Thursday, February 26, 2026
The Shaow Library: Gods and Giants
I was idly browsing Amazon the other day, considering whether to buy new copies of The Elder (or Prose) Edda and The Poetic Edda (I had sent my last set to Kenny in Florida) when I ran across this old thing and was reminded that I had it ages ago. I even remember reading it some at Aunt Wimpy's house. But I don't think I'd have ever remembered it if I hadn't run across it by accident. Unfortunate cover.
Last Night's Crop
I made more illustrations from old drawings with ChatGPT last night. I must be getting better at describing what I want or something, though as usual there are elements I would want to tweak. I begin with the sexy Borrisk, followed up with a birthday card (it should read Brer-thday) that John made me in 1990. She's Walking Through the Clouds (of which there are two versions) is the least like what I had in mind, but once created I am reluctant to discard anything. The Ogre's not bad, if not as gangly as I imagined, and a little too skull-like (especially the nose); but I was able to correct certain original elements (a torch instead of a flashlight, medieval garb instead of modern clothes). Patrick the parrot-like elemental (from my story When He Awoke) was produced from the sketchiest sketch. Perhaps my description of 'half-Leprechaun' was a little too suggestive. The Raven of Truth is another one of my oldest drawings. I was particularly pleased with Region of the Summer Stars, which captured exactly the twilight atmosphere I was going for.
This is probably the last version of Elf and Bear I'm going to try. It is ... satisfactory, though the Elf is not as pissed off as I imagined, and Bear is smaller than I would want. Maybe he was just younger.
It is an unusual experience developing these things. While I consider how to describe the details, I remember where I was when I drew the picture, what I had hoped for it, and how I felt at the time. I had a lot of emotion invested while I was drawing stuff, and this stirs up a lot of thoughts from the past. And weird feelings about the future.
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Travels in Middle-Earth
Now this is supposed to be a Nazgul, though AI 'corrected' my Eowyn into a man. I was never great at drawing female figures, but even so ...
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