I watched the music videos for “Awesome as I want to be” and “Life is a Runway” (Rainbow Dash and Rarity’s songs) animated by the official studios and while the designs aren’t that nice some of the facial expressions were pretty dynamite. I wanted to try them out with Loose Canon Spark and her new mask!
To be fair, the commission was quite nice, it just wasn’t Spark.
After seeing “How to Train Your Dragon 2” it occurs to me that if you can fly, why wouldn’t you free fall through the clouds for the heck of it? Yet, somehow, this had never occurred to me before seeing Hiccup do it. Anyway, here’s this. It’s probably not at all how Vahaadi’s carpet works, but it’s a cute off-idea.
Inspired by this song:
So here are my doodles of some less than common expressions for Spark, but having Piper suddenly control her mind would seriously catch her off guard. As soon as she snaps out of his grasp I imagine she has these fleeting thoughts. Spark isn’t often scared– it takes a LOT to actually rattle her; for this reason most of Vahaadi’s early threats are jokes in her mind. But Piper would have power unlike anything Spark would have thought possible, which would honestly terrify her. She also is upset on a more superficial level, but still crucial: it isn’t supposed to work this way. The hero is supposed to catch the villain by surprise, throw a wrench in his plans, and lock him up in time to save the day. The fact that this guy just came out of NOWHERE and sees her as no obstacle, no threat to his plans, but merely a tool to be used, a plaything to turn on its head makes her FURIOUS.
Then I’m not sure why but I felt like I needed to draw older Krissy musing about Vahaadi after she’s wished her last wish.
Lastly, though the picture is horrendous, here’s a good example of what Spark’s mask should look like on her face.
Evie: Spark! Come here! We’re going to talk about you.
Spark: Great! I love talking about me!
Evie: I know. Sit down.
Spark: Don’t tell me to sit down! How dare you! You just said that out of habit from being a teacher. *sticks out tongue*
Evie: *facepalm* You’re right. Sorry. Don’t sit down. Pace, dance, hover, do whatever you gotta do. BUT FOCUS.
1. People don’t behave the same way all the time. In fact, they generally have a mask for every social group — friends, family, business. Sometimes they have a different mask for different groups of friends. How does your character act around different people? How does their personality shift and change?
Spark generally conducts herself in a manner of two ways: infatuated and delighted or restless and mischievous (perhaps even menacing, though when she is made aware of how her actions are affecting others she will stop.) Generally she is VERY OBLIVIOUS of herself and how her actions come across to others. This is true for Krissy as well. For this reason, she doesn’t wear a lot of masks, so to speak. Krissy manages to find more middle ground emotions than Spark, but she doesn’t put on certain personas for different people. She tends to be a little more aloof and laidback with her friends from school, more childlike and innocent around her parents, and more dangerous and enthusiastic around Vahaadi, but those could all change depending on the circumstance.
2. Your character has been brought to a party and promptly ditched. They don’t have a ride back home. How does this work? How comfortable are they around all of these strangers? Do they interact?
Here’s how Andrayia responded ^_^ It was fun to draw so many of my girl characters together, since they rarely interact.
“We can light it
Up, up, up
So they can’t burn it
Out, out, out
We can light it
Up, up, up
So they can’t burn it
Out, out, out–“
Mood Music 😀
http://youtu.be/CGyEd0aKWZE
It would seem a stupid idea to start throwing sparks at the moon to make it glow, but according to the books the man in the moon kicks up the moondust that has settled on the surface of the moon in order to make it glow. If it stopped glowing, I’d imagine they have to shake up the surface again.
((And just because I like how it looks, here’s a black and white version. I think I like this because in the novels all the pictures are in black and white so this looks like it came out of the book ^_^))
My kids have been so in love with William Joyce’s “The Man in the Moon,” that I’ve kinda gotten a bit head over heels for his world of the Guardians myself. I started reading his chapter book series that goes into much greater detail and characterization than the picture books (in some ways) and have fallen in love with the characters of The Man in the Moon, Katherine (the future Mother Goose) and Nightlight (the guardian of The Man in the Moon when he was a child. After a battle with Pitch Nightlight has no memory of who he was/what he meant to the The Man in the Moon but still finds himself on the side of right and has ‘moonbeam powers.’) He is the one holding the staff in my picture. For as much as I love these characters, I rushed through drawing them to get to the real HEROES of this post: Spark and Vahaadi. FORGIVE ME FOR THE HORRIBLE FIRST PANEL XD… T_T It’s only there for the general idea.
After CallyAnn decided to send Vahaadi permanently to Loose Canon and Spark fell apart with glee I honestly found myself a little lost. So much of my feelings and associations and understanding regarding Vahaadi had to do with his life in Ashen Shard. I didn’t know how to approach him or where to find much inspiration about him, despite how over the moon (sorry the pun was too ready) Spark felt about everything. I went back and re-read what CallyAnn wrote when Vahaadi told Lanthriel goodbye and was struck by his gladness concerning becoming a hero. This made me very happy! I got to see Vahaadi with new eyes all of a sudden and became really, really excited about the path that Loose Canon is going to take with his character. So I couldn’t resist sending him and Spark to the realm of the Guardians to show off a little bit (okay, a lot.) I figure this takes place well into his relationship with Spark ((Well I mean it isn’t actually taking place, this is still OOC, but if it DID–)); he has long since shed his aloof demeanor and bitterness and has taken to saving worlds with a passion (in his own sultry eyed way.) He looks so confident and dazzling and UGH HE AND SPARK JUST CLICK LIKE OH MY GOODNESS. This was too much fun to draw. I’m too tired to work on it now but the last panel will be in color so that’s why it says “to be continued.” I’ll post it when I can but in the meantime I had a lot of fun drawing hero Vahaadi. He pretty much makes my day. <3
