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 Are you getting sick of posts about The Songkeeper  Chronicles yet? I promise the next one won't be.... but the one after that probably will! But this one is mostly about how I drew this fan Art anyway.

The scene is from the same place as this quote, quite near the very beginning of the book. I just liked that quote so much, and I wanted to draw a griffin, so I did. (I mean seriously who does not want to draw a griffin, if you can't have a live one of your own then a cool drawing is better than nothing!)

 “Hurry, aye, but hurry where?" Amos halted midstride and spread his arms wide to encapsulate the view. The Vituain desert surrounded them, vast in its nothingness.

~ Gillian Bronte Adams, Songkeeper


 I always start with a sketch, which is the trickiest part. I google pictures of people in the positions I want them in and even griffins, or if say I can't find a photo of a griffin. Apparently they are very hard to get a photograph of. A mixture of a lion and an eagle will also do. After lots of sketching and erasing, I scan the sketch into the computer and open Photoshop. This time I wanted a more watercolour or painted look so I picked a brush that looked a bit like a paint brush and most of the time I had the transparency of that brush around 20% but sometimes 9% for really light colours I only just wanted to see and another time 40% for the first layer on the rocks. Oh and 100% for the base of the background. 

 The base of the background is also the base colour of the Griffin. Because even though he had a lot of layers of colour there were still some places he was transparent. I made so many layers and changed colours slightly, lots and the fact that the brush was transparent allowed the colours to mix and blend. 


As with any drawing the most important part is the shading. The colours being lighter where the sun would hit and gradually darker in places where there should be more shade. While 'painting' the colour I thought constantly about where the sun was coming from. And of course when drawing you have the power to determine where the sun comes from, so make good use of the power! Don't forget to add actual shadows too.... and lots and lots of layers, don't be afraid to experiment moving the layers around trying different ones on top.

Though if you use a sketch like I do you better keep that as the top layer and on 'Multiply', because if it were set on normal.... then you could only see the sketch.... but the cool thing about the different effects you can have layers appearing on is you can just make all that white disappear completely. 


The skyline was not working so I added a bit of a coming sand storm which happens later in the book. I used the same brush to do that part but a different brush to add the more textured part of the sand, again with multiple layers of colour at different transparencies. 

The rocks were also described in the book so I put a few of them in. And then along came Amos. Again a different drawing than the griffin... probably a good thing too because I drew him about three times before I was happy... before Jane was happy.


Now to the inadvisability cloak part.... I just happened to paint his cloak last and I had to save a picture of it because it looked like he was wearing an invisibility cloak! See it has turned the colour of the sand... If only you could pull things out of drawings and into real life.... 


But since Amos did not actually have an invisibility cloak in the story, at least not that he told anyone about, I had to paint it too. I thought I was done but Jane informed me that you could not see his dirk, so I fixed that by making a slight bulge under his cloak and a bit of darker brown. So just letting you know there is a dirk under there.

 So here is the finished piece of art: Gundhrold and Amos hurrying across the desert.

“Hurry, aye, but hurry where?" 

I can't believe I did not realize that the creature on the cover is a griffin and not a giant eagle. I rate Orphan Song at 4.5, there is nothing wrong with the book or content, but it just was not as amazing as some. 

 Anyway, Orphan's Song by Gillian Bronte Adams is book one of the Songkeeper Chronicles, and book two is being released soon so you can read this one now and you won't have long at all to wait for book two!


Who Will Keep the Song Alive?

Every generation has a Songkeeper – one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one.

When Birdie's song draws the attention of a dangerous Khelari soldier, she is kidnapped and thrust into a world of ancient secrets and betrayals. Rescued by her old friend, traveling peddler Amos McElhenny, Birdie flees the clutches of her enemies in pursuit of the truth behind the Song’s power.
Ky is a street–wise thief and a member of the Underground—a group of orphans banded together to survive . . . and to fight the Khelari. Haunted by a tragic raid, Ky joins Birdie and Amos in hopes of a new life beyond the reach of the soldiers. But the enemy is closing in, and when Amos’ shadowed past threatens to undo them all, Birdie is forced to face the destiny that awaits her as the Songkeeper of Leira.


I have so much trouble deciding if I should start reviews with the good or the bad or in this case the not so good. I think I will start with that because then I can end on a positive note.

 Not so good: Orphan's Song is a fantasy book and they do a lot of traveling, but there IS NO MAP. Which I count a great fault in any book of this kind. They did a lot of traveling but although I was not confused a map would have improved this book so much.

 There were twists and surprises, except I was not surprised by them and I guessed them. I think most were guessable because the book was just a bit cliché. The prologue was very similar to so many other story beginnings or prologues I have read. The rest of the story was a little cliché too but saying that not overly so and not at all borrowed from other books, but just kinda what is expected.

There is no bad content whatsoever unless you count the bit of violence.... but I don't remember it being overly descriptive either.

Good and just totally amazing: Orphan's Song had me turning pages, it never dragged. There was a lot of mystery hanging around the story that was slowly revealed, but I knew just enough to keep me happy, (which I would not have known without the prologue so maybe that was good after all). There was quite a few hints of the interesting history of the world, but no info dumps.

 The world building was really well done (except no map.... how is that possible?) Even things like other unusual creatures the book would mention were done well. It would not describe them overly leaving mostly everything to the imagination, but it would tell enough. The magic or Song power or whatever was quite cool too.

And finally the characters! The thief Ky was very well developed and all the underground everything. And the back story of that which we learn parts of during the book is intriguing. As for Amos, I could picture him so well, he is not a character I will forget despite him falling into the grumpy won't tell you anything mentor category. Even the animals, the Griffin and George were rather good and also mysterious.

The very hidden analogy was lovely too, making the book allover special and just such an enjoyable read.

The ending felt right. Although it is a cliff hanger and I had been told by my sister how horrible it was it did not seem to bad. I guess I was expecting something a lot more worse. I know of a lot of other characters that have escaped out of the situation they are stuck in now so although it is a cliffhanger it is good and not all that bad, but I do want the next book. 

 I highly recommend that you read this book. And then pre-order the next one.


And because book photos........ are photos of books... 



As you can see I liked the little owl bookmark, so I had to make one for myself too... and I used it while reading this book!

So don't forget to enter into the bookmark giveaway if you have not already because this is the last day.

I am part of the Songkeeper Launch Team! Songkeeper is the second book in Gillian Bronte Adams Songkeeper Chronicles. And it is a really fun launch team because it is competitive and there are all these things we can do to get points. One of them is drawing fan art, and I really like drawing but don't do it often enough so this is a perfect excuse! I chose Ky Huntyr, because he is one of my favourite characters from Orphan Song, the first book. Actually I don't know who is my favourite I like a lot of them.

 I shall be doing a book review of Orphan Song shortly and then one of Songkeeper after that. They are both Fantasy, Christian Fiction, books.


And don't forget to enter into my giveaway if you have not already!