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keelerleah — Farewell Walker Boh

Published: 2012-05-24 01:33:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 39857; Favourites: 2021; Downloads: 0
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Description First, I can now be 'liked' on Facebook: [link] *hint hint*

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No character has affected me more emotionally then the heart wrenching tale of Walker Boh (from the Shannara series by Terry Brooks). I will always find it odd how one can grow attached to a character that doesn't even exist in real life.

I first read the books 6 years ago and was left so upset by his death that it nearly took me a month to get over it. Then just recently I began rereading the entire Shannara series again. I knew what was coming this time and I tried to force myself to remain unaffected by him, but again I failed. The night I got to the point in his story where he dies I became so upset I fell asleep crying that night. During that time I was overwhelmed with inspiration to finally paint a picture of him, my small way of letting go again. The next day inspiration had faded a bit but I was curious and I did a quick search for fan art of him on DA and was stunned to find less then a page of results. That brought my inspiration back in full force and I dropped everything I was working on and began painting my own tribute painting.

I wanted to try painting something a bit different then I usually do. I wanted to portray an almost sad and melancholy atmosphere which, to me, reflects on the character, who sacrificed everything to become what he feared the most.

The background features Paranor, the home of the druids which become his own after a time. I had at one point added in his moor cat Rumor, but I was unhappy with the results, as it looked as if he was looking at the cat in the distance rather then Paranor.

The scene itself was basically just Walker leaving Paranor (for the last time before his journey on the Jerle Shannara?) and looking back for a moment, reflecting on the events of his life.

The painting itself is closer to a speed painting, at least compared to the level of time and detail I usually spend in my paintings. And yet I'm still quite happy at the finished result. The castle in the back was the hardest thing to do, as I stink and angles and it tons of them. I may go back someday and retouch a few things (walkers pose still seems a bit stiff for my liking) but for the moment I'm content with it.

I should also point out for those that don't know the character and are wondering about the picture, he in fact has no right arm (which is why there isn't one painted). I won't say here how he lost it (another heart wrenching part of his story) but I did include a Wikipedia link below about him. I also lessened his beard a bit (compared to official pictures of him). I liked the back of his jaw a bit more bare looking.

No Critique desired.
Painted completely in photoshop.
Multiple references used.
Information about Walker for those that don't know the character or series: [link]

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Art © copyright =keelerleah (me)
Walker Boh (Shannara) © copyright Terry Brooks
Do not re-post, resubmit or edit this picture. You Can't use the pictures for layouts, blogs, websites, myspace, banners, designs, posters, cd, books etc without accessing a written permission from me.
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Comments: 141

OutlanderAshton [2019-08-25 22:52:55 +0000 UTC]

Walker Boh is one of the greatest Terry Brooks characters! I LOVE this! 

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Miarath [2016-07-19 11:44:08 +0000 UTC]

Looks awesome!

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Mona-san [2016-02-01 08:10:18 +0000 UTC]

I think there's nothing weird about loving a fictional character. It just means the books is very well written and you are a very emotional person with a lot of imagination
Wonderful Work!

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ExplosiveFirehawk [2015-12-02 00:47:19 +0000 UTC]

I love this take on him.

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Nasca99 [2015-10-23 18:45:22 +0000 UTC]

beautiful*^*

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tonygutierrez [2015-05-13 20:18:35 +0000 UTC]

lindo pensamiento

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BloodElfMaiden [2015-03-08 23:09:15 +0000 UTC]

Ever since I saw this art piece, I've wondered who did it.  Well, now I know.  I think overall, it's my favorite piece of your work.  Beautifully done.

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keelerleah In reply to BloodElfMaiden [2015-03-09 06:29:45 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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Geoffryn [2015-02-16 01:41:52 +0000 UTC]

Looks a bit like Dalamar the Dark, apprentice of Raistlin

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keelerleah In reply to Geoffryn [2015-02-16 03:48:05 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I see what you mean (I'm happy to say that I've actually read a lot of the Dragonlance books).  Walker (the character in this picture) is a sort of wizard too (a druid actually) and I guess a lot of them sport the long dark robes look.

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CartoonMetalWarrior [2014-07-19 04:27:08 +0000 UTC]

Walker was an amazing Druid. For some reason, I think if they made those stories (The Children series) into movies I totally see Liam Nielson playing the role (he is actually who I picture when reading the books).

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SwirlyEyesHypnotize [2013-12-07 07:30:56 +0000 UTC]

So gorgeous! X3

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X-GutterKitty-X [2013-08-31 20:57:55 +0000 UTC]

I love you with the loving of the love! Walker Boh is amazing and you've done an amazing job on this image!

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MarkipliteXD [2013-07-09 03:11:39 +0000 UTC]

Terry Brooks is amazing! I Walker Boh is awesome. Love the artwork!

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drumgirl [2013-05-02 02:31:19 +0000 UTC]

Oh yeah, Shannara series! I didn't know you read those as well. I read the original trilogy a long time ago and some of the ones that came after it. It was one of the first fantasy series I had ever read. I need to read the later books...

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drumgirl [2013-05-02 02:30:09 +0000 UTC]

Such gorgeous work! I love the autumn feel to this! It looks quite different from other work that you've done. It's very nice, like a book illustration I really like it!

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Lord-Paladin [2013-04-05 06:21:17 +0000 UTC]

I love this. A great painting of a great character from a great series

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roby-boh [2013-03-13 08:45:38 +0000 UTC]

You're absolutely right, I was so upset me too when I found out there are not so many pictures of him on DA (actually I did some myself, though they're kind of old.. I hope to find the time to redraw them or maybe do some new ones^^)

I've always imagined him a bit older and with a black beard, but your piece is really nice

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DorciMetal [2013-02-01 19:08:21 +0000 UTC]

Great work!!!

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Massimo1976 [2013-01-04 18:02:26 +0000 UTC]

"I will always find it odd how one can grow attached to a character that doesn't even exist in real life."

This is e-x-a-c-t-l-y what happened to me! I thought I was mad to think about an invented character so much as I used to do. I've never told anyone the emotions I felt for Walker. From time to time, far from eyes of people I look for some pictures or new comments about him and right today I found your picture and your comment about him which seems to be popped out from my mind with your words.
I'm glad I'm not the only "odd" about him!

The character of Allanon impressed me a lot but Walker...it's so strange!! I wish Brooks wrote a book about him (and why not about Allanon as well).

Grazie from Italy for this picture!!

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whisper69 [2012-12-26 06:07:43 +0000 UTC]

I've never heard of this book series before. I might just take a look into it.

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EgilSterkr [2012-12-11 11:58:45 +0000 UTC]

Amazing!

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keelerleah In reply to EgilSterkr [2012-12-12 01:12:42 +0000 UTC]

Thank you!

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EgilSterkr In reply to keelerleah [2012-12-12 17:01:40 +0000 UTC]

Welcome my friend!

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CreeppingDeath [2012-12-10 05:27:33 +0000 UTC]

amazing illustration

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chaoticangel91 [2012-12-01 01:10:57 +0000 UTC]

I love this series!! .... I really should reread those books at some point...

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Adeptuschematicus [2012-11-27 00:38:52 +0000 UTC]

Well, he didn't really quite die, did he? He was still slightly alive when Allanon's shade carried him into the lake under Castledown.

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Kelvari [2012-11-07 08:10:27 +0000 UTC]

Nowhere near enough Shannara fan-art out there. Always good to see another glimpse into Terry's world.

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AllanonBoh [2012-10-21 17:45:35 +0000 UTC]

Is this available for download? I'd like to make it a poster in my room

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wmfinnigan [2012-10-09 00:41:24 +0000 UTC]

Well done, I also liked the Walker Boh character and was disappointed in how he fared in the following series as a druid.

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Konflagration [2012-09-26 13:58:42 +0000 UTC]

There is such a lack of great fan art for this series. Well done! The best shannara fan art ive seen!

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Jairn8 [2012-09-18 16:20:19 +0000 UTC]

I just met terry Brooks. I am huge Shannara fan. Thanks for treating Walker with respect.

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RoherynArgo [2012-09-12 03:07:43 +0000 UTC]

I LOVE this pic! Walker has always been my favorite Shannara character and your painting is exactly how I always pictured him!

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Fairytwister [2012-08-12 16:23:42 +0000 UTC]

You know, Terry Brooks loves to kill off characters... after reading the first trilogy I knew every trilogy would mean saying goodbye to characters and I kind of ended up not attaching to any of them anymore :/

Glad to see a fellow Brooks fan though! That's so cool.

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elisetales [2012-08-05 13:56:02 +0000 UTC]

Seeing this picture has made me want to read the book, but perhaps I should have refrained from reading your commentary seeing as now I know this character dies.

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Rovvario [2012-08-02 12:40:34 +0000 UTC]

Really awesome work and it really captures his persona! Walker Boh has become my number one idol, though it is very sad that there is almost no art from the Shannara series here on deviant art.

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TheHighPhilosopher [2012-07-31 15:37:36 +0000 UTC]

I seem to be perplexed by how you can capture something so.. easily. Expressions for one, but the mood in the picture is overwhelming!
I really love this one.. I hope you would not mind if I used it as a desktop picture?

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Enoa79 [2012-07-26 17:00:56 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful work. Very well done.

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Maris87 [2012-07-09 16:04:18 +0000 UTC]

Awesome picture! And you captured the moment of a great story

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KaanaMoonshadow [2012-06-29 12:00:22 +0000 UTC]

You did a great job in catching the emotions you were after, and I really like the POV!

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LouieLovell [2012-06-22 09:55:39 +0000 UTC]

Hooray, more Shannara fan art! There really isn't enough of it which surprises me since the books are so fantabulous.

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Apocalipty [2012-06-21 01:43:56 +0000 UTC]

Absolutely perfect... I wish I could get bigger version of this, to use it as a wallpaper and look at it all the time.

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littlegoblet [2012-06-16 05:18:21 +0000 UTC]

lovely picture buddy, I love how his clothes flow in the wind. The angle makes this picture interesing to look at too. I like how you did the castle in the background, it shows that you must have a very good understanding with drawing perspective. something that I have always struggled with.

I get emotional about lots of character who die in games and movies hee hee yeah pathetic I know.

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Nightshade36 [2012-06-15 05:44:33 +0000 UTC]

I'm really happy to see such lovely Shannara inspired work! I was actually looking for moor cat art, and found this! <3 You should do moooorrrreee!!

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Nightshade36 [2012-06-15 05:43:50 +0000 UTC]

Im really happy to see such lovely art of Shannara work! I was actually looking for art of the moor cat and found this <3

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cocoawolf29 [2012-06-15 05:22:13 +0000 UTC]

I only had to see one of your pieces to hit the watch button

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Xelgot [2012-06-12 08:16:36 +0000 UTC]

splendid, simple amazing, good job

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walker-glassmire [2012-06-11 04:01:10 +0000 UTC]

Lovely. Is wonderful that someone is doing Shannara art, and my favorite character to boot.

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Llyanna [2012-06-10 16:34:22 +0000 UTC]

Love Walker_Boh. Very nice.

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Testament7 [2012-06-08 11:16:12 +0000 UTC]

I also really enjoyed this series. It is an amazing tale to read, but for me it was Allanon who was my favorite character of the series. Walker was a definite second though. When his time in the stories had come to an "end" I was definately shaken by his passing just like you were with Walker. I can not fully explain it but it could just be the removed nature of the characters and their continued stance to watch over and protect the people that interests me. They sacrifice so much of themselves for the sake of others. I can't leave out the sheer strength of power they each wield also but even in acquiring those talents, there was a exceptional measure of loss that spoke volumes of the characters themselves. Great artwork. Maybe I will bring myself to do an Allanon piece to do him justice as well.

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