Prologue
Around last month, I joined Kak Kathrin Honesta's webinar (with More Talk), 'From Words to Visuals'. And because there was so much insight, I felt like I had to make something! You know, like when you got new art supplies and you just have to make something with it? However, at that moment, I didn't know what I wanted to make. I had some unused ideas from the past, but I didn't feel like doing any of it.
And then, almost magically, We Bare Bears appeared a few days later. I didn't intend to watch it, but it just appeared on the screen. I remember it was the 'Emergency' episode. In short, Ice Bear was lost and his brothers went to a psychic to ask the seer and her magic crystal ball to locate him. It was my AHA! moment. And then the idea got mixed with other stuff - stories from the Bible I remember from school, a Creative Pep Talk podcast episode I listened to a few days before, my own experience of being lost in this quarter life crisis season, and The Alchemist which I've read a few years before. Probably there were more involved, but I don't quite remember.
I wish I could write the process step by step, but really, it was a giant fluff of mess. Even during the writing process, I've already sketched some pages. Vice versa. So in an effort to not confuse anyone, I'm only highlighting some parts of the process.
The Story
Now we got a character: a seer! I googled more about it, and found another name for it - clairvoyants. It basically means clear seeing, and I just fell in love with that word almost immediately. At first, I only found Romani fortune tellers with their crystal balls, that are usually found at circuses and carnivals. But I tried digging a little bit more, and after stumbling into a series of psychic stuff - from the Druids, to Queen Elizabeth I and John Dee, to Barnum effect, to Feng Shui and Qi, to Wufang Shangdi (if you're wondering, YES, I tend to get carried away hahA) - I found a more ancient type of clairvoyance called Augury. It is bird sign reading and was told to have been used by Remus and Romulus while deciding the location of Rome.
So, instead of using the pop culture image of a seer (with their crystal ball, a headband, and crystals), I decided to take a U-turn and went with the Ancient Rome setting and made the seeress in this story an augur. The art direction was also inspired by it. I tried to infuse monochrome illustration style usually found in Bible stories (with a little hint of purple - which is often used when depicting clairvoyance).
TADAAA!
Epilogue
Thank you for reading!
Honestly, I'm so glad I joined the insightful webinar. If it weren't for it, I think I wouldn't dig deeper and be as detailed (tbh this is my most detailed short story ever). Perhaps I wouldn't even make it. I'm also glad I didn't fall into the perfectionism trap. Otherwise, this tiny story wouldn't exist at all.
Lastly, to anyone who is struggling to find his/her path, I hope you'll find your star soon - at the right time.
Good night,
Emily
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