Darkheather Model pt.3
Over the last few weeks I have been sharing photos and info about the models I built to help me design, visualize, and draw Darkheather in Winter 1152 (pt1, pt2).This week I'm showing the location of one of the most emotinally important scenes in Winter 1152. Once Saxon climbs down the pile of bones in the bone chamber, he finds a maze of prisons...or at least, that was my intent. I tried to come up with an idea for the shapes and designs of the prisons beyond the chamber, where Saxon ultimately has a very emotional discovery, but with little success.


In one of those magic moments as I was going to sleep (or waking up, I don't recall which it was now) I envisioned a floorplan that would resemble a repeating design like the tilework of the weasels'. It would start with a hexagonal hub that leads out to triangular columns and stone archways repeating the shapes from the bone chamber to connect it all. This image with digital help over-top a photo of the model you can see that even though the geometry isn't perfect, you can imagine the floorplan repeating all around the bone chamber.

The model itself started with the hexagonal center and the six triangular columns from my half dreaming floorplan idea with archway pieces cut with a stencil many, many, many times over to be used as connecting pieces between the columns. I wasn't as precise as I should have been, and the bristol had more flex that I wished, so the model became unsymmetrical and warped as I built. The wood strapping accross the tops of the arches were glued on in hopes of correcting that as much as possible. At the bottom of this photo you can see I tried to match the shape and angles of the entry archways from the bone room.


These prisons are only seen for a few brief pages in Winter 1152, and I may have over thought the design of the prison, but when my mind was blank, I thought I'd have the quickest and best success for design by assembling a model. This way if I ever need to revisit this or any other Darkheather location, I can dust off the model and get the characters right back in there. To the right you can see a few panels of Saxon's journey through there.


Fan Art:
Morgan Bilicki (who, with her friends, sent in painted fan art previously) recently emailed a photo of her knit fan art. She writes: "I'm a knitter, so it was only a matter of time before I made my own mouse with yarn. I designed the pattern myself and knitted him up. So, here's Kenzie of the Mouse Guard"







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2011:
New York Comic Con: Oct. 13-16
2012
London Super Con: Feb 25-26

Emerald City: March 30-April 1

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