Chapter 2: Page 49
Seems the campfire served its purpose well! With the distraction in full play, Canid blood already spilt, and the Ermehn so close to Deltrada, it seems that there’s very little chance of anyone turning back now.
Boston Comic Con draws ever closer, now a mere 3 weeks away! In preparation of the event, which will mark the very first time Beyond the Western Deep‘s hardcover volume I will be on sale, Rachel and I have been preparing the various supplies and table amenities that will be necessary for a good-looking setup! This week, I wanted to share the awesome mega-banner that will advertise our presence from afar.
Anyone who’s ever walked around an Artist Alley at a major convention knows that it can be pretty hard to find your way around, and even harder to make out each table through the thick crowd. Because of this, it’s important to elevate your presence somewhat — literally! This meant producing a tall banner that was capable of grabbing eyes from a distance. We’ll also be using this artwork for cool bookmarks that we’ll be selling in addition to the book and a couple of different art prints (details to come in the next couple weeks)!
This week, we’ve got some wonderful guest art from longtime Western Deep contributor and commenter, Veigue! Actually, he submitted this fun piece back around his country’s Father’s Day, and as was befitting the holiday, Veigue rendered two of his BWD-influenced characters, Ajule and Topapa, in a sweet little homage to Dad Day!
As Veigue wrote: “This Monday was my country’s Father’s Day, so in light of the holiday I drew my 2 characters Topapa and Ajule sitting together while gazing at the night sky. The whole background story around it is that….well during Ajule’s younger days, Topapa being his adoptive father and all and due to his lacking of a Tamian’s natural ability to climb and hop from tree to tree, whenever Topapa or Nina (his wife) have the break or opportunity to do so, they basically take Ajule and “tree ride” with him on their back so that way he doesnt feel too left out of the joys of traveling through Sunsgrove’s tree tops.”
While the world of Beyond the Western Deep is indeed a human-free zone, I always find these fun pieces of Ajule hanging out with characters from the various world races to be absolutely charming. And the piece itself is just gorgeous — I love the colors of the forest and the rendering of the night sky. Also, Topapa is such a great name! Thanks for the wonderful guest art, Veigue! We love it!
Welp, that answers the last week’s question about guards. Then again maybe it was an act of mercy, that fellow seems to have had a third arm for a leg.
Well, I guess you could say The Hills Had Eyes. At least, before the Ermehn showed up.
We don’t discuss that here.
Second rule about Death Partridge: DON’T talk about Death Partridge.
Wait, the true identity of the Death Partridge is Bevan, or etc? I came out here to have a good time and I am honestly feeling so attacked right now.
Neither do I, really, but I never know; I just pretend I do.
…it’s your fault for bringing up the partridge. :I
I almost didn’t recognize Hardin XD I thought that was the big, boisterous Sratha’din (I forget his name)
For some reason the second panel, the body seems … off. Maybe it’s the positioning of the body the legs, tail and arm just doesn’t seem to go well together.
There are two bodies there. c: I might have to make the arm even darker to make that clear.
And thus the Ermehn draws first blood….oh god, it’s all gonna go downhill from here on out.
Come to think of it, I wonder how exactly Hardin is going to try to restore Ermehn glory. If his plan is to just cross to the other side instead of focusing on assassinating…or do something to Clovis and Tosch at the garrison, I wonder whats the benefit on leaving his army behind while going “Hardin Solo/No Items/No Death/Unknown Mode” all the way to Arklow. Assuming thats his goal, then how is he going to enter the city without a big group to help invade? Maybe capturing one of the generals at Deltrada is going to turn heads at the capital and thus giving him the chance to sneak inside and perhaps kill the king?
But taking Dakkan’s statement about the Canid royalty being “SUPER USEFUL LOLZ”, wouldnt Hardin think it be better to take control of the garrison itself, as futile it may seem? I’m probably being very dumb about it, but I cant imagine retrieving conquered lands would be easier if he’s relying mostly on himself and his own Sratha-din group (which I hope they at least survive the first phase of this upcoming war).
Oh well, very awesome page and wow! does that banner look taste! I hope Rachel makes some showcasing the other characters too in the future. And thank you guys as always for sharing my drawings here, I realize that such concepts are a little cringy lol.
Well, looks like all the questions about the patrol that would be investigating that overhang are answered, and Hardin’s plan is rolling into motion. Agreed with Veigue; we have nowhere to go but down after this.
I really love Ashtor–just Ashtor in general, the scruffy old guy–and it’s nice to see some expressions out of Hardin this page that don’t involve his cold stoicness or the “sacrifice everyone” mode. Interesting to know that Eira and Ashtor are both being held back from directly participating in this conflict; Ashtor, I can see for obvious reasons, but it seems Eira is very important to Hardin’s goals aside from being the healer, and he can’t afford to risk such a high level piece. What her skills are, exactly, other than being able to read some suspicious manuscripts, is something we have to wait and see.
Also, beautiful guest art! The atmosphere and coloring are beautiful (and very at odds with the atmosphere of the current page) and I’m jealous of how lovely everything is laid out. You’re fantastic at creating settings, Veigue.
D’aaaaaw, that’s some really adorable guest art :) It’s always great to see human characters interacting with humanoid ones, that said, I really like the way you draw character faces. Other than that, you have some iron patience in drawing trees!
I really think he captured my good side.
Gold star.
Lol these comments.
Man, you guys are waaayy too kind.
A really great update, it looks as though we may have some action scenes on the way.
Nice guest piece this week as well, I must get round to doing some fan art myself.
That’s a cool banner. In particular, I like how Quinlan’s skillful hunter side is showing.
>tall banner
Nice! Is there a height limitation? Are you allowed to line it with infrared LEDs to stand out in photos? What about moving signs? (simply attach a weight & pulley system)