Mahado and Araana for ShootingStar03

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope you're all enjoying the start of 2016, and that it brings only the best to each and every one of you!   I'm sorry that I haven't been around as much.  I mentioned some of those reasons in my latest journal entry, which I'll need to update soon too.  But in short, it's just been rather hectic in real life, as I STILL try to contend with getting used to my new job and schedule, and trying to find time to create more art at the same time!  I'm getting there little by little, but I find that I've gotten rather behind around here on top of everything else.  I really do apologize, as I don't want ANY of you to ever think that I don't appreciate the favorites, comments and and as always the amazing support! I WILL catch up soon! So please be on the look out for that! Thank you for understanding and for all that you do for me!

Anyhow, with the start of the new year, I wanted to post my first official painting of 2016, namely this image, which is part of an art trade with the amazing   I posted the sketch of this work a few weeks ago as seen here,.  In short, this piece was one the two of us discussed QUITE some time ago!  In fact, it was over 2 years ago initially!   I was in awe of 's amazing works, especially in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh, , and I contacted her in late 2013 about possibly doing an art trade; specifically with her depicting my Teana and Yami aka Pharaoh Atem, from the Yu-Gi-Oh series, while I would try my hand at rendering her original character Araana, along the canon character Priest Mahado, also from that series.

Viewing her art for reference, and from what herself had told me, Araana and Mahado were apparently a priest and priestess in Pharaoh Atem's court, during the ancient Egyptian era, but even so, they were able to fall deeply in love with one another!   and described them as a mature and rather intimate couple! She wanted me to portray this closeness and affection, while also having them dressed a bit more casually; rather than having them sport their usual priestly robes.  Instead, they are simply enjoying their time together, sitting by a pool in the royal courtyard perhaps. 

I had an enjoyable time working on this piece, from trying to research an accurate looking background to paint, to even looking at real Ancient Egyptian robes for reference.  I also contacted several times as I progressed, to ask her input on the development of this piece.  I hope she likes it!  
As for me, I must say that I do worry about the request that I made of .    As mentioned before, I did want to see a depiction of my Teana and Yami/Atem, but I asked if would depict a scene from my writings, particularly one that illustrates Yami/Atem's struggle with darkness.  I won't say too much for anyone who may have interest in reading the story itself, Transcending Memories: A Bond Unsealed- Chapter 1
Author’s Note (April 2010):  Wow...  It’s hard to believe that I started this fan-fiction almost 6 years ago.  So much time has passed, and yet at the same time it feels as if it were only yesterday since I created this work.  Even though I put it away for a while, as I focused on other things in my life, my love for this story never faltered.  And I’m quite sure that it will always be special to me, no matter what... 
     In recent months, I found myself rediscovering the intensity of the love that I felt for the Yu-Gi-Oh anime and manga series, and as a result I was compelled to revisit this fan-fiction, rework it, and maybe even attempt to complete it this time around!  It’ll be a daunting task, especially given the extent of what I would like to rewrite before I continue onward, and because despite everything that I had written previously, I had barely even begun but I guess what I attempted to do was a prequel to the events of the Yu-Gi-Oh canon series, though admittedly it didn't begin in such a way....  I wondered if there was more than what occured to the events of the acient past (the first time around, at least) particularly in regards to some of Yami's more vindictive temperament seen in the beginning of the manga and Season 0 especially.  Some could argue that it was simply the way the creator envisioned the character at the time, and certainly that is a very sound deduction! But I couldn't help but think that there was at least a possibility that there was more to it than that, which is something I wanted to try to explore myself.  But anyways....

Getting back to the painting itself, as always, it was done by hand, using opague water color paints. I hope that you like it too everyone! I thank you for looking and I am grateful for all of your support and encouragement!  It means a lot to me!   Once more, Happy New Year to you all, and I'll be in touch soon!

Love
Yamigirl21