Every once in a while, a person catches a fleeting glimmer. Not spirits, but what I call memory ghosts. From their when and where, they pass through into our here and now.

Memory burns into the cosmos. Gazing at the stars is looking at memory. The light traveling across the galaxy spanning years transfers information reaching the observer forming new memories. From a painting of an artist, bits of information travel to the eyes speaking to the viewer. The dead live on, their ghosts caught within the information. Everything passes through the fabric of the cosmos. Fingerprints in the information, memories leave their mark.

I see her still, my little girl. In the passenger seat on the way to school, or sitting at her desk, studying, she fills my life with joy as I view the world through her eyes. Many memories cling like the beaming smile of a child opening her birthday present finding all her wishes, charms in life worth remembering. Even if the world forgets my little pumpkin, I see her memory ghost.

Others say I never had a daughter. The world forgets. Her fingerprint is here, like everything else, caught within the information. Sometimes, memory changes.

From the moment a memory blossoms in the mind, the brain works connecting the patterns. Information not immediately connected to any known pattern dives into the abyss. Other details fade as more information flows linking related patterns together. Connections build a network of memories, blurring some details while reinforcing others. Memories change. Blue becomes gray, tall becomes average. And sometimes something out of the ordinary blazes like the sun floating above the other memories, an interpretation hiding other details, always there.

Does the tapestry of reality mutate altering memory?

Even if the tapestry changes, my girl is here. She is a grown woman now, a stranger, and she doesn’t remember me. The information holds all the ghosts. One only needs to look, and interpret. I’ve found my ghost, my little girl, and I keep her in my heart.

They never leave, these cosmic fingerprints.

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Related: see two recent articles about false memories on Ars Technica and “How Many of Your Memories are Fake?” on The Atlantic.

False memory is the basis behind this character, Steve Reynolds, and the ‘memory thief’ vampire in Kandy Fangs. Steve finds his little girl and the woman in Raven Memory.

This is an edited repost from 2010 with reduced word count (368) and minor word changes. The comments on the original included a brief discussion over the final line, and you’ll notice I kept it here. Thank you.</em>

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I accept the uniform, folded neat upon my arms. The soldier tells me blue is my color. Or is it gray? Another war, another battle—it is always the same—another uniform, nothing ever changes. A warrior only knows one color.

Blue or gray, I don my uniform holding me tight. I stand in line with the others, some carrying scars of battle upon their faces. Many pale, some dark, the warriors hold two traits in common, their color and the death in their eyes.

The mercenaries march, boots crushing the ground. The slinking centipede cuts through the army into the front line. Musket in left hand, sword in my right, I stand gazing over rolling green. The captain tells us to remember our color. Remember, the man beside me says, tugging at his uniform.

Darkness arrives with the thunder of boots. I hold no ill between warriors. This is our way. The one beside me wishes me luck, to find death at last. I thank him and shake my head. Another field, nothing ever changes. Perhaps my time passed me long ago. I wish him a good death and to remember our color.

Cannon fire announces the battle. Blue meets gray. Cries of war twist into howls of dread. I dance to the music of anguish, the beat of torment. I attack gray. Or is it blue? Dropping the musket, I carry my sword, cutting my way up the hill.

The soldiers are farmers and masons, not warriors. Blue and gray are their colors before the reaping. Some turn away in fear, others stand frozen clenching weapons. I clear first the ones with strength in their eyes. Weapons falling, death calling, a warrior only knows one color.

Blue or gray I forget, but their faces burn into memory. Color flees their cheeks, light departs their eyes. They shed crimson tears upon my dress. Even the mercenaries cry for me. I envy them, their freedom.

On the hilltop, I stand alone. Blue or gray matter no more. All of the fallen wear the same color—my color—flowing down the hill.

Red is my color, the only color I know.

For artwork on my latest web serial Kandy Fangs: Venom, I’ve been dabbling with Procreate on the iPad. I haven’t full explored the software, but it’s intuitive enough to start creating some reasonable artwork. At first, I had to sketch on paper and import to use as a guide, but after some practice I now sketch directly on a layer.

For the story, I created the skull for the vampire-wraith that appears in episode 3, “Purgatory Pain” (Kandy’s prologue) where Kandy must escape her purgatory and the vampire-wraith. I used pencil-like brushes of various weights to create the image.

The first step to create the skull is to sketch on a layer that will be discarded (hidden) in the final image. The initial sketch helps guide the paint strokes on the other layers. I used a stylus (pogo sketch) like a pencil to mark a rough shape of the skull.

For the second stage, I sketched over the initial sketch on new layer to build the final shape and gave him a sinister look with narrow eye-sockets and ugly teeth. Lighting is key. I sketched out where the bright spots and shadows should appear.

Next, I painted the background and dark areas to block in shape I wanted.

Finally, I painted using brushes on a new layer using sketches and block for guides, which are visible here.

I continued painting highlights, texture, and shadows on safe layers until the image at top. The purple eyes and fog is a combination of several layers using the same technique.

I completed a portrait of Kandy Knight for Kandy Fangs: Venom serial, and will appear in episode 5, “Time for Kandy” in the second week of November. For this portrait, I used Procreate on iPad. This is my third painting using the iPad, and there’s much to Procreate I haven’t tried out yet. The software is intuitive enough to paint with basic tools.

For this painting, I sketched on a layer that’s hidden in the final image. Layers help build an image, and also allow to try things out without wrecking the painting. Much can be accomplished with basic brushes, smudge tool, and the eraser/blend tool. Procreate supports output in Photoshop PSD format maintaining layers.

Kandy has a shock of white hair and her eyes have a red spark to them. Since this is a portrait, she isn’t showing off her fangs.

Here is my sketch used as a guideline which is hidden in the final image.