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AGE OF TRIBULATION:
THE GREAT MIGRATION PERIOD
Pt.1
Dear Brother Manaxis,
since our last correspondence, I've went on a journey to gather as much information about the period during the reign of Recas and his right hand, St. Sabileus. Since there is a lot to cover, I will first introduce you to the basic geopolitical context of the time. For our reference point, we shall use the empire at the time, since it's more familiar to us.
THE MIRAN EMPIRE
A Sabilean Infantry of the time of Recas
The Mirian empire was de jure unified under Recas and the senate, who ruled from Mir, a city located at the middle of the Ixilo peninsula. However, de facto the empire was already fractured between the northern and southern themes. This was due to the fact that Thrixianity had already grown exponentially among the populous since the olostolic era, especially in the south. In the north, the ekiznikian religions still had influence over parts of society, including the emperor and the other ruling classes.
St. Sabileus was a young and loyal general from an aristocratic origin, who was tasked with defending the southern borders beyond the Hollon strait, near the Efere dessert. Although a mighty warrior, he was more known for his deception tactics and preference to psychological warfare. Probably because of this, he was exalted by Recas to the rank of governor and was given control over the southern themes unofficially to deal with the growing influence of the Faith. As a newly appointed governor, his first job was to learn in great detail about his enemy and if he has any weaknesses that he could exploit. His eventual secret conversion was influenced by many encounters he had with laymen and clergy, but, in short, Sabileus was ultimately convinced by the monk St. Morcos to abandon his ekiznikian belief and to embrace Thrixos. After that, he indirectly supported the Church using third parties and he managed to establish a secret network of merchants, politicians and generals loyal to him.
There are evidence, in the form of unsigned letters, that Recas and the senate did know of a potential betrayal, but, due to a fear of causing a civil war, could do little about it. Conveniently for them, perhaps too conveniently, chaos was coming from the far southeastern planes...
THE MORG'AR KHAGANATE
A Raider from the Uvur tribe
The Morg'Ar khaganate was ruled by the great khagan Shor, who was responsible for unifying all morg tribes and defeating another great empire, the Tai'gan. What motivated Shor to expand north is a vision from the great shaman, who saw a threat greater than the Tai'gan, who was located "up in the skies".
The morgs had a very animistic world view. Their spiritual order of shamans believed that their magical powers derive from the spirits around the natural world. Thus, they had arranged a system of ritualistic sacrifices to please different spirits in different situations. They also believed that totems, if done "properly", could hold a part of the essences of a spirit. The craftsmanship surrounding totems unintentionally made the morgs into excellent wood workers, a skill which was inherited by their descendants, who build beautiful churches these days.
The expansion resulted into the displacement of many nomadic tribes, causing them to gradually move north and to eventually cause trouble to the empire. Not all tribes were forcefully displaced. Some, like the ones from the mighty Ovchor people and the cunning Finka people, joined the khaganate voluntarily in exchange for territory and resources.
There was one collection of tribes that gave the most resistance, known as the Kurdur confederacy, which was located near the southeastern borders of the empire....
>Makes up a name so that Blizzard cant sue him
>Ends up making a name, which is in a Blizzard's game
>A cease and desist letter for a snca project
That's not long, I expected at least 10h, I remember having to draw crankshafts and such at school and it would take me like 6h hours for a single A4 drawing while being much less complicated than this
>>52
It depends. As Bob said, roughly 3 hours is for the pencil sketch (these are made on paper and scanned). I try to recheck the sketch after some time and see if there are any problems and if there's something that can be added/changed/removed (usually there's always something to change). So that can add extra time.
After that you have the inking, which is also extra hours and you have to be careful, you cant erase ink.
Keep in mind, time flies by when you draw, so I cant give you exactly the time frame. On paper it take more time, but it's a fun process and the end result are better (imo). Digitally it's faster, as you can edit the image at any time, but this can give you bad habits and hinder your drawing skills.
Also keep in mind, some of the details dont take that much brain power and are random. Nobody is going to calculate if the cloth folds are mathematically/physically correct to the last detail. There are general rules to keep in mind, but if it looks believable/pleasant enough, you're good to go. Not that mine are believable enough, im still figuring things out.
Yea that's why I specified that it's a freehand sketch. If you actually want to bother to make the figure proportional and with a thought-out, well-flowing pose, you can be drawing the same picture for days.
This one, for example, I had worked on from the ~21st of october to the ~11th of november on and off, and even still I would never call it a finished or satisfactory picture.
>>55
>calculating if the cloth folds are mathematically/physically correct to the last detail
I do this.
>>56
>If you actually want to bother to make the figure proportional and with a thought-out, well-flowing pose, you can be drawing the same picture for days.
true to some extend. Usually what you do is you do quick and small flow sketches and goof around to see what works best. You could also go straight ahead with drawing the main sketch and work with the flow (but sometimes you are risking scratching your "first attempt"). It depends on the situation and mood.
Speaking of proportions, they also fall in the category of "good to know the basic rules, but nobody will calculate the details". In 2D art, proportions are NOT a constant (unlike in 3d sculptures), which means that the proportions are up to the artist to interpret. Its good to know stuff like landmarks (key bones) and the rough size of some bones (and spacing between some parts of the body etc), but again, this aint theoretical physics.
>>59
>picrel
THE KURDUR CONFEDERACY
A member of the Maenads, their spiritual class
The Kurdurs were a a mighty semi-nomadic people, who's kingdom was situated near the the southeastern borders of the empire, beyond the Druvon river. Their origins is a bit muddy, but the earliest mentions of the name "kurdur" appear 4 centuries after the Esavo-Yakovite wars. A notable physical feature of theirs is the extended lower ear lobe, which is similar to some human drawings seen in more ancient pottery around the southern themes.
It is also notable to mention that although the confederacy had a male head of state, Mal'katyan at the time, and that all of the tribes were patriarchal in appearance, it was actually their female priestly class, known as the Maenads, who pulled the strings behind the scenes. This was due to the endorsement of polygyny in their society, which the Maenads exploited by sending loyal agents as brides to key political figures. This included Mal'katyan, who had 18 wives, from whom allegedly 12 were such agents and had great influence on the inner politics of the state.
There is a famous tragedy, which happened during that time. The son of one of the stronger tribe's leader, Uspurjah, was sent at an early age to study at Koronstinop, the city at the Hollon strait. Due to Thrixian influence, he refused to engage in sexual immorality and strived to remain pure, which made him surprisingly very sought after by women, especially the great Bacchae, the spiritual leader. Only one would unintentionally take his heart, a gorgeous and innocent young lady by the name of Friska, who was being trained to be a Maenad. Their relationship could remain secret for so long, before the higher-ups would take notice. Numerous attempts were made to separate Uspurjah from Friska by offering brides to no avail. The Morg'Ar invasion offered a great opportunity to end this relationship, but i shall stop here, as i highly recommend you to read the tragedy yourself. I will send you a copy soon.
Besides the eastern migrations, the Morgs also caused a crisis from the southwest parts of the empire, which culminated in the Sunai uprising, a very devastating conflict.
>go straight ahead with drawing the main sketch and work with the flow
I do this all the time.
This is literally the only other line layer I had for ''that'' drawing. As a kid I always taught myself to forego sketching and go straight into the drawing because I knew I didn't have the patience to spend too much time on a one-off doodle I planned on moving on from right away.
On the phantasia scale I'm probably a 1 but I've never done a proper test for it. That is to say I already know exactly what I want to put to paper, I only do a stickman under it all to remind myself of the original idea, and maybe to help with proportions. Other than that I know I have enough practice to know where what goes in the anatomy, and if I fuck up the eraser is right there.
>In 2D art, proportions are NOT a constant
Steven Universe vindicated.
>>picrel
Both of these people are artists, and both of their art is wonderful in its own way. Davinci dug up dead bodies to study and scrutinize anatomy as comprehensively and exhaustively as would humanly be feasible. Picasso did drugs. Dali would stand on his head until he almost passed out. Methods and approaches may be different but the blanket term art covers all. Also,
>It's just magic.
Steven Universe vindicated again.
>>61
cankles
>On the phantasia scale I'm probably a 1 but I've never done a proper test for it.
Are there proper tests for it? When I consciously try to imagine an apple, I can't, but I can easily imagine anything as long as I'm not aware it's a test.
>>62
>I always taught myself to forego sketching and go straight into the drawing
By "sketch" i do mean something that strives to picrel. On paper, it is better to use as little lines as possible, since you will need to erase it and at one point ya cant truly erase and it leaves some "muddiness". But good on you, Toby!
>phantasia scale test to show how easy can demons infiltrate your mind
i also have ideas. Sometimes i just feel like i need to see if they are good in practice. From that i might get other ideas.
What i will say is that the concept of "layers" in digital art can hurt your drawing confidence. At one point I would make a million layers for a single drawing "just to make sure".
For ink, i'm not Brave enough to go straight to it yet. I do know some artists that do, but they have way more experience than me.
>Both of these people are artists
Missed the point award. Not that study sessions and reference materials are le bad (i use them all the time), but drawing is not an exact science. Have fun and learn to draw the flow, not just the form.
>Steven Universe vindicated again. x2
Marge?
>>63
We do be like that sometimes. I'm not sure how you'd properly "test" this.
idk... Self diagnosis is the usual go-to.
>>64
We agree on everything, toot.
>Missed the point award.
I got the point but I like going on snca tangents. You know this.
>drawing is not an exact science
It can be both.
>Have fun and learn to draw the flow, not just the form.
To me the form is the best part, and therefore fun.
>>Steven Universe vindicated again. x2
>Marge?
Steven Universe is notorious for its characters constantly being off-model.
Also all alien tech in Steven Universe is hand-waved as magic.
>>65
>We agree on everything, toot.
I agree to disagree, toby.
>I got the point but I like going on snca tangents. You know this.
NO FUN ALLOWED!!1!1!!
>It can be both.
Nigga, in this context we aint talking about architecture. I know that some applied arts can get technical.
>To me the form is the best part, and therefore fun.
form and flow work together. my point is that hyper focusing on form is le bad o algo.
On a serious note, please do not ever again disgrace this site by uploading steven universe art. This is breaking rule 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 and is a bannable offense.
Besides, this is an overexaguration as to what i meant by "2d proportions are not constant". This brakes rule 10 and is, therefore, a death sentence. I am coming to Bulgaria soon. Please do not run.
SUNAI CALIPHATE
A Hodja practicing necromancy
The western themes have always been the most unstable, due to their small land connection to the main empire and their harsh environment beyond the coast. A lot of heresies and sects have sprung from there, which ultimately led to the Ginja religion.
The Ginja claim a continuation with the Esavians, a long extinct group of simians, who had a belief that they were the true inheritors of the blessing of Ivriim and were envious of the political might of the Yakovites and their possession of the City, Yarosali. The devil, seeing such weakness, sent many visions and prophecies to the Esavians and would slowly teach them dark magic.
Many of these dark teachings were written down, but also lost for a very long time. That was, until Ilibadesh, the founder of Ginja, had an encounter with an "angel", who instructed the prophet where to find these texts. The prophet would also gain additional visions, prophesies and knowledge that added on top of the Esavian "revelations" and with that, he started teaching the local ekiznikian nomads.
Soon the members of Ginja grew, until they had a force large enough to prepare a surprise invasion and their goal was to take Yarosali, as well as the rest of the Mirian Empire. With the coming of the morgs, an opportunity to strike from Sunai appeared and the scourge was unleashed towards the wicked and innocent alike.
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