usuallysublimepenguin

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Fan art of fan fiction: Obi-Wan and Satine reunites after a long separation, for @the-red-butterfly. This is the second art I've done from her great AU series Lonely Stars Drifting In The Black, the first can be found here and is just before they part.

#fan art of fan fiction #art trade #obi-wan/satine #first art after nasty wrist fracture and I'm relieved my hand works again #I planned this image for so long I'm so glad to finally get it down #lonely stars drifting in the black #the-red-butterfly

[usuallysublimepenguin]

TRSB 2023 Gallery Opening

& 2024 Schedule Premiere

It’s almost time for TRSB 2024! Sign ups for artists for TRSB 2024 open in a month. The full schedule for 2024 can be found here.

To start getting excited for this year’s event, please enjoy the opening of the TRSB 2023 Gallery (and the completion of the TRSB 2022 Gallery!) Many thanks to @usuallysublimepenguin for doing the lion’s share of the work to get both galleries ready and online and to @fishing4stars for supporting that effort!

Before the suggestions form opens on March 24th, we want to invite veteran participants to share their wisdom about the event. If you were speaking to someone curious about participating in TRSB for the first time, what would your advice be on picking what to draw? Or, as an author, what do you look for in a prompt? 

The mods have given their own answers under the cut. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

~TRSB Mods 2024

Mods answer the question:

Fishing4Stars (roles: artist, writer): As a writer I look for prompts that either give me a clear inspiration that I think matches the artist’s idea - or that leave me enough flexibility to write something I find inspiring. Either works! I do get inspired by my favorite characters, but the underlying idea can be a great source as well. I had a blast writing a story focused on Thorin last year even though he’s not a character I normally write for because the underlying prompt, about being an outcast and having a complex identity, inspired me. I loved working closely with the artist on this - I will probably make my ‘involvement level’ preference this year more specific, because I’d love to do that again.

I think my biggest takeaways as an artist after participating last year were: 

(1) Be a little selfish when picking prompts: As an artist, I’m responsible for supporting my writers and their works - whether cheerleading, brainstorming, beta reading, or hands off, my writer deserves for me to be excited to read their work in September and give them comments. So it’s to both our benefit for me to pick something I like and want to read. Last year I picked a prompt off the suggestions list that I normally wouldn’t have. It actually turned out really well and I had tons of fun reading it, but it did make me think about maybe giving slightly more personalized prompts this year. 

(2) Leaving room for collaboration can be fun: Both of the works I submitted last year were in mostly finished form. The bit of collaboration I got to do to adjust the work to the writer’s story was really fun, though. So this year I’m thinking about leaving some room for the writer to weigh in on the art.

Usuallysublimepenguin (role: artist): I’ve participated as an artist for a few years now and can warmly recommend joining, as it’s been such a joy every time.

Regarding the prompt list, I can certainly echo Fishing4Stars: draw something that you like! The list is great for sparking ideas, but be careful of picking the very specific ones; they might be something the prompter would want to read but not necessarily write. So, if it’s not something you want to draw, do not pick it. Use the list for inspiration, or if the list is too dauntingly large, go for something completely different from your own head.

My prompts have gone from quite detailed "Lothiriel, a new bride getting to know Éomer" to very open "here's one or two characters in a pose I wanted to draw; please fill in the blanks" or "Here's a landscape; please fill in the details." Keep in mind that the open prompts require quite high levels of collaboration, and that the stories might take you to new places you never even thought existed - but for me that works very well. Every single story that came from these prompts are dear to me. 

Ettelenë (roles: writer, sometimes artist). Since I am mainly a writer who sometimes draws, I tend to pick prompts that suit the characters or stories I want to tell. The first time I participated as a writer, it was with a prompt/character I never thought I would write about (mermaid Voronwë!), and, surprisingly, it was not the most challenging time. So, to start, writing or drawing something completely out of our comfort zones can actually draw people in. Nowadays, though, as I don't have much time to write a fully complex story with worldbuilding etc, I’ll go for the prompts that I am 100% sure I can bang 5k in the blink of an eye. As for drawings, I usually stick with what I do best, which is watercolor. And curiously enough, the two times I did art for TRSB, it was about the Valar, characters I mostly never write about, but who always spark my artistic creativity.

Raiyana (roles: writer): I have a tendency to fall in love with a piece or an idea and fall HARD… so far, happily, the artists have been pleased to have me write for them ;) And then I find that weird secondary prompt in the gallery, generally during second claims, that tickles Something. I usually filter out characters/ideas I definitely can’t do and then something or someone (often a co mod, actually) will challenge me to come up with a way to do a prompt and spark another fire of creativity ;). 

I never thought I’d be able to write a streamer script version of FoG, but here we are…

Lathalea (roles: writer, artist): When I joined TRSB for the first time, as a writer, I definitely felt overwhelmed with the size of the event and the amount of prompts, and then art pieces. It wasn’t easy to pick just one, so many of them screamed “pick me!”. I managed to narrow them down and mull over them for some time. I asked myself what ideas and parts of the Tolkien legendarium spoke to me the most, what “blank areas” of Middle Earth I would like to fill with my works, and how I wanted to do this. What I learned back then is that it worked for me best to focus on a very particular and narrow theme so that I could delve into proper worldbuilding – which is something I live for when it comes to Dwarves and their culture.

Finally, I chose the one that sparked the most creativity in me that year. I feel that for writers who decide to work on a specific art piece, prompts can be a great help, making you enrich your story or add a detail or two that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. As a bonus, you get at least one very happy reader: the author of that specific prompt! 

One year later, I decided to submit art for TRSB because I liked the prompts so much – I just had to create a piece of visual art inspired by them. It resulted in a great cooperation that explored a completely new subject that I always wanted to focus on but never had a chance to do properly before.

Feel free to surprise yourself and pick prompts or ideas you haven’t worked on before, you never know what way your creativity will go!

Legolasbadass (roles: writer, artist): There are always too many great artworks, so I usually make a list of pieces I’d be most interested in writing for to help narrow down my choices. I look for ideas and characters I am most inspired by and comfortable writing about — though it can also be fun to step out of your comfort zone and try something new! Another really important thing for me is the collaboration level. I really enjoy brainstorming with the artist, sharing my progress with them, and getting regular feedback, so I tend to avoid choosing artists who prefer a less collaborative experience. 

When looking for inspiration for art, I usually look at the answers to the suggestions form as well as my personal list of prompts and pick an idea that I’d be most excited to share with someone. The collaborative aspect of the event is what excites and inspires me the most, so I tend not to submit an idea I feel too possessive of. I like working closely with an author and letting their vision inspire my art as much as my art will inspire their story.

#trsb2024 #trsb galleries #they are up!! #yay!

[usuallysublimepenguin]

By The Rhin

My sister and her man far away back.

More success than with the last one ✨

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Oh, I forgot to post my draw-still-water-hack from this summer! Here it is, and I find the effect quite pretty for less than 10 minutes of drawing time

#Sunset #speed paint #Water mirroring effect #sorry about the speed #I haven't managed to slow it down #The steps are as follows: pick colors for your sky->blur for nice gradient->paint landscape on separate layer->copy sky and landscape #flip horizontally #tada!

[usuallysublimepenguin]

And here's my half of the art trade with @fishing4stars. It's a scene from her fic The Forest in Winter, featuring Legolas (and the cast which is not shown) wandering into a fairytale lilac wood with its magical inhabitants.

The scene was a delight to do; thank you for this trade!

#The Forest In Winter #fanart for fanfic #fishing4stars #art trade #mixed media:digital and watercolor/pen #lilac forest #unicorn #also very heavily referenced the last unicorn #Would they be called erëarassë or am I slaughtering the grammar #legolas greenleaf

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Thank you sweet! This is so lovely, and reminded me how much fun art trades are!

First Snow in Rivendell

An art trade with @usuallysublimepenguin - thank you for suggesting this it has just been wonderful!

#art trade #fishing4stars #old bilbo #rivendell

[usuallysublimepenguin]

💌 You got this because you are pretty awesome. Send this to the twelve nicest people you know or who seem to have a good heart and share the love. 💌

Aw, thank you sweet! <3

#fishing4stars #such a nice surprise in my inbox

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Study of a sunset, ref photo by @fishing4stars

#sunset #speedpaint #(I did not actually measure time but it was maybe 2 hours? That is speedpaint for me at least :p)

[usuallysublimepenguin]

During the now almost-completed tolkien reverse summer bang 2023 event I fell completely in love with the detailed linework of @mulasawala and her depiction of Thorin - in fact I obsessed so much over it I was allowed use her lineart to color my own version (thank youu). This is the result.

Check out her artwork over here, and also the accompanying story A Treatise on the Political Implications of Hair by Xenomorphic and Mulasawala. It's a treat!

#thorin oakenshield #thorin x bilbo #mulasawala original lineart #I enjoyed myself greatly coloring in this thing #the arches and perspective and Hybrid hookes microscope #And all the knicknacks on Thorins desk #tolkienrsb #trsb23

[usuallysublimepenguin]

And here are my entries for my other @tolkienrsb collaboration this year - my simple sketch prompt was picked up by the lovely @sweetpeapod and developed into this painting of Kili. Go read to find what ties these two pictures together! The story with embedded art can be found here, and little more info on it before you dive in can also be found here, on Sweetpeapods tumblr.

#tolkienrsb #trsb23 #Kili lives AU #sweetpeapod #I do love the bangs so much #The collection just went live #EEEEEE!

[usuallysublimepenguin]

The Song Remains the Same

Created for this year’s Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang @tolkienrsb, to be revealed September 8, 2023

"Right," Thranduil presses his lips together in a contemptuous sneer. "Because it is never my fault when I get others killed. It is never on me when the worst happens." "It's not." Elrond says. "It is never your fault when others choose to do evil." Thranduil's eyes harden like the crack of the coldest ice. "You know nothing, Peredhel," Thranduil snarls. But Elrond does. He knows so much of his friends hurt.

Pursued by a band of orcs, Elrond and Thranduil hide and await for the threat to pass. They've not seen each other for a long time and there are many wounds just beneath their skin. Under the cover of the night, there is some comfort to be found between them.

Story by @the-red-butterfly / Did_you_see_the_light_in_my_heart (AO3) Art by @usuallysublimepenguin (Unlos on AO3)

Rating: G

Characters: Thranduil and Elrond

Relationships: Gen

Word count: 7026

#trsb23 #trsb2023 #the red butterfly #Elrond and Thranduil #rescue mission and angst #I love this story so much I hope you will too!! #promo post

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Here's my prompt 1/2 of this years' @tolkienrsb. It was picked up by the wonderful @the-red-butterfly - who has written a beautiful story of friendship (and rescue) that will be revealed soon for you all to enjoy. Subsequent arts are illustrations from that story <3

#trsb23 #Thranduil and Elrond #rescue mission and I am weak for those #Anger management issues #reflecions of change

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Recipient is @athlai - thank you for giving me the opportunity to draw this. Happy holidays!

Maglor for the @officialtolkiensecretsanta event - the giftee will be revealed the 24th. I hope you enjoy!

#tss2022 #tolkien secret santa #athlai #reblog

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Now the 24th is upon us, I can reveal that giftee for this is @wrathematics . I hope you like them!

Voyage west, a gift made for the @officialtolkiensecretsanta event this year. Gift recipient is still a secret, but will be revealed the 24th.

#tss2022 #tolkien secret santa #wrathematics #happy holidays

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Maglor for the @officialtolkiensecretsanta event - the giftee will be revealed the 24th. I hope you enjoy!

#tss2022 #tolkien secret santa #maglor #lament #I enjoyed drawing him #pure self indulgence #Elvish magic hopefully keeps the harp from taking damage from salt spray #do not ask me if he carries the harp on his back #I just love the visual of the bigger harps

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Voyage west, a gift made for the @officialtolkiensecretsanta event this year. Gift recipient is still a secret, but will be revealed the 24th.

#tss2022 #tolkien secret santa #final voyage west #at least for these two #Painting them was pure self indulgence #hope you all like them! #Bilbo Baggins #gandalf the grey #ok so he was really gandalf the white on the voyage but I like his robes better grey #old Bilbo

[usuallysublimepenguin]

Collection is open! Hope you all enjoy!

It’s here at last!

TRSB2022 has now been revealed, and @usuallysublimepenguin and I are happy to lift the veil on our summer collaboration:

Sunset on High Hills - High Hills(Art)

The land of Calenardhon - the green land - has long been part of Gondor, stretching along the north side of the White Mountains between the river Isen and the great Anduin. It is a wild land, even a lonely land, sparsely populated since the Plague Years centuries earlier.

And now, war has struck, invaders from the East rafting across the water as Orcs come down from the Mountains to the north, leaving Steward Cirion precious few options or allies to call upon.

Except for one.

And Eorl came, riding ahead of an army of horsemen to the sound of horns ringing out of the mist to fall upon the Enemy.

But what happened next?

As the dust settles, a new realm - a new Kingdom - is there to explore, and Calenardhon is no more.

Welcome to Rohan.

#TRSB22 #eorl #rohan #tales from Rohan