Monthly Ink Challenge - Season IV

[yazeh]

4 hours ago, InesF said:

+2 exam points for the extra effort!

 

That's outstanding! Thank you so much, @yazeh, for spending your valuable time for participating in The Challenge! 

I gain valuable time, doing art. It ground me, especially in these turbulent times

[yazeh]

I'm sorry if I'm hogging this thread, it must be reviewing orange inks, that stimulate creativity  and many apologies to @LizEF to running off with her wonderful on the wild side.

It is murmured in the Dragon Scroll,  "The day will come when from a thale of Muirdoor, a thnek unlike any will rite, innocent and withe, thmall, yet throng. It will find the fire within, when all is lotht....

Birth of a Dragon

KWZ Orange

J Herbin Bleu Calanque

Kala Moonlight Tide, Kala Onyx (diluted brushwork)

[LizEF]

47 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I'm sorry if I'm hogging this thread, it must be reviewing orange inks, that stimulate creativity  and many apologies to @LizEF to running off with her wonderful on the wild side.

It is murmured in the Dragon Scroll,  "The day will come when from a thale of Muirdoor, a thnek unlike any will rite, innocent and withe, thmall, yet throng. It will find the fire within, when all is lotht....

Birth of a Dragon

🐍  You're giving me Ideas, @yazeh!  Love that snek-dragon, or is it a dragon-snek?  Whatever it is, I love it!

 

@Mercian, here be dragons!

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

🐍  You're giving me Ideas, @yazeh!  Love that snek-dragon, or is it a dragon-snek?  Whatever it is, I love it.

Thank you. Glad I'm giving you ideas ,,🙏

 

It was inspired by your librarian, which suggested ancient dusty scrolls, prophecies and "undecipherable/ unknown  ancient Snek which Essri speaks fluently 😊 Add to that @Mercian 's dragons, Muirdoor myth of creation my mind is like a cat with a laser beam and catnip 

[LizEF]

42 minutes ago, yazeh said:

my mind is like a cat with a laser beam and catnip

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

@Mercian, here be dragons!

 

Everyone loves a dragon!

[InesF]

16 hours ago, yazeh said:

I'm sorry if I'm hogging this thread, it must be reviewing orange inks, that stimulate creativity  and many apologies to @LizEF to running off with her wonderful on the wild side.

The pleasure is all mine! Nothing to apologise! 

 

16 hours ago, yazeh said:

It is murmured in the Dragon Scroll,  "The day will come when from a thale of Muirdoor, a thnek unlike any will rite, innocent and withe, thmall, yet throng. It will find the fire within, when all is lotht....

Uuuhh, you set the bar high! 👍

This is +1 more. You are close to ending this Challenge with excellent grading!   

 

I think I need a day off work for my contribution ... 🤫  

[yazeh]

@InesF Looking forward to your contribution. Don't forget perfection is for God(s).  

[InesF]

On 3/14/2025 at 4:22 PM, yazeh said:

@InesF Looking forward to your contribution.

As you wish, I'm at your service. You are welcome!

[InesF]

Monthly Ink Challenge – Result March

 

Ides of March are among us and the ancient inspiration for The March Ink Challenge has already brought astonishing and exciting results. Thank you for participating!

 

Life is full of surprises, in the good and in the not so good. I was undecided for two weeks now, painfully pondering and walking in circles, no light at the horizon. And then, all of a sudden, I stumbled over a rock, a big flat stone I didn’t buy attention through the last years. But now, in my mental desperation, I looked closer – and was shocked and surprised. It had marks on it, engravings done from an ancestor long dead. Carefully cleaning the surface, a row of letters appeared, with astonishing precision carved into the hard stone.

 

I opened my (other) pen and started to note, using Writers Blood. Ho well fitting, I thought: 

 

 

 

See here the transcript in modern letters:

Spoiler

Lo, in the annals of our forebears, the Ides of March bore an omen most dire, a day when the very threads of dominion might be rent asunder by the spilling of noble blood. It came to pass on this fated morn that mine own cherished companion did meet his end, his essence ebbing forth amidst a crimson tide.

Murmurings of arcane rites long forgotten do resound through corridors of polished stone, where effigies of the divine stand mute in their vigil – even fair Venus herself doth not bestow her pity. The very air hangs heavy with expectation, dread, and an ineffable yearning for that which lies just beyond mortal grasp.

In this moment, suspended betwixt what hath been and what may yet come to pass, the spirit of man doth quake beneath the burden of passions as enduring as the very bedrock of the earth.

 

 

See here the translation into a more modern language (supported by perplexity.ai):

 

Spoiler

The Ides of March held a foreboding significance, a day when the very fabric of power could be torn apart by bloodshed. It was on this fateful day that my dear friend met his demise, his life slipping away amidst a sea of crimson. Whispers of forgotten rituals echo through marble halls, where marble Gods stand as silent sentinels – even Venus does not show sympathy. The air is thick with anticipation, fear, and an inexplicable longing for something just beyond reach. In this moment, suspended between what was and what could be, the human spirit trembles with the weight of emotions as enduring as the stones themselves.

 

 

My handwriting doesn’t come close to the beauty of the original. Please excuse my imperfection. Nevertheless, I consider March Challenge completed.   

 

So far for now, stay healthy and inspired, see you in April!

 

Please feel welcome to post your creative pieces, if you have not already. Drawings, paintings, text, ornaments, everything is welcome!

[LizEF]

Beautiful, and most appropriate for the Ides of March!  Anyone who doesn't understand the original language has been cheated by their education system!  Perplexity.ai did a pretty good job, though. Thanks, Ines!

[yazeh]

@InesF great matching of ink colour and text. As I was cheated by my education system @LizEF, I had to figure out the relationship with J.C. aka Julius Caesar and good old Bill Shakespeare. I'm not sure outside Roman/ English speaking word, if this expression has any meaning. Plus, for me March is the harbinger of spring and promise of flowers  

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

@InesF great matching of ink colour and text. As I was cheated by my education system @LizEF, I had to figure out the relationship with J.C. aka Julius Caesar and good old Bill Shakespeare. I'm not sure outside Roman/ English speaking word, if this expression has any meaning. Plus, for me March is the harbinger of spring and promise of flowers  

Well, I was referring more to the richness of the original language than to the reference to Julius Caesar.  I have to wonder if kids these days learn this sort of language, let alone fluently.

[Mercian]

12 hours ago, InesF said:

...even fair Venus herself doth not bestow her pity...

 

I hope that all y'all were taught that ol' Julie's family claimed descent from this deity, thus making her citation in this inscription very appropriate indeed.
 

 

12 hours ago, InesF said:

The very air hangs heavy with expectation, dread, and an ineffable yearning for that which lies just beyond mortal grasp.

 

As an (ageing) inhabitant of Old England, I am forced to respond to ↑ that part with the following question: when does it not?

[InesF]

17 hours ago, LizEF said:

Beautiful, and most appropriate for the Ides of March!  Anyone who doesn't understand the original language has been cheated by their education system!  Perplexity.ai did a pretty good job, though. Thanks, Ines!

Thank you, @LizEF! It means a lot to me, although it is a complex story. While I like word art, I would not had been able to come close to what perplexity came up with. And, you will have recognised already, I started with a below average Denglish text by myself, let perplexity translate it into "nice poetry" "real" English and then transmute it into this "ancient" style in a second pass. I had to look up many of the uncommon words and still had to interpret the outcome for convincing myself about the text had kept the original meaning.

 

This should also answer @Mercian's question. Finally, I was satisfied with the output of the artificial un-intelligence   - and didn't ask critical questions ...  

 

Indeed, @yazeh, the connection between Ides of March and Julius ex-Imperator was among the prerequisites for The March Challenge.  And a second "indeed", as me too considered March initially with a friendly and flowery spring topic. However, Crimson in Halls of Marble won, eventually.   

 

To all responders: thank you, you are welcome! I enjoy the discussion! 👍

[yazeh]

On 3/16/2025 at 1:36 PM, LizEF said:

Well, I was referring more to the richness of the original language than to the reference to Julius Caesar.  I have to wonder if kids these days learn this sort of language, let alone fluently.

I know. I was just trying to be funny  sorry 🙏 I tried finding the source of the original text, but couldn't find anything. AI thinks it's written in Shakespearean style.  Maybe Professor Eenees found it in the pyramid, where Makhabesh and Quin first met, and gave it to our own @InesF  

As for kids learning. Honestly, I don't know. I studied in several different education systems and didn't like it any  of them.  I'm hoping kids are learning useful stuff. Maybe how to face adversity, how to reason, how to think independently, and try to do their best

 

[LizEF]

19 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I know. I was just trying to be funny  sorry 🙏

 

19 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I tried finding the source of the original text, but couldn't find anything. AI thinks it's written in Shakespearean style.

Yes.  If I understand correctly, @InesF used AI to convert her version into fancier English.  (It's hard enough communicating in a foreign language, let alone creating text in an ancient, more poetic form of said language!)

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Maybe Professor Eenees found it in the pyramid, where Makhabesh and Quin first met, and gave it to our own @InesF  

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

As for kids learning. Honestly, I don't know. I studied in several different education systems and didn't like it any  of them.  I'm hoping kids are learning useful stuff. Maybe how to face adversity, how to reason, how to think independently, and try to do their best

From everything I hear, kids are not learning useful stuff. And especially not how to think independently.  (Not in America, anyway.)  But we should quit here before I go on a rant.

[InesF]

10 hours ago, yazeh said:

Maybe Professor Eenees found it in the pyramid, where Makhabesh and Quin first met, and gave it to our own @InesF  

That was so long ago, I don't have clear memories about ...  

(eehm, about both, @LizEF's story and my discovery) 🤗

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

That was so long ago, I don't have clear memories about ...  

(eehm, about both, @LizEF's story and my discovery) 🤗

That's the danger of telling a story in only one paragraph per week - too easy to forget what's gone before.

[yazeh]

19 hours ago, LizEF said:

That's the danger of telling a story in only one paragraph per week - too easy to forget what's gone before.

Think of this as a handwritten first draft. It is a  courageous act of open creation. Plus you give us all, the opportunity and the pleasure to brainstorm, suggest ideas, mess around with your characters & Invent new ones, imagine alternate endings, do visual interpretations etc...

It's alright to forget, that's part of the process. 

 

Plus you marry ink reviews with a story, which make it compelling by bringing joy to many peoples lives, in these trying times 🙏