Gawain comic: The Darkest Hour, 4-6

[sigune]

"Like I said, you want to make him miserable, and yourself with it. That is why old Klingsor should lend a helping hand."
- Adolf Muschg, Der Rote Ritter (1993)



It's been one of those weeks... I haven't drawn nearly as much of the story as I'd hoped. Next week I should do better :-).

Do you remember my Gawain and Ragnell picture? It won me the third prize in the Arthurian Contest at deviantART :D. I'm really pleased with that - I wasn't really expecting it to do well. Almost all other entries were digital paintings and photomanips, so I thought the judges would think my black and white, inked lineart hopelessly old-fashioned. But apparently they liked it. Hee.

I must not forget to scan and post a few Arthurs that I sketched this week. The sketches are good news, because they mean I am getting to know Arthur - and he is pretty crucial in Gawain's story. Arthur scares me. He has to be really, really strong as a character, because he truly is the best-known figure in the entire story. And he's so difficult. Well, for me at least.

Anyway - let's return to the story. As always, constructive criticism is welcome!

What went before:
On a dark winter's night, a strange figure enters a stronghold. Who is he? What is he doing there? And has anyone escaped his sleeping spell?

The Darkest Hour 1-3

Comments

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

And I think an Arthur should be solid :).

I agree -- that's probably the most important thing for Arthur, regardless of what other characteristics he's given. He needs to be a king, above all other things. Even if he hates it, even if he's secretly convinced he's terrible at it -- he's got to be the anchor of the story, as it were.

Out of curiosity, what are the different Arthur voices you're dealing with? One way to look at it could be the idea of Arthur at different points in his life, since presumably his voice would change somewhat with his life experience?

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Yes, maybe I can use his age to explain some of the seeming contradictions in the Arthurs I know :-). Age can certainly account for the fact that he is a somewhat reckless, warmongering leader in some stories and a sleepy, bored king in others. I have more problems grasping what kind of man can be very fond of both Gawain and Lancelot, because these two seem so very different to me.

I think the step I must take is to wriggle free from the grasp of my source materials and fit the stories to my characters rather than to make the characters fit all stories. Most of those medieval romances seem like a kind of fanfic in which each author supported his own favourite character and manipulated the others in such a way that their hero shines by comparison :-).

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Most of those medieval romances seem like a kind of fanfic in which each author supported his own favourite character and manipulated the others in such a way that their hero shines by comparison :-).

Oh, medieval Arthurian romance? Totally full of Mary Sues. No question whatsoever about that. One need only read Yvain -- he's even got a magical lion! ;)

Malory seems to at least try to reconcile multiple versions of Arthur, although how much he succeeds is anybody's guess since Arthur really fades to the background for most of his text.

I have more problems grasping what kind of man can be very fond of both Gawain and Lancelot, because these two seem so very different to me.

They are very different, but they do have some basic traits in common, the most important of which is absolute loyalty to Arthur. I suspect that's a big part of how he's able to relate to both of them -- when you start with implicit trust, that probably helps a lot.