Chapter 2 Intermission: Guest Art Sneak Peek
Hi everyone! A pretty short intermission post this week as we continue to update and add material for the upcoming book, but I wanted to take the opportunity to show off one of the fantastic guest art pieces that we’ll be featuring in the upcoming Beyond the Western Deep hardcover, done by none other than Jerome Jacinto!
The piece began very simply with Jerome asking me what I’d prefer to see as his guest piece. That’s a pretty momentous thought exercise — what DID I want to see him render for the book?
Looking through Jerome’s previous work, something had caught my eye continuously, and that was his ability to handle crowd scenes. Whether it was a tavern or a tea party, he could handle a large group of characters in the frame and keep things interesting without it looking cluttered. That led to my thinking of Hardin and the Sratha-din — a pretty diverse group if ever there was one.
After that decision was made, Jerome began to experiment with Hardin, Bevan, and the other Ermehn. Quinlan and Dakkan crept into the sketches too, often in humorous scenarios like the homage to the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure manga seen below. Some of these sketches I posted up on the site several months ago, actually.
A loose scene was beginning to take shape: the Sratha-din has set up camp for the night in the ruins of an Ermehn castle near the border between Aisling and the Northern Wastes, a long-lost hint at their once-great civilization. As the Sratha-din relax and try to enjoy themselves, Hardin and Ashtor watch from above, content to see their cobbled-together tribe getting along so well.
Looking at the final piece, there are some great subtleties to it that I love — it also serves as a fun glimpse at possible off-panel proceedings while the comic is otherwise focused on Quinlan, Dakkan, and Kenosh. I couldn’t be happier with how this piece turned out, and Rachel and I both are extremely excited to feature it in the book.
We’ve also received guest art for the upcoming hardcover from Mouse Guard creator David Petersen and from Sean Wang, creator of the Runners webcomic series (found in the link bar to the right) and an artist on the classic The Tick comic series — so rest assured there are still a few surprises in the book even if you’ve pored over every webcomic detail.
Next week, we’ll be returning to our regularly-scheduled program!
Absolutely beautiful…The colors, the composition, the lighting, everything about this piece is really stunning!
Gosh I really admire pieces like these where we get to see a full group of characters interacting with each other and the background…speaking of which I got say It’s heartwarming to see the Ermehn gathering together just enjoying themselves (knowing how depressing their story is getting to be),especially Hardin. I wouldnt think of seeing him smiling but it’s nice to see even steel-hearted son of a guns still show some humanity… left….uh……er…(I dont know what other term I could’ve used there lol)
Alex, I’m totally grateful for the opportunity for working on a big painting such as this. Like you said, I love doing crowd scenes. Getting the general art direction to a working balance was a fun game of trial and error :)
Here is a coupon good for infinite praise, don’t spend it all at once!
I like that wee guy right at the back among the tree roots thoroughly engrossed in eating his fish.
Jerome Jacinto doesn’t always send fan-art but when he does it’s the best fan-art in the world.
I like that Rathik’s (?) clothes are on fire, unnoticed by all but Eira.
He is–literally–flaming drunk.
Oh! I didnt notice that before, that’s really funny!
Everything about this is absolutely gorgeous.
this is almost heartbreaking, because everyone is so happy, and you know that people are about to die real quick, anyway, This is incredible.
Hey! Found this comic through Jerome’s link. Enjoyed reading what you’ve got for a story here so far. The artwork was good to start with, and you’ve certainly been improving as well! Lovely lighting in some pages.
So I guess, more or less, I’m a fan!
(You post on Saturdays too, finally a comic to read on the weekend!)
Hi James! Always great to have a new reader on board! :) Thanks so much for the kind words, and we hope you continue to enjoy the story. As for the Saturday update time — I read comics that update Mondays through Fridays, but never any on the weekend! It seemed a natural sort of slot to fill!
I post on Saturdays too, for the same reason! I also figure that so many comics update during the weekdays that it would be hard to compete with them.
You’re quite welcome too!
This is a great piece of artwork – you can practically feel the camaraderie and banter about the Ermehn. Fantastic composition and lighting.
I’m curious about the ruins they seem to be in. Reminds me a lot of the Forest Temple in OoT in LoZ. …. hmmm … Oh Saraa – I think there could be a ghostly fanfic piece written about it here … ;) I’d do it, but you know the pillar emotions of love and sadness are more my thing … or completely inappropriate crass humour by a certain ex-Southswardian noble mouse. You take the cake on suspense, horror and general ‘yikes!’ things *shudders at the memory of Cinder’s death*.
You called? Would create fanfiction if school and writing about rabies wasn’t keeping me occupied. But ‘ey, it’s a future thought; I do like ‘yikes’ things.
“Schabies” sounds rather like babies who have rabies and scabies, and heeding the general idea of the quote “better rabies than babies” I believe I wouldn’t want either of them. The rabies and the babies carrying them.
Thanks Freya. The inspiration for the place they’re residing in came from dungeon background concepts from Etrian Odyssey 4. The splash art for the final dungeon in particular (http://imgur.com/AAm55yC), served as the peg for the forgotten ruins look in the painting, that and the bleak washed out atmosphere placed against the warmth of the camp fire. As you can see in the stage 1 progress image above, the backdrop was suppose to be a sunny day like in the peg image, but I figured the bonfire gives off a better atmosphere at night.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Jerome! As much as ‘natural sunlight’ provides fantastic effects, there is something about firelight that makes any scene more magical. I love the sparks coming up from the fire. My great-grandmother used to the say they were wishes – the things you dream of most – going out into the world to make themselves true. Old superstitions, I know, but its hard for me not to think about it when I see a piece like this. So many dreams, so many aspirations, going to flutter about the stars …
Anyways, fantastic work. Really and truly. Its always interesting to see other artists impressions of the characters (don’t get me wrong – Rachel’s work is superb!), and it just adds to the dimensions of the story and tale. I had one artist do some fabulous work for a couple of my fanfics and it makes me feel extra special whenever I see them, so I can only imagine what Alex and Rachel feel like with all your work and additional fan art and fanfics coming at them from this story. But I digress. Blabbering as always – sorry.
Great work, Jerome, and to Rachel and Alex as well! Here’s to Beyond The Western Deep! Cheers!
Wow, this is sooo amazing… Such a cool setting, so many fun details, so much atmosphere… not to mention such a brilliantly beautiful composition. Jerome truly is a genius!
One question: I wouldn’t have imagined any of the Ermehn characters reading books by the firelight. Are books, and literacy for that matter, common among such a destitute, savage people?
It’s not just any Ermehn character reading the book — it’s Eira :) Her role in the Sratha-din has yet to be defined in this chapter, but this is a good indicator of where we’re planning to go with it.