Description:
Whew! This drawing involved a lot of improvising, with many details added on the go, like the carpet and the floor's shading/highlighting. Yet, I think it turned out really well and it's something I'm very proud of. It's also my first time working with an actual perspective, which I think looks alright for a first try.
Okay, technical things aside: what are we looking at here? It's a drawing that illustrates the story down below, but if you are not into stories or just don't feel like reading it, here's a short summary. Some of my older watchers will remember Moorsavage (the green mare on the left): found by Stendhal in the Everfree Forest, she was brough home by him as she was hurt. Fresca and Stendhal took care of her injury and then decided to keep her with them and to try and teach her several different things, starting with speaking, as she doesn't seem to be able to do that: she basically behaves like a feral pony. Hopefully when she learns how to speak, she'll be able to tell them who she is and what she was doing in the forest. But she doesn't seem to be making any progress…
That's all! I hope you like this drawing And for those of you who enjoy reading, here's the next chapter of Moorsavage's story, the first one in about a year and a half. You can find the previous episodes here: The story of Moorsavage — Episode one (check the story's description for episodes 2-5).
…as for JB's portrait, don't mind that: JB gave a copy to every house in town. Fresca had to hide a crack in the wall, so she hung it even though JB is a pretty despised pony in this household. :XD:
—-
- Let’s try again — sighed Stendhal — What is this?
He pointed at the small blackboard Fresca was holding, on which stood a shaky letter A.
The green mare opened her mouth, but only a soft whistle came out.
Stendhal sighed again.
- Okay, so you don’t know how to make this sound… but you did understand what sound this letter makes, didn’t you? Like… "a" as in, um…acronym, yes?
- Or aaaa…pple! — intervened Fresca in a merry tone of voice, placing her hoof under the blackboard so it wouldn’t fall when she opened her mouth.
- …yes, or abstract.
- Or ant. Stendhal, stop using such difficult words, you know she can’t understand them.
- The point is: you know what you are supposed to say, right? You just don’t know how. Is that right?
The filly frowned and nodded, which caused her messy mane to once again cover her eyes: she still didn’t trust Stendhal and Fresca enough to allow them to cut it a little, and she still was afraid of scissors. Stendhal put the rebel tuft back behind her ear with his hoof.
- Right, and we still need to teach you how to use magic properly, too. And… how society works. Ugh… why don’t you… why don’t you take a break? You must be tired. We can continue later! — he finished, trying to sound positive. And failing miserably.
- I don’t understand — he told Fresca once he was sure the green mare couldn’t hear him. They were now in the kitchen.
- We’ve been trying to teach her for a week: I would have expected some progress. Any kind of progress.
Fresca was eating an orange and answered when she was done chewing.
- She did make some progress: just because you can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Stendhal raised an eyebrow.
- Pardon me?
- Well, it's clear she can now understand most of what you say to her. She has learned what nodding or shaking her head means and can use them to communicate with us. I’m pretty sure she starts to understand our names as well. And I believe that she would speak with us just fine if she could: she’s not stupid, you know? You can see it in her eyes that she knows how to say “A”, but she just… can’t. It’s like she has no idea of how sounds are created. The voluntary and deliberate ones, at least. The ones you can control, not yelps and growls.
- Yeah, but that’s just the problem: how do you teach her how sounds are created? I could tell her “you need to make your vocal cords vibrate, open your mouth, lower your tongue and push the air out of your throat”, but how is she supposed to use her vocal cords if she has only discovered she has them a few days ago? Like, if someone came to you and told you: “Hey, you know what? All your life you have had this super cool organ in your body you never knew the existence of, and you can use it to create gold: now use it!”, how would you be able to use that organ, when you don’t even feel it? When you don’t even know exactly where it is in your body? It’s, it's just so frustrating!
- Just give her a little more time, Stendy. Twenty, twenty-five years of not speaking (Celestia knows how old she is) cannot be expected to be fixed in just a week.
- What if she never learns?!
- Well – said Fresca throwing the orange’s peel into the trash can – then she’ll learn an alternative way to communicate. Relax, Stendy! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And she wants to learn, I can see that. Otherwise she wouldn’t even sit through your boring classes.
- Yeah, I guess you’re ri -… boring?!
She stuck her tongue out at him in reply.
Okay, technical things aside: what are we looking at here? It's a drawing that illustrates the story down below, but if you are not into stories or just don't feel like reading it, here's a short summary. Some of my older watchers will remember Moorsavage (the green mare on the left): found by Stendhal in the Everfree Forest, she was brough home by him as she was hurt. Fresca and Stendhal took care of her injury and then decided to keep her with them and to try and teach her several different things, starting with speaking, as she doesn't seem to be able to do that: she basically behaves like a feral pony. Hopefully when she learns how to speak, she'll be able to tell them who she is and what she was doing in the forest. But she doesn't seem to be making any progress…
That's all! I hope you like this drawing And for those of you who enjoy reading, here's the next chapter of Moorsavage's story, the first one in about a year and a half. You can find the previous episodes here: The story of Moorsavage — Episode one (check the story's description for episodes 2-5).
…as for JB's portrait, don't mind that: JB gave a copy to every house in town. Fresca had to hide a crack in the wall, so she hung it even though JB is a pretty despised pony in this household. :XD:
—-
- Let’s try again — sighed Stendhal — What is this?
He pointed at the small blackboard Fresca was holding, on which stood a shaky letter A.
The green mare opened her mouth, but only a soft whistle came out.
Stendhal sighed again.
- Okay, so you don’t know how to make this sound… but you did understand what sound this letter makes, didn’t you? Like… "a" as in, um…acronym, yes?
- Or aaaa…pple! — intervened Fresca in a merry tone of voice, placing her hoof under the blackboard so it wouldn’t fall when she opened her mouth.
- …yes, or abstract.
- Or ant. Stendhal, stop using such difficult words, you know she can’t understand them.
- The point is: you know what you are supposed to say, right? You just don’t know how. Is that right?
The filly frowned and nodded, which caused her messy mane to once again cover her eyes: she still didn’t trust Stendhal and Fresca enough to allow them to cut it a little, and she still was afraid of scissors. Stendhal put the rebel tuft back behind her ear with his hoof.
- Right, and we still need to teach you how to use magic properly, too. And… how society works. Ugh… why don’t you… why don’t you take a break? You must be tired. We can continue later! — he finished, trying to sound positive. And failing miserably.
- I don’t understand — he told Fresca once he was sure the green mare couldn’t hear him. They were now in the kitchen.
- We’ve been trying to teach her for a week: I would have expected some progress. Any kind of progress.
Fresca was eating an orange and answered when she was done chewing.
- She did make some progress: just because you can’t see it, it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Stendhal raised an eyebrow.
- Pardon me?
- Well, it's clear she can now understand most of what you say to her. She has learned what nodding or shaking her head means and can use them to communicate with us. I’m pretty sure she starts to understand our names as well. And I believe that she would speak with us just fine if she could: she’s not stupid, you know? You can see it in her eyes that she knows how to say “A”, but she just… can’t. It’s like she has no idea of how sounds are created. The voluntary and deliberate ones, at least. The ones you can control, not yelps and growls.
- Yeah, but that’s just the problem: how do you teach her how sounds are created? I could tell her “you need to make your vocal cords vibrate, open your mouth, lower your tongue and push the air out of your throat”, but how is she supposed to use her vocal cords if she has only discovered she has them a few days ago? Like, if someone came to you and told you: “Hey, you know what? All your life you have had this super cool organ in your body you never knew the existence of, and you can use it to create gold: now use it!”, how would you be able to use that organ, when you don’t even feel it? When you don’t even know exactly where it is in your body? It’s, it's just so frustrating!
- Just give her a little more time, Stendy. Twenty, twenty-five years of not speaking (Celestia knows how old she is) cannot be expected to be fixed in just a week.
- What if she never learns?!
- Well – said Fresca throwing the orange’s peel into the trash can – then she’ll learn an alternative way to communicate. Relax, Stendy! Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And she wants to learn, I can see that. Otherwise she wouldn’t even sit through your boring classes.
- Yeah, I guess you’re ri -… boring?!
She stuck her tongue out at him in reply.
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