Worlds

Worlds. One of the interesting aspects of drawing is to attempt, when possible [as some illustrative tasks demand otherwise], to 'flesh out' the subject of the picture to show something of the 'world beyond'. I'm not professing to be good at it, but it's something I like to do.

After the Fabled Lands series was cancelled by Macmillan [Pan Books] after only six titles, instead of the planned twelve, Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson decided to look for other directions. Dave has since gone on to, among other things, work, with Leo Hartis,  on his graphic novel Mirabilis - Years of Wonder, and his Fabled Lands  blog site.

One of the earliest creations that Dave and I worked on as a possible game scenario was The Shadow King, and I was given the task of roughing out [and they are rough, lol] a few scenes to show the world of the Shadow King, which was to be set at the turn of the 20th Century in an alternate London.

The other world scenario was that of Abraxes, the Fabled Land. Abraxes was, as you'll see from the map that I drew from Dave's rough, a large island where different peoples lived. The key cities of each race had its antecedent's in races that once inhabit our own world. Thus there are hints of Egyptian, Assyrian, Toltec peoples, among others.

Here is the map of Abraxas - The Fabled Land, and a few of the sketches I created to try to visualise the land of Abraxas.

I also had to come up with the creatures [from Dave's written descriptions], and create my own costume designs, and so on, that would inhabit this world.

Before finishing, a special mention for Andy, who has gone to all the trouble of identifying the published source of the illustrations I have posted on line to date.