Russell's Curio Corner #2

For this Curio I thought I'd show some of the work that came about during the process of illustrating the Word Hoard vault.

After reading Phil's Galdr Song, I began researching Viking burial vaults.  For the first couple of sketches I adhered to a literal representation, maintaining a distance from the more fantastic representations (D&D, Elder Scrolls, LOTR) of vaults and caves.

But this ultimately failed to do justice to the scale of the poetry.  I suppose historically, the gravity of emotion mythicisized  human experience.  The empiricist of the Enlightenment would shine a light into a dark recess and measure the dimensions whereas the primitive man (oxymoron?) would cast his gods and devils and keep a safe distance.  When our ancestors walked into a forest in the blackest night, the darkness concealed dragons and beasties that only the quickening pulse and peripheral vision could sense.  And since the concrete is deprived of the abstract it can be studied and rendered.  Therefore, everything that can't be seen must be grander than that which can.  Our Viking man builds a tomb out of stone and earth but the spirit of the interred turns it into the gate to Valhalla.  So, with this idea planted in my head came the acceptance of a larger scale.


The throne caught my imagination.  In particular, the word "knotted."  While doodling ideas I proposed an idea to myself, "What if the throne is actually a tree."  So, I wondered, "What kind of tree?"  So, while searching historic trees I found the Pulpit Yew :

...and so I had a precedent.  Then, I decided to use the layering beech as the actual tree because...they're pretty cool looking.  The particular tree, if you're interested in that kind of thing is the beech at Kilravock Castle.

From there it was a matter of sketching and painting and thinking and talking with Phil and re-sketching and re-thinking...

...until voilà!  We found something we liked.

Oddly enough, this little sketch came about from a bit of paper taped to my drawing board and desk (my desk doesn't really have a Photoshop-ped cavern in it):

 

And from this humble little model came the layout for what wound up being the layout for the final painting.

What I like best about working with Phil is the completeness of the world described in the Annals.  It makes setting a scene that much easier because there are so many references that can be drawn from.  All of the statues and carvings in the Galdr Song painting are based on just a handful of characters from the poems.  The same goes for the hoard in the initial sketches: all of the items are to be found in the Annals.  So with that said, as more poems are posted and more of the world is revealed, you should be able to look back and spot a thing here or a person there either somewhere in the background, or in a border, or in the shadows with the dragons and the beasties...

All images copyright their respective owners.

The Ode Less Travelled

This is one of the greatest books I've ever read. I got it a couple of years ago, and it did what it says on the cover; it unlocked the poet within me. It taught me about prosody - the art and craft of versification.
The thing I've always most enjoyed is the craft, the nut-and-bolts, of poetry writing. It's great to come up with stories and ideas, but the deepest pleasure for me comes from fitting those ideas into a form, with the rules and limitations that come with it. And often, the greater the limitations, the more fun it is.
It's all about pushing against the boundaries of the form, without breaking them. Some of the forms I learned about in the book are very limiting. The Sestina for instance. I won't try to explain it here. It's complicated. As it says in the book, the best way to understand it is to write one, but if you're interested, check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestina (next week's post will be a Sestina).
'Old Moon', the first poem in this blog, is a Rondeau Redouble. 'Galdr Song' is composed of five sonnets. This marvellous book taught me how to write them.
I'd been penning poems for many years before I got the book, but reading it awoke in me my true goal;
to investigate the technology of poetry, to be a craftsman.
Of course, another wonderful thing about The Ode Less Travelled, is that it's written by Stephen Fry.
One couldn't wish for a more genial teacher. His mellifluous tones spill from every page.
It goes with me everywhere. I highly recommend it. Hooray for Stephen Fry!

Galdr Song: Part Two

Please Click on the images to enlarge the pages.

Galdr Song: Part One