The eye of the tiger

Ladies, try not to faint. Here comes Daryn in full-colour:

This hunky sea-side lothario swims into Sem and Gemmy's life in book two, Spirit Shear, and causes all kinds of commotion. Mostly, he divides Gemmy and Sem on whether or not he can be trusted.

I think even Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston would agree this guy's sun-bleached locks and golden eyes would give even Brad Pitt and Edward Cullen a run for their money. He's what you'd get if Josh Holloway, Chris Hemsworth and Gabriel Aubrey had a baby with a sabertooth-tiger. Fact!

Is he good our bad? I don't know. But, I think if you look into his eyes you'll be able to decide for yourself.

Hope you enjoy!
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Dino might

So, how does one get around on the island of Rheza? Well, get yourself one of these:

Maza - the dinosaur bird

Better than a Ford raptor, the mazatotl (or maza for short) are the transport of choice for the Rhe'zans.

The word mazatotl literally means 'stag bird', but the maza are more like a utahraptor vs an emu vs a bald eagle than an actual stag. They're very aggressive birds and are hard to tame. The Rhe'zans believe that it's only through mutual respect that one is allowed to ride a maza. As all birds of prey are regarded highly in Rhe'zan society so the maza is the pinnacle of that respect. It's a fierce hunter, a fast and true steed and pretty deadly.

The resemblance is uncanny

Maza mowhawk

I've been sketching the maza a lot. I wanted it to look fierce but also plausible. I went through phases where it looked a bit like a peacock and a griffin Some of my initial drawings were a bit too fluffy with downy tail feathers and 70s Storm from Xmen mowhawks.

Ultimately what helped settle it was the description in the book that says the maza looks just as much lizard as it does bird. So, I stopped looking at pictures of eagles and buzzards and started looking at my favourite creatures: DINOSAURS.

some early sketches

Despite what Jurassic Park tells you, the velociraptor was actually a puny little pack-hunting punk that was indeed vicious but nowhere near as big as what you see on the screen. The steed-sized bipedal dinosaur that actually did exist was the Utahraptor. I drew (hehe get it) a lot of inspiration from this feathered predator but kept the facial features of a more modern bird of prey. I also kept the equally deadly emu feet. I thought about using ostrich feet but they are too gross. Seriously, they look like when pigeons get those clubbed feet from stepping in tangled thread or gum.

So, after ditching the peacock like feathers and head and tail plumes the maza came together as a pretty deadly and kick-ass addition the world of Arbea. Next animal to come out of my creature shop will be the gorek which also appears when Gemmy and Sem arrive on Rheza.


Hope you enjoy!
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Final drawings

Well folks, here it is: The first completed drawing for Spirit Shear

The guys away on summer holiday

Come explore Garz Isle

Sem gets a makeover

It's not just the first drawing I've completed but the first illustration in the book! This time Gemmy and Sem are on adventure away from home. To get there they'll have to travel the length of the country. And, while Gemmy practices using his powers electromagnetically levitating a penny Sem sleeps with her face pressed against the window.

The other two are scenes from the book. They're all in varying states of completion. But, much like the writing, I'm drafting them and getting them to a fit state then moving on to the next. I'll then go back and edit and improve to bring them more to life if I can.

It's going to be a long trip and an even longer summer for me doing drawings and editing the book. Let's hope I don't look as exhausted as Sem by the end of it!

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
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Outlined in ink

Being a comic book kid I love the look of a nice crisp pen ink drawing and I've finally found the drawing pen for me!

Every artist has a favourite brand of pen/pencil that just 'gets them'.

I'm a Staedtler HB pencil man. Always have been. Always will be. But recently, as I've been doing more refined ink drawings with the light box, I've not quite found drawing ink pen or marker that has the kind of control and creates the type of line I like.

Enter the Mitusbishi Pencil Co Uni pin marker.

Sem ready for a fight

Sem's hair a tangle
of tresses!

It comes in 0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.2mm, 0.3mm, 0.4mm, 0.5mm and 0.8mm and draws like heaven. It goes on smoothly but has grip (unlike a regular marker). It dries quickly and crisply and you can even erase pencil under it without incurring the wrathful smudging! According to the site it's water and fade proof but I have yet to test the validity of that.

As far as I'm concerned these are the pens for me and I've already gone ahead and bought a stock of them! After some experimenting I've found .2mm works well for drawing and using .05 and .1 for detail. The .05 has been particularly handy when drawing the details and fine lines in hair to really give it the depth and body I want. But, I love all the widths. 

Mercy and Gemmy saying "see ya' later"

I've begun using it to do figure studies for the final illustrations. I can't wait to break out the light box and really get stuck in to making some of the final illustrations. For this book I've planned 12 and, unlike Book 1, they'll be action shots of the characters in scenes from the book, not just portraits. 



Enjoy!
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Don't be hard. Be Izi

One of the fun parts of writing is creating characters that draw a strong parallel to the real world.

I wrote a character, Jenni, into the story ages ago and it wasn't until the edit that I realised I'd practically described my mate Katie. The spooky part is I only met Katie after I'd drafted the chapters! Maybe I'm psychic. Or maybe I was just in need of a crazy cool chica in my life. No one will ever know.

Either way, as I was redrafting I realised the name 'Jenni' didn't fit. She needed an equally cool name to match her personality. I also think that if the character had been named something like Jenni she would have changed it. So, I asked Katie, as Izi's proxy in the real world, to give her a new name and the name Izi was born. :)

  

In the book Izi is described as:
"The only one who Gemmy found at all interesting was Izi, a girl from Arbon. She had streaks of purple through her jet black hair which she also wore in a ponytail. But hers was slicked back (instead of frizzy) with just a curl at the end. It all accentuated her spiky purple glasses that matched her hair perfectly.

But what really caught Gemmy’s attention was the large floral faeli tattoo she had on her left shoulder. She was the only teenager he’d ever met with one. The other girls already followed Izi's lead and even Sem seemed in awe of her. Gemmy didn’t quite understand why but he felt drawn to her as well." 

I love creating new tattoo designs and I previously posted about Izi when I was drawing the details of her faeli tattoo. Characters like Izi are so much fun to work with because they help add colour and depth to the world you're creating, kind of like Katie.

Hope you enjoyed your first look at Izi.

Enjoy!
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Death bird

The first round of edits on Draft 1 are done... and so begins the drawing storm.

Round 1: Mhetli

Sem and Gemmy got their Rhe'zan cloaks and now it's Mhetli's turn.

I wanted Mhetli to look like a giant bird of prey. On Rheza birds are revered as hunters and the island even boasts several species of carnivorous raptors. So, it seemed fitting that our verdant vindicator would be decked out bird style.

In the book his cloak is described as: "dark green and had maza feathers on the shoulders and bottom for ‘swift and silent travel’. It made him look like a very deadly bird, Gemmy thought."

Deadly indeed with his two large Rhe'zan swords.

A colleague asked how I come up with the designs for costumes. Well, there's lots and lots of sketching. I mostly doodle on scrap paper when an idea comes to me. For things like this I like the details to be meaningful so spend a lot of time 'inside' a drawing before properly drawing it out.

Thought process:
With the cloak I knew that I wanted it to be split at the back so it could look like wings. Functionally, since it's a warriors cloak, it also couldn't be too long in the front so that helped dictate the shape.

Next, I wanted to get the back right. Similar to Sem's cloak I wanted it to be representative of an animal and have a face. When sketching it though it looked a bit too much like a bug so I need to add some elements to the tails to make it look more like wings. I tried stripes which worked best, however, I went with the zig-zags to represent feathers as it was more in keeping with the Aztec motifs of the others' cloaks.

Finally, it looked a bit bare on the back so I added the triangular symbol which is actually a Rhe'zan glyph for strength and unity. It is the symbol of one of the Rhe'zan gods Ce’ahuli. It is given to all guards, warriors, and protectors on Rheza. Incidentally, it is related to the glyph of the Emersus Project. 

So, that's how Mhetli got his Book 2 gear.

What do you think?

Enjoy!
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Spirit Shear coming soon

The blog title says it all.

Sketch of the cover

Edits on the book are coming along nicely but I definitely need to step up my game with the illustrations! As in, none of them are done yet! And I still haven't plotted out what they'll be! With 30 chapters so far I think I'll need at least 15 plates PLUS a new map! And these illustrations are going to be more scenic than the last time so I've got my work cut out for me.

I love the draft of the cover though. It's got me buzzing. It's very James Bond-y. It started out just as a sketch on the side of my draft copy. It gives a nod to the cloak that Gemmy gets when he's on Rheza. The knockout figure is the rune for mysticism (which literally translates to Spirit Shear... hence the title of the book).

Cover Book 1

I think the figure matches well with the cover from the first book. It shows a kind of evolution of Gemmy. The figure on the cover of Book 1 (right)  is very uncertain and is caught off guard by the lighting strike over head. He's off to the side, the lighting bolt literally chasing him away from centre stage. However, Book 2's figure is centred, poised, powerful and ready for battle. He literally has the power of electricity in his hands. He's still holding back, waiting on the defensive instead of striking out. Not totally a man of action yet, he's slowly coming into his own as a warrior?

Having a visual for the cover has given me a boost and I've had some great feedback about the first book that's really ignited my imagination again. I'm hoping to take some of that and put it into the second book (and then... a second edition Black Star with a whole new cover?).

My next post will likely becoming from my new workshop! Moving house and there will be an office/workspace where I can create. Whoop whoop!

Enjoy!
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Buy 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook