Classic portrait of Oakie and other tree-ish art.

[Oak]

Remember this? I still have this portrait in my library. Pen and colored pencil. I created this image in a sketchbook many years ago. It took me half a day to draw her.



This is the Oakie that Plaza members remember with her big golden eyes and very distinctive profile. In spring and Summer she's green. In Winter she's red. She's a moderate sized Huorn about 35 feet high to the top of her crown.

[Fairy Nuff]

I remember - this is how I always see Oakie in my mind's eye, when I am imagining how to interact or describe something, it is an excellent reference for RP. I can also really imagine squirrels running around in her branches. Plus I love the level of detail on her bark and leaves, no wonder it took you some time! I'm glad you kept it all this time :)

[Finduilas Faelivrin]

That's beautiful, Oakie! I can see how it took you half a day with all of those leaves. Very nice bark work as well. I love the shine you put in her (your) eyes too. I assume you've got more drawings to share now that you've opened an Oakie thread? I look forward to those, if so.

[Esme]

I remember, too! good to see you, Oakie!
not long ago, I deleted all my piccies concerning plaza stuff with my photobucket account.
off to a fresh start now, I guess!

[Oak]

Here the next image. This one was created in 2006. That make this portrait 15 years old.



This how she might look peering from a thick stand of trees. She can be a nosy Huorn. When her eyes are shut can can be difficult to distinguish from a normal tree.

Some more trivia about her. She was always a limb lithe, Tree/Huorn. She was raised from an acorn and adopted by the willow Entwife, Lanthir Lamath.

[Finduilas Faelivrin]

Love it! I really love how you did the sparkling eyes!

[Oro]

Ohh man Oakie!! I remember that so well. Those pictures are like bringing back so many memories that I didn’t realize i have.

The second one from 2006 was what i remember for Oak, the eyes are very sharp and i love that they seem to be staring at you. Missed you so much! Glad to see you and your art again.

[Oak]

This image is circa 2005 when I was involved with the massive RPG with Blackrose Bugg and Hoth. Again it took me half a day to draw all of her tiny leaves. Here she wears golden leaves. This was before I decided she looked good in red. Red is my favorite color.



She could almost pass for an Entwife in this portrait, though she is still a bit too treeish. Oakie was raised from an acorn of uncertain origins, so she was never an Ent.

[Fairy Nuff]

Oh look at her eyes in that second picture, they look so alive - so curious, so soulful. I think you have really brought her to live here, I could honestly imagine her to be real like that.

And again, stunning level of detail on those leaves on the third one. Hats off to you, I would never have had the patience to do all that. I have a bad habit of getting bored and leaving things in a good-enough but not good state.

[Oak]

This piece I created for Fangorn sometime back in 2006. Apple trees that have turned Limb Lithe. They are three sisters. They were from an old Lithian River RPG thread.



I do remember the name of the one in the middle - Granny Smith. She wasn't always most friendly of the apple trees. The other two sisters were rather shy.

[Oak]

@Fairy Nuff I wish there was a thanks or a like button. But tagging you is going to have to do. Keeping the site simple is the way to go. Thank you for the compliments. I am glad you are enjoying these pictures.

@Oro I missed the fun we had in KD. Those were some fun days, weren't they?

@Finduilas Faelivrin Thank you very much. I will continue to share my old art and if this Plaza takes off, I will make new pieces too. Drawing Huorns and Ents takes time, but they are not very difficult technically for me to draw. In the last decade I have been doing pictures of aircraft, which is more challenging.

[Finduilas Faelivrin]

@Oak the one with the three "beings" reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. They look animated enough to start throwing apples at unsuspecting Hobbits.

[Oak]

@Finduilas Faelivrin I didn't think of it that way, but yes that did rather behave that way when wayward Hobbits and other visitors to Fangorn got on their bad side. Granny Smith was a particularly ill tempered Huorness. Then there was a shy Pear that would hide herself behind the Ent house because the others were throwing their apples. Oakie was a Huorn that was supposed to keep the herd together when the Entwife was off tending to her flowers. This picture does bring back memories!

[Nia]

I definitely recognise the first image, Oak - I'm sure I must have visited your art thread numerous times over the years! These are all really beautiful - and an incredible level of detail too; I'm not surprised the colouring took you so long, on the second image particularly it almost looks like it could have been made from gold and green glitter. And I love the detail of the facial expressions on each of them.

[Goldberri]

Oh wow this is like looking at an old photo album! I definitely remember that first drawing of Oakleaf. I love how detailed and expressive it is, just like Oak's backstory. I'd already left the plaza when you did the other ones, but the three ents in the last post are so adorable and alive, well done!

[Oro]

@Oak I missed the fun in KD too! Jump in the clan thread and feel free to RP with me! Also i love that old Fangorn art, I remember seeing it back in the day and its like flashes of history now.

[Burnt Toast]

I really enjoy all the personality in all of these, but I think my favourite will always be the big golden eyed Oakie portrait. The eyes just get me every time.

[Oak]

Here's a piece of bling I created. From my own way back machine. I created this piece sometime in 2006.



The image in the bowl of the tiny ornamental spoon is Oakie.

[Zôrzimril]

Aww, @Oak! I remember some of these portraits well - the first two look especially familiar. You do such an incredible job of capturing the details and the layers in the leaves - the amount of time you spent clearly paid off!

The spoon is so cute! How big is a "tiny ornamental spoon," anyway?

[Oak]

@Tarawen It is small enough to make into a necklace. It's a collector's spoon size. Too small to even be a baby spoon.

[Finduilas Faelivrin]

Aww, @Oak that's just lovely! I would call it "kitsch," which I absolutely adore! Where did you collect your materials? My grandma used to make loads of crocheted necklaces and rings with pretty beads and pearls (some were really fancy). I still have a couple, though I passed most on to my nieces & daughters, just so they could have something their great grandma made back in the 1960's. I think that's what's special about this style of jewelry/bling - it's one-of-a-kind! Hang on to your hand-made pieces.

[Zôrzimril]

Aww that is so adorable, @Oak! Love the picture of Oak on it, too. What materials did you use to paint Oak on there?

[Oak]

The bowl was first engraved with the design. Then it was colorized with glitter nail polish. Then a top layer of clear coat was added.

The materials for it were collected piecemeal. The stainless steel wire that hold on the beads came from a hardware store. There are stainless steel eyelets used, which I bought a set of them at a fair. The chain came from Walmart and the glass beads came from craft supply stores. The piece is entirely of stainless steel and glass and was painted with nail polish. It still looks the same as when I first made it.

[Aerlinn]

Aw, @Oak, I'm late to the party but I love that second portrait. Her eyes are amazing! She looks so alive. The apple trees are wonderful too. The one on the left looks like quite the character, I'd like to have a conversation with her!

[Dwim]

Oak, the pictures of your trees are beautiful and so expressive of their characters. I absolutely love this thread. :mrgreen:

[Zôrzimril]

I love that you had the little spoon engraved! That is amazing - sounds like the engraver was a skilled craftsperson. And yay! for all of those materials holding up so well!

[Fairy Nuff]

What an unusual piece Oak, I don't know many people who work with spoons as their media, but it works well and has a charm all of its own. I suppose it is like any other kind of 3D media, where you shape your art from the world around you. I also love that the spoon is actually engraved, not just a vessel for the image but the image is part of it, and the colour scheme of the beads works so well.

It's actually really funny relating to an inside joke my RL Plaza friends had when we left school not long after the ROTK. Well, in the movies there is a line that says that power can be held in the smallest of things. Well, we either wilfully or accidentally misheard it as "power can be held in the smallest of spoons" which we abbreviated to PCBHITSOS in our yearbooks and birthday cards and all sorts as this inside joke. But here you have an actual spoon with the power of creativity held in it.

[Oak]

Part of the reason I chose a spoon because because spoons so have a symbolism of their own for people who have to deal with chronic illness. I have celiac disease and along with it fibromyalgia. The spoon represents stamina or energy. A person without chronic illness has more spoons to use than a person like myself. There are things I can do to increase the number of spoons I have. What works for me is two cups of tea each day and exercise. I can get myself to being almost normal. So that is the significance of the spoon necklace. I decided to embellish it with my own creativity.

[Zôrzimril]

Thank you for sharing that additional background on the significance of the spoon for you, Oakie! I have heard spoon theory referenced quite often lately in professional spaces (I saw a virtual conference talk recently that referenced it, for one). It was really helpful for me to learn from that talk about the origins of the phrase. And I am very glad you have strategies to boost your spoons! Tea and exercise is a lovely combination.

[Bereth]

Your artwork is seriously inspired! The meticulous attention to detail, for a non-artist like me, seems like it would have taken days to accomplish. And I love the symbolism of the spoon for you. I’ve never heard that before and hope to be far more empathetic with those who struggle wish chronic pain, as many of my friends do. I used to hang a large wooden fork on my wall for something vaguely similar. A lovely reminder.