Fan Art Friday

Posted on by scott

Back in my younger days, when people would ask where I went to high school, the conversation would often go like this:

“I go to Arts Magnet.”

“Oh. So you’re a painter.”

“No.”

“A sculptor?”

“Um, no.”

“What? You just draw?”

“Nope.”

“But . . . you’re an artist, right?”

“Yep. I compose music and direct and act in plays.”

“Oh, right. Artssss Magnet.”

*sighs*

One of the fudgeries of spoken English is the way we often use the word for a subset to mean the whole set, and vice versa. To some people, “artist” means “painter,” “American” means “from the USA,” and “animal” means “multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdoms Animalia or Metazoa BUT NOT HUMANS CAUSE WE’RE SPESHUL.”

Of course, we’re starting to get rid of a lot of these fudges, but it’s still tricky. I often use “USian” instead of “American,” but as a southerner I correct Aussies who call me a “yank.” The politics of who’s the subset in these verbal habits can be very problematic, you see. (But at least pretty much everyone has given up saying “man” for “humanity.”)

AND YET, here I’ve done more than a dozen Fan Art Fridays, and about 99% of the fan art I’ve shared with you is drawn or painted (or the digital equivalent). Apparently I’ve been colonized by my painterly high school oppressors without even realizing it!

So here we are at last, a special edition of Fan Art Friday in which NO art is drawn or painted. (Well, some of it is, partly. There is no escape.)

Let’s start off with costumes. Here’s an awesome piloting jacket by DA’s WaxesNostalgic, based on Alek’s from Leviathan:

Cool, huh? You don’t see enough leather in cosplay.

And here’s some self-portraiture by bano–kagi, which is partly cosplay, but also involves the art of resembling Deryn Sharp without even trying.

I mean, seriously. It’s like she jumped out of the book.

SPEAKING OF WHICH:
This one is sort of on the border between drawing and sculpture, but you will agree it’s totally cool. See if you can find the Leviathan characters in “Jump Off the Page” by ThePrinceOfParties.

This is a crop. You must follow this link for the whole thing!

Characters jumping out of books makes me happy.

More sculpture! Of a Huxley Ascender! This one from Parker-Strom.

And in a more jewelry mode, Heather L. offers up one of the Leviathan‘s fabricated bees:

It’s so glittery, kind of like I describe the bees in the gut.

And now . . . something that will keep you Midnighters fans in stitches.

Heh, in stitches. (Bada-BOOM.) From Kristen G, who is clearly awesome, because those midnighters symbols are really detailed.

And in the photography category, Ren W. and Sammy sent me shots of the sky that might be related to Leviathan, of course. But which might also be somehow related to a CERTAIN LINE at the beginning of the Uglies series!


That one’s by Ren W, and this next one’s by Sammy.

Okay, we’ve covered Leviathan, Midnighters, and Uglies, and EIGHT pieces of art, so I think I’m stopping here. (Still fluey.) Rest assured, though, there will be more non-painterly art next week, including the bajillion pieces of fan-fiction you all sent me. (So. Much. Fan. Fiction.)

There will also be a tattoo, or perhaps even two. Seriously.

If you’re coming to BEA or simply live near New York City, don’t forget
my appearances next month. I’m coming 10,000 miles for this BEA, so I don’t want any empty chairs!

And just a reminder, you guys know I’m on Twitter, right?

91 thoughts on “Fan Art Friday”

  3. Yay! I’ve been waiting for this day. I think the piloting jacket is absolutely stunning. Double-breasted, lovely leather color and the gathers in the back are beautiful. Great job!

    I also love the little characters jumping out of the book. That’s original and cute! Or at least I think it’s original because I’ve never seen anything like it before.

    It looks like I have some competition in the photography section. Hands down to Ren W. It’s a fun photograph. I know it feels awesome to have a look at the sky and recall a work of fiction. It’s also cool to think that Ren and I had the same thought. Ultra feeling of connectedness. (Is that a word?) BUT it must also feel awesome to be the author of these works and have so many people around the word experience the connectedness. Thank you for doing Fan Art Fridays, Scott.

    @Fox Scarlen – As my photo is the second cat vomit shot, I would like to say that the photo was taken after before/during/after a wicked thunderstorm rolled through Pennsylvania. I can’t really recall at what stage of the storm I took this shot, but you are correct! It does have that eerie feeling that something bad is about to happen.

  4. @Sam I appreciate it! My picture was taken during the sunset here in Texas. I really like yours though, its kind of like a dusty rose color. Yes, it does give off the impression that something bad is about to happen. I am glad that you and I made it onto this page, and I hope that you continue with photography. Its really a wonderful job.

  6. That is amazing! I loved all the work!
    and am ultra jealous of the deryn look-alike D:

    by the way i searched for what dylan meant and it is “son of the sea” then i searched for deryn and they didn’t have a definition D: this made me sad

    However!
    I have hereby made my own definition to be Daughter of the Skies (or wind) =D

  8. And yes agreed! Power to the Arts Magnet Schools! I attended one myself, one of the best places ever, until some school personnel messed up my schedule and removed me from it!

    Saddest day of my life, it still saddens me when i think of it ):

  9. Wow, I really want that piloting jacket! That thing’s awesome.

    And
    no,
    it’s
    not
    cool
    to
    write
    like
    this.
    It’s
    really
    annoying!

  12. You know, in the new edition of Leviathan they should have something written before the actual story, and I know just what:

    “With the wrath of the law & the lonesome above you, and all those who love you behind,
    A storm in your rear view and darkness before you, where will you fly to this time.”

    That is, if they could get the permission of the writer of those lyrics, Jonathan Byrd.

  13. Awesome fan art!!!!
    Now I’m thinking about how disappointed I am that my cat’s vomit isn’t that color… 🙁
    It’s scary how much that girl looks like Deryn. That jacket is so cool! I want one! The huxely thing is really cool too, that would be hard…
    The Midnighters pillow is totally awesome.
    Oooo… I’m excited to read fanfic…
    @ everyone who wa stalking about that necklace, there are matching earrings, a ring, and bracelet too.

  14. will anyone check out the website !!!!!!!

    its an uglies website!!!!! You can see if your an Ugly Pretty or Special under blog and what are you quiz then on the poll to the left put what you are go to
    http://uglies.webnode.com//

  18. i wish my cats vomit looked like that 2 Jesse if it did id stare at it all day!!!!! 🙂 (P.S. I dont have a cat) And that be is so perdy!!! And Dang girl (or boy) it mustve taken u 4ever 2 make that pillow!!!!! And the jacket ill take 1 in black (u know wat make that 2) 1 in pink 1 in- you get wat i mean. And the hat- Ooops its a sculpture soo sorry i didny know (i dont erase stuff after i write it my backspace button fell out.) Cool website sis!!!

  20. Dear Scott Westerfield if you read what we say Say Purdilicious on ur next post

  23. SKY-LA 🙂 and everyone else who’s said so many nice things about my pillow. First off, thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Second, it actually didn’t take too long… If I remember right it took about a week and a half…? Something like that. I literally went to school, did my homework and sat down and embroidered until my fingers went numb. (And don’t get me started on what happened when I ran out of thread and had to get more!)

  24. dear Kristen
    ur welcome where did u get the pillow to sew on and wher did u learn to sew so well!! Ha ha get it sew so 🙂

  26. SKY-LA,
    I made the pillow from complete scratch. My mom taught me to embroider when I was 12 for a project at church. (I love crafty things. :)) Anyway, what I did was I went online and found a picture of all the symbols and put it into paint and took out all the color until I just had an outline (Because I can’t draw worth a crap I have to trace the outlines of whatever I sew) Then I went to Jo Ann’s fabric and bought the most midnight blew I could and went to work tracing the symbols onto it and then going over it with black marker.
    It sounds like a lot but it’s not too bad. Thanks for asking. 🙂

  27. I was checking the blog on my cell phone (i can’t comment on my phone
    though) and it took a while to load the page I wondered why? It was the page that everyone was
    writing
    like
    this
    on
    so to prevent my phone from going into some sort of electrical cardiac arrest (if thats how you spell it) I ask you to not write like that.

    And damn I want that necklace…. to Claires!

  28. That bee is amazing, especially if it was made with seed beads!

    Scott,
    You don’t read the fanfiction on deviantart, do you? *cringe*
    If so, I’m sorry for metaphorically dragging your characters through the mud.

  30. Yup, everything is very shiny (and if no one by now has gotten my numerous references, then I will drive my Firefly-class spaceship into your house. 🙂 ).

  31. awesome jacket! as someone who can make clothing, jacket’s are hard to get right, and that one looks awesome. love the back of it. and, just saying, when they make the Leviathan movies i want her as Deyrn Sharp please! love the book characters too. and cat throw-up sky!!! memories of that book *sigh*. it’s greatness Mr. Westerfeld!

  32. Cat puke pink… XD

    that girl really did look like deryn! she actually reminded me of my friend a few years ago haha…. reading the uglies series now… literally right now. 😀

  36. Yes, the bee is made of mostly seed beads size 11 and the yellow is 15 delicas for you beaders out there, it is about 1 1/4 inch long and about 3/4 of an inch wide.

  37. I am in awe. There’s so much detail. What did you use to string them together? wire? thread and needle?

  41. I love me some midnighter books!

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