Feanor is a tough cookie. At once he was potentially the greatest of the Elves, but ultimately became one of the worst and most evil. It’s his will that is behind the best and worst works of the Elves. His mind conceived and his forged the Silmarils, the most beautiful works of craftsmanship ever to have been created. They, in turn, house the light of the Two Trees of Valinor the most beautiful things ever to have grown. He is the dichotomy of greatness: the ability to do great good balanced with the resistance to do great evil. Certainly any person of greatness, in a position of power, has been tempted towards dark means or dark ends. Who is to say the worst monsters in history, as well as those most noble, couldn’t have turned out quite differently had the scales been balanced otherwise than they were…

Bigger? Smarmier?

More calculating?

Prettier? Maybe. I like the profile in the middle.

THERE he is! Up at the top!

That’s tight! He has mass and strength, he looks handsome and charismatic, and I bet he can turn on some wicked cold fury! Tomorrow, the finished product!

Of course, all these qualifications necessitated that I make him look like a witch! This was seriously not my intent, I just worked on parts of the face, not quite paying attention to the whole until this witch jumped out at me! I guess I’m just too caught up of Feanor’s devastating fall from grace: he goes down and takes all the elves with him! (or at least gives it a good try…)

Tolkien makes a point of going over Feanor’s list of ‘greatest of’s: courage, beauty, intelligence, wisdom, etc. and he makes sure to put in stature, physical strength, and endurance. Feanor is NOT a twee little fairy elf, but a powerhouse right out of a medieval Faerie story. Nearly all of
Feanor’s gifts or crafts are associated with light or crystal, especially the enchanting, awe-inspiring Silmarils; the most beautiful things ever made, which glowed with the light of the Two Trees, the most beautiful things to have ever grown. However he was the first to craft deadly weapons…

Number 2 is my favorite. The first one looks like I was still feeling out what I was doing, and still conservative with the detail.

Number 3 looks the most well-constructed, likes it’s the most finished and fits best in its environment. Number 4 looks somewhat realistic, in that it’s not too outlandish.

Also, I drew a tiger.

A sketch of my oldest son, Caelan, while he was pretending to sleep.
Just look at that cheesy grin!

Some pretty general face sketches while watching cartoons with my kids.

The first look at my new character design idea. Since I don’t want my own intellectual properties jeopardized by portfolio submissions to various companies, I’ve turned my eye on previously-owned or public domain work. First up: The Silmarillion: the (fictitious) Animated Series! And first on that list, my favorite, Fingolfin! I’ll be having more finished sketches appearing soon.

Mako the Sharkman harkens back to an idea I had when I was a kid about this shark guy and his fantastical adventures under the sea. Something like “The Little Mermaid” meets “Wizards”

Spot the dog: Dragonslayer, was a mind of funny ideas I had recently, mergic heroic fantasy with buddy animal stories, think Lord of the Rings meets Air Bud. Spot is a fearsome, mighty warrior spirit in a humble dog. Whether or not this is figurative I haven’t yet decided. He is backed by his comic sidekick (and owner) Toby.

Toby the Stableboy is a clumsy,tragic, comic hero. He is not the one who kills goblins and saves the day, but he is the unabashedly good guy. This is preserved through a healthy dose of naivety, which allows him to keep his heart of gold intact. He is not the hero, he doesn’t get the girl, but heis definitely the good guy.

Today I watched Conan, the new 2011 version. Let it be said early on I am a huge fan of sword and sorcery comics, films, and books and I am also a huge fan of Conan specifically. I grew up on inherited 70s Conan comics. The one good ones, by Buscema and reprints of the early ones by Barry Windsor Smith. They were very influential on me, and in my decision to be an artist. I read Howard’s original stories, and am very well-read on his influential friend, H.P. Lovecraft. I know the particular niche that Conan occupies, and have longed for and hoped for a film which could do that savage, lawless, sword and sorcery justice. For the first 20 minutes or so, I thought I’d found it. Seeing Conan’s bloody birth on the battlefield and his subsequent coming-of-age; carrying those severed heads of his slain enemies into the camp when he was but a boy, were pretty impressive, I must say. The broad, wide, sweeping sense created by the CG rendered ruins and ancient cities were also very impressive, and lent themselves very much to be vain of sword and sorcery that Conan uses, the conjunction of the familiar and unfamiliar, trying to show a kind of architectural past to ancient architectural styles. However, all of this was ultimately done in by the flatness of the characters and the commonplace treatment of the supernatural elements. Lord of the Rings, for instance, does a much better job of making the One Ring frightening. It was a simple object, it did very little, but it was always treated with fear and terror, and became a frightening thing in enough itself. Unfortunately Conan has the reverse, the cursed necromancer’s mask, made of the bones of ancient sorcerers, is made to look frightening but it does very little to be considered scary, just writhing a bit. In fact most of the magic that used is used rather utilitarianly, the evil witch, fairly well done by Miss Rose McGowan, uses magic to summon enemies for Conan to fight but, there is nothing in the way of incantation or terror at the breaking of the laws of reality. Conan might be sword and sorcery, but in the same way Lord of the Rings is written to be in ancient account of the far, far distant ancient past of our world, Conan is supposed be far far ancient distant past of our world. They say it out right and that little introduction “Between the time when the Oceans drank Atlantis…” Because there was no introspection to the characters, or an effort made to establish a mood within most of the movie it’s seem to be one long CG accentuated fight scene, interrupted by brief moments of plot. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like seeing swordfights on the screen but after the fifth or sixth one, or at the end when he’s fighting the big bad guy while balancing on the big wheel over a pit which goes all way down to what looks like a river of lava, it gets a little far-fetched and ridiculous. I wanted to see Howard’s Conan. I wanted to see unmentionable, terrifying creatures that cause men’s sanity to melt at the sight of them, you know, the ones that he took from Lovecraft. That’s what I like Howard he fused my favorite genre, fantasy, with my other favorite genre, horror. This movie is not heard this movie is a very well-funded, extended episode of Xena the warrior princess with different actors, sex, and blood. Sorry to come down so hard on it, but I was really hoping for something better than I got, so maybe my disappointment is my own fault for getting my hopes up. The movie isn’t terrible, but it’s not great, I would venture to say it’s barely even good.

Luby’s Review: 5.5 out of 10

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I saw Captain America last night and it was awesome. It was awesome for it’s copious amounts of ass-kicking, it was awesome for it’s very human characterization of it’s titular hero, and it was awesome for it’s continuity with Thor. Marvel FINALLY got someone(s) on board who know how to translate 50 years of continuity to the screen and still not lose the essence of the character. The film recounts the story of would-be soldier, Steve Rogers, and his all-important, though ultimately fruitless pursuit of military enlistment during WWII. Because of his determination and virtuous nature, he was offered a chance to take part in experimental super-soldier project. Though frail and weak, he succeeds through his inner-strength and heart. Treated with super-soldier serum and bombarded with Vita-Rays, puny Steve Rogers is transformed into powerful Captain America. I won’t give more away, but I will say that the movie is firmly tied to the events of Thor and features the insidious Cosmic Cube. (and a bunch of Kirby Krackle) Also in the film is the evil Red Skull, very admirably played by Hugo Weaving, even with the facial prosthetics, he delivers a dynamite performance. Evans also does a great job in his role, which is in part owed to a great script; his part was well-written. Best of all, I didn’t think they leaned nearly as heavily on CGI as they did in Thor, that being said, it feels more realistic (though it has it’s moments of over-the-top craziness, the bomb bay of the flying wing, for instance) What makes the hero impressive also makes him approachable, he is portrayed as marginally superhuman. He isn’t invulnerable the way Iron Man is (which is also strongly tied to this film, with Stark’s dad playing a major supporting role) he doesn’t put on a suit to make himself invulnerable, nor is he like Thor, an invincible alien, but he is a powerful man, but in no way is he considered invincible, a gun will still kill him, but he can take out a tank just like Thor or Iron Man, but he uses ingenuity and tactics (and a grenade), as opposed to brute super-powered force. This curtailing of his superheroics keeps that human aspect of the character, despite him being thrust into superhuman situations.

Luby’s Review
9 out of 10.