Well, this was another epically scaled challenge for our weekends workshops. For as tart, whilst I was given quite a free-reign in terms of perimeters by Psynexus, he’d chosen something for subject matter that doesn’t always grab my attention or inspire me too much;
- A Classical Era Drama
- The main character is upper class, like a Count
- The scene takes place in his place of work or refuge. It is esteemed like a chapel or a theater.
- Times are troubled - give the majestic scene s sense of dread or depression.
- Feel free to exaggerate elements to enhance the story like some media of the era has, but keep it historically accurate whenever possible.
- 90 minutes.
- Bust a nut!
When you're done I'll switch back to a 500 wordish minimum description/short story or just see where it goes. Have fun.
It may be true, I have something of a knack of finding the dark little corners of whatever I choose to play around with, but even given that and my liberal boundaries of execution, I struggled at first to think of what to do. It didn’t really help that I was not entirely sure of whether he meant a ‘period’ drama set in the 1700s / 1800s or something slightly more late / high medieval - set more in the renaissance.
That night I sat up and tried to first of all come to some theme for my protagonist - to better maintain the flow of creativity and my attention span (which has been sorely lacking this week). This was the really hard part… and with my low attention span dragging me, I soon gave up for the night and slumped down to channel hop around the TV when serendipity struck.
I had chanced upon a documentary about twenty men charged with plotting to murder the king (shortly after the English civil war). It wasn’t this that inspired me so much - as the mentions of the reformation - that is what sparked me. I soon had an image in my head of a priest sat awaiting his end behind the alter of all he once held so sacred - the mob bursting through the door with cries of “Blasphemy!” flying from their tongues.
I started doodling almost immediately. You can see some of the outcomes on my previous post.
HERE.
After a while, I brought the timeline forwards somewhat; having still had no reply to my query about Psynexus’ specifics about the time setting. I chose instead a more Victorian / Edwardian setting after reading several of HP Lovecraft’s stories and comic conversions - and realising consciously just how much of a pyramidic influence the guys’ stuff has been upon me.
Ultimately, it made me turn a corner - giving the image a hint of Lovecraft's 'invisible horrors' or the suggestion of 'the old ones' at work. It actually made me turn the piece into more of a book-cover kind of thing - adding the crows and clouds as some tie in to parts of the story to come - as yet unwritten.
So, there ya go - that’s all I’ve got to say - though yer welcome to ask questions. Here’s the final piece;
And FULL VIEW the piece on my DA account as always
HERE.
Within a few hours of this post, you'll be able to see Psynexus' companion / reply peice to this image upon his blog
HERE.
