Closed [Location: University] Preservation of the Past (Anouk)

[Ravenna Raye]

2nd of Spring, 515 AV

Ravenna's walk to work that morning was uneventful, though this day would be unlike any she'd experienced before. The carver muttered a greeting to Mr.Heigan, and per her usual, headed straight to the workroom and to her bench to get to work. She set her toolkit on the bench and reached for her orders. Plucking the top one from the pile, she absentmindedly pulled up a stool and sat to plan her piece, hazel eyes already pacing back and forth across the page as she read the write-up. It was another scenery piece, but this order was ideally unique and very important. Ravenna was being commissioned to carve a remembrance piece to commemorate the obelisks. The weight of the request hung heavy off her shoulders. Even more of a surprise came over her when in the added notes, she was directed to meet up and create this piece with someone at the University in their Art Studio. Having a second set of hands in the completion of a project was an entirely new concept for Ravenna, but for something this serious and important, she wasn't going to complain or try to deviate from the instructions.

Grabbing a piece of parchment and charcoal, Ravenna began jotting down the key notes of what was expected in her finished product, as well as her ideas on how to bring it to life. The client wanted a blended before and after of the obelisk awakenings. Getting both obelisks projected into the same image would be the easy part. However, it'll be tricky to get a before and after look and feel across in one piece without starkly dividing the piece down the middle. The carver knew she had to bring her best to the table on this or it would harshly affect her career. Closing her eyes, Ravenna envisioned the piece, watching the ideas come together in her mind. She'd "divide" the piece top to bottom, the top half showing the dark skies, unsettled waters in the distance, beaming light, and crumbling of the stone while the lower portion would show the base of the obelisks in their pristine conditions, calmer waters, and undamaged land at the edge of the Bay, all boat docks fully intact.

Feeling brilliant and excited for her design, and hoping with all her might that she'll be able to pull it off, Ravenna slid the stool back out of the way of the workbench, put the order paperwork off to the side, and began gathering all she needed to bring with her to the University. The request didn't specify a size in mind for the carving, so Ravenna envisioned the size she'd want it to be if she were ordering it done, and went with that. She tracked down a slab of wood roughly four feet wide and two and a half feet tall, and placed it on the bench. It was a large piece of wood, but it wouldn't be too troublesome to carry to the University to carve. Not wishing to bore someone there with her sketching beforehand, Ravenna chose to get her perspective drawings taken care of before headed to the Studio.

Picking up her piece of charcoal and centering herself in front of the slab of wood, she lightly began sketching out the major parts of her design, preparing it to be carved correctly. She roughly placed and outlined the land edge along the bottom, slightly curved for depth and to make the viewer interpret themselves as standing near the edge of the water looking out onto the Bay. Next she placed delicate outlines of the shapes and whereabouts of the obelisks themselves. Lastly, she placed a light indication of the distant water line. Satisfied that the major pieces were properly depicted, she closed up her toolkit and packed it into her backpack. Once it was securely on her back, she set the wood landscape-style, cupped the bottom of it with her left hand, and throwing her right arm over the top to help balance it, headed out of the store and began making her way to the University, ever thankful that it wasn't located far from West Street.

x

[Anouk]

Thread Title
Location

Anouk was fed up of getting lost.

The student quarters of Zeltiva University were apparently close to all the other academic buildings. But this didn't stop the Konti from taking the wrong turn, missing the right one. What was worse was the fact she was late. She was meant to have been in the art studios half a bell ago, but having ended up practically in the middle of the market, Anouk had had to do a swift turnaround and backtrack.

But now she was finally inside, slipping off her white cloak and hanging it up on the hooks on the other side of the door. She was keen to get painting. This was, after all, her first commission, and it had been requested on behalf of the City of Zeltiva nonetheless. Already she was bubbling with excitement and enthusiasm.

"Oh!" The presence of another woman caught her off guard. Within a tick, Anouk remembered that the City had also hired a carver, whom she would work with to provide art for the Ball. Working with others was no issue for the Konti. Quite the opposite; she enjoyed how inspiration could bounce back and forth between two people. In Mura, she had spent many days painting and drawing with her sisters. She approached the carver - for Anouk assumed the piece of wood the other woman had strapped to her back was for this purpose - with an extended hand. "Hello. I'm Anouk."

It came as a relief that the carver had also just arrived. Anouk did not like being behind schedule, and as this was her first commission she wanted to ensure that her art was completed in a timely manner. Greetings over and done, the Konti began to hurriedly get herself together. There were several easels standing in the far corner of the studio, and also a stack of blank canvases all leaning against a nearby wall. She began to drag the easel to the centre of the room, where the lighting was well balanced. The canvas selection, however, took more time. She had four sketches in her bag with her, of various structures and sights of Zeltiva, but had no idea which one to start first. The docks would be a nice painting to begin, but Anouk felt that it would be wiser to start with something smaller. Finally, she made her decision; a canvas approximately nine inches wide and fifteen inches tall.

Having placed her selected canvas onto the easel, and collected a piece of charcoal, Anouk turned to the other woman with a breathy exhalation. "Exciting, isn't it?"

[Ravenna Raye]

It didn't take long for the carver to arrive at the University, and thankfully found the main office with ease. They directed her to the Art Studio, and while she got a little turned around, a few more directions from students and personnel brought her right to the Studio doors. Ravenna let herself in, noting the other woman on the project had yet to arrive, and brought herself to the center of the room. Hazel eyes scanned her surroundings, taking in the building itself as well as the large amount of supplies for all kinds of artwork. A few moments ticked by, the carver so lost in awe at the Studio that she hadn't heard the other woman arrive until her voice broke through the silence, introducing herself.

Ravenna turned to do the same and met the outstretched hand with one of her own. She smiled happily at the woman, immediately grateful that she hadn't been paired with someone unpleasant. "It's nice to meet you, Anouk. I'm Ravenna." After their introduction, the painter immediately went to work setting up, and following her lead, Ravenna did the same. There was a large table nearby, large enough to support her wood and tools comfortably, and Ravenna made her way to it, slinging the wood off her back and onto the table. Opening her bag, she pulled out all her main tools, lining them up next to the piece. Next she brought out her sketches and lined them up in front of her, trying to decide where to begin.

Ravenna directed a glance to the other woman, just in time for her to turn and express her excitement for the project. Ravenna too was excited, but she couldn't deny feeling a bit out of place for this project. She had plenty of confidence in herself to complete the piece, there was no question of that, but she'd never worked with another around before, and all her work had always been at home or at the shop. She'd never even stepped foot near the University before and there she was working in their Studio. There certainly wasn't a problem with the situation, but everything was new and Ravenna did feel a little intimidated by it all. She wouldn't let it stop her though. Flashing a smile back at the artist, she put her best foot forward. "Yeah it is. A little daunting too though, haha. Forgive me if I'm a bit awkward through all of this. A lot about this is a new concept to me. And I promise I won't ignore your presence here, but once I dive in over here, I may get a bit lost in it." Figuring a little bit of socialization before hard work couldn't hurt, she continued. "Are you a student here, Anouk? I've never been here myself."

Awaiting her reply, the carver turned back to the wood in front of her. Any previous pieces she'd worked on were of smaller proportions so she found it a little tricky trying to determine where she should begin. The grain of the wood flowed from left to right, mildly angled towards the top right corner. This told her she should start from left to right and also work bottom to top. She'd take it a section at a time, carving all the way from one corner to the other, move up a bit and back to her starting side, and do it again. She would start with the land edge and then work on the surrounding waters. Picking up her v-chisel, she placed the outer side of her right palm on the wood, chisel tip angled along her drawn land line, left hand cupping the end of the handle. Shifting her weight to lean into her left hand, Ravenna used her body weight to gently push the chisel along, keeping her right hand planted against the wood for control. Every couple of inches, she'd reset her hands and repeat the process, brushing off the curly wood shavings piling up in front of her chisel. She'd have the land edge carved out in a matter of moments, ready for her to go back through with the gouge later and give it some depth.

x

[Anouk]

Anouk gave a brief nod and another breathy smile. "Yes, I study painting and drawing at the university." She began to hurriedly rustle through her satchel bag, pulling out several pieces of folded parchment, discarding most save for one strip of paper. The Konti unfolded her selected parchment piece and attempted to smooth out its many creases. She swiped her left hand in the air, dismissing Ravenna's apology, "oh, don't worry! I'm the same. Sometimes art can suck you in, can't it?"

She turned back to her canvas, now armed with a chunk of charcoal and her sketch. The rough outline detailed an image of a tower, which upon closer inspection, would be clearly identified as Priskil's Spire. Anouk touched the charcoal to her canvas, and began to redraw her outline of the tower. She started at the bottom, sweeping her hand up the canvas to create the first line of the tower. She mirrored this with another; now her image consisted of two vertical sides. Anouk stepped backwards, staring hard at the canvas. The painter was a perfectionist to a fault, and had a hard eye that criticised her own artwork at every stage.

But she seemed happy with her progress so far, so Anouk stepped back to the canvas and drew two more vertical lines that took place between the previous two. The tower was hexagonal, and so these two new lines divided the face of the Spire into three sections.

Mirrors were next. The first three, at the top of the spire, were outlined as slim rectangles with a semi-circle on top. There were three narrower windows underneath each of these larger ones; miniature versions of the others.

Anouk stepped backwards again, staring at the half-finished sketch with narrowed aquamarine eyes. Her progress was going well, but this would not be just any painting. Many people would see it, so it was Anouk's best opportunity to be noticed as a budding artist. Perhaps someone would want to buy one her paintings!

But this would only happen if she did her best, and that required the Konti to be critical and scrupulous with her work. With another tut, she turned away from the canvas with a mild air of frustration. When she spoke, however, her voice was as airy and fresh as before. "Would you like some fruit?" She extracted two large oranges from her bag, holding each in one hand, "sometimes food is a great distraction."