For the D&D campaign that Mr S-P wrote, he kept commissioning artwork from the girls to illustrate terrain and architectural features where we were playing, as well as to describe the creatures we encountered. A few months ago, I asked him whether I could try my hand at creating a location shot for him as well, although I wasn't well-versed in computer art programs like the kids use. I wanted to paint by hand, old-school. He agreed to let me paint a barren desert landscape, that stretched for many miles, with a faraway mountain range on one side, and a tightly contained thunderstorm in the center, in the distance.
I blocked out my colors months ago. It took multiple coats to get the sky roughly the right opacity, and I left it to dry for a while. Like for a month. Then I tried to add in a large thunderhead in the middle, but I made it several orders of magnitude larger than I intended. I set it aside, meaning to get back to it. I failed to return to it for another three to four weeks. Then last week, our party reached the point in the story when we were able to look in the distance from a tall tower, and see the storm. Oops. I wasn't ready with the painting.
Today I sat down and finished it. I might have had a vague plan to make it realistic and detailed, but once I got going again, I started grooving on an impressionist vibe. I didn't have time to attempt hyper-realism, and I liked where it was going with just the mood over details anyway. I got to a point where my heart screamed STOP! And I did.
When I tried taking pictures so that Mr S-P could share with the party members who are still playing remotely, I discovered it doesn't translate well to extremely clear photos, blown up large on my television. It made the impressionist aspects just seem hurried or sloppy. I like it much better in person than in the photo, but since I can't invite everyone over to see it, the photo will have to suffice.
Also, baby pictures from the game. Enjoy.
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