The Casket

This ancient object, stolen from the barrow it was placed in long ago, plays a pivotal part in the Widow Maker Chronicles . . .

Alric Ivarsson: Definitive portrait

This image and the next four I'll be doing will function as the guideline for each of the main character's visual details. This is useful when drawing many characters and maintaining continuity in that respect. Here we see Alric, son of Ivar and Runa, brother to Fyxen.

Maps of Lynnwyrm's northern region, the Widow-Maker's stomping grounds

Basic map

Territories map as they stand during Oakstead  / Wiglaf's reign of the Hwicce Land (Northern reach of Lynnwyrm)

Weapon designs for a sci-fi role-playing game in the works with Mike Everest

On a different subject, here's a few weapon designs, the rifles used by the New-Earth Confederation a thousand years from now. The disc-blade is an Etheri thrown and close-quarter staple, the Lethe 12 Firespray still employed by some Etheri factions

The five main characters in an ensemble story: Widow-Makers

These characters are still in the initial design stage. Clothing & armour suitable to this Viking & Saxon style story for these characters and others are in the works

Alric Ivarsson of Easthaven. "Right you lot, again! And if I see so much as a nipple past your lame excuse for a skejldborg, you'll be spending the night in Fenwick's midden pit." Veteran and battle captain, Alric has seen a lot of shield-walls.

Born of nine-month bar-brawl in 'The Horn & Tits' tavern, situated in the Skjaldborg Mountains, this hardy Dwarf has earned his name Gyrd The Painless many times over

The young Aethelbrandr, later made Thegn of his small fishing town when his father, Folkvardr retired. Soon after, a civil war breaks out and this half-elf is forced into tough decisions, aided by Alric

Renowned steersman and rogue, Halfling Ragnar Hairy-Breeches, captain of the longship

Fyxen Ivarsdottir, sister to Alric wields the fire-axe Cwalu. The pair often argue but the siblings' bond runs deep

Orc designs for Widow-Makers. There's a first time for everything, and drawing Orcs well is a first for me. Going to get used to drawing ugliness :P

Rogue's gallery

Rough sketches of the companions that make up the crew of Wyrm-Chaser

Second digital painting of Husk, replete with her runic-tattoos. I think the slightly gnarly staff in this version helps promote the idea she is a sorceress. I like the notion that her spell-tattoos turn blood-red when she casts magic but otherwise remain this cooler blue/green.

Concept painting of Husk, an Orc of mixed lineage and sorceress with an emerging talent for rune-lore. I'll soon be taking her on a Norse-style journey into a vast, ancient forest in 'A Bronnhelm Tale.' Her spells are synonymous with her skin-art, while her back is marked with a mysterious tattoo of the three Norns or fate-weavers, a ward she does not remember receiving yet brings her luck. Perhaps one day she will discover her benefactor.

Late evening, under the glare of the surface sun, Husk was spared a return to the perpetual horror and strife of her homeland deep in the Iron Mountains. The Witch-Queen Valeris had unleashed the orc-tribes on Bronnhelm's territories but as night began to flood the land, Husk's brethren came to be ambushed and slaughtered by a warband of spear-men, patrolling from nearby Bronnhelm. Before she could be dragged to the corpse-fire the Druid, East-Wind, forbid any man to touch her and took the gray-skinned girl into his flock of outcasts. To him, Husk had been spared a battle-death and was thus miraculous, lucky, a child-curiosity, touched by fate-magic. 

And East-Wind found his intuition to be correct, for he later observed her scribbling runes with discarded charcoal. One winter morning he caught her daubing complex bind-runes on his long-house with the blood of slaughtered live-stock. Over time, his kind heart tamed Husk's wild mind and between chores he would teach her a little more the secrets of rune-carving and the art of inking the skin with spells.

Quick drawing of the Widow-Maker, Ingvar, caught between the battle-lines, shouting insults across the field, his enemies desperately attempting to kill him with arrows. He was called to withdraw from scouting when the Orcs ran over the rise but Ingvar's history makes him hot-tempered in battle.
"COME AND DIE YOU WORTHLESS, WEASEL-FACED LICK-SPITTLES!"

Concept art for Nina Ragnarsdottier, Amy's character in Fire-Heart. Her description was also furnished by fast-talking Mike. Nina Ragnarsdottier is a bounty hunter armed to the teeth and, like the rest of the White Company, she is thrown into the events of Fire-Heart. However, the journey's end promises to be the companions' final battle.   

Finished concept art for three of the characters

 Linwe, Aethelflaed and Aethelraed

Aethelflaed Ingvarsdottir

Concept painting, this one of the aggrieved sword-maiden, Aethelflaed, sworn to avenge the death of her kin. Played by Mike Everest in the original telling of Fire-Heart, this is an attempt to interpret the likeness of this important character into image.

Revised Linwë

This concept painting is a revision of Linwe's garments for the next part, which is in the style of a Norse epic set in frigid northlands

Approaching the Portal Stone

Linwei invokes her arcane energy as she nears the center of the Stone Circle

Linwei portrait in Photoshop

Flame & Frost

Twilight: flight - Asrelyn's imp, Balizar

 

Concept design for Saetarspillir, Linwei's future sword, at this time still lost in Edinobi, the City of the Dead. The sword's name means 'peace-spiller' or 'truce-breaker.' There is much yet untold . . .

To rescue Asrelyn, Linwei is forced to meet the Witch-Hunters in battle

As I'm coming to the end of rendering the final black and white art of this fight-sequence, time spent doing colour pieces in Photoshop has taught me to leave the background sparse or even blank at this stage (as seen in the page above). It's time-saving to draw in structures and add moody lighting behind the action during the colouring phase.

Recently finished one of the more complicated pages but the result is close to what I had in mind. Linwei, Seedan and Levenus get transported by a Standing Stone . . . onto a bridge inside a cavern, before a tall tower.

 

Detail from the third main panel

Private Commission: Tommi Five-Chins, halfling, master chef and walking kitchen arnoury

Private Commission: Pencil and Graphite stick on Bristol Board (24.6 cm x 36.4 cm)

2-page colour sample: A Stranger to the Rescue

Colour samples of the graphic novel, pages 6 - 7. Levenus springs from hiding, shouting at the guardian beast to grab its attention, so he can line up his shot with its face. The monk, Seedan, having regained his feet is momentarily wary of this newcomer but the dead beast has landed on Lunwei . . .

. . . so he rushes to roll the beast off of Linwei, with the stranger's help. While the three recover and make their introductions, a strange creature glides down into a nearby tree and begins spying on them.

Pages 5 - 9

 

Pages 13 and 14

 

Soaked to the bone, Linwei and Seedan return to their base-camp with their new ally, Levenus.

Linwei & Levenus get to know each other a little better and spy 'Smoke Faerie Henge'

Serapa and Lord Arkenspire spot the Imp

Lord Arkenspire and his mercenaries