The lord Praetor has been the most challenging of the characters to create so far. I have never been a fan of one-dimensional bad guys with simple world domination madness. I believe storytelling becomes truthful when the evil (or better said, Antagonist) in the story has a point of view and a true belief system. There are catalyzing events and moments that make characters heroic or malevolant. The Lord Praetor is just such a layered, brilliant and fanatical soul. He has been alive longer than any human on the planet as the original recipient of the Aether of others. His wealth is a fortune beyond the size of any government's and he believes in the supremecy and stability of the governance that flows from the Royales.
In this portrait, the opulance of his accumulated wealth and empire seem indistinguishable from the man himself. Each flows into the other.
Though he knows of the many horrible abominations that have sprung up amongst the ultra rich, he believes these are acceptable given the stability that has reigned for hundreds of years under his rule.
Steampunk Lord Praetor
Here's a close up where you can see the glow from the Aether that masks the pupils. I had a lot of fun with his glasses. There is a torc that runs around the back of his head under his hair to allow for no nose bridge.
Lord Praetor close up
I'll be posting the "making of" video in a bit so check back.
The vast, compacted slums of Travaille have been expanding as more and more of the population have become paupers. It is a dark and labyrinthian place where the bones and bowels of industry trespass blindly into the desperately poor makeshift dwellings of those who live here. As you would expect, down here there is little police presence and for that reason, the Royales, the ultra rich, frequent the brothels and illegal places looking for "entertainment" to break the monotony of their preternaturally long lives. There are those here who specialize in their terrible pleasures and if they go too far...few notice when a resident disappears.
This image shows one of the hundreds of multi-layered alleys with their connecting walkways and open flame torches burning off the ever present bi-products of industry. One of the more ancient of the Royales is descending on the right. A few of the Royales have absorbed so much Aether that they can do humanly impossible things like fly.
There is more work to be done on this image but it's far enough along to post and then update as I go (so check back).
Here is the "making of" video. I've included some text to talk about how the art informs the narrative process and vice versa. For me, being an artist and a writer, it is a key part of my process.
