love* Yeah, I love all 3 of those ladies but Cass is still my favorite... I do wish DC would bring her out of limbo, especially since Steph is coming back despite Babs being Batgirl now. Awesome username and avatar, btw. @Feather: I keep meaning to pick up Young Avengers! I read and enjoyed the original Heinberg/Cheung run and the new additions to the team (especially Kid Loki and America Chavez) look cool. Plus I've been a fan of Gillen from his video game journalism days, I should really give his comics a try...

http://goodreads.com/exmakina Added you all, interested to see what other Cosmere fans are reading.

@Argent: Really glad that you found the rest of my Cosmere fanart and enjoyed it! And yeah, I'm a big fan of Botanica's Shallan, I'm sure some aspects of her interpretation rubbed off on my drawings of the character. Szeth is such an interesting character to draw and I agree that those sketches I did aren't all that successful... I'm still working out how to reconcile the childlike facial features, his actual age, and the strong emotions he experiences. I do want to do a portrait of him once I figure that out, heh. And believe me, I wish I could forfeit everything and just drawdrawdraw... but I keep having to do these pesky things like work and eat, alas. @FeatherWriter: #CFSBF indeed Hahaha, I'm sorry! Spread some of that blame to Brandon though! I don't think the drawings would give nearly as many feels if not for the original appeal of the characters depicted.

Big fan of comic books here! Though my relationship with the big two is kind of love/hate, heh. I grew up as a DC reader (Batfamily mostly... the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series remains my favorite superhero book of all time) but now the only comics I really follow are from Marvel or indies. Here's my current pull list: Hawkeye - The slice-of-life pacing, fun tone, and the consistently awesome, designy art make this my favorite ongoing from Marvel. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man - The fun, young Spider-Man book. Been following since the original USM with Peter... Bendis goes from strength-to-strength and is always paired with awesome artists. Saga - Huge BKV fan (though funnily enough, I haven't read Ex Machina yet) and Fiona Staples is such an incredible artist. So so good. Lazarus - The badass team of Rucka and Lark reunite, there's no way I could miss this book having loved Gotham Central so much. Very cool premise and Forever is an awesome lead character. I also pick up trades for a few other series... but those're the ones that I like to follow month to month. I did also recently finish going through Faith Erin Hicks' tie-in comic for the PS3 game The Last of Us and the entirety of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic comics. I highly recommended both for any fans of the sources.

@Chaos: Thank you! I'm definitely going to keep drawing Cosmere fanart in the future but I dunno if it'll necessarily be better, haha! I'll be sure to share them here nonetheless. From my experience, every artist is never 100% pleased with their work... you stare at a piece for so long while drawing that all the mistakes jump out at you. Honestly, I started doing these portraits for fun during my WoK re-read as a kind of palette-cleanser after each part, so there are a lot of fixes and tweaks I'd like to make before considering them finished. I'll definitely upload some work to the gallery on the main site... though probably after said touch ups. @FeatherWriter: *waves* Aw, so many exclamation marks! Thanks again for helping me get more involved with the Cosmere fandom and uploading my stuff to the wiki, I really can't stress how cool it is to see my stuff there. *.*

Thanks for the warm welcome and the kind words. ^^ And yeah, Kholins are indeed awesome. It was a pleasure drawing them and I'm stoked that people like my interpretation of the characters.

Hey guys, exmakina here. It's a real trip seeing my art on the wiki, thanks to FeatherWriter for approaching me about using the portraits. Though it does make me self-conscious about the pieces and want to refine them and make sure they're accurate, heh. Yup! I've tried to be conscientious about giving everyone (save the Shin) epicanthic folds, though it doesn't always come through because of wacky thick lineart stylizing. I keep loose notes about physical descriptions when reading just about any novel, but I might go and track down all specific passages that cover each character's appearance and list them in the interest of having a resource for artists who want to double check on details. Y'know, to answer those burning questions that we get like "what was that character's eye color again?" or "wait, that guy is Herdazian?" Looking forward to seeing more fanartists participating and contributing here. I really hope Botanica gets on board too, I love her Shallan and Jasnah in particular... and her Heralds piece is perfection.

Salutations, 17th Sharders! I became a fan of Mr. Sanderson last summer after reading the Mistborn books and have devoured most of his Cosmere works since then... Mind you, I didn't realize there was a Cosmere until I stumbled upon this site about a year ago. I've been lurking since, often re-reading Brandon's novels with enhanced appreciation thanks to the amazing theories and details brought up in these forums. I've enjoyed reading all the discussions that take place here, but don't have much to say in response which is why I didn't join until now... I do love drawing though and hopefully I can participate through art instead. Words hard, me make picture instead. The Way of Kings is my favorite of Brandon's work (though I also really dig The Emperor's Soul) and I am both thrilled and dismayed that I have gotten in on the ground floor with the Stormlight Archive. There's nothing better than a huge multi-book series by an incredible author but the wait between each entry is going to be so hard. The Words of Radiance delay... it hurts, haha. Looking forward to chattin' with you all.