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jflaxman β From Stygian Depths
#adventure #angler #basement #clown #creature #deep #depths #desert #dweller #evil #fish #from #gamer #graffiti #guardian #illustration #james #justice #lamprey #lure #magic #mob #monster #myth #mythos #nightmare #pipe #sea #serpent
Published: 2017-04-29 11:06:28 +0000 UTC; Views: 8198; Favourites: 192; Downloads: 66
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Comments: 21
wow, once again, a great drawing, which accompanies an equally magnificent story.
to start with the drawing, i really like how you drew the old pipe, being weathered, ancient, broken and covered with various (nicely drawn) graffiti signs...
also, the clown-eel creature is really creepy and nicely drawn, with the snake-like skin/body, with pus-like things covering parts of its body+chin, a really wide, scary smile, with MANY rows of small, pointy teeth, teeth that remind me of eels/morays, and it adds to the otherworldy fear factor that such a smile can generate...
(especially if such a smile is placed onto a humanoid face... and a clown face at that! 
with that being said, i also like the clown-like features on the humanoid face, the large, soulless eyes, (they look scary, with a flair of insanity, and they also look puffy and bloodshot, which is an extra nice detail...), also his clown-hat has a strange symbol, the ''O with horns'', which reminds me of the ''taurus'' zodiac symbol. are they related, or was this accidental?/a coincidence?)
lastly, his ''clown-hat-lure'' reminds me of the one the anglerfish have, and thats really awesome. it adds an extra layer of creepiness to the pic, especially if we think that the anglerfish have some creepy symbiotic mating rituals, a fearsome appearance, and features that would be considered pleasant only in complete darkness...
i also find interesting the figure of feebs, the heroic shadow-creature that fought the clown with a staff of light, a light that indeed was similar to the clown's lure-hat, and perhaps that was why he defeated the clown so easily...
all the details are nicely drawn, and both the clown+feebs are nicely designed, with good linework, great shading/lighting effects, good details on their features(more on the clown, less on feebs, since he IS a shadow-creature, afterall, and a mystery is needed, so showing only his silhouette was fitting in this case...)
now, about the story itself:
i was grabbed by the pic's title alone, for ''stygian depths'' is a familiar enviroment in the greek mythology, and it shows us a dark part of the underworld:
you see, the river of styga/styx run through the grounds of the underworld, and only the dead(souls?) could live in there, so that place was do dark and otherworldly, that the term ''stygian depths'' described an unreachable depth, a place that would be impossible for someone to visit, for it is otherworldly/extremely difficult to access...
also, in some greek texts, the word ''stygo'' used to mean to ''hate someone''(very much), and it derived from the river ''styga/styx'', while the connection between the two words was very clear: people hated the river styx, because it reminded them of death/of the underworld, so to ''stygo'' someone, to ''hate'' someone, would be a reasonable word to use...Β
i also loved the description of the region of pangeria(everyone's old?), the town of underscarpΒ was also very interesting as well, and i loved the descriptions of the everyday life in the town, while the characters are very interesting as well:
-hugo-fargo(a traveller-writer would only have a name such as hugo-fargo: for it is an excellent combination of victor-hugo & wells-fargo. bravo! i congratulate you for this EPIC combination/literature pun!),
-the town's mayor, cynthia stone(i wonder how the citizens of underscarp look like...),
-the tragic figure of tobias hopkins(in the end, did they reanimate him? how? can the medics of underscarp ressurect the dead? if so, thats a great skill!
...unless they simply revived him on time, quickly after they hanged him... but still, it was a pleasant surprise to see that tobias was alive in the end!!)
-the heroic traveller-writer, axel hellenback! (i wonder, is his name a reference to the rock-star, and is his last name a nod to ''hell-and-back''? OR, is it a literary reference to lazar von hellenbach? hmm...) ANYWAY, the point is: axel hellenback was an awesome character: a heroic traveller-writer, who tried to warn the people, but they ignored him, and when things went wrong, he eventually saved the day!
(with his amazing graffiti-wizardry skills... with which he summoned the fabled shadow-creature, feebs!)
what can i say? this is an awesome cast, and an incredible story to tell!
i liked it alot, and the whole action was amazing, while the narration+the characters were superb.
my only suggestion:
perhaps you should draw the characters of hugo-fargo, axel-hellenback, feebs, tobias hopkins, cynthia stone(and the town+citizens of underscarp, if possible...)?
it would be really interesting to see.Β
so, all in all, this was a GREAT drawing, and you also wrote a magnificent story once again!
great work, sir!
keep it up!
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You've seen a lot that others have missed (or at least not mentioned). A lot of my stories draw on older myths and the Ancient Greeks produced some of my favourites. It's interesting to see that many later Christian writers, from Dante to C.S. Lewis, couldn't resist filling their worlds with pre-Christian creatures like centaurs, griffins, minotaurs and more despite their pro-Christian agendas and their faith's history of demonising so much pre- or non-Christian culture (given your knowledge of such things you're no doubt familiar with the term daemon/demon and how its meaning has changed over time).Β
I had a lot of fun with the names. Pangeria is an ancient land though its people aren't necessarily old - it's more a case of young civilisations living in the shadow of older, more impressive ones. Underscarp is a reference to an escarpment (inland cliff face) which also serves as a home to the Scarpies in my Lost and Found story. Tobias Hopkins first appeared in an older story I haven't posted, and Feebs is remniscent of my Styx and Bon Jonkin sidekicks who may well show up again! Axel Hellenback is one of my closest approximations of a conventional hero - something my stories don't often contain, though they've been more common recently.Β
Reading your comment reminded me how poorly a lot of my pictures cover the characters and events in my stories. Sequential illustrations or a graphic novel format might be more appropriate and if I ever go that way a series of character designs would be a logical first step.Β
Thanks for your time as always, you're a great source of encouragement!
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If this world and its characters ever reach a printed page or ebook, I will definitely buy it. Have you considered doing a sort of Thirteenth Realm travel/field guide?
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Honestly, the amount of detail in your drawings and stories behind them is unbelievable! Keep up the great work.
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Thank you very much! This year started slowly, but I'm drawing a lot more these days.
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You're welcome! And that's always good.Β
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"Hi-ya Georgie!"
"Aren't you gonna say... Hello?"
Β Β Β
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Those are my depths. Stay out of them.
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Pennywise was a funny old chap.
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After seeing stuff like THIS
Insanity doesnt seem so bad
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You and your bizarre clown monstrosities!
Don't get me wrong! I can't get enough of 'em!
The story itself kinda reminds me of the Simpsons episode, 'Trash of the Titans' (forgive me if you're unfamiliar with that one), except instead of the accumulated rubbish piling up from under the earth and flooding the town, it instead invoked the wrath of a giant...angler...clown...lamprey...thing.
Hard to know which is a worse fate really.
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Evil clowns have been done to death but I'll always enjoy drawing them. Characters, creatures and archetypes that were originally meant to be cute but bore, disturb, upset or scare people amuse me for some reason and although I've used the likes of Barney, Teletubbies and Hello Kitty before, clowns are the best example of all. I should probably try to draw a non-disturbing clown one day as it would be a bigger challenge.
I haven't seen the Simpsons ep - would it be worth a try?
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Agreed. It's always quite amusing to see something initially intended to be child-friendly and harmless being reduced to a corrupted, gruesome state. Evil clowns are indeed a classic example of this, but the likes of 'animal' mascots that don't at all resemble the animals they represent are also fresh game! That's why I see the appeal of your work lampooning Barney, Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse.
While I much prefer older episodes, I personally found the 'Trash of the Titans' episode to be a much more decent Simpsons episode in a time when they were beginning to lose their touch. It presents Homer at possibly his most incompetent when he's given a seat of power as Springfield's 'Sanitation Commissioner', makes 'crazy promises' and only wins because he tells the people of Springfield what they want to hear.....
....Kinda reminds me of someone.
It's up to you if you think the Simpsons is still worth your time. I always watch older episodes to remember what the show once was, as opposed to the stagnating dead horse that it's become lately.
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I like the pipe you made has a very creepy street feel to it
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Beautiful work. I love the way you describe so deeply your artwork. It's great.Β
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Posting longer stories like this may test the patience of some viewers. I'm glad you think they're worth your time.
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I think it creates more depth, and you could like write an illustrated novel, if you wanted to.Β
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