{"id":10167,"date":"2026-10-06T10:43:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/?p=10167"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:39:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:39:31","slug":"firstborn-gw2-10th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/2026\/10\/firstborn-gw2-10th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"“Firstborn” \/ “GW2 10th Anniversary” | October 6, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drawing<\/a>
“Firstborn” \/ “GW2 10th Anniversary” | 2022 – 2026 | Trahearne & Malyck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the bonus illustrations from The Harbinger’s Path<\/strong> print version<\/a>! Now that the books have been in the hands of people for a while, I figured enough time has passed to begin showing some of the bonus artwork drawn for them. <\/p>\n

This artwork was originally started several years ago! The version I first posted online was in 2022, and I’ll add that one later in the full post. I have a bit of an irreverent story to go along with it. <\/p>\n

But first, some thoughts! One of the most unexpected things about putting together Harbinger’s print version is how it resulted in my finishing several longstanding works-in-progress I’ve had laying around me over the years. Including this one! I first drew and shared the sketch for this way back in 2022 – during GW2’s 10th Anniversary, after all! – and I had always planned on finishing it. I think I fiddled around with it a handful of times afterward, but as of early this year (2026), it remained unfinished. <\/p>\n

Print formatting<\/h4>\n

As I was formatting Harbinger’s print book, I was inspired to see if I could put together a bonus section of some of the collected Trahearne & Malyck artwork I’d drawn over the years. I especially found myself desiring to finish some specific WIP’s – several which I thought had potential, but which remained unfinished. They remained unfinished for various reasons. Some due to time, and others, because I had grown attached to the sketch, and each time I tried furthering a few of these pieces, I thought they strayed further from what appealed to me about them in the sketch. <\/p>\n

But I always wanted to finish these pieces! And the book was the perfect opportunity to psychologically force myself to finally sit down, make those drawing decisions, and draw them. This differs from person to person, but it’s why for me personally, I seem to work well with deadlines. Whether self-imposed or external. It manifests a type of hyper-focused energy I really dig. I guess it’s one way of forcing yourself into “the zone.” <\/p>\n

Finished!<\/h4>\n

Anyway! Even though there is a certain feeling I slightly prefer in the sketch, I’m very happy I can finally call this drawing “finished.” There are parts of it I think are improved from the sketch. And the final version worked well in the print book’s layout – much more than if I had used the earlier sketch. And now, after drawing it, I think I would be better equipped to tackle future drawings incorporating what I like about both the final and the sketch. Which I don’t think I would have learned if I didn’t finish drawings like these. <\/p>\n

2022 version<\/h4>\n

Now for the earlier version below, along with the story: <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
2022\/2023 earlier version<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fun fact about this sketch – when I first posted it, I received several unsolicited critiques in 2022 or 2023 from a very passionate person, mainly about Malyck’s hand being off (which I agreed with). I remember replying to their first critique thanking them, but unfortunately didn’t get around to replying to their second, lengthier crit. Partially because I wasn’t quite sure how to respond, as the hand pose I had in mind was slightly different from their crits. I didn’t want them to feel like I was discounting the time they took sending their critique. Because I could tell they were well-intentioned, and I did appreciate the time they took in doing this, even though the piece went in a different direction from their crits. <\/p>\n

(I don’t mind receiving unsolicited critiques, but I’m speaking only for myself – it’s generally not a good idea unless you know the specific artist is open to it. Only because many artists consider this rude now, and you risk unintentionally offending the artist).<\/p>\n

I always felt slightly bad I didn’t get around to replying, as I do my best to try and respond to everyone who contacts me. I don’t know if this person is still around the fandom or follows my art, but if you do, I hope you might derive a little satisfaction that the piece has finally been finished – even if it might not be to your satisfaction, as I still see errors in this one. :p I would definitely draw several things differently if I were drawing this again now! <\/p>\n

“Finished” vs “Perfect” in personal works<\/h4>\n

As much as I would have loved luxuriating in redrawing it entirely, the forced deadline of preparing it for the print book made that impractical – as well as likely an endeavor of diminishing returns! As I’ve really come to appreciate the value in finishing more of my personal works – even if they are not “perfect”<\/strong> – instead of leaving them in perpetual states of indefinite WIP of “potentially being perfect.”<\/strong> However much “potential for perfection” a piece might have, it will never be realized if it remains forever unfinished. For this specific drawing, the 2026 version at top is where I want to call it “complete” – and I will incorporate what I’d do differently in future drawings! <\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned in various posts in this sketchblog now, but this was my main barrier with much of my personal art in recent years (I strangely don’t experience this with paid work). Keeping this in mind is a significant reason The Harbinger’s Path<\/a> (and soon Nightmare’s Embrace<\/a>) exist at all – I wouldn’t have been able to finish a single page of either if I insisted on that “perfection” mindset. <\/p>\n

\n

October 7, 2026: Edits, decided to trim down the story from being excessively wordy. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> ”<\/p>\n

One of the bonus illustrations from The Harbinger’s Path<\/strong> print version<\/a>! Now that the books have been in the hands of people for a while, I figured enough time has passed to begin showing some of the bonus artwork drawn for them. <\/p>\n

This artwork was originally started several years ago! The version I first posted online was in 2022, and I’ll add that one later in the full post. I have a bit of an irreverent story to go along with it. <\/p>\n

But first, some thoughts! One of the most unexpected things about putting together Harbinger’s print version is how it resulted in my finishing several longstanding works-in-progress I’ve had laying around me over the years. Including this one! I first drew and shared the sketch for this way back in 2022 – during GW2’s 10th Anniversary, after all! – and I had always planned on finishing it. I think I fiddled around with it a handful of times afterward, but as of early this year (2026), it remained unfinished. <\/p>\n

More in the full post: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,340,422],"tags":[386,387,943,459,388,458],"class_list":["post-10167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-art","category-finished-art","category-guild-wars-2","tag-guild-wars-2","tag-gw2","tag-gw2-10th-anniversary","tag-malyck","tag-sylvari","tag-trahearne"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Landy","author_link":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/author\/liz\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Digital Art<\/a> Finished Art<\/a> Guild Wars 2<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"\" One of the bonus illustrations from The Harbinger's Path print version! Now that the books have been in the hands of people for a while, I figured enough time has passed to begin showing some of the bonus artwork drawn for them.  This artwork was originally started several years ago! The version I first…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10167"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10228,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10167\/revisions\/10228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/landylachs.com\/sketchblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}