The Sleeper's Den

I have only just recently realised - I'm officially 40+ now, so it was about time - that I challenge myself constantly. I didn't really understand that before, but I push myself all the time. I'm a creature of habit and I'm not at all adventurous. But when it comes to skills, I always want to grow and get better. On the one hand, it means I put myself under pressure (which sometimes crosses over into stress, self-doubt and performance anxiety), but on the other hand, I get bored when things are too easy. It's my own modest version of "My mind rebels at stagnation" ;).

I tend to push myself for Hoggywarty. A Hoggywarty piece is always a gift for someone, and nobody wants to gift someone with a dud. It's also become, with snapecase, my Snapey Outing of the Year, so I have to make it count. I've also noticed that making fan things I feel freer somehow than when making, say, my Gawain comic. Fandom is less 'for real', if you like. It's playful because the thing you are making does not entirely belong to you. I dare to be more silly and more creative in fan art, I think. I take more risks. As a result, my Hoggywarty pieces are often things I am genuinely proud of (though I am invariably very worried that their recipient won't like them).

This year, because I was in an existential crisis, my first thought was to go easy on myself and do a pretty portrait or something. Or two portraits with a narrative link, because I didn't want to look like a slacker. But soon enough I realised that I didn't really want to go easy. I wanted to make a silly comic that would make people laugh after the awful year we've had. Of course, the trouble is that I'm notoriously slow, and comics, however simple they may look, are not easy to make. For one thing, you need a story, and then you need to figure out how to tell it, and how to render it. Fortunately, and idea presented itself in October. (Just the one! I don't seem to have head space for more than one idea at any given time?!)





( Opening The Gift )

The Next Step?

Around this time last year, I mentioned a Secret Snape Project for 2020. Well, it didn't materialise for plenty of good reasons, most of which have to do with 2020 being what it was.

Here is what I'd planned to do: I wanted to make a sort of Snape Zine, bundling my Snape comics and some extra material. I feel less annoyed by not having made the zine in 2020 now that I've made another comic to add to it.

So, the zine would contain:

• Vengeance is Bitter (2004-2007)


• Great Balls of Snow (2016)


• Flight Plan (2018)


• The Gift (2020)

I don't know how much interest there would be in such a bundle, but I'll put some feelers out. If someone has any experience with producing actual books and selling and shipping them to people, and would be inclined to offer counsel or help, the undersigned, having no business sense, would be most grateful to hear from you :).

The scariest thing about drawing definitive pages is that they're ... definitive. They have to be as good as I can get them, because they are ... it. And that is rather paralysing -_-. When I draw layouts, there are so many things I don't worry about, because "I'll sort them out later". Yeah right. "Later", I get confronted with the endless list of my limitations and as a consequence I don't get anything done because it's never good enough. *sob*

The sketches below are just as carefree as my comic layouts. That's because they were drawn with pens. No possibility to correct anything. For some reason, that's liberating and fun. So: have some all-Gawain sketches, 'unplugged' and drawn with much gusto :-).

( Sketchdump 2! )

This week (having more or less recovered from my dip) I popped into one of the two art shops in my street and bought a handful of PITT pens in a variety of colours - Caput Mortuum, Warm Grey, Indian Red and Raw Umber. At first, I was a tad nervous about the fact that these colours only exist in brush pens, meaning that I haven't got a Small-size pen for details or corrections... But then I thought, what the heck, I'll just have to learn and adapt my inking to the brush like a big girl. Below is my first all-brush inked image, done with the Raw Umber pen.



The lady in the picture, as you can tell by the caption, is Florie. She is Gawain's second wife and the daughter of the Carl of Carlisle. The text of Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle doesn't give her a name, so in a previous incarnation of the character I picked a random Welsh one for her. In the meantime I have changed her name to Florie, which is a name traditionally associated with Gawain. Strictly speaking, Florie in the Gawain romances is sometimes the mother of Wigalois or Gingalain - but Gingalain is also the son of Lady Ragnell. Since Gawain's other sons are called Florens and Lovell, it seems acceptable to make Florie the mother of Florens, so that's what I decided to do. Besides, the name is a perfect fit for the character as I imagine her :).

Colour version: coming up as soon as I can paint it.

( More experiments with watercolour: King Lot )

I doubt there will be an update next weekend, though you never know. Maybe if I don't get ill again, I might be able to squeeze in a drawing...

Meet Lady Kundry, Gawain's third (and last) wife. She first appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval as "l'Orgueilleuse de Logres" ("the haughty lady of Logres"), a soubriquet that Wolfram von Eschenbach turns into a proper name, Orgeluse von Logrois. Another one of her epithets is "la mauvaise pucelle" or "the evil maiden". I think that explains the less-than-amiable expression I gave her :).



Actually, Kundry is a kind of medieval female version of Snape. She is heartbroken, bitter, vindictive and has a sharp tongue. Insulting people (especially men) seems her second nature, and she makes no exception for Gawain. Of course I adore her ;).

I dressed Kundry in a 12th-century "bliaut", the kind of dress she could have worn in Chrétien's story, and gave her a matching hairstyle. For the twelfth century, at least, I can find a few good sources for clothing - that is less easy for the sixth. I'm not sure how likely my colour scheme is, though.

My only regret is that it's going to take a long while until we get to her part of the story :/. I'll probably draw her plenty just for fun until we make it there.

This is Lady Ragnell. You have already met her in another shape. She is Gawain's first wife.

I keep reaching for my colour pencils as soon as I have a moment. There are other things that need drawing, too, but I can only do small things at the moment. Eh.



I like Ragnell. As you will see when you meet her in the story, I guess :-).

In other news, I managed to see another episode of Merlin this week-end, and the writers REALLY need to think of new plots. Seriously - they do nothing but recycle ideas they have used in season 2. It seems like the writing is really the thing to which the least importance is given in this show. *feels frustrated*

Today's sketchdumps are largish - just saying :).

Goodies below, though no naked body parts this time, sorry...

( Sketches )



This thingy is my latest cover design for The Darkest Hour. I have had to realise that I am not a cover artist born. This is so tough! If I followed my instincts (or my laziness, call it what you will), I'd end up with a large close-up of Ygraine on the cover. But when don't I do large close-ups? They are what I like best, but I need to do something else from time to time. Plus, is a character close-up the best way to kindle a potential reader's interest? There should be a story, right?

My previous design had Uther and Ygraine in it. Now it has occurred to me that it might be nice to connect TDH with Gawain, even if only on the cover, because it's supposed to be *his* comic but he doesn't even appear in the first 100+ pages...

Please let me know what you think. Comments and advice are very appreciated :).

Lookie! An all-traditional sketchdump! ;)

I really need to start drawing my next TDH page pronto, but since it is always a good idea to warm up first, I have been doing quite a bit of sketching. That's good. The bad: I don't get to the page stage :/. Eh. Also, despite my intention to do my sketching in appropriate booklets instead of on random sheets of paper, one of the items below is ... an envelope. And I have recently been using loose sheets of drawing paper as well. When it comes to drawing, things rarely go as I plan them. Much like the rest of life, right?

Oh, before I forget: there are some naked bodies involved. Nothing naughty, but I guess some would say NSFW. You have been warned.

Below: ( pen, pencil and chalk sketches )

It's been a while since I posted any paper bags! That's partly because I haven't produced any lately due to - well, circumstances beyond my control. But I did want to post a few sketches of King Lot that have been lying around here for a while. Because I like King Lot. He's almost as bad as Uther Pendragon, I guess, but I think that he has more charm, in his own way ;-).

( Paper Bag Lot )

Paper bags. Lots of paper bags :-). That's mostly because I have been saving a few of them up. I have a Snapey bag (just one, alas) for tomorrow, but today's batch is Gawain-themed. And has quite a few horses in it.

Horses are really important in a comic about knights. If the horses look bad, the knights look bad too. Unfortunately the critters aren't really easy to draw, and when you have to place human beings on their backs, it gets even worse. Or so I think. Moreover, Gawain's horse is special. It's famous. I know only two Arthurian horses by name: Arthur's mare Llamrei and Gawain's stallion Gringalet. The funny name is a French version of the Welsh Keincaled. In any case, Gawain's horse is quite consistently named; it's almost a character in its own right. So I'm working hard at getting it to look good. I still have a way to go, but for the first time I'm thinking that I may actually get there in the end :-).

( Princes, Kings and Horsies )

Today I have no limits :P.

Below are non-paper bag Snapey sketches. And some of Brynhild, because I love her, though it's probably not quite proper to say that of your own OFC. Hum.

( Sketch dump )