Mary (Final Fantasy VI) Sketches 5

Autumn was in full swing, leaves once verdant now turned into varying shades of orange, red, and yellow. The sun shone a different way in the sky now, with skies bluer than they usually would have been in the summer. There were many days when they had to rake up leaves in piles and to store them away in burlap sacks, for use as either fuel for the fire, or dry mulch for the planters in the future.

Autumn also meant something else for Terra. She remembered the days when she still communicated with her father through his magicite; he would tell her stories of his life in the Esper World, and what her mother was like to him. While a lot of their conversations were so terribly mundane to the outsider, to them, it was all they had as father and child, robbed of the peace they should have had.

Maduin loved her dearly. He told her to always remember a certain day in October, the day when he and her mother were the happiest they had ever been when Terra was...

Etherei and Zephyr Sketches 2

Heels clacked in the distance, the sound of hard leather meeting ancient stone echoing from the other side of the corridor. Then, at last, a figure emerged from the darkness: a caped woman with long, flowing apricot tresses, her cerulean eyes cold and scrutinizing as her gaze transfixed on the young Enerhija Knight before her.

Etherei swallowed. Suddenly, it felt like all the fighting beyond the walls became drowned out by the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears. She had such an intimidating aura that he could already feel the bile in his system rising to his throat from how overwhelming it was.

"Wh... Who are you?"

Silence hung over them following his question, compounding the already suffocating feeling of dread and darkness that constantly hovered all over the fortress' atmosphere. She then reached for the hilt of her blade, drawing it out with a clean swipe from its sheath.

"Hmph. I had dismissed you as yet another barbarian like the others invading my liege's domain," She grunted. "But as you've at least some semblance of decorum rather than coming mindlessly at me, I will do you this one final act of kindness."

Raising her blade, she aimed it at him directly, her cape and long hair billowing right behind her.

"I am Emeline Marie de Garde, of the Valkyrie Queen's Chosen," She introduced herself with steely conviction, "And you shall sully these walls with your existence no further."

---

Alone without Zephyr's guidance, Etherei ventures into the Fjalar Fortress alone, where he comes face-to-face with one of the Valkyrie Queen's most powerful generals and a member of her personal guard. And boy, things ain't looking good for our little guy.

Was messing around with lighting again while I was working on this, and I also used this tutorial on Pinterest as a reference for getting the stone walls and floor sketched out. I'll have to try this on a future landscape painting though. This rendering technique looks absolutely genius.

Self-Reflections 1

The one time I decide not to add associated backstory to my work and it takes longer than I expected it to. 😅😆

Just something about my avatar that had been just floating around in my head while I was lounging by a river in the mountains a few days ago. So I figured I'd indulge in myself a little bit. 😌 Also made a last-minute, half-assed attempt at shadows and lighting. Looks decent enough, I suppose.