[Event] The Great CD Update Challenge!

[Beaky]

A semi-translucent, rattlenaga - barely bigger than a pot-belly pig - is zooming around a room full of filing cabinets in a hover disc. It's impossible to tell if the little dragon is a he or a she. Maybe they're both. Maybe they're neither. The rattlenaga phases into full view at your approach.

"Oh, hey there! Welcome to The Directory! You here for the Update Challenge? Awesome! The studio's all set up for you. There's a writing lab down that way, and a cafeteria that way. Hmm? Me?! My name is Corialane Codex - you can call me Dex. Uhh - I'm an intern here. I've been put in charge of... reorganizing things a bit." Dex keys a few things in on their tablet. Their third-eye bindi blinks as it syncs with the updates. "It's been zooy in here ever since Senator Kutomo started investigating the immigration office. I mean, we're talking dragons with no photo ID, dragons with no historical records, dragons who've been MIA for years, NPC's running around the Shoutbox - it's been a Nightmare, believe me. I'm so glad you're here to help."

Dex zips off to collect a stack of file folders. When they return with the pile, and see you still standing there, they mention, "You've done this before, right?... First timers! Well, welcome, welcome, I'm sorry. I thought you were veterans... Yeah, yeah, I guess a lot has changed in ten years - The Directory probably looks a little different. Well, here, let me get you a pamphlet." Dex drops the file folders unceremoniously in the trash, and bids you to follow them around the Registration desk. They pull open a brochure, "Every week we host workshops to help folks update their Character Directory information. Everyone's welcome to drop in, ask for a second opinion, totally open house. But some folks just need help pacing themselves, like an exercise regimen! It is a lot of paperwork. So, we've set up monthly themes, to help inspire folks to stay on task. Due dates for CD work are the last day of every month. Complete a theme, you earn a reward; let's call it an adoptable, just a little something. Complete a CD you win an official event award - we call them stickers. Does all that make sense? Here, let me show you:"

Dex bids you follow them into the studio, where at least a dozen dragons are posing for their portraits, retelling their personal histories to stenographers, or scrap-booking pictures of their friends and family. On the back wall of the studio is a white board with this month's theme outlined:

CD Update Challenge
March ~ Back to Basics
Week 1: Written physical description.
Week 2: Preliminary sketches/Determine color palette.
Week 3: Zoom in on difficult angles or details.
Week 4 Combine previous weeks into one, complete, detailed reference image.

"So, this month we're focusing on photo ID's. Each week brings you a step closer to a complete picture reference. For my part, I'm going through the archives chronologically, trying to get people to update their stuff. Some of these photos are really old! Make sense? Why don't you have a poke around; I'll be back to check on you in a bit. But feel free to come find me sooner if you have more questions!"

((For this month's challenge, start with your first ever dragon, the one you joined The Clan with. Maybe that dragon has aged and needs a new ref. Maybe you're taking their story in a new direction. Maybe you killed off that character. Whatever the case, it's kind of easy for your original character to get stagnant as new and exciting characters come onto the scene. Try going back to your roots, and sprucing up ol' reliable.
Share this space to brainstorm! Share your progress pics, your Google searches, the music you're listening to - let people see what you're doing! If you get stuck, reach out, let's work together to get inspired. Remember, it's not about drawing a pretty picture. Your dragon's reference is the first gateway another player has for RPing or gift giving... This is an icebreaker challenge, not a drawing competition.))

[Misha]

Oh gosh.... I can't remember the last time I drew Seaphira O_O It's been... oh dear, not sure I want to know.. 4 YEARS???

Quad Ref: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/squiju/Seaphira/IraStand.png

Her last Quad picture is still accurate enough - for this challenge I may do detail shots of parts of her, but she needs an Anthro drawn ref so I'll work on that! ^^

[Auri]

Aaaah perfect timing! Xyriah hasn't been updated since 2012, and that one was never even finished... She needs her wing accessories drawn out, and I've got some small physical changes planned. Maybe I can rush those through while I'm at it.   Thanks for setting this up!

2012 ref here:

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Xyriah is a smallish green dragon.  She stands approximately 4 feet tall at the top of her head (around 2 1/2 feet at the shoulder), and is 7 feet long.  Her overall build is comparable to that of a Great Dane- somewhat leggy, with a narrow chest and a lean muscular body type.   She's covered in small, iguana-like scales, except for her leathery wing membranes and scale-plated underbelly. 

Her base color is a muted jade green, with dusky blue stripes running across her back, the leading edges of her wing-arms, and the front of her thighs.  Yellow bands encircle her lower legs: three on each front leg, two on the back.  Four more bands encircle the tip of her tail.    Her eyes are a teal blue color.  She has dark, almost midnight-blue streaks over both eyes, topped with thin yellow "eyebrows".   Her ear-frills and wing membranes are both made of leathery hide in an aqua color which shades into a buttery yellow hue near the edges.   Her belly is a leafy green color.

Her wings have three wing-fingers and a thumb, each tipped with black claws.  The membranes have been torn down the middle and some of the fingers appear bent or have swellings where breaks healed wrong.

Other details:
-Four spines on the ear fins
-Back feet are like elongated paws; four toes of similar size (though middle two slightly longer than outer two)
-Front feet have three fingers plus thumb

-LALALALA WILL ADD DETAIL HERE AFTER PROMPT IS WRITTEN

-All claws are black, worn down from running on them
-Two ridges of scar tissue encircle her neck where an iron collar once cut into her
-Similar ridges are around both back legs.

-Sometimes she wears wing-covers or a robotic exoskeleton.  The exoskeleton looks like a backpack- it has nylon straps (lined with fleece) which cross in front of her chest and behind her wings, and are joined by another connecting strap under her chest.  Pneumatic tubes protrude from it and fasten to the frame of her wing covers, providing mechanical assistance to make up for a lack of muscle strength.

The covers by themselves are ripstop nylon, shaped to go over her wings like huge mittens.  Rare earth magnets and snaps hold them together around her wing-fingers.  Her claws stick out of small holes at the ends. Springy rods are stitched into tubes, reinforcing the structure and helping to help support her weakened wing-fingers.   
(she has one extra set of wing covers which are just huge mittens in swimsuit material for when she wants to keep the ragged edges of her membranes from snagging on anything- or wants to use her wings as paddles while swimming)

[Kay]

Ooooh I'm totes excited, Xar you're getting spoiled this month!

Xar: *Pulls his cheeks so those face wrinkles disappear* I'm ready!

[Marsi]

Okay Star-butt It's your turn.

Star: Wait what?

Yep, you've got to shake out your scales and get back on your game!

Star: But I haven't changed at all!

Oh yes you have, just not in ways you realize. Just little things kiddo. Just some little things.....

[Nicole]

Hopefully I can get in on this, heavens knows my characters really need it >_<

[Beaky]

Dexter comes whirring back into the studio. "So, how's everybody doing? Descriptions coming along okay? We starting to think about palettes and sketching?"

"Ooo!" Monte flags down the intern. "Sorry, I started a little out of order. I just - I noticed that my old ID was really old. I look so young in that picture!"

"Nah, of course, man; that's what we're here to work on. Let's see what you've got."

Monte, blushing profusely, passes Beaky's preliminary sketch to Codex:



"Hey, this is good stuff here! Very helpful."

Even more blushing!! "It's not finished." Obviously. He wasn't wearing pants! "See where we disagreed on how long my Tail's gotten? And she ran out of space for my other foot..."

"Yeah, but it's got your beard, your wing claw - this is nothing to sneer at! Why don't you and your portrait artist have a pow-wow about your physical description, and then go ahead and get your palette key started." Glancing over, Dex decided to have a word with this particular artist. Seems cropping out feet was a reoccurring problem for her.



"Hey, these are supposed to be references. Not Math class margin doodles. Spiff it up please, ok? NO PLACEHOLDERS, PEOPLE! No "I'll get to this later"s. Today is your day! Make it count!"

[Marsi]

((I found a color chart online yayness http://www.science.smith.edu/dftwiki/index.php/File:TkInterColorCharts.png))
MidnightStar a lean and lanky western dragon with fore hands and hind paws, 5 fingered modified bat-like wings and curling ivory horns. His base color is midnight blue and navy with medium blue high-lights. His small snake-like scales are reflective which in light may twinkle/shine like this. He has large, bright emerald green eyes with long lashes on his long horse-like face. Three long ivory jaw spikes line each side of his face. His bat-like triple layered webbed ears share connective tissue near the base of his ears. He has purple hair on his head with lighter lavender bangs. His long eastern-like whiskers are similar in color and are covered in curling purple hair that matches his goatee. His back has long dark purple spikes that stick out from his vertebrae from the top of his neck to the base of his tail. His tail ends in a golden-yellow-yellow-orange 5 pointed star blade that the last point is elongated. The underside of the blade is flat while the top is slightly domed. His body is speckled with golden-yellow or white star and galaxy-like shapes. The underside webbing and belly scales start at the base of his throat are all light and pale goldenrod yellow.

(it's rough I need to touch it  up but    its started but Jade is trying to type now and I don't want to lose this.))

[Beaky]

Oh, Marsi, you are a doll for sharing that chart! I've been in need of one of those for years XD!

[Marsi]

It doesn't have every color but it's got enough to work with.

[Misha]

Changing my entry last minute... since I can't think of a good ref for Ira right now. She has the closest complete CD of all my characters O_O

Instead.. going to do my first non-draik clan character (as far as age of CDs go) which is Xunithra.

Sketch/Drawing Process shots of her new ref:
Pic 1

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Pic 2

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Pic 3

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And this is how far I am on coloring her ref

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Plan on working on this more as well as finishing a written desc over the next week

[Auri]

Two days left and I've been doing refs for everyone but Xyriah...  Ardalu has one in progress, Sam has one in progress, Pyala has one in progress, as does the Pyali baby...   I made a baby Nova ref... still no Xyriah. Oops. XD XD XD   Posting here as a reminder that the month is almost over, maybe Xyriah will sneak out tomorrow... maybe. 

[Phex]

So since this is chronological, ironically, Dawnfire's reference is pretty great. Nothing about her has changed. She's always looked the same. But I do need to reword her ooooold CD.

PREVIOUS

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Dawnfire is coated with a soft fur that, since is water-proof, deflects rain off in droplets, much like a duck. This enables her to fly in the rain and came about after she got her wings. However, when her wings are withdrawn/retracted, for some reason her body reverts back to what it once was, and the oil can get washed away, and she'll be soaked clean through, just like any poor animal caught in a storm.

Her coat is a more brilliant version of a sunrise (less warm greys and such). It's more befitting of a sunset. At any rate, her colors are said to mimic fire. She has 4 scales on her forehead that store her magic and sometimes acts as channeling points for said magic. They function like solar panels, as they draw energy from the sun. Oddly, they remain cool to the touch.

The hovering ball/gem near her tail is the main channeler for magic, though it does not allow that magic to radiate massive amounts of energy. The gem allows her tail blades to merge into a single one for combat if she chooses, and for having the blades disappear entirely, though she rarely does this. Somehow, it also enables her to retract her new-grown wings, which she has only done once in her life. A very painful process, and one she will likely not repeat. Her colors do not make the best camouflage, either.
     
Her eyes, after she left home, turned a burning lilac. Recently, after an act of Duty (an act she was specifically created for), her eyes have switched back to their original blue-green that's somewhere between aquamarine and teal, depending on the lighting. She has crest feathers that run down her neck and used to run down to the very tip of her tail when she was young---if anyone can ever remember her being younger, that is.   Since she has no tail feathers, she uses her magic to accelerate her flight, and her long tail to allow her the amazing aerial agility that she has.   ***She usually has a weird magical fire cloud that exudes from the tips of her paws, so they are usually cloaked. I felt like showing what her paws looked like, so the picture is transparent. She also has wicked retractable claws.***

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Most of that is weird. Mostly because I never picture Dawnfire flying, and a horse flying is just awkward and heavy the more I think about it. She does have retractable wings, but I never picture her with them showing. She's always galloping around and shouldering into things like a warhorse. The draft when running and the running into things would damage her wings quite a bit.

NEW and over-stuffed

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ANATOMY: Dawnfire is built like a cheetah and a horse's lovechild. She has the long legs and leanness of a cheetah, but a horse's more rigid back, arched neck, and powerful chest and shoulders. Her shoulders and hips are wider like a horse's though her ribcage is thinner and not as barrel-shaped. Dawnfire's tail is catlike in its length and flexibility, though it is thicker at the base. It is not prehensile.

Dawnfire is a little taller than an average Arabian horse, about 7 feet tall at the head, about 5'5" at the withers.

FEATURES: Dawnfire has a blunt, squarish snout and a strong jaw and cheeks with a small mouth/smile. (A close head shape might be the Maiasaurs from Dinosaur. (one) (two). And Rain from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron.) Her forehead to her nose is one broad straight slope. The rest of her body is elegant, tapering and graceful, and also mostly thin apart from her strong neck and chest. Her nostrils are large and circular.

Dawnfire has a ridge of long crest feathers running from the top of her head to the nape of her neck. They have the tapered, pointed shape of primary feathers, stick up even when relaxed, and are arranged edge-to-edge like fence posts, not lying flat against each other like a stack of papers.

She also has a shiny yellow ball hovering at her tail-tip (called a neri). It acts as a channel and focus for her magic and keeps her from radiating too much energy. Her glassy tail-blades hover like magnets around the neri, always retaining their overall flame-like shape. She has three blades, two large, one small, and best described via picture (I will make a tutorial on an easy way to draw them).

Dawnfire has typical Yakusian feet-flames that are shaped like actual flames because she's a Fire Yakusain, though they move slower and faster in tune with her excitement levels. They cloak all four feet (which are cheetah-shaped). They are not true fire but an excess of magic so they don't burn (unless willed to) and the weaker she is, the less "fire" there will be. She also has four nose-scales that are thin, flat, glassy and transparent with a slightly pinkish hue that span the width of her snout. Colors representing her emotions will move through them, and they function like solar panels to draw extra energy in, though they remain cool to the touch.

Dentition: She is an omnivore and has molars, canines, and incisors, but her mouth is very tiger-like, though her canines are relatively small.

Non-constants: Dawnfire's wings are made of pure magic (they blossom when she comes of age) and therefore "retractable". More accurately, she can dispel them at will--think of the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. Her claws are also retractable, but she keeps them out for grips while running, which keeps them blunted.

TEXTURE: Dawnfire has short, velvety fur and soft flesh. Very horselike. Her nose-scales, tail-blades, and neri are all cool, smooth, and glassy.

TEMPERATURE: Dawnfire is slightly warmer than normal to the touch. She radiates more body heat in proportion to her anger or magic usage.

COLORATION: Dawnfire is a pale yellow that darkens and blends from her underside to her back (ventral to dorsal), turning from yellow to peach to hot pink at her feathers to purple to dark purple and finally a small bit of black at her longest feather-tips. Her tail and legs only shade to peach at the darkest. She has a pale underbelly that goes halfway up her neck. (Once upon a time, I really wanted a Faerie Pteri on Neopets.)

Her wings, when showing, follow the same gradient--darkest at the longest feather-tips. Under the wings is paler yellow and the tops of the wings are more pink/peach.

Dawn's nose-scales are a slightly pinkish hue apart from the colors of emotions that move through them.

Her tail-blades radiate color from near the yellow-orange neri (floating ball) to the blade-tips moving from bright yellow to hot pink to violet, and at the very tips, black.

Dawnfire's eyes are Caribbean blue.

COMPOSITION: She is flesh (physical matter) built heavily from magic (energy)--specifically ether. She is so saturated with magic that the flow of it in her is like a spiritual respiratory and immune system.
---Pros: She can withstand a great deal of damage and adjust readily to different flows of energy (electric, temperature, barometric) or flesh-based needs (oxygen, nutrition).
---Cons: Her flesh can deteriorate and fail, so she can be weakened or killed by a voider (Chantage) or hijacking magic (Naja's human shapeshifting necklace).

ACCESSORIES: None.

GAIT: Warhorse's arrogant stride. Dawnfire moves from her chest and neck. This gives her a confident stride and a bullish charge. She walks like a cheetah and runs in a horselike gallop. She keeps her chin up and head high, lending arrogance and authority to her movement, and when angry, her arched/hunched neck drives her posture.

SCENT: Dawnfire smells like oranges. (Magic smells like citrus from Yakusians. A lot of my characters smell a little citrusy if they have Yakusian blood.)

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