My next character I would like to outline has one name:

“Brink”

 

Well, actually that’s only a nickname. But I won’t spoil his real name for you. If I ever get my story published to some affect, you’ll find out.

 

You should know, he’s not an elf.

His race I’ve named Omati (oh-MAW-tee). Brink is actually only half, so he doesn’t exhibit all of the physical characteristics of his people, but one major thing he does have are his ears.

The ears are sort of their trademark–long and pointy (similar to elf ears, yes) but they are flexible and move much like cat ears. Brink, as well as his people, mostly express themselves with their ears:

Brink jerked back in fear and stood next to Harlow, his long pointed ears twitching in panic like that of a frightened cat.

 

Brink’s ears sagged and he swallowed the returning lump in his throat.

Characterized second by their poor eyesight in low-light situations:

Now completely blind from the darkness, he slowly felt, and listened, his way back towards his traveling companions, hoping the dreadful noises he heard were in their favor.

 

I must admit, he’s probably my second favorite character–Rando being my first–and not just because of his sweet and meek personality. As cliche as it seems, he has near perfect aim with just about any weapon.

Not that he hits his mark exactly on the dot 100% of the time–but he always hits what he’s aiming at.

He–and two of the other characters–work as “Hunters”. Which, as the name suggests, they hunt.

But they don’t hunt your typical animals. They hunt monsters, for a bounty.

Brink begins as the team’s sniper. Always attacking long-range, usually with a gun. Later in the story, he acquires a bow and arrow–essentially becoming Hawkeye. Not without practicing of course, his talent is not completely unrealistic.

To their amazement, Brink swiftly drew an arrow, one right after the other, and all three arrows met their intended targets before hitting the ground. Without warning him, Theodas tossed the rest of the fruit into the air in random directions. Brink, taken by surprise, watched the objects fly through the air with a careful eye. After only a few seconds, he drew three arrows at once and splattered most of the fruit. But not before shooting down the few closest with incredible speed.

His friends stood shocked at his superior skill. “Brink! You’re incredible! Why have you been using a gun this whole time?” Harlow exclaimed in amazement.

The Omati grinned, “I ran out of ammo less.”

“Where did you learn?” Rando asked.

Brink shrugged, “I practiced a lot at the Hunter’s Guild.”

Seems odd for a character with poor vision, right? Of course his superior hearing comes into play, but he’s a character made up of contradictions like that. His genetics are created from two very different and opposing worlds–humans and the omati. I won’t go into their history here, but it’s something that Brink struggles with and has to come to terms with eventually. He has to reconcile his identity and learn to live between them equally.

Yet, despite his inner turmoil he remains kind and gentle, not wanting to inflict his pain on others. In his portrait, I wanted to incorporate that–giving him a subtle smile and distant eyes.

In fact, he even looks a little happy wouldn’t you say?

 

Let me know what you think in the comments or shoot me an email! And, of course, don’t forget to check back later for a new character story!

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If you follow me on Facebook at all, you’ll know that my latest project is “Dogmeat”. In case you didn’t know, he’s a companion in the game Fallout 4.

 

Although, I have yet to play the original Fallout games, it’s one of my favorite game franchises. My husband and I both played and replayed Fallout 3 and New Vegas until we knew every inch of those maps. So, it was natural that we were in line outside at 11 o’ clock on a weekday in 50 degree weather to get the early release of Fallout 4.

 

I’ve already done a sketch of Nick Valentine (my personal favorite companion) which is up on my Society6 store. But, Dogmeat was naturally my next subject. He has been as loyal as a dog should be–showing up again in the next installment to help the player. Nothing has really changed about him, aside from the graphics. Except, this time, he becomes a major part in the plot of Fallout 4–only adding to his loveability in my opinion.

I wanted to capture his loyalty and easy-to-love personality in this piece. He’s dressed and ready for battle, or exploration, or whatever adventure his master–the player–wishes. How can you resist such a sweet face?

 

Want to buy the print? Click on the “Buy My Art!” button. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Hayley Boothe Art, or instagram @h.boothe

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It’s come to my attention that I haven’t really told anyone the stories behind the character sketches I’ve done. My short answer is always an awkward “Oh, it’s just a random character” or “I don’t know”. Which, most of the time, is somewhat true. I often have images in my head of concepts–whether or not they go anywhere–especially of characters.

I’m also a writer. I don’t really talk about it a lot, but I really enjoy writing stories as well (maybe I’ll publish one of them on here). Thus, most of the portraits I draw are based on characters in my stories. My current work-in-progress is a brainchild that’s been floating around since high school. It’s changed multiple times of course, but I finally finished the first book a few months ago. It still needs quite a bit of editing as well. But, at least it’s on paper, right?

Anyway, I’d like to start telling the stories behind my portraits and introducing the characters. Ultimately, to give them more life because I’m tired of giving a bland answer (besides, who doesn’t like a good story?).

 

First up is my favorite character. Randolphus Koraenaz (cor-EHN-uh) (yes I made it up). He goes by “Rando” (and yes I realize that it’s slang for ‘random’–which is how I came up with his name to begin with. Although I didn’t know at the time–or it wasn’t slang then).

I introduce him at the end of chapter two:

What little sunlight illuminated the area, seemed to make this man’s hair glow. It was blonde, but almost white, which was in stark contrast with his dark tan skin.

His unique genetic makeup is a result of his Varoujian ethnicity. I could go into a long story about his home–the island of Varou–but I’ll skip that for now. Basically they’re known for the combination of tan skin, very striking eyes (usually a shade of green or golden brown), and jet black or stark white/blonde hair. Which is pretty bland for your average fantasy race, but I wanted it that way. Of course, I could’ve let him tell you that himself:

“I can’t place your accent,” she said, changing the subject. A wide grin grew across his face as he nodded slowly, his eyes seemed to twinkle.

“That does come out occasionally. My first language is not common-tongue. I’m from Varou,” He replied folding his hands on the table.

Harlow appeared contemplative, “The name sounds familiar, but I’m afraid I don’t know where that is.”

He chuckled in response, “It’s a tiny island in the Drumat Ocean. It’s not too terribly far from the shores of Casponica.”

“I thought you seemed out-of-place,” Harlow replied smiling.

“I do get a lot of stares and looks from strangers,” he said running his fingers through his hair, “bright green eyes and white hair isn’t exactly common around here. Not to mention my particular skin tone.”

“Is that common in Varou?” She inquired.

“Indeed it is,” he agreed, “although not all my people have light hair. In fact some have very dark hair and bronze colored eyes.”

The other character, Harlow, I’ll get to introduce later. Oh, and did I mention he was a sorcerer? With magical tattoos?

Rando’s branded back really was impressive. In the middle of his back was a large circle with similar word scribbles along the edge. In the center of the circle was a star design, also with scribbled word-like brands. Altogether it resembled a complex compass rose. Other, smaller, geometrical designs surrounded the outside to complete the composition.

    Extending up over his shoulder blades and his upper arms were more organic looking patterns which mimicked vines or branches. On his lower back appeared lines of text, like that in a book. These however were not the common scribbles, but took on more hieroglyphic characteristics instead.

    “You’ve gotta show off too,” Theodas prodded. Without protest, Rando turned, extended his arm towards his curly-haired friend with his palm facing him. The whole group jumped back in surprise as a blue flame ignited on his arm. It then abruptly blasted a wide-eyed Theodas over the table and onto the floor.

 

Without spoiling the rest of the story, I’ll leave it here. Intrigued? Good. I hope you can see his portrait through a different lens now.

 

Let me know what you think in the comments or shoot me an email! And, of course, don’t forget to check back later for a new character story!

 

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