Swordtember 2, Anakin Skywalker, and more book reviews
Well, Swordtember just got away from me. I had planned to make 4 swordtember artworks, all fanart with the exception of one, all male characters (so I could get some practice in) but here's only two. It'll have to be Ren and Anakin, unless by some miracle I can get the other two finished by the end of the week. So here's Swordtember 2, Anakin Skywalker, because lightsabers.
Swordtember 2, Anakin Skywalker
Alright, this second piece was a tough decision between Anakin and Obi-Wan. I ultimately decided to go with Anakin because I found myself thinking about the dynamics of his character and that got me thinking about how I wanted to portray him. I chose to render him in the Clone Wars version of costume, partly because I see it as the start of the turning point in his journey as a character. Another reason is that I am a big fan of the animated versions of the Clone Wars and I found Anakin to be actually likable during this time frame. He was the most level headed it seemed and weirdly more mature in the animated series than in the live trilogy (even the last movie). It's like he was an entirely different character. At least that's just how it seemed to me.
I kept thinking about how the events in the Clone Wars were some of his most pivotal moments and experiences leading up to the actions he decided to take later on to completely change who he was and what he was fighting for. I guess maybe I thought of it as a crossroads for his character.
About the artwork: For this piece I used watercolors on Bristol, which nearly drove me crazy because I thought I'd never get the shading right, and then I digitally rendered the background and lightsabers. It's an 8.5x11 in size. I meant to make the background to look like shattering glass, but it just turned out looking like rocks instead so I went with it.
Book Reviews:
Warning: there may be mild spoilers ahead!
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Fragment by Warren Fahy
I really enjoyed this book and it was a fast read because I couldn't put it down. I found the concepts mentioned very interesting and thought provoking, like the idea of invasive species totally wrecking ecosystems often purely by accident and sometimes beginning with just one animal and the theory of the origin of reproduction developing from an unexpected dynamic.
It had some vibes of Jurassic Park and a lost world type of feel but it also reminded me of Aliens in a way. The creatures were not what I was expecting and they certainly seemed as if they should have originated on another planet, but instead were a product of our own (though extremely divergent) evolutionary timeline. I kept actually getting fearful (in a fictional sort of way) while reading the book hoping the species on the island didn't get out and infect the rest of the world. As the creatures were described they weren't like anything else in pace, attitude, and agenda anywhere on earth and it was in the worst way possible.
What I would have liked to see though is a little more adventure in the plot. I kept hoping the characters would set of on an expedition type adventure going deep into the heart of the island and uncovering more mysteries. The characters could have used a bit more development as well but overall, it's a very good book.
The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper
All I can say is that I mostly liked it. It got really boring about midway through and I didn't know if I was going to finish it. The plot felt a little empty at the end, and until about the last ten pages I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever really did. I never realized there were two different timelines until maybe about 60% of the way in. I did like the characters but very little is actually said about what piqued my interest in the book in the first place, which was the mysterious opal. Also the "woman in the green dress" is not really that well of a developed character, more like a plot device than an actual character. I don't know, I liked it overall, but found it somewhat disappointing and dull.
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
I did not finish this one, so I can't say all that much. It was more like a young adult novel with a typical YA plot than a historical fiction, which is fine, but just not what I was expecting and not the type of genre I normally read. I found the characters a bit annoying and not at all how I thought they would be, especially Selene. One would think she'd have at least some contempt for the people who murdered her family. And Octavia was apparently near sainthood. It just didn't seem very realistic. As far as I got in the book, which was a little over halfway, the only thing that really ever happened was that the "kids" got together in a group and ran around just having expository conversations about the city and other things, and there's a typical love triangle and all that. Nothing really interesting happened, and nothing I haven't read before. I wanted to like this book. I may pick it back up at a later date and try to finish but for now it's a DNF.
