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faile35 β Rats in the Cellar Page 01
Published: 2006-09-06 17:00:11 +0000 UTC; Views: 40105; Favourites: 161; Downloads: 0
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Description
Pen and ink. 10" x 13" (about 25 cm x 35 cm). 18 hrs.The revision of this page is here .
Note: If you're interested in following the picture storyline, click here for Page 02 and follow the links onward.
DocRedfield has made a cool animated logo for this series that gives away the hidden lettering. Check it out here .
Guyra has made a cool bit of fanart for this series--it's even a rich ink drawing! Check it out here .
In addition, Dyun has written up a nice narrative to go with this series of images, and I'll find a way to link to that, too, when she gets a bit more of it written. Regardless, she deserves a titanic thanks and a bunch of money for doing it--I'll see what I can do to recompense her.
As far as this illustration goes, the curlies on the woman's breasts are just decor on the breastplate of her armor.
This is the first of many illustrations I did to tell a short story without words. If a picture paints 1,000 words, then the story in question would be about 40,000 words long, to give you an idea of what I was thinking. Most of the pictures are done. Don't know if they'll all show up here on DA, nor if they'll be Deviations or Scraps when and if they do. Probably what I'll do is post a few of them in scraps and then link those scraps to my artist comments on the previous pages. That way it won't be too difficult for someone to follow through the plot in some semblance of order...
In any case, on a few of these where I was drawing only partially-viewed mental images, I used reference photographs, but I only used a little here and there rather than seriously relying on any one.
To follow this storyline, it's enough to know that a wench has disappeared in the cellars of an inn, and a warrior-woman (think "Xena" with a morningstar and without the annoying battlecry) comes looking for her. And, incidentally, "Twisted Plot" has the same idea, so as far as I know, the two ideas could be part of the same story...
Feel free to speculate on what's up. I'm always interested in hearing what ideas folks have about these things. And, of course, for those who know me and where my mind tends to go (check out my gallery to get an idea, if necessary), be prepared for more of the same with these drawings...
Enjoy!
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Comments: 78
Just wanted to favor what seems, to me, to be the first great drawing, of many, for your story.
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Sometimes I'll stop by your page and one will pop out that I missed. This is simply fantastic work, my man.
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This pic is currently my desktop / wallpaper. Makes a really nice one too!
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Thanks! That's quite flattering.
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*le gasp* i see the title in the bricks! 
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Ah, good! It's kind of hard to pick out, but it was sure fun to put there.
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Better fav this for a shortcut to the start of the cellar of doom epic.
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Hey, I'll take a "favorite" for any reason you want...
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Or even a 'favourite' as it's for export.
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Thank you! I like pictures with LOTS of black in them, making the highlights stand out like beacons...
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Pretty. I like how it's not solidly black at any point
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Thank you. I hadn't noticed that.
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Kinda' dramatic, I guess. Thanks!
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This is amazing. The lighting is perfect and I love the way its placed off centre. I'm going to have to 
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There's a reason I placed it off-center. Look carefully and see if you can figure out why, or just cheat and read the comments below. Regardless, thank you for the comment and the favorite. I'm flattered.
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Ahhhh, I see the writing now. Very clever. I wouldn't have noticed before.
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Really amazing! I love the textures and shadows.
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Thank you. I'm glad you like it. It was a lot of fun to do the textures in this one.
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I like the way you've composed this, and the words are not intrusive at all. If there are rats in the cellar and there's a wench down there too, I suspect the Pied Piper of Hamelin could be involved.
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Now, honestly, what Pipe Dream would the Pied Piper have involving a couple of women in a cellar...
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He saw off the rats and then got rid of the children ... I'm sure he planned to do something with the womefolk next
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Well, yeah. That makes some sense. I'm starting to like this guy. Who needs the goblins to charge over the hill and plunder the village when you can do it yourself with a single instrument...
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Well, it serves the menfolk right for not paying the piper in the first place, and if the town becomes repopulated by piper-like children, it will have been a job well done.
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Okay, Advanced Expert of Literature and Folklore Humphreys, is this where the saying, "Pay the Piper" comes from? Man, this guy deserves a really good drawing, I think.
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Shhh! I only pretend to know theses things. I believe the pied piper moved on after doing Hamelin and ended up in Scotland.
Here's a picture of Hamelin's menfolk
wondering who's the daddy?
[link]
And the women are quite taken with his pipe in this one
[link]
But he was prolific in keeping the women with child
[link]
And the women missed him
[link]
I'm sure that's how it happened.
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Norman Rockwell 
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Go where? "Pipe Envy"?
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No smutty stuff yet, but plenty of dust on these Rockwell paintings.
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I've looked into it before, but was unable to verify the rumors I had heard (from a number of people, which certainly does nothing to make it true, but it did spark my curiosity). I'm sure you will be able to get to the bottom of it all...
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I don't really know enough about Rockwell, I must admit. But a lot of great artists were womanisers, or the other way inclined. For a moment I was concerned when I saw boys feature in his work a fair bit. But as I hadn't heard the rumour, I wouldn't know where to start.
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Me, neither. My searches have been fruitless. Oh well. Guess I'll forget it for another couple of years...
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Warning. I got carried away. 
--Bartender: "Ana! Ana!!! Where's that beer damn it??! Can't keep customers waiting!............. Where the hell did she go?" Walks briskly to the cellar door and hollers into the darkness. Nothing but silence, and no sign of Ana's lamp. He begins to worry.
"Ana? Are you alright?!" Still no answer. He walks back to the bar, grabs a lantern, and slowly begins to make his way down the pitted steps. He reaches the bottom and looks around the damp cavern, desperate to find a sign of life. Suddenly his eyes come to rest on an object at his feet.
"Ana's lamp..." he whispers to himself. He picks up the warm object and notices a few drops of blood soaked into the ground. Now he's truly worried. He frantically looks about him, but sees no body. Life-less wooden barrels and empty cobwebs surround him. Something stirrs in the background.
"Ana?!" he yells out with hope. He quickly positions the lamp toward the sound, when all of a sudden the light reveals a deep, dark hole inside the cellar wall. An ominous streak of blood leads into the opening. The bartender's eyes widen in horror at the realization that Ana's body had been dragged through this opening by 'something' terrible.
"Oh my god..." he whispers with a trembling voice. As soon as he regains control of his senses, he runs out of the cellar and locks the heavy wooden door behind him.
--"What the hell is going on? Where's my beer?!" says the impatient customer, but receives no reply from the shaken bartender.
The bartender turns around to reveal the terrified look on his face.
--"What's the matter with you? Where is she? What happened?" asks one of the more sober customers.
--"She,...... she's gone."
--"Gone where??"
--"I,.... I don't know. Something is down there."
--"Something?? What?"
--"Something took her. There was blood, and no sign of her. Just a dark tunnel! I've never seen it there before! It looks as though something gnawed it's way through!"
At this point a couple of men got up from their tables, and began sneaking out of the Inn. Whatever it was, they did not want anything to do with it.
--"We need to go down there and find her! She may still be alive!" the old bartender shouted with a shaky voice. "Where are you going?!" This only prompted the men to stumble faster out the door.
"Wait!" he pleaded, but no one wished to hear him.
"Will you let an old, frail man do what's right?! Cowards!" he shouted angrily at those he thought would be the first to offer a hand. None wished to look him in the eye, and none wished to risk their lives for a simple wench.
--"I will find her." A voice boomed gently from a corner of the Inn. The bartender turned around to seek out the source.
--"Who,.... who are you?" he asked, still shaken up by what he had seen. A shourded, powerful female figure stepped out from the shadows. Her long, dark hair flowed down her shoulders, framing a most attractive face. As soon as the bartender learned her gender, he was once again overcome by hopelessness.
--"No time for introductions. Hand me that lantern, and show me the way". she replied.
--"I'm afraid I can't allow another woman to go missing." he grumbled. At this she came closer, and threw down her cloak. The bartender's eyes lit up with surprise. Her body was clad in dusted armor. Nicks and cuts on her hands and legs indicated she was no stranger to battle. .
--"I assure you, I am quite capable of taking care of myself" she smiled, and picked up the lit lantern from the top of the bar.
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Woah!
This is AWESOME! You're very close to what I had in mind, but I'm not sure I want to dissuade you with the discrepancies! I'd much rather read more on this as you can come up with it (assuming there is more... hint, hint, plead, plead, grovel, grovel). You let me know what information you need to write more, and you will have it within the hour. I'll give you a preview of the next few drawings to post, or whatever the HELL you need/demand/require/expect!
This is really cool, and undoubtedly one of the coolest and longest comments I've ever had from anyone. You have my immense gratitude (or couldn't you tell...).
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Wow... I had no idea you'd like it that much! 
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Didn't you ever read my very first journal entry? [link] It's called "Tell Me the Story." In any case, these imaginative approaches to explaining/elaborating on what I draw are the reason I came here. I like the art critique and the flattery, but this type of thing is my bread and water... So, whenever and whatever you can add, the better. I just wish I could figure out a way to join the two of them together for display... I'll think on it.
Thanks again. You're the best!
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Oh yes,.. I did read that entry.
Start uploading the rest. I have a feeling this will be another boring day, so it will give me something to do.
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The next one will be up in five minutes, followed by another...
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Wow... that is the looooooooongest five minutes ever!
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It's in the Scraps! Along with Page 04! Ugh! I should have noted you about it. 
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No biggie. I have no idea why your scrap updates didn't show in my box. 
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Actually, this has happened to me a few times. And some of them were before V5 rained down on my world. That sounds too negative--rain is a mixed blessing, and certainly necessary. How'd I do for the recovery...? 
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