http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/ elsie's gallery of images en-us 120 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/409632

Xyaene and Na'ii are the two most beautiful and revered courtesans in the Imperial City, property of the Emperor. It is believed that he will eventually choose one to be his bride, and they are bitter rivals, full of loathing. Unknown to most, their rivalry is all in vain; the Emperor is a fool, who believes he has discovered the secret to eternal life, and is unconcered with choosing a bride or siring an heir.

Na'ii is a street child. Her colours are rich scarlets and crimsons, flecked with orange and gold. She is a little older than Xyaene, and growing up in the slums of the Imperial City she quickly learnt that her looks and charm could get her out of trouble when she was caught thieving. She moved on to prostitution at the age of eleven, working in a whorehouse at age fourteen. At nineteen, she robbed the establishment, taking the earnings for the entire month. This was just enough to disguise herself in the finest silks and royal garments; with not enough left for a bite to eat, she found employment as an Imperial courtesan, slowly rising over the next ten years to become the legendary palace beauty and safest bet for the Emperor's bride-to-be, living up to her namesake, Na'ii (phoenix).

Until Xyaene arrived.

* * *

This portrait was done in little over three hours. I'd originally intended to spend a lot longer on it but from the very start it was a complete disaster - it looked nothing like Na'ii as I had pictured her (the trouble with finally trying to draw the first character you ever invented) and I decided to scribble on it for a little while before trashing it. Suprisingly enough though, since I just didn't care what it looked like, it actually started to take shape to what I was was trying to achieve, and I finished it rather quickly.

The blood smears are alluding to the not-so-pleasant end both of the ladies eventually come to... ]]> Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:55:22 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/401268

Xyaene and Na'ii are the two most beautiful and revered courtesans in the Imperial City, property of the Emperor. It is believed that he will eventually choose one to be his bride, and they are bitter rivals, full of loathing. Unknown to most, their rivalry is all in vain; the Emperor is a fool, who believes he has discovered the secret to eternal life, and is unconcered with choosing a bride or siring an heir.

Xyaene is a part-elven noble from a distant country, a little younger than Na'ii. She first came to the Imperial City under the guise of a diplomatic visit - though the many months of travel was not for mere curiosity. Her land was falling, and she deserted the people of it to seek better fortune in the capital. She soon found herself invited to an event at the Imperial Palace, during the time that Na'ii had risen to be known as one of the legendary palace beauties. The Emperor was so taken with her that he invited her to become a high-ranking imperial courtesan; though highly insulting to a noble, seeing this as a stepping stone to Empress, she accepted.

Xyaene is cold and steely, with little in her heart but conceit and disdain - masked behind a noble's impeccable and gracious presentation. Her colours are greens and turquioses, threaded with silver. Xyaene means 'orchid' in the native tongue, and she often adorns her hair with these. On her first night as an imperial courtesan, Na'ii left her a gift in her room of blood soaked orchids.

***

Butterflies and make up very inspired by Linda Bergkvist, a great idol of mine. Maybe a little too inspired but I guess it's also sort of a tribute . I made a walkthrough over at http://www.ailsamacpherson.com/xytut.php for anyone interested in my process. ]]> Tue, 05 Sep 2006 07:01:16 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/388985

Your world is monochrome, black and white,
And you are weak and myopic.
I'll fly to you on my wings of chiffon,
And tear your heart as if it were gossamer.

- - -

In the south there is a dark forest, whose name for a long while the nearby countries did not speak - and it was lost. It is now known only by My-hiiodeel, or forest of no-name. One of the many less that pleasant inhabitants are the Kaah Fae. Quick and ruthless, they have a deep loathing for all things human and elven - though they do not dare anger the elves. Instead, they slash apart the bodies of men who have broken their sacred rules to the planet. Often used as a threat to children was to "watch out, or the Kaah will come for you!"

- - -

Started as a figure sketch for OFDW01, but went a bit wild. Sorry ^^, I know I wrecked it a bit with the shiny things too...but...eh, I want to move on now.

To see the WIP stages go to http://www.ailsamacpherson.com/graphics/gossamerwip.jpg]]> Thu, 03 Aug 2006 06:24:03 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/316252

Originally as my exercise in Rebecca Kimmels Open Figure Drawing Workshop (12), I ended up spending quite a lot of time and effort on this piece and really hope that I've done Mr. Bougeureau some justice
It didn't turn out nearly as finished as I would have liked, I never actually got around to working on textures or overall feel to the image, but after 70 - 80 hours on this piece in quite a short time I really did have to take a lot of my friends advice and "just leave it alone now!"
I'd just like to give extra hugs to Becca and Peter for their outstanding patience and encouragement towards me ^^ you guys are great, also to everyone on the OFDW12 thread and CGS WIP thread who helped me.
I'll post a quick step by step process when this thread gets published
]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2006 17:19:27 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/325514

This is just a quick portrait that I did of my friend Britta 4 or 5 hours. ]]> Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:32:00 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/325574

Another Vargas Master Copy I adore his work.]]> Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:18:36 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/325573

Just a quick doodle I did new years day of a Vargas piece - one of my favourite artists ]]> Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:17:23 +0000 http://elsie.cgsociety.org/gallery/325509

A snippet of part of my website layout that I am currently designing, inspired by oriental scrolls ]]> Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:21:55 +0000