"The Winds of Change" by WolfieDrawie · 3:36pm Apr 15th, 2023
"The Winds of Change", an illustration for Chapter 2: Lost for A Kindled Change, made by WolfieDrawie. It's meant to illustrate the turn-around point for Chrys' life. The moment she is finally released into the outside world to look at all the splendor nature can afford for the first time since she could remember, with only a vague almost non-existent memory of the things outside.
Lost is one of my smallest chapters, and also perhaps the most important to the three stories as a whole. When I was younger, I always had an issue writing in too much purple prose. It crippled my narratives and my story-telling. And so in a spur of genius, I thought to do the only sensible, logical thing. Make purple-prose the intent of a story. And Lost is the chapter where that idea all started. Where Chrys' journey was decided, what it meant for her, and what it meant for me to write overly detailed descriptions of the world she was seeing for the first time. It was the true origin of this story, as the first chapter of A Kindled Change was only written with a vague idea and a sense of what I wanted to make.
Now, to speak more on it.
I asked WolfieDrawie to make this one for me. I didn't have any plans to have a single artists make multiple commissions for A Kindled Change, since I wanted to make only one illustration per chapter by a different person. But in wanting to support Wolfie more, and loving the work she did for Chapter 3: Alone, I relented in the end and asked her for two commissions for the story. It helps that the two moments in question are very similar to each other, as they're meant to illustrate the beauty of nature that Chrys is experiencing for the first time. And in that regard, I don't think anyone beats Wolfie's art.
From the beautiful dahlia-looking flowers, to the sparkling dew on their petals, all the way over to small birds flying in the cloudy, parting skies. Wolfie really outdid herself with this one. The colors are incredibly vibrant and beautiful to look at. There's so much detail and complimenting beauty. It's so good in fact, I wonder if my own writing can do it justice. Probably not. What kind of scene did you imagine Chrys looking out to when she first opened her eyes to the world outside? What can you imagine to be the world you'd see after a lifetime of only darkness? Could there ever be a more magical moment than that?
In particular, I really like the smearing of the clouds in the distance. They look a bit like godrays, a bit like how seeing rain in the distance is like. A sort of dark fog escaping from a cloud. There's also the silver lining on them. Looks wonderful and adds such great depth to the clouds. I love the little birds she included in the picture too. It really adds to the charm of the overall composition.
And I absolutely love the fact that she included the leaves being picked up by the wind and Chrys' hair billowing in it.
Chapter 2: Lost had wind as a major idea to it. A whisper carried by the air of a time long lost. A nurturing voice being relayed to her at this all-critical moment. For she is deathly afraid to open her eyes in fear of the light, with the idea that it's just one more of fate's cruel jokes. But what spurs, compels, ignites, and Kindles her want to see the world is that initial wind she can feel and the memory they invoke. They encourage her to take those steps forward, no matter how scary the unknown can be.
It was a very important detail, and Wolfie got it exactly right! I hope you all like it. And please! If you enjoyed her art, I ask that you let her know on her handles, and consider supporting her on her patreon or however else you can! Wolfie's art is super worth it.
Dadgum
U commission a lot of good artists
Cool picture
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I feel like I have a good eye for artists, methinks. Just like the time I got someone to illustrate all of one story! Haha. Speaking of, everyone has been using your work as references, so none of it would've been possible without ya, Mutters. I'm sure a little of that has shone in through some of the previous works. Especially with the illustrations concerning the Queen and the Mistress.
Admittedly, it's been a little tough to scout for talent. Ontop of being busy with a death march at work in real life, looking for reasonable prices+open/willing/experienced pony artists has been rough. This collaboration project ended up being quite the undertaking, and it's not even halfway complete.
My own stuff aside, I hope you've been doing well, Mutters! I certainly haven't forgotten ya, and I was hoping to have you stamp A Kindled Change at some point too. Once I get around to having time and organizing commissions and payments for the second half of this project. Until then, still wishing you all the best!
That is a really beautiful picture