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Drawing Maitimelia's Doodles

Yesterday, I was working on editing the prologue of my fantasy novel, in which a young woman dies to save her daughter from an evil sorcerer. Her death was hitting me harder than usual (which is good because I think it means the story is getting more emotional impact). But she was on my mind a lot yesterday, so I made this little sketch of her. I had never actually drawn her before, and I'm really happy with how it came out. She's been slowly dying of dark magic for a long time, so I tried to convey that here.
 
Bomb_Tombadil said:
I really like how the hair is interacts with and is constrained by the hood.
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Thank you! I tried to give her clothing a worn-out, tattered texture.

Glorfindel Goldtress said:
HARRY POTTER 2.0 (by a large margin)?!
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Aww! I hope so!

I was thinking of sending you guys my prologue yesterday, but I'm not sure I'm ready. I might want to finish incorporating all the feedback from my author friend first. Still, I definitely think it's easier to understand, and more emotionally impactful, than before.
 
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I love it! She appears worn and peaked, like someone who has lived with very little hope for a long time. Her hair seems thin and maybe oily, the skin around her eyes is dark, her cloak is tattered— her life has been difficult. And yet, here she is doing what last act she can to save her daughter and give her a better life, knowing her own is likely about to end.

This is such a good representation of her, I’d almost say it should be included in the novel if you were going to have any illustrations, or at the very least as part of an official collection of character sketches for it.
 
If you ever want honest feedback from people you don't have to interact with, I can always show it anonymously to some of my own writing critics. (I'd love to see it myself, of course, but you may not feel ready for that!)
 
Her eyes just screams hopeless to me.

And based on what Glorfy said, I think this would hit much harder than Lily's death from Harry Potter, which is saying something.(I have a feeling your book can actually make me tear up, and it has never happened with anything else I've read before.)

Whatever Lily suffered was over in a few minutes, but this mother has been suffering for much longer based on what you yourself said. I'm also fascinated by how your prologue is the complete opposite of what I have in mind for my original work.
 
Yes! It could be very powerful. The main thing I was wondering, actually, is how long your prologue is and how you're going to make the suffering feel long in a short narrative space.
 
Fingon_Findekáno said:
She appears worn and peaked, like someone who has lived with very little hope for a long time. Her hair seems thin and maybe oily, the skin around her eyes is dark, her cloak is tattered— her life has been difficult.
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New TTF sticky-thread suggestion: #RoastMe hosted by Finno (I'm not entering)
 
Bomb_Tombadil said:
New TTF sticky-thread suggestion: #RoastMe hosted by Finno (I'm not entering)
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Hey, I’m just being accurate in my observations here. She looks like this because of her circumstances, and Maedhros did a good job conveying the worn hopelessness in this young mother, though she yet has a spark of hope left for her daughter’s future.
 
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