Ethereal Manifests for Inktober
It's been a long time. How have you been? I've been really busy being...well, not dead. You haven't heard a lot from me lately. I've still been drawing, of course- but it's mostly been commissions or gifts for close friends, so I haven't really shared that with you. It's all been lovely. But, mostly, I've been busy because, well- I'm getting married. In a handful of days, actually. That's right. The Ethereal is settling down with the Tangible. I debated whether or not I should even bother with Inktober this year, seeing as half of the month is devoted to my upcoming nuptials, but once I realized I'd been taking part since it's INCEPTION, well now, I couldn't very well SKIP a year. And break my PERFECT RECORD? No, no. That just wouldn't do. So, instead, I decided that I would dedicate this Inktober to my betrothed. So, be prepared to see a lot of a wild haired man. I'll be on the road for some of the month (Honeymooning and such), so it might take a few days to upload onto DA. I will, however, be keeping my Instagram @ the.ethereal.maiden That's right. I'm hip with the youths, now. So, if you want to peek on the DAILY, follow me there! Happy Inktober!!
ETHEREAL RETURNS!
I could give you a long story about how I went on a grand adventure in search of inner wisdom- climbing up crumbling mountains and traversing dark seas- and while I suppose that could be effective as an allegory, it's not quite accurate and hardly addresses the subtle nuances of life's struggles. So, instead, we're skipping those chapters to reach the current story, which will no doubt be of more interest, and far more engaging.
While Inktober has come and gone, it's presence has revitalized me. My work had come to a halt. I had lost sight of what I was doing. Every project seemed to big to start. Life was a chore.
Turns out, diving straight into a bucket of ink for a 31 day stretch really wakes your sketch muscles up. I posted as much as I could before my computer's power supply died and there was really no way to scan and upload my progress as the month progressed. Now that I've repaired my computer, we're ready to kick things in gear and move forward!
In celebration of Ethereal's Reawakening, I'll be posting all THIRTY ONE drawings, along with updated, cleaned up scans and more in depth descriptions of inspirations/intentions for each prompt. In short- hold onto you hats, kids.
October is having an encore!
Ethereal Bedtime Stories and New Years
It's a brand new sketch book of opportunities, and I look forward to seeing what we'll all share with each other this year! In the spirit of giving and sharing, I have a lot of exciting things to watch for this year!
Santa was very generous this year, and I now have a camcorder and digital camera to record both work in progress and completed work! This year, I'll be making an active effort to share what I'm working on! I'm drafting up a few large projects this year, but I plan to keep you all posted every step of the way!
But, as I've done enough boring feeling announcements, I leave you with something a little more fun:
Ethereal talks about the Van Bromance
I've started a collaborative project with my friend Breezy to make some videos back and forth, and a way of keeping in touch while we're in between states. We've both made small little blogs for awhile now, and thought it would be a good time to collaborate.
For my first video...after a brief tangent on art history, Breezy requested that I tell the story of why Van Gogh chopped off his ear.
So, if you're interested in that sort of thing, and want to see my lovely mug, here you go:
I am experiencing the rage with BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea.
Now, I waited patiently for the second episode of Burial at Sea to come out. I was super excited to get to play some of it today.
((Now, let it not be said that I'm against change in a series. I'm going to preface this. Change can be beautiful.))
For those of you NOT in the know, in the final chapter of the BioShock Infinite DLC, you get to play Elizabeth, a pretty dang kick butt, omni-something or other psychic wonder woman would can RIP HOLES IN REALITY WITH HER BARE HANDS and in the first DLC, was established as a pretty hardcore lady going out to do something pretty hardcore (which I will not spoil for you).
The initial sequence is amazing. Classic turn on head "Everything is Misery Coated in Deceptive Happiness" wonderfulness. I was wiggling in my seat giddy about getting to play. This is what BioShock IS.
And then the cut sequences ended. Elizabeth no longer has cool powers for reasons. She is a "Normal girl" now. Okay. Fine. Whatever. This can be cool. Booker was normal. Jack was...engineered normal. Delta was- well...Delta was spliced to crap. But whatevs. Not the point.
BACK TO NORMAL ELIZABETH.
I am finally in the driver's seat. First room. Let's go-
"Sneak up on this Splicer!"
Well, okay. I guess I don't have weapons yet. Fine. Makes sense. I can deal.
So I play this little stealth intro bitterly. I ain't got no beef with stealth, but I have sexy flings with BioShock for the badaboom combat/corvids shooting out of my hands stuff.
And then the first gun I pick up is...a tranquilizer crossbow.
...Okay...
And now, this is when I start to get irritated. Because this isn't just about a stealth game. Nope. They have to get a little gendery.
You don't need to be like your dad, Elizabeth. You don't need to shed blood...You're just a normal girl...splicers are dangerous.
Not because it's wrong. Oh no. Mechanically, I'M NOT ALLOWED TO.
Booker can jack a man in the face with a skyhook and take him down. But I need to sneak behind him or he'll just get dizzy and claw my face off. Booker can attack from above raining wumps of death. But if I'm Elizabeth, I can daintily land without sound and hide from splicers in a vent.
Finally tapped out as soon as the in game advice let me know that Big Daddy with attack on sight, and little girly Elizabeth cannot kill him.
This is not about Bioshock becoming a stealth game for me. This is WHAT I'm playing somehow MEANING this is now a stealth game.
I invite you to join the TEAR IT UP CHALLENGE. The Rules are simple.
1) Draw Elizabeth as a Hardcore Action Hero.
2) Spread Across the Internet
3) 'Knucks with the people.
Ethereal Out.
//UPDATES:
You know who's a straight up B.A.?
THE G.
Check out his contribution: www.deviantart.com/art/Liz-445…