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Hap
Uhhh, sarge? I think I'm nekkid.
Ribbon
The Next Generation
Original Short Story
6th
71%
421
Inheritance of The Meek
Bronze medal
They Stood Against the Sky
Original Pic
3rd
90%
395
the heads of everybody turn away from me
Mortarboard
Message in a Bottle
Original Short Story
6th
64%
284
The Storyteller and the Glassblower's Son
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Keep Pretending
FiM Pic
11th
60%
207
Diptych in Black and Blue
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Hiding in Plain Sight
Original Minific
5th
82%
190
Song of Rain and Thunder
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The Howl in the Dark
Original Minific
7th
82%
184
Seven Dry Places
Ribbon
It Could Have Gone Better
FiM Minific
9th
79%
175
This is the Weather Patrol
Ribbon
Glass Masquerade
Original Short Story
6th
38%
106
No I'm fine
Confetti
Keep Pretending
FiM Minific
30th
43%
66
No Need
#17243 · 7
·
>>Xepher
We should both do it then!

I'll voice-to-text mine on the train ride down XD
#18564 · 7
· on the heads of everybody turn away from me · >>Miller Minus >>Moosetasm
>>Anon Y Mous
>>Roseluck
>>Moosetasm
>>Not_A_Hat
>>GroaningGreyAgony

Thanks! This was a fun piece to create. All I could think of to draw was what I assumed everyone was going to do (and nobody did!): a character or pair standing resolute, with the camera low and looking up, showing them against the background of a sky swarming with some sort of enemies (creatures, ships, whatever).

Then I thought... what if "the sky" was a cabal of individuals - human or creature - against whom the characters were standing? But why would they be "the sky?" Because they're birds, of course! I was inspired by the sort of strange medieval art with fantastic beasts and people with animal heads, and immediately started looking up references.

I liked the way that medieval art was just slightly unsettling in the way they drew people. So I spent hours in front of a mirror, trying to pose my body like those manuscripts. Some of you mentioned the eagle's arm looking odd. Well, that's based on my posing in front of the mirror and taking pictures. You try standing at a 45 degree angle and holding one arm back behind you, palm out. Plus, it looked vaguely wrong, and I wanted it to be a bit unsettling.

The title of the piece was lifted from a heavily distorted song which has exactly one line that's clear enough to distinguish. I changed it a bit to read: "the heads of everybody turn away from me"

Whoever these creatures are, they are turning away from the dog and the girl. They are shunning them. And despite the fact that they have turned their heads, all eyes are on the dog.

I wanted to make the girl stand out, so I used a very modern form for her shape, as opposed to the medieval poses and body shapes of the bird creatures.

As to the text, I noticed that a lot of illustrations from the middle ages had visible text bleeding through from the other side. So, I looked up high-resolution images of medieval manuscripts, and ended up with a 15th century Italian pseudo-Augustinian manuscript by Olivetan monks. I cropped it and printed it, then drew on the back of it.

I like the clean lines of an ink brush. India ink. Plain printer paper takes it well. I like the ability to do hair-thin lines or thick strokes with the same tool.

I could see the text on the other side of the art, but didn't like the letters inside the characters, so I turned it over, stuck a desk lamp under my glass-top drawing table, and used a white paint marker to color in the characters that I could see through the paper. But when I scanned it, none of the letters showed up anyway!

So I stuck a mirror behind the page, and closed the scanner lid, and the light shining through the page and reflected back was enough to illuminate the letters! The white marker was opaque enough to prevent the letters showing through on the characters.

Then I scanned a sheet of coarse, unbleached paper and used that as a texture filter over the whole thing, and messed with the contrast and such.

Thanks everyone!
#17649 · 6
· on Griswielda's Fortune · >>Miller Minus
Nice triple entendre for a title.
#17653 · 6
· on Two Birthdays · >>Trick_Question
Pinkie's voice doesn't come through at all for me. With the exception of a couple trademark catchphrases, the dialogue could have been from any generic OC.

That said, the choice of depressing topic would certainly make it very difficult to write a convincing Pinkie. But I don't understand why this topic with these characters.
#19212 · 6
· on But I didn't listen! · >>Kritten
I like that the artist went to the trouble of typing up a grad school acceptance letter for Twilight Sparkle.

Transcript follows:

GENESEO
State University of New York
1 College Circle
Geneseo, New York, 14454
Web | www.geneseo.edu

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Congratulations! We are delighted to offer you admission to Geneseo in General Studies for Fall 2027 as a Graduate Student. Your hard work and determination have earned you a spot in the Geneseo Knights Class of 2032! Since admission to Geneseo is a selective process, you can take pride in your accomplishment!

...


The rest is a standard acceptance letter that you can find online.
#19836 · 6
· on 'Twas Brillig · >>Baal Bunny
>>BlueChameleonVI
Also, it's a bizarre coincidence when this is the second fic in the contest involving male-to-female transsexuals who are also royalty. That's an oddly specific trope to appear twice.


*cough* Bowsette *cough*
#17131 · 5
· · >>Miller Minus
https://i.imgur.com/j75NQaf.gif
#17241 · 5
· · >>Xepher
I wonder if I can create and type up a short story on my phone during EFNW?
#17586 · 5
·
Imma hafta art this round.
#18106 · 5
· on Sunburst's Bad Grades
This is deconstructed cubism reflected off a neo-absurdist take on the GIMPressionist movement of the late 00s.