Just A Sketch

Writers: Danielle, Eimi
Date Posted: 28th April 2006

Characters: Gilsha, E'dian
Description: Gilsha finds one of E'dian's magnificent drawings
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 15 of Turn 3

Gilsha stopped before she stepped on the piece of paper half buried in
the sand or the Weyrlake. Curious, she gently pulled it out to reveal a
picture of a half-naked man scrubbing his dragon. Her eyebrows raised
in surprise. It was rather anatomically correct, from the waist up at
least. It was... fascinating. Whoever drew it seemed to have an
intimate knowledge of both dragon and human form, with every muscle
looking as if it was paused in movement, and at any moment could come to
life from the page. Such incredible detail...

She pulled her eyes away from the picture and found a signature.
"E'dian..." Well, she would just have to find this dragonrider and
return his drawing to him.

The little green flit was digging around in the sand, flinging pawfuls
of the stuff this way and that...then hopped to another patch a few feet
away.

"You had better find it, Mei," E'dian said as he walked along the lake's
edge. The firelizard lifted her head, looked at him for a moment, then
darted off for something else- a shiny rock or some such thing. With a
sigh, he shook his head and kept walking, eyes to the ground.

"Excuse me," Gilsha called. "You wouldn't happen to be E'dian, would
you?"

He looked up, shaded his eyes against the bright sun. "I am," he called
back.

"Do you happen to be an artist? I found a drawing with your name on it,"
she called back.

"Oh...Mei..you did drop it didn't you?" He said to the green flit, who
had flown triumphantly back to his shoulder with the shiny rock she'd
found. "Thank the First Egg you found it!" he called as he started in
the greenrider's direction. When he was closer, he said, "It was a
commission that Mei here was supposed to take back to Far Island...but
she dropped it." Upon hearing her name, she chirped happily and
studied her rock.

"Well, I have to say, you must charge top mark for your work," Gilsha
smiled. "It is brilliantly done."

"I don't charge, it's just a sketch. And you give me too much credit."
He felt himself blush a bit at the praise.

"Well, I can understand from your knots now why you knew so much about
the subject's muscle structure. You're a healer?"

"I am, at that. I suppose all that study did help." He glanced at the
drawing again. "Although it is rather too...realistic. Not much
creativity in the sketch is there?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said looking at it again. "I think the reality
of it is what makes it so... interesting. So full of life."

"Really?" He looked at her, then at the drawing, then back at the
greenrider. "You don't think it's so accurate it's...dull?"

"Definitely not. Its so accurate its like you stopped time for a
moment. There's nothing dull about that. It's amazing!" Gilsha had
never been artistic herself, but she couldn't help but feel a bit
jealous at the man's talent.

"Well...Thank you, for that." E'dian smiled shyly at the compliment,
looking again at the drawing. It just seemed so...technical to him. A
study of muscle and bone structure, and their proportions. Scientific. A
formula, no more. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. You honestly don't charge for your drawings? You
should you know. You could make a pretty mark making life-like
portraits
like that."

"I never really thought about it. I usually draw just to keep my
knowledge sharp. It's a mental trick, you see. I'll look at something,
memorize all the details I can, and sketch them later. Then I'll
encounter that person or dragon again, memorize, then return to the
sketch. It helps, you see, when you have to stitch a muscle or set a
bone, and you don't have time to look at a diagram. It's all right
here," he tapped his temple. "So it's mostly selfishness that inspires
me to draw. To help me remember everything when I'm in the Infirmary."

"Huh. That's a useful trick, if you have the skills to back it up. I
doubt it would work so well for me. Then again, I don't quite need
those kinds of skills," she said with a slight shrug. Shards it would
be useful to draw like that though. Just think of the marks it could
bring...

"Well, here. I could show you the basics. It's all a matter of teaching
yourself how to look at things. And practice...a lot of practice in
truth. For example...look at the sketch. You can see the dragon's head
there, well, from that angle the absolute basic shape is a triangle.
Here," he
traced the outline of the shape. "You start with basic shapes like that,
and
build on them, making them resemble what you see. Does that make sense?"

"You make it sound so easy," Gilsha laughed, but she shook her head. "I
know its not that simple. There is a point where raw ability comes into
play. I'm afraid my talents lie elsewhere."

"And you haven't even picked up a bit of charcoal and tried it!" E'dian
smiled at her laughter, a smile that actually managed to reach his eyes
for once. "We could start with something simple- dragons and people tend
to be rather complex."

"I can draw stick people," the greenrider offered hopefully.

"An excellent start...I mean that! Everything starts with sticks and
lines and circles on paper. Even people."

"All right, now you're trying to flatter me," she said with suspicious
eyes. "Well, I might give it a try some day, but I doubt I will ever
make my living after the Pass with my drawings."

"You never know until you try," E'dian said.

"Well, I'll think about it," she smiled as she handed the drawing back
to him. "But you know, if you give those away for free, maybe someday I
will have to ask you for one myself."

"I'd be happy to draw one for you." E'dian said.

"Well, then, it sounds like I will need to see more of you in the
future."

"I think you are right." He smiled tentatively.

"Oh don't look at me like that," she laughed. "I didn't mean more of
_you_. You can keep your clothes on, I promise. I just mean more
_often_."

E'dian blinked, taken aback a bit by her response. "I didn't think you
meant anything else." Honestly, those sorts of thoughts never crossed
his mind.

"You just got this little look of fear in your eye. Is spending time
with me truly such a frightening prospect?"

"Oh..not really. I mean you certainly seem to be pleasant and
interesting person to talk to. I just..." he paused, then shook his
head. "No. It's not a frightening prospect."

"Well, good," she chuckled. "I have to say, that's the best compliment
I've had all day. I think."

"Well, it is still early." He smiled, "And don't we have drill in a
couple of candlemarks? I think we have enough time to grab a cup of
klah, if you'd like."

"That sounds _lovely_," she said slipping her arm into his. "Lead the
way. I'm still prone to getting lost."

"I think it's this way...." E'dian said, a little bewildered as he
turned in the direction of the dining cavern.

Gilsha looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well, may we can
ask for directions along the way."

"A good plan. I still get a bit turned around here."

"Yeah. Who doesn't," the greenrider chuckled as they continued their
walk towards what _might_ be the exit leading to the dinning hall...

Last updated on the May 3rd 2006

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Just A Sketch