An early doodle - pen (2015) |
The Lady of the Lake in most Arthurian legends has a murky (pun intended) history. There are multiple stories that credit her as temptress or a heroine, a human or one of the fey folk. What is her true allegiance in King Arthur Returns? Well, you'll just have to see for yourself! But, she is definitely more fey than human.
Why does that look like that? What's it's purpose?
Not the Lady of the Lake |
Some new doodles of the Lady - pen on paper (2016) |
However, drawing forces me to think about the choices I make about the various bits and bobs that a character wears (I'm a very visual person and need to 'see' things to consider them). When we, real people that don't just live in my head, get dressed in the morning we put on things that are of use to us in our day to day lives. Yes, this is fantasy, but it all needs to be grounded in the character's reality. Would the Lady of the Lake look awesome with a Lara Croft style gun belt on her thigh - the answer is always yes. But... why would she?
Who is the Lady?
Lady of the Lake - pencil and ink (2017) |
One big design feature is that she always looks like she's underwater, her hair floating about her. She also wears a dress made of tiny mother of pearl sequins.
There are details in some of the drawings I actually don't think the character should have. But, once I've drawn them, each incarnation makes the character fuller in my mind which ultimately adds to the authenticity of her interaction with other characters - just as our history and experience impacts ours.
From AnOther Magazine |
A more etherial lady - pencil on paper (2017) |
The Lady's history is growing in my mind and will help me fine tune her interactions in the book. It will also make a difference to how she engages in future stories.
I'm doing a series of drawings of other characters, so watch this space. This is one of my favourite moments because it's causing me to fall in love with all of my characters again. By learning more about them I can make the tapestry on the page richer and hopefully pass on that passion to the reader.
Hope you enjoy!
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