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As I mentioned in my research, childhood not only can be good, but can also be lonely and difficult. This section is exactly about that.

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Explore a hand-picked collection of Pins about Matilda on Pinterest.

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So, while I was doing my hand research, I started thinking of ways to understand shape better.

Realistic hands need to look 3d. What else is 3d? Animation ✨

That's basically my thoughts process.

But back the theme.

This animation I also wanted to make bright and kinda dreamy(?)

I wanna make it bright using the same reasoning as for the initial idea hands drawing.

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Tried a bit of everything I suppose. Using different material's to convey the meaning, atmosphere and theme is an interesting way to do art, which gives you a lot of freedom to be as creative as possible.

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Collage from Pinterest board and analysis 

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Collage from Pinterest board and analysis 

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• What can I see in the pictures? How will I use it?

Childhood is mostly shown bright and colorful, which you can see by simply googling the word. All photos or drawings contain a lot of different colors and emotions, showing how it's the most not-so-troubling period in a person's life.

You're learning new things, getting to experience the world and be happy, which I think is a good thing to use for my project. I'll mainly be using bright colors and try to create a simple, innocent and warm atmosphere.

Yet, childhood can also be hard.

"Learning new things and experiencing the world" can leave an unpleasant impact in different circumstances. Some people have to go through all that in a hard way, feel lonely, unsupported and misunderstood.

And I don't want to leave that part out of my project as well.

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Those were the closest I found, but it kinda didn't help, I had to take matters in my own hands. 🤝

I could do it literally and just take a picture of my own hands in the same position, BUT no pain, no gain, so no.

Soo let's see how to draw hands without a reference..

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Speaking about hands, at an early age your main source of knowledge is your parents, they guide you through all the basics, which I already mentioned previously.

I tried to imagine the support your parents give you in a physical way and came up were hands.

I find it a very inspiring thing to be honest, the whole idea of someone helping you throughout the time when you're basically at your weakest point in life is close to nearly every person, yet it can also be seen in different ways by different people.

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"Learning new things and experiencing the world" - I used this sentence in my previous post and I want to stick to it for now.

What do you think of when you read it? When you think about about kids, what are the first things that come to your mind?

I think the answer to both questions would be:

• Knowledge

• Books

• Stories

Those are some of the words you would associate with children, learning and experiencing, and that's what I'm gonna use in my work.

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Here you can see Matilda reading and looking at the pictures in books.

Children are curious by nature, that's why I think it's only logical to use the theme of knowledge in my project.

Just like childhood, books can be different. From happy and sad ones, to fantasy and instructive.(That's when I remembered my favorite book, which contains all of above, but it happened a bit later and I'll explain it soon) It's an integral part of learning.

Leaning though in an age can be complicated, which is why you usually have your parents with you to help. This thought led me to think about how to show a guardian support in an art piece.

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I liked doing this one. I don't really know what's it called since English isn't my first language, but it's something from the monoprint category.

It was a nice experience. Tracing a picture while being careful not to touch the paper for the ink to not show in wrong places was a tricky thing, but it does improve your hands stability and ability to understand depth of the image. It was my first time doing it so It's not perfect.

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Used a lot of different materials, from crayons and ink, to cutouts from magazines, based on the words we wrote down. ↓

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Hands were always an artist's pain, so I'm not an exception. That's why I went to look for reference, which which didn't work out, and I made a whole new section about it.

Look at "Hands research" section →

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At first I decided to look for ✨inspiration✨ so some of the pics from my Pinterest board really helped.

When I think about this novel I always imagine sheets of paper/books everywhere (basically stories) and space, and I'm not the only one, as you can see from official art and fanart, so I thought I might as well add that to my piece.

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Reference from Pinterest board + Analysis 

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Reference from Pinterest board + Analysis 

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I don't really get what in this image actually inspires me, but he looks so lonely and only books can keep him company, that's exactly what happened at the end of the story. :[

That's why I wanted to avoid it. My work is about someone helping you and being there for you, which lead me to analyzing the picture to understand what exactly am I looking for. That's what I came up with:

• Cold tones. People usually associate it with solitude, cold wether or something just generally not so pleasant.

• Clothes being a bit messy(?), don't know the right word. Usually, people try to look neat when someone else's around, so it just adds to the atmosphere of desolation in the image I suppose?

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The whole novel is about knowledge, and it's shown in the falling paper. I'll be adding that to my work as well.

Just as I mentioned previously, this picture follows the same pattern when talking about color. Cold tones, white skin, everything hints at the fact that it's a sad story.

His expression is also pretty sad, despite being in the shadow you can see him crying.

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Speaking of expressions. This art, on the other hand, deliberately hides the character's faces. It has it's own meaning.

In the novel, the main character's face is hidden to others. It's hard to explain, so I won't go into details, but it's connected to knowledge.

Everything there is perceived as stories, therefore even the image of his face is a story, but his story isn't from this world, so others simply don't see it.

Back to childhood. Sometimes parents could be really demanding, and some people, who study a bit too hard, start to lose themselves. So their "stories" could get a bit blurry in the "falling" knowledge.

That's why in my picture I decided to leave the boy without a face.

There's also a slight contrast to the light source from the top, which is kinda blue kinda white, and from the bottom, a warm, yellow one. I wanted that in my work as well, and will be using blue and pink to try and do the same thing.

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I took this photo a while ago when I was working on my artwork and the color theme inspired me greatly.

Warm tones blend into cold ones. Just like in my previous reference post, there's a light contrast, and I'll use it in my background.

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At first I thought about him swaying, to show that childish vibe, but coming back to the initial idea, I changed my mind and drew a hand instead.

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Changing the pose a bit and adjusting anatomy, I also added the hand, using the reference below that I found on Pinterest ↓

Why I decided to draw a hand instead? I decided to basically combine my two ideas so added a hand.

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I don't normally do any line art, I don't really need it, so I just colored the sketch.

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Then defined folds on clothes.

Due to the mentioned messy clothes when I talked about inspiration, I wanted to make the whole outfit neat. The boy's outfit is initially pretty formal, but different people drew it differently, so I just settled for a bit of a retro style.

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Like I said, I don't think the character has a certain design so 🤷🏻

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Not much to say about it. It was a bit hard, I'm still figuring it out but I guess it looks alright.

I also had a bit of a problem with placing tamd curving(?) the text in the right way over the paper so decided to look for reference.

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Helped me understand how paper and text folds a bit

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Closer to what I needed because I could move the shape

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I think it took about 8 hours to finish, but I like it.

As I explained before, the hand represents a guardian, that helps to get through life, and in my situation, just like in the novel, is represented as stories, which I also added as papers falling everywhere.

I decided to use a bright color scheme because when I was researching and looking for inspiration, I found that lonely art I wrote quite a paragraph about, and the artist used cold tones to show the atmosphere.

I can see that I do have a problem with contrast a bit, but otherwise the work turned out as I expected. I think I showed what I wanted in it and it does match the Matilda/children theme of the project.

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I worked with watercolor about 3-5 times or something in my whole life, so I can't blame myself for drawing what I drew. I'm not used to it, or to holding an actual pencil at this point, and I think that's something I'll try to fix during the course.

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Discuss what research have you done so far in this project, what other types of research do you think would be beneficial.

As far as I know, there are primary and secondary research.

First one means finding some information yourself, that is, going somewhere or talking to someone, but in the case of art, it means going to an exhibition or museum, or talking to artists, designers, and creative people in general.

The second means looking for existing information somewhere in some sources of information, for example, books and online.

In this project I did secondary research mainly, taking only one photo for inspiration and some from the official comics, but I think that it would also be possible to go around taking photos of playgrounds and visit some exhibitions that often come to Hull.

I suppose that the process of searching for information on a topic can broaden your view of the process and ideas, developing creativity and problem solving as they come. The more information you find, the better off you will be in the future when you need to do work on the same topic. Also, searching for information teaches you to analyze it and, based on what you find, come up with something of your own, which ultimately leads to a better understanding of how art itself is structured and the meaning of it.

How effective has your research been in developing your thoughts and ideas?

I think my research was satisfactory for my topic and covered all the aspects I needed, such as design, concept and visuals. I relied heavily on my research and I think it became an integral part of my work, without which it would not have turned out as it is.

One thing I like is the color palette that was used in my work because it is based on both the idea and the research.

In my opinion my first attempt, although unsuccessful, also fits the info for I found.

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Based on the information the brief provides, I need to make drawings that will be shown as a back drop for the musical production Matilda. Considering the fact that the work will be shown on a large screen, I need to make a good quality imagine. I think using Ibis paint x app will be the best solution for this, since my work on other materials still needs to be improved.

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• Do some research and come up with ideas

• Make sketches of several ideas and choose the best one

• Continue working on the main picture, taking breaks to vary the experience and make traditional drawings

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• Problem

Having trouble drawing hands which were an important part of the project

• Solving plan

Try reference

• What did I do

Tried referencing hands, but eventually came up with my own way of drawing hands and used it

• Results

Drew a lot of hands successfully

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• Create a moodboard ✓

• Write about moodboard

• Analyze the pictures ✓

• Start building the idea using analysis ✓

• Finish with the idea, explain it in more detail ✓

• Start working ✓

• Explore materials, try new things ✓

• Talk about it

• Draw more versions of main piece

• Evaluation

• Problem solving

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For this drawing I used a graystyle method, which means you need to shade objects in a way you'd see them with a black and white filter, then add color.

Some people say it saves time, some say it's useless. I decided to try nonetheless, and enjoyed it actually. Interesting thing to try once in a while and saves some time I suppose if you it the right way.

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First color added, a bit boring, so kept editing.

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Added a few different colors using filters like "Overlay", "Multiply" and "Add" in ibispaint x app.

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This was supposed to be my main piece. I just started it, but I found it less meaningful and a bit boring compared to my second idea.

The color palette is kinda nice and anatomy isn't bad, but I just don't like it.

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• First I drew the palm, because if you don't have a palm then you can't draw fingers 🤷🏻. It's really a weird "cube" that's a bit rounded where the wrist starts.

• Then for better understanding the shape, I added a bit of arm.

• The two middle fingers are a little closer to each other, little finger is smaller than the others and index finger is index finger so I got this marking as a base.

• Nearly finally, I drew the index finger. It's usually thiner when you get to the top.

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And this is what my method turned out as. It's fully baised on different reference from Pinterest that I tried to mentally analyze and not actually copy.

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Then I repeated it 11 times 😃

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It's a VERY rough sketch because it's animation. I can't be spending a few hours on a single frame, but this actually is good enough to progress to next step.

I sketched out a rough idea of what I wanted to do, but because I deliberately didn't want to use a reference (I was using my own method instead) it turned out a bit ugly at first 🤷🏻

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• What was the initial requirements required of you from the brief? Do you feel

like you have successfully achieved these requirements?

The initial requirements were to draw pictures that will be shown as a back drop for the musical production Matilda.

I feel like I've done enough as it's my first project.

• Do you feel that you generated enough research for your project?

I think my research covered my needs.

• How effective was your research in influencing the creative processes that

you explored? Can you reflect on specific imagery that you found inspiring?

My main ideas were fully baised on my research and creativity. I don't think I would manage without the whole research process, which proves it's importance.

¥

• How effective was your ability to reflect on your ideas helping you to progress

on to further developments? Is reflecting on your work perhaps something you

need to practice more often?

I think my reflection is great, I have an understanding of what I'm doing with specific artwork and If I don't then I know what to do to get it. I think I'm creative, although I don't deny I still need to learn to use that creativity in a right way.

• Did you explore enough materials, methods and processes to generate initial

ideas?

I don't think so. I'm having a hard time to do something I'm not used to doing, and exploring materials is exactly that. In the future I'll try to improve that aspect of my work.

• Did you find it easy or difficult to generate ideas? Why?

I don't find it difficult to generate ideas, what is actually difficult is connecting them with the theme. Usually I go too deep in something and I'm not sure if my explanations make sense because most of the things I find relevant others don't.

• How well did you explore visual language? Comment on whether you feel you explored enough examples of different line, shape, tone, colour etc. Could you have pushed yourself further in terms of your experimentation?

I think I could do more but I'm still getting used to the way things work in this college as it's my first year here, so I didn't do as much as I could, but I will try to explore more in the future.

• What sort of problems did you come across and how did you resolve them?

Some creative process problems but nothing really serious. It was easy to resolve them.

• How have you managed your time/organisational skills?

My time and organization skills could be better. I'm getting used to the amount of work I need to do and how I need to do it, so right now my time management isn't great. Although I'm sure as soon as I figure out the pattern of work it'll be fine.

• Have you worked ethically or given consideration of working ethically? How?

Yes, I did consider it. I didn't steal anyone's ideas. I don't clame any of the works I used as inspiration or reference are mine or did anything that could trigger anyone... Or so I hope.

I did try not to use more materials than necessary and did some work digitally.

• What have been the main successes in your project?

Digital work and annotation.

• Which areas of your project could have been better? Why? How?

Exploring materials, maybe coming up with ideas.

Like I already said, I don't really understand how many ideas exactly I need or how many exploring materials, so I feel like I didn't do enough or didn't do it right.

Plus I'm planning to be a digital artist so I was mainly trying to learn how to draw on my tablet before this project, therefore I'm not as good in drawing on paper whatever material it is.

• Did you have to change or adapt anything as you were working?

I had to change and adapt everything. In my previous college I did things differently, so I had to completely change my way of doing a project.

• What has the project taught you? Have you learnt anything new?

I mostly used skills I already had, improving them as I practiced more.

How did you present your project work? Was the method you used professional, organised and easy to follow?

I think yes. My project has sections for different things and a usually explain how to find the rest of info if it's not in one post.

• Would you do anything differently?

I'd probably do more exploration and better time management. Other than those two things, I'm satisfied with my work.

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Cleared the sketch, adjusted the shape and size.

Drawing hands is hard no matter what you're using, I was struggling, so they do look stiff. It's something I'll need to work on in the future.

The experience itself was a good one. Though I had to redraw each hand at least two times because it didn't look fitting, which I did not enjoy.

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An example of what I mean when I say I was struggling 😃

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I colored the line. It was probably the easiest part. I also shaded it a bit, adding a light from above and slight shadow underneath.

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Here I added another strong source of light to get the dreamy blurry effect I mentioned.

I also added this light pink color on the hands cause this type of light usually "shines through" the skin making it red/pink. I don't really know how to explain so I'll show an example ↓

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Added one more effect achieving the dreamy look I wanted.

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• Problem

At first I couldn't figure out how my main piece would look like and only had an idea which couldn't be put into paper

• Solving plan

Try different versions and look for inspiration or do more research

• What did I do

Did what I mentioned above

• Results

Successfully drew it and I'm happy with it

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• Problem

Had a trouble with placing the text on the pages when doing my main piece

• Solving plan

Look for reference online, make reference myself

• What did I do

Did both, tried understanding how it works myself

• Results

Half successful, ended up looking fine but could be better

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It's a 1 second animation. I'm disappointed to some extent really, but I just don't have any time to make it longer or better quality.

The experience overall was useful and I think I achieved the dreamy vibe. (Plus it covered my anatomy mistakes 😃)

As far as I know, people usually remember their childhood in a blurry or idealized way, so I also wanted to try and show it in my work.

About anatomy mistakes, I think it's important to know how to balance out your skills and make the result look better even if you don't know something, which in my opinion is exactly what I did.

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Despite doing all the work, experimenting with materials and different types of art, I choose 4 of my favorite pieces.

According to eco-friendly practices in illusion, digital work is the best. The only thing it uses is electricity which can be produced by solar panels and stuff like that.

And if I'm being honest I'm just into digital work more myself, so those ended up still being by best drawings.

Looking at them, I think they all convey what I wanted to do, but my best work would probably be this one ↓

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• Problem

Drew a sketch (main piece) but realized I don't like it

• Solving plan

Redraw it

• What did I do

Decided to look for more inspiration first then redraw it

• Results

Redrew it and liked it

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• Problem

• Solving plan

• What did I do

• Results

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• How have you worked sustainably? What other ways could you have taken an eco-friendlier approach?

My work does includes sketches made on paper, but I think that's also a part of art that can't be taken away. Yes, such a thing as eco-friendly use of materials is also important and should be taken into account by illustrators in their work.

Using materials in my project I tried not to be wasteful, making the drawings a little smaller and using the same sheet of paper on both sides to fit more drawings with minimal waste. In addition, I made a lot of drawings and an animation digitally.

• What is plagiarism? What is self-plagiarism?

Plagiarism is when you use someone else's work or ideas for your own purposes or pass them off as your own, without mentioning the author. And self plagiarism is when you use your own work but for other purposes, not mentioning it. (at least that's how I understand it).

Some works that illustrators do can be used in other projects or purposes, and can even no longer belong to the author, so that's exactly what I think self plagiarism is.

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• How can you avoid plagiarism as an illustrator?

There is a very simple way to avoid plagiarism. You should always refer to the author/resource from which you took these works or ideas, even if they are public.

• What do you understand about Al? How can you use it responsibly in llustration?

I am familiar with the AI and have used it myself in some cases.

For example, it can be useful when you need to understand a term or discuss something.

As a non-native English speaker, I find AI very handy, as it can often explain to me what I don't understand in my language, also saying it in English.

Also, AI can be used to create pictures. I find it great when it's used in when generating reference or ideas. Sometimes you need to find something specific for your own work, and it simply doesn't exist or hard to find, and AI can help with it. Regardless, in this project I did not use pictures made by AI, as there was no need.

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Looking at another college I made from my Pinterest board pictures, I started to think about different ways to show a family. Spending time together, learning, hugs, etc.

But in my opinion, all that is equally important. However, how do you combine it?

That's when an I came up with an idea of, well.. hands ✨

All that you do with hands. They always symbolize closure and family in our society, so I decided to use exactly that idea.

The process you can see in my initial idea section →

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This work is the result of my research and has the deepest meaning to it, so I like it the best.

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• Discuss what research have you done so far in this project, what other types

of research do you think would be beneficial.

I mostly did secondary research, using only materials that I found on the Internet. In my opinion, primary research would be good to do, but it takes more time and effort. In my topic, I think that it would be possible to visit playgrounds, clubs for kids, and my sister also studies in elementary school and she could also be asked a couple of questions. Unfortunately, I was unable to do this in my project, but in the future I will try to introduce a similar method into my work.

• How has your research impacted your creativity and ideas and how have you used it, give some specific examples?

My whole main piece is explained based on the research I did, starting from the color scheme and ending with small details. My idea was based on another idea with hands, which can be seen in the initial idea section, and then I explained everything with reference and annotation.

• How effective has your research been in developing your thoughts and ideas?

I think in terms of what I did in current project my research was enough, yet if we take into consideration the fact that I'm planning to do more experimentation in the future, I think I'll need a bit more.

Looking/reading through my reference pictures and annotation, I would often get a new idea or come up with an explanation for something, which brings me to conclusion that it's effective even after analyzing it.

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Sooo, when I tried drawing just hands(showed it in "initial idea" section), I found it pretty boring. I decided to try again, but this time add a bit more depth.

"Omniscient reader's viewpoint"

It's a long story about a boy, who escaped reality by reading books. His parents weren't there to support him, so everything he knew he learned from pages.

He had a favorite novel, which helped him get through hardships he experienced in life, then it somehow came to reality when he grew up 🤷🏻

It has a very complicated plot with different timelines, but in one timeline there was a "god" who decided to take care of him, who in that timeline became a little kid.

That quick description made me immediately think of his little version sitting on the "god's" hand, as if guiding him through space of knowledge, which is pretty much the same thing I mentioned in my first idea when talking about parents, but more abstract.

Continue in main piece section →