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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 20, 2011 10:21:25 GMT -5
"Wrong, wrong wrong! It is all wrong!" I growled between clenched teeth as I ripped up the toothed parchment, black and white and grey dust shifting in the air as I ripped the sheet again and again until the image that was there was no more recognizable, no more whole. I growled loudly to myself... and truly it was to myself, for no one else was about. I had found myself a quiet spot in the gardens at Eglantine to draw... but no matter how hard I tried I could not do the art that most other Eglantines partook in - the beautiful portraits, the rolling landscapes, even simple flowers eluded me, like they did just now. But I had to learn to draw the simple things even if my love lay elsewhere - in the not so easily discerned in creating images that were mroe symbolic than... boring. I just had no heart for it, and apparently, no hand for it either. I let out a frustrated sigh as I shoved the torn sheet into a pouch I had. My chalk and charcoal sat on the ground beside me where I myself sat cross-legged, somewhat in the walkway, though leaving enough space for anyone to traverse around me, should anyone decide to walk into the gardens. I took a deep breath, the scent of flowers filling my senses as my fingers tightened in my locks, tugging them slightly, and then reelased, feelin ga bit of the pressure release with it. My unruly locks were frazzled and my face no doubt smudged with dark finger marks, but I would get this right before my next lesson.
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 21, 2011 15:11:42 GMT -5
Sketchpad in hand, I walked down the garden path, seeking a private spot to sit and draw. I was supposed to be in class right now, learning how to chat about history and laugh as if I was interested in the witty remarks of my future patrons, but I’d rather have my nails pulled out than have to sit through one of those classes again. I knew that there would be trouble again, that likely there would be another meeting with the Dowayne, but gods above I just didn’t care!
Lost in thought, I nearly walked into the girl sitting on the pathway, just barely stepping around her at the last moment.
“Sorry,” I said, not sure if I meant it or not.
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 21, 2011 15:21:51 GMT -5
A dark haired adept nigh ran into me, but nimbly missed, walking around me. He was obviously an Eglantine... he had that dark brooding look about him and a sketchpad, plus he did look kind of familiar. Perhaps we had passed each other in the halls, or had some classes together. I rolled my eyes though as he spoke his apology.
"And well you should be," I teased, though my tone sounded wholly unamused, "nearly trampling on a frail thing like myself."
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 21, 2011 15:39:39 GMT -5
I’d nearly forgotten she was there by the time she spoke, my mind again on finding a place for myself. Her words, their tone, snapped me out of it and I looked down at her.
“If you are so frail, then perhaps you shouldn’t plant your rear where people walk,” I suggested, my tine slightly mocking – as near to mocking as I ever got really. “Not as if traffic here should be unexpected.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 21, 2011 15:51:44 GMT -5
I waved my hand, laughing, and shaking my head.
"Truly, you need to loosen up a bit, I was only teasing," I mused, sticking out my tongue as I drew myself a little farther back off the path, feeling my bottom get cold as I sat more in the soil, and glanced behind me to make sure I wasn't crushing any flowers. "People can walk into me as much as they want, I refuse to budge. Besides, I get a better perspective from this level."
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 22, 2011 18:01:49 GMT -5
I glanced at her paper, trying to see if I could tell what exactly she was drawing. “And is the perspective aiding in your work?” I asked.
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 23, 2011 13:26:50 GMT -5
I looked up at him, my eyes squinting to shade them from the sunlight, but no doubt I looked angered, though I was far from it. "no," I mumbled. "I don't think my problem is one of perspective," I groaned then sighed. "I hate drawing these sortsbof things its so terribly mundane."
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 23, 2011 16:41:25 GMT -5
I tilted my head slightly. “Mastering the mundane can allow you more skill in other areas though,” I offered.
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 25, 2011 22:33:30 GMT -5
I sighed softly, groaning as I raised my hands, my charcoal-smudged fingertips massaging my temples while my brows furrowed together.
"I know, I know... But that certainly doesnt mean i have to like it. Besides all these adepts... It's all they can do. Why must I fit a mould and be forced to learn how to draw petals and dogs and cats and half rotten gourds?". I asked as I let my hands fall to my lap and raised my eyes to the man before me.
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 27, 2011 0:57:53 GMT -5
I moved until I was beside her, then squatted down. With my hand, I reached out and gently brought one of the blooms closer. “You must learn how to draw the reality that everyone else sees so that when you draw your own, you will know how others will see your work,” I said, smiling softly as I looked away from the bloom and at her. “If you want others to see what you see, then you must see what they see.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on Apr 27, 2011 12:59:53 GMT -5
He knelt close to me, bringing a bloom closer tso that I could look at it closely. Of course, there was a part of me that paid more attention to his closeness. I could not help it I was an adept after all and he was tragically beautiful.
"you speak with the wisdom of a wizened man," I teased though it was true. "I understand what you say but perhaps the issue is with me... Maybe I just cannot coincide the strange beauty I see with the plain and obvious world everyone else sees, if that makes any sense," I said,turning my head and arching my neck slightly so that I might look upon his face. "perhaps I am crazy," I said with a chuckle and a sigh, though truly there must be some truth in the words I spoke.
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Post by Darien Kachine on Apr 28, 2011 1:07:38 GMT -5
“There is nothing plain in the world,” I replied, my smile growing a little. “There is beauty in each grain of dirt, each shadow as it falls across bare flesh, each tear as it falls down a pale cheek.” I released the flower and turned a little more towards her. “For all that our art is taken in through the eyes; it is nothing if it does not create feelings. Good – bad – horror – swelling love – emotions are what we truly put on a canvas or a piece of parchment, and nothing that inspires such emotion in another or in ourselves can be plain.”
I had been looking in her eyes as I spoke, but then my gaze dropped to her pad. “May I see what you’ve done?”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 3, 2011 11:50:46 GMT -5
He was a riveting speaker, and I found myself almost drawn in ashe spoke and I listened.
"I agree, everything around us has beauty, and speaks to people differently. It just doesnt speak to me like this," I said as I hande dhim the sketchpad with my - at least by my standards - poor sketch of the flower. "As an artist, I want to show the people of the world how I see it through my eyes, how my soul feels it, not how I am to be taught to depict it. That to me is nothing but a cold representation of something so beautiful an dfull of life," I explained as I drew my knees up and wrapped my arms about them. My eyes moved up to his face and I wondered what he would think of the drawing. I myself did not like it, but that was because it wasn't me.
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 3, 2011 21:08:39 GMT -5
Carefully I took the pad, and looked at what she had done. There was talent in her work, anyone would be able to see that, but I could also sense the lack of pleasure in it.
Looking up from the paper, I smiled at her. “So draw it as you want,” I said. “There is no doubting your skill, and no one should tell you how you see things. Draw as you want, and if questioned, defend your art.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 4, 2011 10:00:24 GMT -5
He did not seem to think it ugly, which made me smile a little, a lopsided grin as I cocked my head to the side to look at him.
"Well that's the thing. I normally draw waht I see, how I see things, but I've been instructed that not everyone likes that sort of thing, and it is good for me to learn to draw things as they appear in reality. I hate the idea of not doing art the way I want, and though I hate the idea of compromising, perhaps I can find a way to do so without crippling my vision or getting into trouble for not following instructions," I mused. "But isnt that wrong? Compromising like that?" I asked, my eyes never leaving his face.
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 4, 2011 15:16:40 GMT -5
“It’s absolutely wrong,” I agreed. “Which of the teachers is telling you not to draw in your own style?”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 4, 2011 19:00:25 GMT -5
"Master Laurentide," I said with a sigh, "I always thought he had something against me you know," I said as my eyes closed to slits in frustration. "You mean this is not something that instructors can demand of us? To try to see the world through another's eyes and depict it thusly? I admit I had never been asked before him, but I thought it was just what happened in the higher levels of our instruction."
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 4, 2011 22:05:28 GMT -5
“Not at all, the more advanced you get, the more freedom you should have,” I said. “Draw it as you want, then if he fusses, tell him you want to talk about it with the Dowayne. That should shut him up.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 6, 2011 15:49:06 GMT -5
I smiled at his words,a genuine smile.
"I like how you think, my man," I said with a grin still. "You've been an angel sent to me by Naamah for certain," I teased, though there was some truth in it. I hated despairing, it was so contrary my nature, and now here I was, smiling and hopeful again. "Would you like to join me in some sketching?" I asked, moving myself over a bit in case he agreed.
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 6, 2011 17:45:14 GMT -5
“Certainly,” I said, smiling and trying to push away how uncomfortable her praise had made me. I’d never been good at taking compliments on anything but my work. I sat down beside her, my legs crossed.
“What exactly are you supposed to be drawing? Just the flower?”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 14, 2011 9:13:31 GMT -5
I smiled as he sat down beside me, joining me on the ground. He did not seem as prissy as some of the other Eglantines I had encountered.
"Well the assignment was to show something in nature, excluding humans... so flora and fauna, but it had to be a closeup having a specific focal point," I explained with a grin.
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 16, 2011 23:01:25 GMT -5
“Ah,” I said, nodding a little as I flipped through my own sketches. I found the one I was looking for, a dragonfly alight on one of the reeds the rose from a pond deeper in the gardens. The dragon fly was the center of the piece, everything else only hinted at for context. “Like this?”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 20, 2011 9:29:02 GMT -5
I looked at teh drawing he procured, leaning jus tslightly closer to get a good look at it. it was a dragonfly, and very well rendered at that.
"That is beautiful, yes, exactly like that," I explained. "And here I chose a flower. Why didn't I think to seek out something more... colourful!"
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 20, 2011 22:38:11 GMT -5
“There’s nothing that says you have to stay here if you want to change your subject,” I said, smiling at her. “The gardens are vast, I’m sure we could find something that appeals to you.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 24, 2011 12:20:40 GMT -5
"You don't mind looking about with me?" I asked him as I closed my folio. "I admit it could take a while. I tend to be indecisive... at times," I said, chuckling.
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 24, 2011 23:35:31 GMT -5
“Not at all,” I said as I put my own drawings away and then stood.
The longer I can avoid deportment class the better,” I added with a smile and I offered her my hand to help her up.
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 30, 2011 11:39:48 GMT -5
I laughed at his comment before taking his hand and using it to hoist myself up to my feet, drawing pad in hand. I bent to pick up the pieces of charcoal and chalk I used, holding it and my pad in one hadn while the other absently dusted the dirt off my rear. "Perhaps we should venture over to Jasmine, they've got lovely gardens there, and probably more insect life too."
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Post by Darien Kachine on May 31, 2011 17:57:38 GMT -5
“I’d wager we could find something here,” I suggested. I didn’t particularly like visiting other Houses, especially ones like Jasmine where the focus was mostly on the ‘skills’ of being an adept. “You just need to be open to what is around you.”
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Post by Siobahn Esmeraude de Bouvier on May 31, 2011 18:00:19 GMT -5
"You're probably right," I said as I squinted my eyes against the sun and looked about us, taking a step down the path, "we are Eglantine after all we ought to have something in the line of interesting!" I said ith a chuckle.
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Post by Darien Kachine on Jun 2, 2011 15:50:14 GMT -5
“Indeed,” I agreed as I fell in step with her. “What is your favorite subject?”
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