31 October 2012

Elven King's Halls - Mirkwood : The Hobbit

Long story short, here is a graphite page from my sketchbook featuring my visualization of J.R.R. Tolkien's well-described Gates to the Elven King's Halls in Mirkwood.

Second 'Stage', Value, 'Gates to the Elven King's Halls', Graphite, Sketchbook, 2012.
Process:

Facing Page Thumbnail and Notes, Sketchbook, 2012.
First Draft, Line Work, Graphite, Sketchbook, 2012.
More to come! Please return.
Cheers,
Mairin-Taj

07 October 2012

'Wheel of Time' Character Portraits - Sketchbook 2012

Lan & Nynaeve, 2012

I only recently picked up the 'Wheel of Time' series, having known about it for some time, but with an endless list of reading, not chosen it until now.

Amongst other projects, bits of research, and certain themes, I read, and by the fourth book could no further ignore the itch to sketch down the characters.

So, here follows a bit of indulgent doodling from my head; no reference, just grabbing faces out of the white void via the means of a graphite pencil. In no way do I wish to impose my imaginings on fans of the series, but this is what I see when I read Jordan.

And of course, I'm still reading them. I'm on...'Lord of Chaos', now!

Rand & His Three Women, Sketchbook Page, 2012

*Note on the approach: I drew them nude because frankly I was not concerned with costume aesthetic at the time. They are also really just portraits. The focus is structure, features, the physical posture, at most. I love the human body, and I wanted to show when the shape and stance of the shoulders or torso was imperative to character. Example: Perrin's well-developed smith's shoulders, chest and arms.Working these things out was a part of the character portraits, for me.

Moiraine Sedai, 2012
Lan, 2012
Nynaeve, 2012
Egwene, 2012
Mat, 2012
Perrin, 2012
Faile, 2012
Elayne, 2012
Min, 2012
Aviendha, 2012
Rand, 2012
Loial, 2012
Thom, 2012

That is it for now, though as I am continuing on with the reading, I may want to put down other certain characters as well.

Up next, the Renaissance Faire experience with photography and doodles. More besides...