Nova Dragoncrest
My inspirations:
I’m an avid daydreamer! I take inspiration from the grandest of visions, to the littlest things in life. Music, people, art, nature, poetry, fantasy, deep stories, etc. I always try to tell a story in my work, which can come from the faintest subtleties in any given subject – mood, posture, narrative, expression, atmosphere, a hidden message and so on. All of it is so impactful in its own way that I can easily get inspired to create something that could deliver that same, evocative value.
When going about making an edit, I think about how I want my end-product to look like and what mood it’s going to have. Once I have a clue, I take several pictures in the game of the desired backgrounds, characters and/or items. Lots and lots of photos… The more angles I take, the more I can play and experiemnt, should some angles not line up well when working in Photoshop. Once I’m happy I put them all into Photoshop, and og through some photo manipulations and cut-outs, I make an arrangement that I’m happy with. If need be, I’ll smoothen or draw over some parts to fix a mistake or to make it pop. Depending on the subject, I’ll draw something extra as well, like a bird, a body part or a magical element. Finally, I play with atmosphere – adding an overlay layer of warm or cold colours, fog, clouds, effects, glows, sharpening or enhancing some edges, etc. Anything to give the piece that final «wow-factor» touch.
About me
Hallo! I’m Nova Dragoncrest, known simply as Nova under my IG handle, @nova_dragoncrest! I’ve known about Star Stable Online for several years, and actually had my very first account back in 2013-ish, but I stopped playing after I couldn’t progress in the game without paying. Fast-forward to September 2019, an old friend of mine made me try out the game with one of her accounts, until finally I purchased my very own Lifetime account in June 2020. I eventually started posting SSO pictures on IG in October of that same year.
Prior to posting pictures, I’ve followed lots of SSO Instagrammers, many of whom were the inspiration behind starting an SSO IG of my own – from a beautiful range of artists, editors, photographers, even YouTubers. Seeing how so many people could take footage from the game and turn it into something unique made me realise how artistically versatile the game is outside of simply playing it. When I decided t otry my own hand at posting edited SSO pictures, I initially only meant for it to be small and simple. Simple pictures for a simple hobby. However, with time I started spending more time on the photos and adding more elements to them. I have a background in doing art for many years, so I brought some of that into my work. Soon, my «simple pictures» went from becoming loose edits, to more advanced edits, and now I’m well on my way into bringing even more artistic elements into my work.
