story sketch: without fail [update: 07-27-2011]

[meeks]

This is a sketch of warsailor Brelig's encounter with a deathfin sea monster, from Without Fail, a new Torn World story by ysabetwordsmith:

Brelig swiped his sickle toward the bleeding eyelid again -- and the deathfin grabbed him by that arm, lifting him high above the ship. The sudden shock of pain frayed his concentration. Brelig swung in the air, blood raining everywhere. Then he pulled himself upward to swing the axe into the deathfin's eye.

cleaned-up sketch:


rough sketch:

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Comments

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

No, you're right, they're very different characters and I think that does come through in the art even though it's subtle. The deathfin reminds me of Sir Hiss, but not of Kaa.

Here's a great nose-on view of Sir Hiss:
http://www.cornel1801.com/disney/Robin_Hood/Sir_Hiss.jpg
... and you can see the similarity in the round nose and cheeks, and the skinny neck.

Kaa is pointier, with his eyes higher:
http://vinylmationkingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/kaa.png

The really cool thing is that, while there are similarities, the deathfin is no more a copy of either than they are like each other. They're just using a similar school of art with some of the same underlying principles.

Re: Hmm...

[ariestess]

*nods* Exactly. There's no copying or identicality [is that even a word?] between any of them, including the deathfin, but there definitely are similarities, at least in my brain.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Yeah. I like poking at art to see what makes it work.

Re: Hmm...

[meeks]

I have to say, I am really enjoying this discussion. It makes me want to re-read The Illusion of Life, which was one of my favourites when I first set out to learn how to draw.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm really enjoying the discussion too. I like talking about art, especially when the artist is good with composition and details. Although I'm not good at drawing, I've read a number of art books and articles; it's fun to learn how things work.

Ellen's latest sketch on the Muse Fusion page has started a discussion about body proportion when drawing dwarves (something you nailed in this picture) because it's different from standard human proportion. I actually went out and looked up some references for how many "heads" high various figures should be.

Re: Hmm...

[meeks]

I haven't had as much time as I'd like to read art books lately ...I do some of the things they recommend out of habit now after years of practice, but the good ones will always teach me something about my own work whenever I go back to them.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Sooth. Both art books and writing books are like that for me. There are always subtleties to add.

I particularly like art books that focus on anatomy because that can help with descriptions or with designing new species. I spent a lot of time looking at different dinosaurs, large sea animals, and mythical beasts when I went to design Torn World's food web. I wanted the sea monsters to be biologically plausible, exciting in stories, and photogenic.