Fantasitc Bestiary 4 - Colour to the world

I've been practicing my watercolour. So I thought the best way to get back into it was to practice on some of my own illustrations.

One of my favourite mythological is the haggis, a three legged little furry buddy that runs around the hillsides. Merlin describes them as, "A small three-legged creature that is rather fat and round.* Its speckled spiky fur is naturally the colour of dried grass and dirt. When threatened it can change colour to camouflage itself on hillsides. The food that has come to be known as haggis is so named because of its similar size, shape and colouring to the creature. I have seen the young hagglets shimmer and sparkle as they play, learning to manage their camouflage." 

Another portrait I've done is of the wulver. They're a werewolf like creature that lives in the highlands. However, they have none of the menace. 

This wulver is named Ulchel and has the loveliest lilac tartan trousers and a big mane of curly ginger hair. In the bestiary wulvers are described as, "Wulver are the gentlest of folk. They have the face and claws of a wulf but none of the instincts that might inspire fear. However, because of their animal features human folk tend to treat them with hostility and mistrust. They are covered head to toe in fur, but often wear some form of leg covering and pinny. They have thick bristly hairs, large as twigs, protruding from their backs. These mimic the lazy detritus of a river which allows them to, should an unwanted man happen upon their quiet fishing place, slip into the water and float away unbeknownst. To my knowledge they have no other magyck."

While, in the final product the illustrations will still be in black and white, I think seeing them in living colour gives me such a feeling of excitement.

 

Also, some information that everyone needs to know - haggis is both the plural and singular and a family of haggis is called a "huggle"!

Ulchel - wulver in black and white

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Eachy
• Giants giants giants
• Cat sidhe
• Gargoyles
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!
‽

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Bestiary - Eachy Peachy

Meet the Eachy (pronounce Eeky) - the horse headed monster of Scottish mythology.

I'm easing myself back into the writing game and fighting back against my shadowy inner critic by dipping into my first love - drawing. So, the bestiary has become my refuge where I get to write and draw and fantasise about all the fantastic mythological creatures of Scotland. And I'm pretty sure understanding the eachy might be the key to figuring out one of Scotland's greatest myths. Can you tell what it is yet?

I've managed to typset a few other pages as well. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing my words and pictures side by side in a more finished state.

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Giants giants giants
• Cat sidhe
• Gargoyles
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!
‽

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Giants giants giants

I've started work on my entry for Giants in Merlin's Bestiary. Here's my first stab at the first two kinds - Stone and wood giants.

Iron giant meets stone!

Stone giants - Ailbhach - are the ancient behemoths that formed hills and mountain ranges like giant's causeway and Arthur's Seat. I actually grew up in the shadow of a mountain called Sleeping Giant (it basically looks like Te Fiti in Moana except on its back) and I always wondered what would happen if that giant woke up. Also, how did it get there? What happened to the land when if finally laid down to rest?

In the drawing the stones of this giant are the same basalt rock that form the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. My favourite detail of the drawing is are the tiny birds making nests and circling around the giant's head. They're up there keeping warm up there from the steam generated by the molten core that powers it.

Wood giants - Lusant - have been some of my favourites to draw and dream about. I've always loved walking through the woods and finding bits of nature that look like things that could begin to move around and what they would do if they could.

On a recent trip to Exeter I spent an afternoon walking around picking up chestnut casings which looked like burst face-hugger eggs. What if they weren't actually seed pods but some kind of giant trap? What would happen if one of those little pods landed on your head and sealed it self back up?

Giants sprout huge seeds on their heads that eventually fall off and grow another wood giant. They actually grow from the top down into the earth until the new wood giant is fully formed. Then it digs itself out of the soil and goes on its way.

I still have lots of drawing to do because I don't think I've got them quite right. But, I like the ideas in the drawing so far. I just need to head out into nature and get some more inspiration! :)

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Eachy
• Cat sidhe
• Gargoyles
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!
‽

Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Merlin's Bestiary 3 - Fairy cat memes business

The latest entry in Merlin's bestiary. This ain't your friendly neighbourhood bongo cat! I introduce to you the cat sidhe! (pronounced "cat sidhe")

The fairy kitty - pencil on paper

I've actually started writing a short story about Merlin and his relationship with the fey creature. So, I decided that doing a more detailed study for his bestiary was in order.

An early sketch

The cat sidhe is a Celtic creature that stalks the Scottish highlands and is believed to be either a type of fairy creature or a witch that could transform herself into a cat. Either way, it's not a creature you want to mess with. When Merlin encounters one, this cat means business.

Merlin describes the cat as, "black as pitch with the exception of the shock of white fur that burst from beneath its chin. Yet, its coat shimmered and moved, showing off its unusual stripes, the deepest, most empty blackness like the voids of the night sky. It had large blue-green eyes that shone like two moons and fixed me in a chilling stare. However, the thing that showed its true sidhe nature were its miraculous ears that twitched and flapped like bat wings... As it moved, its form billowed like so many swirls of campfire smoke, it’s midnight figure a flickering shadowy flame."

Sketch of Scottish wildcat

My cat sidhe is actually a combination of a Scottish wildcat and the Kellas cat (which is actually a hybrid of wilcat and domestic cat). However, what sets the cat sidhe apart are its over-sized fairy wing ears and large saucer shaped eyes I also thought that Celtic swirl stripes would add to its other-worldly.

I enjoyed doing the drawings in pencil as well as it allowed me to play about with shading, smudges and an eraser to achieve smoke like affects.

I'm having a great time working my way through the bestiary. I love the synergy between the writing and drawing. I always start with a quick draft of ideas then I begin to draw. Then, as I draw I come up with wee details that I then find ways to work into the writing. It's how I prefer to write and it probably takes longer than if I just sat down and bashed out a draft but it makes the experience richer and more exciting for me.

The full story of Merlin's cat sidhe will be in the bestiary when it's done but I hope you enjoy this tiny taster. You can check out some of the other pages from Merlin's bestiary about the sidhe (fairies) and wyrms and gargoyles as well. Next will be GIANTS!!!

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Eachy
• Giants giants giants
• Gargoyles
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!

‽

Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US

• Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Fantastic Bestiary - Part 2

I started this post back in March over the holiday weekend. While working on drawings for Black Star 1.8 I decided to warm up by dipping my toes back into Ash and Ana's mythical world.

What started as a warm up turned into a fun afternoon of drawing and writing and I LOVE what it turned out. The first page of the bestiary that I typeset was just to try out the fonts. So, I made some tweaks to the style and format. For example, Ash is a lefty, so his annotations are slightly skewed as, without ruled paper, he finds it difficult to keep text in line. I've gone back and updated the first page.

I think I do some of my best work when I don't give myself an 'assignment' and just draw whatever strikes my fancy. I'm a firm believer that great art is 10% inspiration 10% talent and 80% technique and discipline. Recently I've burned myself out on the discipline and haven't left enough room for inspiration and enjoyment!

Looking through my sketch book and notes I've actually written and drawn over a dozen entries for the bestiary (There are trows decorating the margins of just about every notebook I own). But, I never got around to setting them because, at the time, they weren't my focus. Seeing how well the gargoyles page turned out, my instinct is to construct a regimen of typsetting the entries and set an end date for delivery. But, the rest of me thinks... just do it when the mood strikes. There's no magic formula for success and pressuring myself to do it is only going to send me back into a spiral of frustration. There will be time for dilligence later.

If you're curious, here are some of the other fun creatures that you'll encounter in Merlin's bestiary.

Check out more from the Bestiary here!

• Eachy
• Giants giants giants
• Cat sidhe
• Chimaera
• Kelpie
• Dragons, sidhe (fairies), and trows

Hope you enjoy!
‽

Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook