The Story, as promised...

A little background...
This story takes place on a different planet, called Zonsa, and there are four intelligent species (sanjon, dalosi, limbro, and jorna). The sanjons, the majority of them feel they are the superior specie, and are the most widespread. Dalosi are also very widespread, while there are fewer limbro, a hybrid of dalsoi and sanjon. The three species are humanoid, but vary in general appearance and things like hair and blood colors. The jorna are the second widest spread of the four species and are reptile-ish in appearance and a bit bigger than humans. They are a crueler specie, taking the other three species as prisoners and using them as slaves. The distinguishing features will be explained as the story goes along as well as the appearance of the planet, which differs from Earth. The culture is somewhat tribal, mostly consisting of villages, with few large cities and towns, but those that exist are a bit more technologically advanced and usually house the armies and training camps. The planet is at war with the jorna, but in this story, this in only a background part.
    There are three main characters, Diffal, Gilt and A'shina. Each will be introduced as the story goes along. I may end up adding scenes between ones that I post as I work with the story. As it stands, the first fourth is written, but in the first draft version. So.. I warn you that things may change, but I will notify you as they do. Stuff in parantheses is stuff I haven't had time to work on, but want to add, and there to give you an idea of what will happen.
The first scene follows....


     Diffal sat on the rough blanket he had been sleeping under, his head hanging down, staring at the scars on his feet. He fought the tears, trying to think of what he had to do in the morning, things that didn't remind him of his mother and the dreams. The dreams didn't last long. They never did. But they did scare Diffal everytime, and everytime he couldn't go back to sleep.
     Most of the dreams he had were about the day his mother died. He had been seven when she and Grino's mother died. There was a great flood and Grino, a boy born in the same month, had been playing with Diffal by the river. When Grino got too close and fell in, Diffal's mother jumped in and saved him. After Grino was ashore, a surge in the water came and swept Diffal's mother away and Grino's mother had tried to save her. The two women were found later, having given their lives to the water, too swift and violent for either to swim in.
     Diffal would stay awake after the dreams, trying to get the images out of his head. Watching the torch light flicker across the sleeping forms of the others had a calming effect on his mind most times, but this night, it wouldn't work. The scars on his feet glowed white in the light as he sat listening to the other four boys' steady breathing as he tried to calm his own. He had gotten those scars that day, running along the river's weaving bank, stumbling through the dead thorns, thick and long.  As small as he was, he tried to find his mother, running and running.
     The lone torch flickered the brightest against Z'cob's face, illuminating his lime green hair. If his eyes were open they would match the color exactly. In the nights when he couldn't sleep, Diffal felt like the boys' father and that it was his job to nurture them. He would observe them and had always noticed that Z'cob slept with his head turned toward the light. He was one of the smallest boys in the village even though he was seven. His mother had died during childbirth and his father had been killed by the resistance before he was born. The boy hadn't know either of his parents and Diffal seemed to be the one he attached himself to. From age two, Z'cob had been sleeping next to Diffal, usually curling up into the corner, hugging one of Diffal's arms.
     Mah'owl, a five year old, was the grandson of a wanderer who sold herbs to the village for decades. The boy had been found sleeping next to the dead woman just outside the village. The elders said it was old age and Mah'owl was put in with Diffal and Z'cob when he was three, so it had only been about a year and a half. No one knew anything about his parents, even though word had been sent to surrrounding villages and the closest cities. He was very talkative and hyper, the reason Diffal had him sleep on the other side of him. His hair was a red like Diffal's but had pale brown highlights, making it much lighter and he had chesnut eyes.
     The other two boys had been found at a vacant village two days journey away. One, Couli, was mute, and had been an infant, only found because his bright red hair was so visible. When he had been picked up, Jencai, the other boy had attacked the hunters who had found Couli. He had shocked the men, his wild orange hair and bright green eyes standing out on his naked body. Jancai had been around six, and now nine, cared for the mute boy, never getting angry at the three year old. It was thought that they were brothers, but the Jancai had once told Diffal he had found the infant. He hadn't told any adult because he did not wish the little one taken away. 
     The five boys were housed by the widow of a soldier. She was strict and expected no trouble from them, let alone her own eight children. The youngest of her children was now five and the eldest seventeen. Diffal was the eldest of the orphans at ten. The room they were in was small, giving just enough room for the five to lay down in a row, all entangled in each other. There was a basin of water and a chamber pot, as well as the scant pile of clothes the children shared.
     Diffal had known only his mother. There was little he remembered of her, but he knew that her hair and eyes were the same red as his own. He had one possession from her, a blanket that had her name on it. As simple as it was, it was the one thing he had to remember her by. He knew she used to take him on walks frequently, and although he knew where he had been taken, he didn't remember her taking him there. He went to the small clearing, trooping down with the boys, or his best friend A'shina, trying to remember things, but he never did. There was nothing he could do to bring her back and he felt like he was letting her down, not remembering her. His life had changed so much and his old life, where they had been happy was so far away.
     The five were the outcasts, the orphans, the weaklings; they were the ones that were unprotected by guardians. No one went out of their way to make them happy. Both his parents were gone and now Diffal was left an orphan, and caring for four children he hadn't even known. As the oldest of the five orphans, he got them up and dressed in the morning, then took them to the village's kitchen to get food. He would then take a walking tour of the village, dropping off the boys to their respective age groups. He then headed to his own lessons only to gather the boys back up after dinner. They all followed him around then, wherever he went, until they went to bathe and then to bed.
(Have Diffal think about recent events and then seeing the torch low, go and get another, waking Mah'owl and talking)

New Prints, first ones since school has started!

This is the largest print I have done so far. It is a bit light in color so I am going to rework the plate and see if that helps. The plate is about twenty-one inches long, not sure of the exact measurements. The image is the skeleton of a penguin, mostly like the torso/abdomen area.

Close up of the Penguin

This is the head of an elephant, the large purple part the knob where the ear projects out. The yellow part is the collar bone and the blue green stuff is the top of the spine and ribs. I think the painting came out too sloppy on this on.

The first elephant ghost print.

The second elephant ghost print.

This is another version of the elephant. I think this one is the only truly successful print I did yesterday. This is more what I am going for.

This was a mix of the second and third elephant versions, but these are ghosts.

The third elephant version and I think it ended up too sketchy.

Experiment with really watery paints. I am thinking of adding the skeleton over top and see what happens.

My studio, as of now. All the stuff I am using to work with is spread out over the rest of the room though, but I decorated!