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MMMM is he gorgeous! Those brilliant colors just pop, and they’re crisp without the slightest bit of muddling. And the colors and the eyes go so beautifully together, which is another impressive achievement; it’s not easy to match eyes to such vivid colors and have it look natural. But these do. I think one of the nicest things about this dragon is the fact that he looks quite convincing as an actual creature. I really can’t wait to see him! :bigsmile:
The joke is on me for last night’s hybrid dragon, because I don’t have either of the parent breeds. Horses and Hellfires were freakin’ falling out of the sky for the past two weeks on the Cave, and I could have picked some up, but noooo . . . . [headdesk]
Oh well. The parents are going to be hard as heck to find for a while, until the furor dies down, but at least it’s not a one-time-only release. I do have to wonder, however, if they are going to get a lot harder to breed after the first couple of weeks. Didn’t something like that happen with the Soulpeaces?
Isn’t it? Only with me I went all stupid with AP eggs yesterday and the day before, and am paying the price now with a pile of hatchlings that steadfastly refuse to grow up until–checks calendar–oh heck, the oldest won’t grow up until 2AM on Sunday. Now I have to sit on my hands and behave myself until the new eggs drop tonight . . . and pick up one. Same thing tomorrow. Otherwise I’m locked.
[mutter] don’t wanna behave myself . . . . :p
Best of luck to you! Remember, you are a wonderful person and a darned fine mother. You can do this!
Holy cats, that is one gorgeous dragon! :O I love how you blended the reds and yellows and created a pattern that is half fire, half tiger, and ALL fabulous! :love: I didn’t think it was possible to like something even more than your Lava dragon, but this guy has topped him! The outlining on the stripes was particularly inspired. And his eyes go beautifully with his overall patterning, too. Great work!
My story is a good deal more pedestrian, I fear. I was a freshman in high school, and in the marching band. We had been invited to perform at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona. Nine busloads of kids and chaperones–you can imagine the chaos–made the trek from San Diego County to Phoenix. The day before the big show, as a treat, we were loaded onto the buses again and taken over to the Scottsdale Mall, where we could wander around and entertain ourselves. There I discovered a shop with a window display facing out into the mall. In it were eight dragons: the Male, Mother, Young, and Hatching in Old Brown and Old Green.
I stared at those dragons. I ogled those dragons. I all but stood on my head to read the price tags. The money I had on me wouldn’t even come close to paying for even the Young, and although I could have afforded a Hatching I flat refused, because I wanted one of the bigger dragons and nothing less. They were beautiful, they were perfection, they were watching me . . . these were DRAGONS! I was all but inconsolable when the call came to board the buses. I was certain that those dragons were peculiar to that one shop, and I would never see them again. 😥
A couple of years later, Mom and I were Christmas shopping in the local mall. And in a Wicks ‘n’ Sticks I stood thunderstruck, because there she was: an Old Green Mother. For $75. I dragged Mom over. Mom just didn’t get it. I begged. I cajoled. I told her, finally, that I didn’t want anything for Christmas except that dragon, and I would even pay half. Mom, bless her, caved at that point. We bought the dragon. I danced in the car the whole way home.
That dragon followed me throughout college, dwelling in the place of honor on my dresser. She has lots of friends now, but she still gets pride of place. 🙂
I know. It’s really, really hard. I wish there were some way to make this easier for you. But at the same time I’m glad that you are being honest with yourself about how you feel, and creating an outlet for those painful feelings through your art. Sometimes what we feel on the inside offends our conscious mind, and the conscious mind tries to deny what it doesn’t like. But that doesn’t make the feelings go away, or be any less real and valid. That’s where having a non-harmful outlet for those feelings is so important. With time and that outlet, the sheer volume of painful feelings will decrease. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel, really truly. Just hang in there.
I’m one of those people who loves the look of really old dragons like your brown, Ravenseye. She is definitely real and a great find! I have an old brown mum of similar vintage, and she’s one of my prized pieces.
The sculpt detailing on these very old dragons is finer than it is on the newer dragons–if yours is like mine, she’ll have delicate patterns of grooves on many of her large scales. I also like how the paint has a more textured appearance. While the dragons currently being produced are beautiful with their mirror-smooth scales and refined paint transitions, the texturing on the old ones makes them look just that bit more like a living creature. Congratulations on your excellent find! 🙂
Holy cats, these are still in the store? :O I managed to miss them yesterday, don’t know how . . . oh yes I do. Stupid spring cold. I’m so happy they were still there! :bigsmile:
I agree with dragonmedley. Taking some time and gaining some space to think will be helpful for both of you. Has this been Ben’s first serious relationship? If it is, then this was the first time he discovered just how much it can hurt when something happens to a relationship. He’s dealing with his own pain and confusion, just as you are working through your own. Stay in touch, but give the situation time and space. Each of you may want to help the other, but the truth of it is that the emotions are something you each need to work out for yourselves. I think maybe both of you have sensed that on a deep level. Asking for space is the natural response.
Yes, paint it out! Even if it’s dark, paint paint paint. Use your creativity and your preferred mediums to express how you are feeling. Eventually some answers will begin bubbling up in your work. Your subconscious can answer the really hard questions, like “why?” and “how?” and “now what?”, but it has a hard time putting those answers into words. It can talk through the painting, though. May take some time, but time is what you have, and there’s no more important thing in the world right now than healing.
Hang in there, my friend. I’m sending you a great big hug with a few stray chicken feathers on it. 🙂
Ay yi . . . you guys have gotten me hooked again. :p Many thanks for the links to hatch sites, though; maybe I won’t have to have worry so much about the little dudes this time around. 🙂
Interference paint: I like it best over darker colors because it creates more of a gem tone, but if you use it over light colors you can get a nice pearly effect. It depends on what you favor. I use it in thin layers either dry-brushed (very scant paint on the brush) or diluted with water. My favorite thing is to then glaze a transparent color over the top. I do the same thing with metallics. It cuts down on glare and makes the color more intense.
Finish: So far everything has been gloss finish, Krylon spray. I think I’m in a rut.
Blank PYO prep: None. I start out with staining using acrylics and a little water. I let the paint blotch, run into the crevices, do almost anything it wants. Then I start layering colors on over the top of it (acrylics again) working in thin layers diluted with water. One of these days I need to try diluting with GAC 100 or something similar. Thus far I have not had trouble with paints separating, but my oldest PYO is only 4 years.
I hear you on the sensitivity to adrenalin rushes. After eight years in my first job, which had a truly ridiculous stress level, I was left with a pair of very “kicky” adrenal glands. Everything set them off! Something would start to go just a little wrong at work, and all of a sudden I’d feel hot and cold washing over me, my heart would race and sometimes double up on beats, and my temper would just plain go where the dead crabs go (with apologies to Mr. Kipling). It was a reaction I felt I had little control over, and that made it even worse.
What helped? While on the spot, deep breathing exercises, nice and slow, and distancing myself physically from what had set me off. In general, exercise helped immensely. I’ve dragged an old Schwinn Aero-Dyne with me through multiple moves, and it remains my go-to when the stress gets bad: hop on the bike and blow loose papers all over the living room for thirty minutes. Watching what I eat: going for protein instead of pure sugar, avoiding caffeine (never could handle my caffeine), and avoiding foods that I know perfectly well will leave me with a blood sugar crash an hour later.
When my adrenalin gets wacky, so does my blood sugar–drops like a rock–and it is such peachy fun trying to regulate it. I’m a big fan of cottage cheese and fruit, thick ham-and-swiss sandwiches, quesadillas. A nutritionist would plotz over how often I eat these things, but they work. Remembering to stay hydrated–which means water, water, and more water–also helps. One of my favorite drinks in the summer is homemade lemonade with the peels in, and when the lemonade is gone, I pour water over the peels and let it steep and drink that too. Tastes like lemons, but less sugar. 😉
I haven’t tried out the homeopathic route; nothing wrong with it, but go carefully on dosages and be wary of possible interactions between compounds. (Granny had issues because she wasn’t careful with her homeopathics, and it got scary for a while there.)
I think you’re on a good track, and can’t say enough good stuff in particular about exercise. And I’d encourage you to talk to your doctor about whether a sedative could be of use in an attack. It never hurts to know what the options are, and to have a “Plan B” handy for when you need it. 🙂
Sorry about the bad dreams; those never help. They’re just acting out your stress and worry about where your relationship with Ben is, but that doesn’t make them pleasant. Dreams have a way of getting hold of our emotions and giving them a hard yank.
Ben’s silence could be due to a lot of things, including complications at home. If the two of you are a strong match–and I have no reason to think otherwise–then his disappointment must be as keen as your own. He may be questioning whether the panic attack was brought on by fear of spending so much time with him. And if he isn’t blaming himself somehow, then he’s undoubtedly feeling frustrated that he’s so far away and cannot do something to help you.
It’s natural for someone who’s feeling hurt to withdraw, but the problem with that is that then they spend too much time trying to figure out what happened. And without communication, the conclusions they come to are likely to be self-injuring and incorrect. But at the same time it’s hard to communicate when one is upset! Matter of fact, that can be the worst time to have a conversation on something that’s really important.
Dragonmedley and dragonlove are both right: give yourself some time to settle, and then reach out again. A good partner will work past his own emotions and be willing to meet you halfway. Hang in there!
