Shaggybreeks

Jasnah Kholin in the Palanaeum Woo! I have finally finished this. The next chapter was all about Shallan going to meet Jasnah in the Palanaeum in Kharbranth. Quite an important meeting all in all. I wanted this image to capture a family likeness with my earlier image of Gavilar. I hope I have achieved that. Certainly her clothes are in keeping with my previous images of house Kholin. But it was also important for me to capture the other sides of Jasnah as well. Her regality. Her authority. Her ability to not follow convention. (Wearing trousers rather than a dress, and with a safe hand that is still slightly visible). As always i am still mostly understanding these characters through a more Mediterranean/Arabic lens and the design here reflects that. Her hair is less straight. Though I'm sure it would be the length @brandsanderson described if she was to wet it. But I hope it's still clearly her. With a more square face, bright eyes, and with an immaculate dress and style befitting her status. In this moment I've drawn her as she might have appeared to Shallan when she was first spotted in a corner of the Palanaeum. A vast library carved into the side of a mountain. The glow behind her is a big gemstone lantern that is refreshed daily with unspent gems of a particular yellow/white light that gives a better reading experience. Compared to times I have drawn Gavilars palace before, I opted for much darker colors to reflect the more underground setting. I hope you all like it. All the best, and onwards to the next chapter! Who will be next!?

Tag the Mercenary. It's been about a month since my last image. Christmas and work were very busy so it's been lovely to finally get a Sunday afternoon to sit back and finish this piece. This is Tag, one of the mercenaries who works for Tvlakv in the @brandsanderson book #TheWayOfKings This is still early on in my "illustrate my way through the book" journey and I'm excited to finally allow myself to get onto the next chapter which I believe is when we first meet Jasnah... A potential candidate for a drawing, but also so is the King of Kharbranth. Who knows aye, we shall see who inspires me more. In this image I wanted to make him a contrast to my previous figures with their rich patterned clothes. Here Tag is wearing much plainer and more appropriate work clothes suited to working with the Chulls and dealing with the warmth of the sun. (I always imagined the shattered plains to be quite a warm place). His little stick is how they steer the Chulls. By touching the brush side of the stick to one of their antenna he gently steers them through the rocky landscape. At some point I will add Bluth to the collection as well, but as anyone who has read these books already knows, there is a better place to introduce him. I hope this character portrait brings you a little smile and helps illuminate a lesser known character in the universe.

It's come to that time of year. The next book in the @brandsanderson stormilight archive is looking like it's about a year or so away. Which means it's time to re-read the previous novels and get myself up to speed. HOWEVER This time I want to take things a bit slower and finally realize a thought that has been on my mind for over a decade. I'd love to start illustrating what I see in my mind's eye when I read these books. So I am going to take it piece by piece and illustrate people and moments in the book as they come. In this instance I give you King Gavilar Kholin. Wearing his family colours of blue with gold trim and sporting a middle aged slightly graying top bun, with a little gold circlet around his head signifying his position as king of Alethkar. I wanted him to be quite thickset and athletic. Someone who is very strong (after all he is known as a master of the shard blade). But also someone who has settled a bit into his more political role and gained a small bit of weight. This is an image I imagined just before he welcomes the Parshendi to his realm, just before he is killed by Szeth. Whenever I have seen illustrations for the #stormlightarchive they tend to be depicted in either East Asian or Western medieval styles. However for me, they have always come to me a bit more Mediterranean/North African/Islamic vibes. Hopefully people will enjoy this change of style. Anyways, I'll update with new images as and when they come.

My reading of the @brandsanderson Stormilight archive continues in preparation for the next novel. This was a really fun piece to do. Honestly I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, as before this, I've always had a harder time imagining Szeth in a defined way. It's amazing how putting ideas to paper can really condense your imagination. This is a quick cut away from chapter 2 where he is about to assassinate King Gavilar. I wanted to continue expressing this slightly more Mediterranean, Arabic, north African vibe I have been looking at. I wanted Szeth to be clearly pale skinned and almost albino. Someone who would be almost ghostly to the other darker skinned Alethi folk. (See my last image of Gavilar for reference) I realize this isn't canon, but I am enjoying myself and this style. In my mind the world of Roshar always felt a bit more hot in parts, and more desolate than most of Europe. Except Shinovar of course. Szeth is naturally a very gifted and athletic sky breaker and so I wanted him to strike quite a strong and athletic physique while still appearing slim. It was also important to me that he was intimidating but someone who is so unfocused in their mind that they appear almost as if they are just not engaged. I kept his eyes specifically unfocussed as if he is just staring at the cinema screen of his own thoughts. Anyways I am always happy to hear feedback. Let me know what you think.

So I'm on chapter 2 of the #StormlightArchive in the book #TheWayOfKings - Honour is dead. Where we get to meet Kaladin and a few other important people for the first time. One of whom is not actually announced as such in this chapter as anything more than a cheeky little wind spren. One of the characters who fascinated me in this book, and who appears again later in the series, is #Tvlakv the slave trader. It is clear as he unfolds that he is a very broken, but also unscrupulous character. Someone who has sold his soul many times over in the pursuit of self interest. His bitterness is an interesting counterpoint to his later actions in the series. For this, again continuing with the slightly old school Middle Eastern vibe, I decided to show him as he might have appeared to one of his slaves. Stood over them, bathed by the light of a small camp fire and a solitary storm light invested sphere. He is someone who has weathered a lot of hardship. Who aspires to nice things but resorts to having to repair and tidy things rather than buy new stuff. He is neither proud nor is he weak. He is just dogged and persistent and I wanted that to come over in this drawing. I've noticed over the last three drawings that I've opted for almost candid photo portrait style. It gives me the vibe of a fly on the wall travel documentary of Roshar that just happens to be following the plot of the books. It's a fun thought and maybe at some point I'll have to draw the photographer. Anyways, I hope you like my interpretation of Tvlakv. He was a fun one to do.

Yalb and Shallan It's been a long week so this picture took a bit longer to complete. As mentioned I'm slowly working my way back through the #StormlightArchive books by @brandsanderson . This is still very early in the way of kings where Shallan makes it the Karbranth to meet her new mentor Jasnah Kholin. I imagined Kharbranth as a Mediterranean port town similar in style to Croatia or east Italy. With a mix of Mediterranean plants and saturated warm colours. Of course the plants here are very different to ours so I only wanted to imply a bit of greenery rather than to try and unpack what a crem covered tree might look like. Yalb is a character I really like, he is cheeky, charming and a bit of a chancer. He seems to have a very good heart and a bit of a soft spot for Shallan. Naturally I wanted him to embody that flirty and cheeky side, whilst also getting across that he is still a really quite young gangly sailor who still has a lot of filling out to do. Shallan in this image is still a rustic country girl travelling for the first time, so I wanted her dress to be a bit more carefree than how she is often depicted. Almost classical Greek style. Long, flowy and loose. The pattern was sort of inspired by the shattered plains with small segments getting bigger as you go further. A small nod to what comes later. I know this post is getting quite long so I'll finally say that I'm loving doing patterns in these drawings, particularly in the clothes. For some reason the world of Roshar has always seemed very intricate and pattern-like simply because the story itself talks about patterns often. In the shapes the spren makes, the landscapes, and the glyphs, etc. So why not the clothes as well. Anyway, I hope you like it.

So I'm on chapter 2 of the #StormlightArchive in the book #TheWayOfKings - Honour is dead. Where we get to meet Kaladin and a few other important people for the first time. One of whom is not actually announced as such in this chapter as anything more than a cheeky little wind spren. One of the characters who fascinated me in this book, and who appears again later in the series, is #Tvlakv the slave trader. It is clear as he unfolds that he is a very broken, but also unscrupulous character. Someone who has sold his soul many times over in the pursuit of self interest. His bitterness is an interesting counterpoint to his later actions in the series. For this, again continuing with the slightly old school Middle Eastern vibe, I decided to show him as he might have appeared to one of his slaves. Stood over them, bathed by the light of a small camp fire and a solitary storm light invested sphere. He is someone who has weathered a lot of hardship. Who aspires to nice things but resorts to having to repair and tidy things rather than buy new stuff. He is neither proud nor is he weak. He is just dogged and persistent and I wanted that to come over in this drawing. I've noticed over the last three drawings that I've opted for almost candid photo portrait style. It gives me the vibe of a fly on the wall travel documentary of Roshar that just happens to be following the plot of the books. It's a fun thought and maybe at some point I'll have to draw the photographer. Anyways, I hope you like my interpretation of Tvlakv. He was a fun one to do.

My reading of the @brandsanderson Stormilight archive continues in preparation for the next novel. This was a really fun piece to do. Honestly I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, as before this, I've always had a harder time imagining Szeth in a defined way. It's amazing how putting ideas to paper can really condense your imagination. This is a quick cut away from chapter 2 where he is about to assassinate King Gavilar. I wanted to continue expressing this slightly more Mediterranean, Arabic, north African vibe I have been looking at. I wanted Szeth to be clearly pale skinned and almost albino. Someone who would be almost ghostly to the other darker skinned Alethi folk. (See my last image of Gavilar for reference) I realize this isn't canon, but I am enjoying myself and this style. In my mind the world of Roshar always felt a bit more hot in parts, and more desolate than most of Europe. Except Shinovar of course. Szeth is naturally a very gifted and athletic sky breaker and so I wanted him to strike quite a strong and athletic physique while still appearing slim. It was also important to me that he was intimidating but someone who is so unfocused in their mind that they appear almost as if they are just not engaged. I kept his eyes specifically unfocussed as if he is just staring at the cinema screen of his own thoughts. Anyways I am always happy to hear feedback. Let me know what you think.

It's come to that time of year. The next book in the @brandsanderson stormilight archive is looking like it's about a year or so away. Which means it's time to re-read the previous novels and get myself up to speed. HOWEVER This time I want to take things a bit slower and finally realize a thought that has been on my mind for over a decade. I'd love to start illustrating what I see in my mind's eye when I read these books. So I am going to take it piece by piece and illustrate people and moments in the book as they come. In this instance I give you King Gavilar Kholin. Wearing his family colours of blue with gold trim and sporting a middle aged slightly graying top bun, with a little gold circlet around his head signifying his position as king of Alethkar. I wanted him to be quite thickset and athletic. Someone who is very strong (after all he is known as a master of the shard blade). But also someone who has settled a bit into his more political role and gained a small bit of weight. This is an image I imagined just before he welcomes the Parshendi to his realm, just before he is killed by Szeth. Whenever I have seen illustrations for the #stormlightarchive they tend to be depicted in either East Asian or Western medieval styles. However for me, they have always come to me a bit more Mediterranean/North African/Islamic vibes. Hopefully people will enjoy this change of style. Anyways, I'll update with new images as and when they come.