Friday, April 22, 2011

If you've been paying attention...


I've photoshopped stuff! A bit. Sort of. I'm still slowly re-making my bible more bibley. I think that blue is too harsh now. I might go for a very pale blue. (the one for the page backgrounds see an earlier blog entry) These are some of my concept bits, I had to fiddle with the brightness and contrast because they didn't scan brilliantly.

Anyway just proof that I am still doing things...when the suns not out anyway. I have tried do take my laptop outside with the tablet but it does get very sticky very quickly.


These are some cossack idea for my other plan. I've drawn lots of faces for them but I shan't upload them now because my book is all the way over there (the other side of the room).

The research into Cossacks is very interesting. It's Slavic for 'free man' and there's lots of distinctions between Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian cossacks and how they were used. Typically dressed lightly, no armour, the recognizable cossack hat, some kind of sash or belt and a lance and saddlebags and pouches. In all the pictures I've seen they all have beards. When Napoleon invaded the Russians used them mainly as boarder guards and light cavalry (although before the Napoleonic Wars the Cossacks weren't formal cavalry) to harass the French during their retreat.
So I've tried to sort of characterize their fearsomeness and ruggedness whilst trying to keep some air of toughness to them as well. If I go with this 1812 idea, the cossacks are the bad guys, there'd be 4 of them, and 2 Frenchmen. I wouldn't portray them as baby killing evil Nazi types, they'd be a metaphor for Russia's ruthless willingness to survive (see scorched earth tactics - they burnt nearly all their food supplies and most of their towns just to disrupt the French something which almost no other country is willing to do. Russia then used the same tactic against Hitler) and their relentless pursuit of the enemy and the fact that they just don't quit.

You weren't supposed to get all that from just these two though don't worry :-)


I did a little illustration. Maybe you want it on your t-shirt?

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