Book Review - Furies of Calderon

Having a one-song phase - Paperthin Hymn by Anberlin. I thought today I would write a quick review of the first book of my favourite series, the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher.
*spoilers alert* Just so you know ;)
There are a lot of themes and characters in this book. But first, the world. It's very elaborate and original, especially the magic system. Furies are a common part of life in Alera, as everyone can summon and use different types - everyone except Tavi, the main character. There are water furies, fire furies, earth and air furies and also metal and wood furies. The beginning of the book explores the concept of the act of one single individual affecting everyone. The actual act is irrelevant, but Tavi ends up caught out in a furystorm with a Cursor (a spy for the Crown) posing as a slave.
The story continues, weaving politics, treachery and love into a seamless whole with beautifully developed characters. I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone looking for a brilliantly written fantasy book. Five stars without a thought. WARNING: if you buy this, be prepared to spend money on the others as well.   Jim Butcher, I salute you. These are some of the best books I've read since Garth Nix did the Abhorsen trilogy.

Uploaded digital attempt

Okay, so I finished it, as I mentioned a few posts ago :)
It's too...soft. I don't know... or something...The shading isn't realistic, and even close up where you can see the proper textures it doesn't look right. Of course, it isn't really supposed to, but I hoped I'd learn how to do that along the way. Unfortunately, I'm none the wiser.
Ah well. For my very first proper try, I'm actually pretty happy with it so woo! (*whispers* it looks a bit like a raccoon...)
Anyway, nothing new here really, just drawing dragons and being insane :] Still playing Alanis Morissette on guitar, shopping at Morrison's and running around till point of collapse, so life is normal!

Snow

Snow! Yay! Not that I particularly like the stuff (cold, wet, uncomfortable, potential missile etc.) but it's an excuse not to do anything or go anywhere for at least a few days, so yeah. Gone crazy on Alanis Morissette, and I'm playing a couple of my favourites on guitar - namely, Simple Together, You Owe Me Nothing In Return, and Thank You.
It makes my fingers hurt. Lots.
Anyway, as a conclusion, life is good! I haven't been exactly regular  on here, but I haven't had a gap longer than a fortnight so far, and I've been going over a full month (not a huge amount, but...)
Trying to be positive and optimistic, which is out of character, and constantly amazed at human ingenuity (holographic universe, anyone? what is that anyway?)
Smiles and rainbows, everyone!

New Music 'n' stuff

Yay! I'm listening to Imagine Dragons (which Grace, Shadow and Wanda highly appreciate) and loving it! I haven't had much time for art recently as I've been insanely busy - however I have at last finished my most recent digital art attempt, which is telling me I need to learn how to shade properly :] But...it's actually okay! I plonked it on top of an old forest scene speedpaint and it works quite well so I'm happy.
Tired... and kinda running on fumes rather than fuel if you get what I mean, but there you have it! I need more sleep. You kinda go through everything like nothing's happening and you don't hear when people talk to you or you don't have the energy to come up with an insulting comment (which in my case is really worrying).
And you stress when you break a nail, and then feel really clichéd...I did that today...
Ah well! I'm going to bed now so I can wake up all rested and better. :-D

New Lodger

No more Christmas holidays! We have a new lodger coming to stay with us, Annette Wessman. She is visiting us today and moving her things into the room, and moving in fully in March, when she comes back from her holiday in Germany.
To be honest, life's pretty quiet at the moment - but that's to be enjoyed as much as anything. I listened ot the dawn chorus this morning and found it beautiful that all the creatures in the world, although man thinks of himself as the dominant species, consider us a minor factor in their lives.
I have got my hands on the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher and love them! I'm awaiting the fourth one (Amazon delivery, but I got the first 3 on Kindle) with eager anticipation. The way he weaves his story is amazing, and because of all the characters who have different viewpoints, the sub-plots are both intricate and fascinating. The characters are well-developed and the reader understands their motivations, decisions and feelings.
Oh, I love getting new books. (sigh)

Art

So this is the WIP (work in progress) of my latest attempt at digital art. Sorry for the watermark but it's necessary! I'll probably enlarge the canvas I'm working on and add a background but for now I'm just trying to flesh out the detail. I scanned in a basic line-art sketch and added colour over a few different layers. It started out red but then I remembered that I have some weird problem with shading in red, so I changed it. Being critical, I really don't like most of the shading but it's very experimental at the moment so if I remember to post the finished product it'll probably look totally different. I'm more used to working with traditional media so I don't really know what I'm doing, but I love my Undo button, seriously. I like the freedom of digital art - being able to do tiny details by zooming in, and seeing it all in full. I don't want to let go of traditional art either but I think both can produce equally beautiful results.