Scoping for ink

[Thalia]

She wasn’t convinced, but neither was she invested enough to press the issue; it wasn’t any of her business, so she only nodded. Aria was polite, but distant in the way strangers usually were; Thalia accepted the aloofness as easily as she had Manix’s blatant charm, and adapted accordingly. At least Rune had relaxed, not only returning to her seat but offering to show Aria the way. It struck Thalia as curious, considering the woman’s initial standoffish reaction, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Interesting clients? She laughed at that – particularly in context of the Manix “misunderstanding.” Mostly she dealt with the nouveau riche, who had the disposable income to indulge frivolous whims but also the sorts of snobberies that precluded them from actually meeting with the artist. As such the majority of her commissions were arranged remotely - through email or occasionally phone-calls. She still sometimes did the odd portrait, particularly among the family lines still fond of the elitism found in such an expensive commodity – and in those cases she required at least one face-to-face meeting. So much could be interpreted by a person’s mannerisms that became lost in photographs, though after that it was the provided photos she worked from. Most of her clients she never even met, and that included the patron who paid the rent on her studio.

“Oh, you don’t need to wait on my account. I have enough to work with, and it’ll take me some time to draw up something properly.” Sitting outside a café was fine for doodling, but she wouldn’t do any serious work here – there were too many distractions, and she lacked the right materials anyway. Her sketchpad was cheap, the texture of its pages too thin for drawings that were not intended to be throwaway; she went through too many too quickly to waste extra cash on high quality, and she had never been precious about her work. “I just need a contact so I can get in touch when it’s done.”