Duel of Ages 2 Artwork

[KatG]

I like the Arab fighter the best of this lot, I think. The Warrior Woman is kind of funky. She has all this padding in her armor around the shoulders, etc., so that her head is kind of shrinking into it.

[Radthorne]

One of the other armor sets I used was the more form-fitting (and more revealing) type that I usually use, but he decided that was too pin-up like, and he wanted a more realistic look. And so the real armor ends up looking rather top heavy, because it's kinda shaped like a barrel...

[Radthorne]

Here's a rather generic character, an American football player. Tomorrow, though, a more interesting set of three somewhat nasty sisters...

[Hereford Eye]

Three questions:
(1) Is this for the game?
(2) What is the horizontal yellow line for?
(3) Don't most players wear their shoulder pads under the uniform?

[Radthorne]

1) Yes.
2) I believe it's supposed to be a part of a goal post. But I was supplied with the background to use for this one, so I can't say for sure.
3) Yes, but this was the only football clothing set available. Not sure why it was modeled this way; perhaps it was too hard to create a workable shirt on top of the pads that didn't look weird, or something. But clearly, with the team numbers and stuff on the gear, they intended the pads to be shown on top like this. Go figure.

[Hereford Eye]

One other delicate kind of question: shouldn't he be wearing a cup?

[Radthorne]

Hey, he's a tough guy! If the babes can get away with wearing armor that covers practically nothing, I think this guy can handle it.

[Hereford Eye]

You're pretty cavalier with someone else's jewels!
Remind me not be a character in one of your stories.

[Radthorne]

You're pretty cavalier with someone else's jewels!
Remind me not be a character in one of your stories.

I think you already were. Although I did not know you at the time I wrote him, I think you must be Ryori, the cook from the first story. Like him, you are frequently irreverent but also deftly conceal a much greater depth of personality than you let on to others...

As promised, here is my set of three sisters: Olessa, Onyra, and Ophelia. One is a haughty aristocrat, the next a schemer, and the last somewhat naive yet still a very determined lass. The publisher actually had a set of three images he really wanted, but wasn't able to reach terms with the artist in question. So he asked me to create three similar images. I didn't want to match them exactly, of course, but set out to capture the flavor of the emotion that each conveyed. Since they were a set of sisters, I also wanted to tie them together with somewhat related backgrounds.

[Hereford Eye]

That's pretty cheeky to put me into a story before you meet me but you fantasists are all like that. Where science fiction writers predict the future, fanasy writers just make up their own and then watch it come true.

I like the pictures. There is a relationship that comes through nicely. My question for today is: What is it with index fingers? They always seem to lift themselves in noticeability. I suppose it's a better gesture than the middle finger but think what that would have done for the haughty young woman.

[KatG]

I think you must be Ryori, the cook from the first story.

Oh my goodness, there is a resemblance, isn't there.

These three are okay. I like the steampunk look to the third one.

[Radthorne]

Here's a couple more. The first one is "Amanda Pierce." She is intended to be a sort of real-world Lara Croft, although looking very different and with a different, meaner attitude. Both her parents were killed in front of her and she herself was grazed by one of the bullets, leaving a scar on her face.

This one is called "Marley Pierce" and the fellow is an 1880's tinkerer who comes up with spy gadgets. It was not specifically steampunk but I borrowed a few elements for that.

[Hereford Eye]

Both very nice compositions, Rad. He may be your best male yet.
However - and you just knew there'd be a however after comparing me to a character in your first book * - consider the scar on her cheek. The assasin was floating high above her to her right or he was on the ground on her left side firing upwards or it was bullet nearing the end of its flight and obeying gravity at last or it was a lazy bullet lacking the inclinatin to flight straight and true. If you called it a dueling scar it would make more sense.
If you took the scar from the edge of mouth and ran it back to the ear you would have the makings of a female Joker. You would also have a person who would attract attention, consideration, and caution as well as a peson sporting a scar inflicted by a bullet.

* OTOH, this could mean I have attained iconic status and am now able to serve as a stereotype.

[Radthorne]

I did know, of course, that there would be a however. And I knew it would be regarding the scar. But you are assuming, of course, that she was facing the person firing the bullet, and that it would therefore have grazed her cheek in fashion to which you refer. But if one considers that people might not stand calmly facing their attacker but be dodging away, holding their hands up in front of them (regardless of effectiveness), etc. then one might conclude that their bodies could have been in any manner of position when struck by said bullet.

Or one could subscribe to the theory that the scar I had available only went in that direction. You can use whichever theory best suits your mood.

[KatG]

It does look a bit more like a blade scar than a bullet one, but I like it. And the dude too; he's great, I agree. How many more left do you have to do?