The Matchbox Kingdom
This entire piece was drawn freehand with a ballpoint pen (no pencil pre-sketch underneath). I started with the fairy sleeping on the matchbox and just... let the story unfold as I drew.
Each detail, the mice soldiers, the shaman, the priest with her servants, the lizard with its tiny belt and gears, the bird with its rider... they all appeared naturally as I went. It's like the world built itself around her. There's something magical about working that way; you're discovering the story at the same time your hand is creating it.
But... four hours!
That's how long I was stuck at the train station of Montpelier Saint-Roch (France) yesterday because of a massive fire near the railway in Sète city. I was coming back from the workshops and signing sessions at Monistrol sur Loire (It was nice!).
So, nothing to do but sit and sketch, especially because I wanted to economize my phone battery in case the duration expanded further. That's when this piece came to life, and it felt to me like a good reminder that all I need to live my passion is a cheap sketchbook, a ballpoint pen, and time.
Three travelers in the same situation as me yesterday also stuck at the train station came to chat a bit about what I was drawing, and they started to follow my work. I told them I'll post the result. Now you know why I scanned this one and wrote this blog post!
If you want to know more about the details of this improvisation, here is my reading of the final picture: the fairy came with her cherry dinner and curled up to sleep under a cozy blanket in a matchbox, her clothes scattered on the floor beside the box. But while she slept, an entire mouse kingdom and army discovered her. There's a shaman observing this unusual creature carefully, is it a bad omen? I liked the contrast between weird design for the mouse expression and the more classic 'sleeping beauty' design for the fairy. Many mice are uncertain how to react to this strange intruder in their territory, a female priest mouse (near the shaman) with her servants who seems to recognize something prophetic about this arrival (they hold tiny frame with the silhouette of a fairy on it) looks like alerting all of them to not wake up her. One soldier has a lizard familiar wearing a belt and carrying stuff, and another rides atop a small bird...
Well, there is even more, but I let you discover it. Every character has a reaction, a role, a story. That's part of the fun of making this type of artwork!
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46 comments
davidrevoy
Stuck 4 hours at the train station yesterday, so I drew this entire world freehand with just a ballpoint pen. No pre-sketch, no plan, the story just appeared.
132 ★Full story on my blog: https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1134/the-matchbox-kingdom
b_rain@troet.cafe
Lovely! Such a good way to spend the time! 🙂
ArneBab@rollenspiel.social
that’s just beautiful!
Thank you!
hwll@sunny.garden
that's so cool!! And also one of the great things about ballpoint. It can have a dry almost scratchy quality to thin strokes that is almost like a pencil
★davidrevoy
@hwll Exactly, for a long time, I was impressed by them about the "I can't erase" part of the ink. But if I abstract it and just think I'm holding a pencil, then it works.
★Mindiell@mamot.fr
FR version below;
omg omg omg ! You did it again !
Last time, you drew Pepper paddling in the wrong direction on her bark.
And now you try to convince us that such 6-sided dice exist ?
EN version over;
omg omg omg ! Tu as recommencé !
La dernière fois, tu as dessiné Pepper qui ramait à l'envers sur sa barque.
Et maintenant tu essaies de nous faire croire que de tels dés à six faces existent ?
davidrevoy
@Mindiell Haha, I was sure the dice had something wrong, when I drew it; I thought that the relation between how the number are appearing are probably standard, but I didn't wanted to search on my phone for a ref (to economize the phone battery, the delay of train was going +20min every 10 min, and I really felt like I would need all battery to find hotel, call relatives, etc... later).
2 ★So, I went for a 6 (2026) a 3 (March) and 1... because easier? 😆
elzen@fadrienn.irlnc.org
@Mindiell The standard thing is that the sum of opposite faces on a d6 is always 7, so six opposites one, three opposites four, and five opposites two. ★
davidrevoy
@elzen @Mindiell 🤯 Oh, that's a so cool fundamental to know about how dices works. Thank you for sharing!
★mjd@mathstodon.xyz
I love the piece, but that die on the right side of the page is really bothering me. On dice, ⚀ and ⚅ are always on opposite sides, with only the very rarest exceptions.
I hope the fairy is OK. I would not want to wake up in that situation.
🖼️ 6748a17c9880874a.jpg 🖼️ aa5f2e7ade0a232c.jpgdavidrevoy
@mjd Thank you! Oh yes, when I drew that dice, I had a hesitation: I was sure some simple rules were at play. Good to know about the 1 and 6 opposed: they never can appear on the same picture.
3 ★I could check that on my phone, but I was really in a situation where I preferred to keep the battery in case I had to book another train, hotel for the night, call relatives, get info, etc...
wordshaper@weatherishappening.network
@mjd The standard with cubic dice, FWIW, is that opposite sides always add up to 7. So 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and 3 and 4 are opposed.
davidrevoy
@wordshaper @mjd Thank you! Yes, I just read it in another comment and my head just went 🤯 That's a very cool fundamental to understand. Next time, I'll be able to draw dice from imagination more accurately thanks to this!
3 ★breizh@pleroma.breizh.pm
@mjd Thanks, now I can’t unsee it.
★Moss_the_TeXie@rheinneckar.social
★Chin –> desk.
Wonderful!
BuschnicK@mastodon.gamedev.place
beautiful
★csaetre@techhub.social
★Cool!
DonChacale@mastodon.social
★human brlliance like this offsets the orange pedo somewhat. thank you.
keydelk@vivaldi.net
incredible work!
aurochs@todon.eu
Really awesome! The lizard's head looks kind of crocodily, is it wearing a mask 🙂
davidrevoy
@aurochs Thank you! Oh yes, all design came from visual memory, no reference, and also from a lot of randomness due to the process of 'direct drawing' ; once a line is on the paper, it's final. Maybe the head of the lizard was an attempt at drawing a head of mouse, and because it was looking weird, or too small, I shaped it later like another creature. A classic with this process. 😆
2 ★aurochs@todon.eu
I could model for you (look at my profile picture :-P)
davidrevoy
@aurochs 😍
★cutesobri@cathode.church
omg thats so cool
Faintdreams@dice.camp
It's the teeny tiny details that make your art so distinct and lovely to get lost in.
*Every single one* of those mice has a different personality and the viewer can tell with a glance.
Seeing your line art makes me simultaneously want to draw more and also want to give up !
Hope that makes sense.
scvalex@mas.to
Are all those lines the same width or are you able to vary the line thickness with a ballpoint pen?
davidrevoy
@scvalex That's all lines I could do with the Bic "Round Stic M" one of the photo: depending the speed, angle and pressure of my hand. I also take advantage of 'ink blobs', that I smear with my fingers to darken the paper.
2 ★It has in final a very large variety of effect and line weight. I love this tool.
scvalex@mas.to
That's pretty cool.
★gmic@piaille.fr
Really nice ! Where's the associated speedpainting video ? 😅
★davidrevoy
@gmic Thank you! Oh I'm sure if you hack the security system of the Montpelier Saint Roch train station, find a surveillance camera near the "Paul" baker, you'll find me drawing their. 😆 The data exists!
2 ★odysseuslibre@pouet.chapril.org
Superbe !
★jtr@fosstodon.org
wow. Can I get stuck with you in the elevator next time this happens to me?
davidrevoy
@jtr 🤣 Not sure I can be relax enough inside an elevator to draw like that!
A train station, yes, full of passenger stuck and with the "next info in 15minutes" left really a special moment in space/time. It's sort of easy to navigate with an access to the toilets and cheap food. Part of the comfort of waiting there for an undefined amount of time. Also, sunny and soft weather in Montpelier yesterday, it helped at staying positive and just sketch and enjoy.
★peha
great!!! Now, write the story it's an order😜
★davidrevoy
@peha 🤣 🤣
🤔 Actually, there is really something to do here, a fantasy novel a bit in the same vein as Little Nightmare, and Alice in Wonderland around a lonely fairy.
I'll note it somewhere.
★peha
you shall better keep this note on top of your list, closed to your eyes if you don't want to feel my wrath!!!😂
★davidrevoy
@peha 🤣 lol!
rostiger@merveilles.town
Whoa, so good! Well done
★astridpoot@mastodon.social
So nice! A friend of mine (who gives me pencils) always says that the ideas are already in those pencils. All you have to do is draw it out.
2 ★davidrevoy
@astridpoot That's beautifully said! 💜
windigo@mastodon.sdf.org
I love that the Fediverse looks at a enchanting scene of a mice army, complete with bottle cap shields and lizard/bird mounts, surrounding a sleeping fairy...
...and immediately jumps to "That six-sided die in the corner seems unrealistic." :)
davidrevoy
@windigo 🤣 🤣 🤣 Exactly! I can't imagine what would happen if I drew an imaginary big keyboard with a fictional keyboard layout from memory.
lhauser@mefi.social
This is lovely, but it makes me wonder if fairies are ever able to sleep on their backs...
★davidrevoy
@lhauser :blobaww: Thank you. And good point. I now wonder what is a ideal bed for a fairy. Especially if they are two. Does this mean a couple of fairy can't spoon to go to sleep? That's sort of sad 🤔
unicorn@lgbtqia.space
Wow! This is such a vibe! Between stellar alt text and the story in the picture, I am obsessed. 🧚♂️🐁
davidrevoy
@unicorn
Thank you!
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