ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Daily Deviation
Daily Deviation
January 29, 2009
MotC:: The Pact - Page 5 by ~Droemar. This comic, which I hope to one day see fully developed, takes up the double challenge of good writing for an unlikely subject, and detailed, textured treatment in pure grayscale. Proper research endowed the dinosaurs in this story, not only with impeccable anatomy, but also with a culture and mythology that make sense for them. Read the whole thing and observe how the artist keeps her densely packed elements distinct and legible!
Featured by Majnouna
Description
I had a lot of fun with this one; as soon as I finished page 2 I was like "Man, I wanna do page 5." But the illustration reads a different way than the boxes of text do, so I dunno if I broke a fundamental rule of graphic storytelling or not. I like mah conifer, though; I just had to choose the most detailed plant I possibly could, didn't I?
The goddess Sol is on the left. She may not be immediately recognizable to the layman, but I hope the T-Rex head, sauropod neck and forepaws, and nodosaurid armor might tip off the intelligent sorts that she's a dinosaur god. Sol has a lot of duality in the eyes of her worshipers; I didn't want her to be benevolent and lovey-dovey despite the fact that she is effectively a force of good. She's a force of nature, and nature is not kind. Sol is brutal but benevolent. In the eyes of the herdbeasts, she is more kind and generous, whereas among the hunter types her attributes of ferocity and fearlessness are more extolled. But no matter which side of the Pact you're on, you acknowledge that she's busting her hump. (Sol is, incidentally, also the name of the sun god in that old SNES game E.V.O: The Search for Eden; his daughter was Gaia. I felt so original when I found that out, dammit.)
I really couldn't think of a way to visually represent Cefqet; the legends I have so far describe him as having "kaleidoscopic flesh", which made me think octopus or cuttlefish. Really, he can look like whatever he wants; he just has a hard time holding himself together. The pros and cons of being a chaos god. He comes across looking slightly cetacean here, which begs the question: Does Cefqet represent mammals or warm-blooded creatures, who are simply awaiting their day? After all, based on the last panel, we all know Sol eventually loses ...
I think too much, but doing so lends itself well to metaphor and theme! The little dudes in the bottom left hand corner of the page are Dragon Kings, legendary heroes of semi-divine origin that populate the dinosaur's non-Sol stories. They play a larger role in the novel, but not here; I couldn't resist putting them in when a concept scribble turned out kinda cool.
I think I've hit the halfway mark on the comic. I had sure better, cause now it's back to the stupid Iguanodons!
Page 4: [link]
Page 6: [link]
The goddess Sol is on the left. She may not be immediately recognizable to the layman, but I hope the T-Rex head, sauropod neck and forepaws, and nodosaurid armor might tip off the intelligent sorts that she's a dinosaur god. Sol has a lot of duality in the eyes of her worshipers; I didn't want her to be benevolent and lovey-dovey despite the fact that she is effectively a force of good. She's a force of nature, and nature is not kind. Sol is brutal but benevolent. In the eyes of the herdbeasts, she is more kind and generous, whereas among the hunter types her attributes of ferocity and fearlessness are more extolled. But no matter which side of the Pact you're on, you acknowledge that she's busting her hump. (Sol is, incidentally, also the name of the sun god in that old SNES game E.V.O: The Search for Eden; his daughter was Gaia. I felt so original when I found that out, dammit.)
I really couldn't think of a way to visually represent Cefqet; the legends I have so far describe him as having "kaleidoscopic flesh", which made me think octopus or cuttlefish. Really, he can look like whatever he wants; he just has a hard time holding himself together. The pros and cons of being a chaos god. He comes across looking slightly cetacean here, which begs the question: Does Cefqet represent mammals or warm-blooded creatures, who are simply awaiting their day? After all, based on the last panel, we all know Sol eventually loses ...
I think too much, but doing so lends itself well to metaphor and theme! The little dudes in the bottom left hand corner of the page are Dragon Kings, legendary heroes of semi-divine origin that populate the dinosaur's non-Sol stories. They play a larger role in the novel, but not here; I couldn't resist putting them in when a concept scribble turned out kinda cool.
I think I've hit the halfway mark on the comic. I had sure better, cause now it's back to the stupid Iguanodons!
Page 4: [link]
Page 6: [link]
Image size
726x1000px 349.67 KB
© 2008 - 2024 Droemar
Comments30
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Sheesh. This is like Warriors, but with Dinosaurs.