erdita had no idea that Woe was doing it, but she started to feel a little calmer and, for that, she was very relieved. Woe would find that there was a lot of calm to draw on, in Perdita's tangle. She was not naturally a young woman who was flustered, she was usually just very used to quiet and solitude. This was a new person and it was something she had not experienced before. All the new situations clamoured on her and Perdita didn't know which rules to follow.
However, as she calmed, she smiled and she listened to what Woe was saying.
"It's a shame," she said, her arm around Breen.
"He'd look beautiful against snow." He would. But maybe she could draw him that way, she thought, and then, she looked towards where Woe was suggesting they might go to sketch Breen, and she nodded.
"Natural light is good," she explained. Then, as she stood to go outside, she added.
"Thank you. For being kind." When he called her Miss Westcott, though, Perdita smiled.
"Perdita. Please, call me Perdita." Miss Westcott sounded like someone who knew what they were talking about or doing or was, in any way, up to this. Still, she considered, she
could do this. She was. And even if it all went very badly wrong, she was able to say that she had already learned so much.
Once they made their way outside, Perdita settled down and opened up her notebook. She started to sketch, first of all coming up with a very basic outline - Woe might notice that she literally drew two circles - one small, one larger - and the large one she separated by a slightly curved horizontal line at roughly one third of the way down the circle, and then intersected that in the middle.
"If I may," she said, quietly. Her voice was softer and calmer - and it was not
just the Empathy which had done that. It was also the fact that she had a pencil in her hand. She looked at the two small circles on the left hand side of the page, then transferred them to the right side, but much bigger.
"I'll make sketches to-trial," she said, and looked up at Woe as she did.
"Then bring finished pieces in two trials?" She kept sketching. Perdita had a system, which became obvious should he pay attention. On the left hand side of the page, she tried out what she was going to do on a small scale, then, once she was happy with it, she did it larger scale on the right side of the page. Each step she did separately, copying over what she had already done. But then, it allowed her to see where she went wrong, if she did, and she could take it back.
Her
journal
was quickly filled. She glanced at Woe, and Perdita would be the first to admit that she was checking that he didn't hate it. The step by step, careful process was something she needed to do, still. Maybe one trial she would be able to see something and draw it, but she was a long way from that. After the first page, a
second one
where she experimented a little with chalk. The white would bring out the black of the beautiful creature, and she wanted to do that, but, although she did not speak again it was quickly obvious that Perdita did not like something in that second page. She didn't stop doing it, though, until it was done.
When she had enough of the sketches that she thought she could do it all justice, Perdita rummaged again in her satchel and brought out her coloured pencils. This time, she chose and mixed and simply
covered
the page in colours she saw. The blue of Breen's eyes was important, but there were shades and tones, hues and light and dark to consider. When she was finally done, she looked up to Woe.
"If you're happy," she said, sliding the book over for him to see.
"I'll put together some pieces." If he threw her out and said no, that was fine, too. But she didn't say that, because she figured he already knew that.
"But no commitment," she added. Then, in case he thought she meant from her,
"from you." She smiled in what was - she hoped - a professional manner. She suspected she looked about twelve.
"It's good practice, either way."
And then, she waited for his judgement on what he'd seen so far.
