JCC [Image heavy]A thread for art: See note on page 776

Star Wars: Rey, Leia and Padme by daekazu



Boba Fett by MrSynnerster



CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS! TCW by Wolfdog-ArtCorner



May the 4th be with you, republic dogs. by Wolfdog-ArtCorner



The Clones - vid in description by Wolfdog-ArtCorner



May the 4th be With You by DenisM79

 

Favorite Books: The Shadow of the Torturer by Deimos-Remus

"Recently read through the first entry in Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, and hot damn, it's fantastic. Dying Earth Fantasy/Science Fiction is my jam, and not only am I positive that it was an influence on Dark Souls, it's some of the most brilliantly written genre fiction I've read in quite a while. "


Fantasy Characters: Severian by Deimos-Remus

Spoiler

So, as a side project, influenced by me wanting to read a lot more lately, I've been wanting to draw famous (or semi-famous) characters that appear in fantasy or fantasy-adjacent novels/stories, etc. The catch is that if the character has appeared in works that have been adapted into other media (games, film, etc) I'll take no influence from those depictions, but rather straight from the book's pages, as close as I can possibly get them. Obviously some artistic liberties will be taken if said characters' descriptions are more ambiguous, hard to decipher or if details aren't apparent. This project will likely take some time, as though I do not plan on reading every single book associated with the characters, finding their descriptions and designing them in my free time will be fairly intensive.
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Severian:

Severian is the main character from Gene Wolfe's genre-bending Book of the New Sun tetralogy. Donning a cloak and mask made of a material so black that it appears flat and graphic, Severian was born into the Torturer's Guild, an ancient guild that carries out torture and execution for the Autarch. The Autarch is the supreme ruler of Urth, a world in which the sun is rapidly burning out, threatening to end all life. The story uses elements of meta-fiction, as it's told in first person as Severian (who claims to have a perfect memory) recollects his life story- this story being translated by Wolfe from a language that has yet to be developed. Due to these layers of possible deception, the reader's trust in Severian as he narrates the story is consistently compromised.

Being part of the "Dying Earth" sub-genre pioneered by author Jack Vance, The Book of the New Sun brilliantly melds science fiction and fantasy, and contains some of the most inventive prose in a work of fiction I've ever read. Two books into the series and I'm already hooked.

Book of the New Sun: Baldanders and Dr. Talos by Deimos-Remus

Spoiler

So, long time no see! I've been super busy with freelancing and teaching, so I'd like to submit work here as much as I'm able. As an aside to my fantasy book characters project, I've been so enraptured by Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, going so far as to call it not only my favorite book series of all time already, but it might be my favorite piece of media of any kind- which is...whew. A lot to take in for me. I've drawn up numerous characters from the series already, just gotta find the time to finish them all, and I can confidently say I'm likely the first person to draw many of them, haha. May or may not add some simplistic background detail to these so it's not just a blank backdrop, but I'll worry about that later. Been really trying to push my sense of character design with these.

Anyway, here's Baldanders (right) and Dr. Talos (left), two of the most intriguing side-characters in the series. The dynamic of frontman and henchman is subverted brilliantly, as the characters stories are subtly revealed and roles are challenged.

Some quick background info on the characters (trying to be spoiler free):

Dr. Talos:
An eccentric and theatrical man of short stature whose face bears resemblance to a "stuffed fox". Displaying himself seemingly as the Giant's master, Dr. Talos roams Nessus with his large friend putting on plays and shows for passerby in order to learn a living. However, his quirks are many; his movements are almost robotic, does not seem to require sleep or food and there's something vaguely sinister boiling under the surface that's hard to grasp.

Baldanders:
Poised as Talos' dim and largely-muscled minion, Baldanders is a giant whose continual growth hinders him. As Severian gets to know the duo more when they happen to have chance-encounters with one another, the Giant's intelligence becomes rather frightening and his purpose on Urth is challenged by protagonist's presence.

Book of the New Sun: Agia and Agilus by Deimos-Remus

Spoiler

As with Baldanders and Talos, these two have been sketched up for quite some time now, only just now being able to finish them, but I plan to add some background detail to ground them a bit when I get the time. I've since added small descriptions for those two. These descriptions may contain spoilers, so be warned.

Agia:
A young woman Severian meets in the city of Nessus. She is the twin sister of Agilus, and the two own a small rag shop. She becomes infatuated with Severian, though her motivations are questionable. After the events of Shadow of the Torturer, Agia is on Severian's trail, attempting to take his life whenever she's given the chance.

Agilus:
Twin brother and lover of Agia. Upon Severian's arrival at the Rag Shop, Agilus tries to haggle for his prized executioner's sword, Terminus Est. Severian refuses. Later dressed in the manner of a Septentrion guard, Agilius challenges Severian to a duel at the Sanguinary Fields, a duel that is to be fought with the deadly Avern; a strange, alien flower whose leaves can be thrown like aerodynamic razor-sharp blades, containing enough foreign toxins to kill a man seconds after being pierced or cut.

Book of the New Sun: Dorcas and Triskele by Deimos-Remus

Spoiler

More finished characters from Gene Wolfe's masterwork. Spoilers may exist in the description.

Dorcas:

A young woman Severian becomes a companion of after unknowingly resurrecting her from a state of unliving from the Lake of Birds- a large body of water used to inter the dead. Docile and gentle, Dorcas' past is shrouded in utter mystery as details about who she is become revelatory.

Triskele:

A large dog-like beast on the brink of death, saved and befriended by a young Severian during his days as an apprentice. Used in brutal animal training, Triskele is missing an eye and one of his legs.

 

Shire Stream

 

WW knights/ Lancer by StTheo



Bug Poacher by StTheo



Hover Tank by StTheo



Soviet Federation by StTheo

 

Avengers Age of Ultron concept art for Scarlet's Mind Hex by Paolo Giandoso

 

Supergirl by Nil Tawata

 

Sepretai Dynasty Pattern Ghost Ark 40k/starwars by Wolfdog-ArtCorner

 

https://www.deviantart.com/88grzes/art/Mountain-Magic-the-Gathering-840868790

 

People of the Open Ocean. by Zaphkiellane

Spoiler

The Otter tenrec people are one of the most suited to aquatic living. So much so that Individuals or small groups will sometimes spend months living in the open ocean. They can sleep, hunt, and even give birth without having to come to land. In this family group a baby can be seen riding on the mother's back. They can navigate buy tracking celestial movement as well as tracking the currents of the wind and sea.

Often a simple lacquer treated log attached to a sea anchor is the only stable structure they will utilize. They have learned how to coat items with oils, resin, and enamel that keep their simple tools and equipment usable in salt water. These skills have been passed to other seafaring cultures however the Otter tenrec people often decline to adopt higher technology or build ships for themselves. Although many do now keep a compass and sextant among their inventory of items.

Surprisingly these people have an extremely wide diaspora among the different worlds that the NOR Confederation has united. They love exploring alien and unknown oceans of other words while still living their very minimalist lifestyle. The contributions that they have made from exploring the open seas have been revolutionary to the knowledge of oceanographic studies and marine biology in even very advanced worlds because of their ability to make long term low impact observations.

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I just had to make another picture of the Otter tenrec people and provide a picture of their open ocean lifestyle they sometimes adopt. Not all of them live this way of course, but they are one of only a few species that can live this way.

Tenrec village by Zaphkiellane

Spoiler

The Tenrec people of Lemuria thrived after the fall of the false gods. Already steeped in agricultural tradition they began to make great flourishing cities of mud brick and adobe plaster and tended carefully cultivated gardens that produce foods and medicine for the academies of the beaked doctors in the northern lands.


Their cities and farms spread through the river valleys and around the oasis lakes of Lemuria. Family farms that produced medicine and spices for export while still providing the subsistence farming needs of the local population were the most common model for life.

In the city center there was usually a complex with a cistern and storage silos from which trade between the surrounding communities and the big Academic guilds was orchestrated. The households could see to themselves but produced enough excesses to endure natural disasters and get fair prices for their exports.

As time went on they learned to purify and distill many of the drugs an tinctures locally. Making the process even more efficient. Secure in a world free from internal conflict the farms of the tenrec and lemur folk of Lemuria became endless cultivars of raw materials that fuel the expansion of the Confederation of worlds.


The simple happy lives of these content and idealistic villages provided the origin base for a multi-world network that would begin incorporating and protecting worlds from the old bonds that had previously suppressed them. These humble looking farms were some of the first places cultivated the movement that would become the "New Kingdom of Heaven"

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So reduced manning from the quarantine gave me time to make one of the most complex landscape pictures I've produced so far. I would love to have more time to keep churning out work like this. It makes me so happy just to explore this picture. I love getting to share part of the world in my mind with all of you.

Doctor strikes the false gods by Zaphkiellane

Spoiler

The carnyx trumpets wailing shook the sky and the soul. The Doctor raised the nehushtan before the false god and the serpent fell, it's venom had lost all sting, no longer having authority to strike the children of Adam Kadom. It was as the Archangel Raphael had instructed in the dreaming quests of the Ispatian doctor priests. The keys had been give to mankind to bind and banish with Divine authority.
youtu.be/-DIIaCUJ1yQ

Aslar, Lemuria, and Mu no longer belonged to the old ones this was now the Cyan Haven.

The Grave of Shub-Niggurath by Zaphkiellane

Spoiler

On Day 33 we came to the carcass of Shub-Niggurath, the dead god referred to by its children as "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young", how many monsters in how many worlds trace their lineage to that wreck. Killed here in the land of Mu by our forefathers at the dawn of the Ispatian Church. My guide tells me that at certain juncture of the moon and stars his tribes gather to preform Haka to mock the bones of that thing that had caused such hardships to their people. He joined me in chanting the prayer of the instructor angel.

Our Lemurian companion was not so bold insisting first that it was ill luck to look at such a thing. When he saw that we scoffed at the notion of "luck" he then tried to change the tone of his appeal, claimed that to look on it was a sin because it is written not to test the Lord. To which we tried to comfort him with numerous scriptures which tell us not to fear, and also to embolden him with praise of the courage that had borne him thus far.

I do not harshly judge my dear brother for his kind was harmed the most greatly by such monsters that had once nested in this world. Some things are so terrible as to leave trauma on a people collectively. We stayed not long for kindness to our fellow explorer. Yet I must admit it filled me with great wonder to see the bones and ruin of that once great dread old thing. Yet I did a marvel for my faith to know that our God was greater still.

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"See the work of the Smith of Worlds, Sing for joy, O righteous ones, for the God of Wonders. With Instruments of of salvation sing loyal court of heaven presiding over their dominions and the faithful on the earth and the spirits and beasts of it's domain, let them continually exalt Him in their times, the seas and every creature. Let them proclaim the Source of all and the splendor of it all. Let them rejoice before the righteous God, with shouts of joy and salvation for there is no destroyer within their borders nor do wicked spirits walk among them. For the glory of the God of knowledge has shown forth through His words, and none of the sons of injustice shall be sustained."
~From an Ispatian Psalm known to our world only from the Dead Sea Scrolls~

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Quite a divergent from most of my work. I originally intended for this Cyan Haven description to focus much more intently on the land of Mu where so many false gods now lay dead. However according to the poll I posted people don't seem all that interested in this part of the world or it's history. I may still shift the focus back in this direction base on the reception this picture gets. I look forward to getting your feedback.

 

Longshot by ChaseConley



The White Queen by ChaseConley



Sabertooth by ChaseConley

 

Final Fantasy X Yakuza Parody by houseofimagistudio

 

Quarantine 2, by Erikas Perl:

 

Not Clint Eastwood...but Ivan Rassimov



And Gossamer!