Star Overhead

by Closer-To-The-Sun

Chapter 4: A Portrait Of

Sandbar sat sideways on a stone bench in the school’s courtyard. In his lap was one of his numerous sketchbooks and on his face was a troubled and irritated expression. His line of eyesight went from his pages of his book to the subject that was right in front of him, next to the bench. A small frustrated and dissatisfied growl came from his mouth. He filled the pages back to look at other sketches he had drawn but he still was unsatisfied with his work.

“Yo, Sandbar!” a familiar voice called out to him.

Breaking him out of his funk, the pony looked up to see an orange dragon. “Oh, hey there, Smolder,” he smiled and waved as she was making her way over.

“What’cha up to? We missed ya during lunch,” Smolder asked as she got closer.

“I’ve been….busy,” the green pony said as he turned his attention back to his sketchbook. His expression became troubled again as he looked at the sketch pages.

“Always have your nose in that sketchbook, don’t ya?” Smolder couldn’t help but laugh. “What’cha drawing this time?”

Before he could answer, Smolder took Sandbar’s sketchbook. While he wanted to object, Sandbar had sort of gotten used to his friend swiping his artwork by this point.

Smolder was flipping through the pages. The subject Sandbar had been drawing was one of the numerous lamps that lined the courtyard’s pathways and the bushes of flowers that grew around them, both right next to it and behind it as well. Along with the lamp and the plants, the pathway helped show the perspective of the scene. Despite the very simple subject, the detail and perspective of the artwork surprised and impressed the dragon. “Whoa, these look cool!” she chimed as she looked at the three different sketches of the same scene.

“Hmm….glad you think so,” Sandbar said with detachment.

“What do you mean? These are great!”

The pony sighed as he held his hoof out for Smolder to return the sketchbook, “They aren’t bad, but they certainly aren’t what I’m hoping to capture. This assignment is for perspective, and while I’m doing a solid job, I’m just not happy with any of these.”

Smolder returned the book, “Why not?”

“I don’t know….it doesn’t feel like it’s….” Sandbar started to trail off. He looked at his subject again. The bushes rustled lightly along with the gentle breeze. “I don’t know….boring. Like, it doesn’t really capture my attention enough to really put in the effort to make it look good.”

“Are you kidding? The leaves of those bushes look awesome, Sandbar. And the way you put all those other things in there, it’s really cool!” Smolder insisted.

Sandbar shrugged, “They’re okay, but it’s not as good as it could be. Part of the reason I don’t like any of these is partly due to my art block.” He flipped to look back at his different lamp drawings.

“Art block?”

“Yeah, art block. It’s like….I’m not really sure how to describe it,” the pony stated. “When I have to draw for an assignment, it can just be….so annoying. I just reach deep down into me and try to find some sort of inspiration and it just becomes so frustrating because I can’t figure out what to do.”

Smolder seemed a bit surprised at Sandbar’s words, “Wow, it’s really like that every time you draw?”

“Not every time, no,” he answered, “but when it hits, it hits really hard and no matter how hard you focus….guh, it makes me just want to just give up at times. I mean, you know I actually turned in that detailed drawing of the doorknob?” A small chuckle escaped from his mouth.

“Pfffttt….really? What did Professor Pinkie Pie say?” Smolder covered her mouth with her claw as she laughed.

“She started to talk about how she wanted to frame it for a museum, no joke.”

Both the pony and the dragon laughed at the thought of Pinkie Pie doing just that.

“Either way, I just got to power through this assignment for perspective. I know how to draw, it’s more of a struggle to just find something that really, speaks to me, ya know?” Sandbar stated, looking back at the flowering bush.

“So that’s why you’re drawing that lamp and those flowers right there? ”

Without missing a beat, Sandbar answered with a joke, “Well, I would’ve liked to draw some of the animals wandering around the campus yards, but they never stay still long enough.”

“I got an idea!” Smolder leaned in toward the pony as she became a bit excited, “I can capture one of the rabbits and hold it up for you! I think I can grab one of them.”

Sandbar was a bit taken back by the offer, “Uh….please don’t. I rather not have to explain to any of the professors why you were chasing, and quite possibly failing, to capture a rabbit.” A small smile did appear on his face as he spoke.

“Hmm,” Smolder pondered, bringing her claw up to her chin to help with her thinking, “then what can we get for you to draw that will help you get out of this art block?”

The pony turned to look at his friend as she was thinking. “Actually, I got an idea….”

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A few minutes later, Smolder was seated on the grass under one of the trees in the courtyard. Her back against the bark of the tree as she looked forward at the green earth pony. She felt a little odd as Sandbar sat just under two meters in front of her with his sketchbook in hoof. It looked as if he was already furiously sketching away.

“Do I really have to pose for you?” Smolder asked, her face had a slight pink tint.

“If you aren’t up for it, I understand,” Sandbar replied, briefly looking up at the scene in front of him for a moment before turning his attention back down at the page.

Smolder could already tell the pony was working his way out of the art block that only moments ago gripped him, “Well, if it will help you out, I don’t mind.”

The smile grew bigger on Sandbar’s face as Smolder agreed, “Thank you, Smolder.”

A few moments passed before the dragon asked another question. “Can I ask why though? It feels a little weird to be your subject.”

Sandbar stopped for a moment and rotated his drawing hoof and stretched it, “Well, I find drawing things that mean a lot to me helps me out through blocks. And I love all my friends, so this really seems like a no-brainer.”

The warm smile that was on Sandbar’s face beamed as he spoke about Smolder and their other friends. The dragon tried her best not to show that both Sandbar’s words and smile warmed her heart.

“Oh! I just got an idea,” Sandbar said as he set his sketchbook down on the grass and quickly trotted away. He came back with a purple flower from one of the numerous bushes around the courtyard. Trotting up to Smolder, he placed the flower in the small gap between her head and one of her ear fronds.

“Really? A flower?” Smolder objected at the thought, looking at the purple flower that was barely visible to her.

“Yeah, it helps add a little detail to the whole scene. Something you’re not expecting to see in the whole piece,” Sandbar stated as he went back to his sketchbook and continued sketching away. “Sometimes it’s the small details that help a bigger piece to shine brighter. It draws the viewer’s attention to different parts each time they look at it, and it helps make the piece of art more interesting.”

“Huh….I never thought of it that way,” Smolder commented.

“That, and you look cute with a flower on your head like that,” Sandbar smirked.

“Wh-What?!” Smolder’s face flushed red at the pony’s words and her entire body jolted upwards.

“Hold still, I’m still not done!” the pony called out as he continued to move the pencil across the page of the sketchbook.

Smolder continued to sit still, despite her face still burning from all her blushing. About fifteen minutes passed as Sandbar continued to sketch Smolder. The two chatted as the pony drew, even though Smolder was still trying to get Sandbar to answer what he meant with his earlier comment about her looking cute. She also tried to say something when she saw him flip to a new page, however Sandbar reminded Smolder to hold still.

“Alright, I think this is good,” Sandbar said with a satisfied smile.

“Thank goodness,” Smolder said as she pulled the flower from off the top of her head. She stood up and started to make her way to the pony. “Lemme see.”

Before Smolder arrived, he flipped the page back to the first sketch he did of Smolder. He stood up and rotated it towards the dragon, “There you are.”

On the page, Sandbar’s artistic talent was showcased yet again. The scene he drew was Smolder sitting beneath the tree, with the pathways coming together behind the dragon and the tree, almost pointing to her in the center of the page. The whole scene had details throughout, but at the center, Smolder sat underneath the branches of the tree with both a calm and content smile and the small flower resting on the ear frond on her head. Sandbar was right, the little details certainly made the piece of art more interesting.

“Sandbar, this looks amazing….all of it. Just….everywhere you look at this drawing, it’s so freaking cool!” the dragon said with amazement. “And how you drew me….I mean, I admit I was worried but this looks so awesome!”

Turning the sketchbook back towards himself, Sandbar flipped the page back, “Thanks. I’m really glad I was able to get out of that art block, and to say thanks, I drew something for ya.” Sandbar carefully tore the page out of the metal rings of the sketchbook and passed it into Smolder’s claws.

The sketch was a close-up of Smolder from her shoulders up to the tips of her spikes and fronds, including the flower that rested upon her head. The dragon’s face had a soft smile as she looked at the viewer. If one were to quickly glance at the page, they would think it was more of a photo then a portrait drawn with a pencil. The details that Sandbar added included the dragon’s scales, the shading to showcase the light source, and even the texture of the flower to differentiate itself as an accessory instead of a part of the dragon as a whole.

Smolder was unable to get any words out as she looked at her portrait.

“Consider it a payment for helping me with my assignment,” Sandbar smiled warmly.

“Sandbar….I don’t know what to say….” Smolder finally spoke, “I love it. Thank you.”

The pony was a bit bashful with the dragon’s praise, even if Smolder only said a few words, “I’m really glad. I figured it’s only fair since you were my reluctant model today. Besides, you were fun to draw.” Sandbar’s face beamed as he smiled.

Smolder’s face flushed a pink tint. Again, words failed the dragon.

“So, did you finally finish your comet assignment for Professor Fluttershy’s science class?” Sandbar changed the subject as he closed up his sketchbook.

This question snapped Smolder back, “Oh, yeah, I did. Though it was a bit trickier than I was expecting to finish that write up we had to do.”

“Well, that’s what you get for not paying attention in class,” Sandbar teased.

“Oh, like you’re one to talk! You’ve been drawing in her class almost non-stop!” Smolder retorted with a hint of attitude.

Sandbar laughed as he shrugged, “True, but I still keep an open ear for taking notes.”

“How’s your assignment coming along?”

“I finished my comet assignment the day after we got it, because some of us don’t like waiting until the last minute to finish our homework,” Sandbar started to trot back to the main build on the campus.

Smolder followed him and kept pace, “Hey, I didn’t wait until the last minute! Our comet viewing trip isn’t until Friday.”

The pony couldn’t help but continue to irate his friend, “A good rule of hoof is to not put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

“Are you calling me lazy?” Smolder raised an eyebrow as she looked at Sandbar.

“Just a little bit,” he smirked.

A smile appeared on Smolder’s face, as she laughed and playfully pushed Sandbar away with the claw that wasn’t holding her new piece of art, “You’re such a dork.”

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

Aww that was a cute chapter its nice that sandbar ask smolder to be his Inspiration for his art and again hes much better then me lol i really like how much those two hang out so such can't wait whats going to happen next