Who does she think she is? She's no artist. What right has she? What right?
I know, right? I'm no visual artist, nor do I think of myself as such. Doesn't stop me. Just like not thinking myself a poet doesn't stop me writing the occasional poem-y piece. I like drawing and sketching, always have, though for a long time, I stayed away from it for some reason. Maybe the knowledge I'd never be a great artist held me back, I don't know.
But right now, I don't care.
The first character from my upcoming book that came out came entirely by accident. I never set out to draw her, and I'm not yet sure I'm gonna publish her to the other platform thingies. I just wondered one day what it'd be like to draw the old crone.
She's not a crone, she's an ancient spirit. By rights, she should be dead, and that would be a mercy, but the cosmos isn't done with her just yet. We know her only as the Oracle, but her name shouldn't be what concerns you.
The Oracle has recognized a gap in the fence. A lack of unity that she can take advantage of. Use. Why, she knows, and that's all that matters. She sees, as is her fate, too much of what is to come, and little by little, it will drive her insane. Memories of what's to happen come, as ever, at a price. For each vision seen clearly, the Oracle must forego one of her own.
There was a time when she remembered more. There was a time when the Oracle knew who she was, but now, that weighs nothing at all. All that matters is diverting the arrow, shifting the world towards a new fate. But in order to achieve that, she will need help. She is, after all, only old.
So by honeyed words and sleight of wit, by mothering the scattered tribes of travellers, the Oracle assembles herself an army, and motions into being a great war.
She will win. She must win. She has promised it to her children. Even if it means killing someone else's kids to do it.
Be fair, I didn't know I'd like drawing these as much as I did. But basically, when I got done with this one, I kinda liked what came out of it. To the point where I could maybe show it to other people, you know? And since marketing efforts are, essentially, seeing how much you can talk about your book in new ways, character art seemed like a good idea.
It actually turned out pretty cool. The process, I mean. I know my characters well. I dream about them. I see them when I meditate. Maybe we need to take a break from one another for a time. Anyway, you know how sometimes, you know somebody so well, that when you have to describe them, you can't? You're in too deep, there's so many things about them that to you seem relevant, but to the newcomer, to the person just meeting them, might feel overhwelming.
Doing my own character art helped me reassess. It made me look at my characters and boil them down to essentials. Like, what do you need to know about the Oracle? You need to know about the mouse, and you need to know about the cosmos seeping into her eyes. Beyond that, it remains to be seen, right?
Anyway. Doing these sketches is just one of the many ways this book is killing me making me grow, and I'm crazy about it.