A.K.A. "I take a break from drawing Sharon being miserable to show what Melee was up to."

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When Melee and Sharon parted ways in their youth, their lives went down very different paths in the years that followed. Sharon would be faced with serious hardships that had her lose everything and saw her spending her nights typically shivering on the cold forest floor. Melee's evenings during this time, however, were often spent under... far more comfortable circumstances. Indeed, if he wasn't sleeping in a warm tent near a campfire, then it'd be in a bed at a church or inn, enjoying the additional luxuries that come with spending the night in such structures.

Looks like tonight he's getting some late-night studying in before hitting the hay! While the mentor he travels with during this time teaches Melee plenty of things, the young dragon still had to learn plenty on his own... and that's where books come in! Literacy is rare in Melee's world and practically unheard of amongst the beast-folk, but Melee's a very special exception whose upbringing as a scribe and copyist allows him to make good use of those old tomes all on his own with no assistance... assuming it's written in a language he can understand. Finding books in his native tongue proves to be tough in this foreign kingdom, but not wholly impossible.

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When I decided to make drawings showing Sharon's time alone, I thought it'd be a neat idea to also illustrate what Melee's been up to during this particular time. I've talked before about what became of Melee after him and his friend parted ways, offering his services to an adventurer who was rather well-liked in the region and becoming a "squire" of sorts to him. He'd travel with this adventurer for years before reuniting with Sharon, now far more knowledgable and better-equipped for the world, but... how exactly did he get there? How far has he really come from his mopey "servant" days? Why not draw up some pics of that and show it off?

Wasn't sure if drawing a picture of Melee reading would've been all that interesting to show off, and... yeah, I'm still not sure if it is, but I tried my best with it. The inclusion of that visible light source (the candle) meant I also had a chance to toy with lighting effects and apply a warm glow to nearby object. I do think I could've made the background darker to illustrate that it's late at night and that candle's the only real illumination around, but I was afraid it would've blended too much with Melee's skin, ruining the drawing and prompting a total restart, and I was too far into the drawing to warrant taking such a risk. But you can at least tell it's supposed to be dark, right?

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Comments and feedback welcome, as always!

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Melee is property of  silvermelee, A.K.A. myself.

Part of my "Day Job Doodle" series (formerly "Trash Drawings"), in which I take advantage of the quieter moments of my job to make drawings utilizing whatever I can find on-site (those being ball point pens, cardboard scraps, and the occasional Sharpie marker/pen).



BONUS
Rejected First Attempt
When I started this drawing, it actually had a lot less going on with it and was a far less interesting picture for it. I didn't realize just how bland it really was until I started coloring it, however - the overabundance of wood grain, coupled with far too many brown objects interacting with each other, and a lack of atmospheric lighting quickly told me that this particular attempt just isn't all that pleasing to look at.

I saw it through to completion, since I had made too much progress to trash it by that point, and I almost got myself to upload it as a finished piece, but... I just couldn't share this version in good faith believing it could've been so much better. Thus, I decided to redraw the picture from scratch, telling myself I was going to be more careful about my color choices and try to make the background more interesting to look at, and... well, you can see the results of that above. Still, I decided to upload the first attempt to my Twitter after posting the second attempt for the sake of comparison.

Artists, if you're particularly unhappy with how a pic came out and strongly believe you can do it better next time, know that there's no shame in going back to redo it.