(Firelock Fantasy) Dip Pens, continued

More fun with a dip pen. I'm getting a little better at these; for starters, I stopped spilling blobs of ink off the nib onto nearly-finished pieces. Compared to the first lupar I drew last month, I've eased off on thick outlines, probably by fineliner habit. I'll do some more with those in the future.

The first drawing is of a "herald" construct, dating from the time of the Master Brain's rule. All constructs, then, were imperial middlemen: receiving, in some way, the Brain's directives, and executing them or ensuring they were carried out by the human population. The Brain itself could not directly issue orders to humans without risking severe brain damage. (I imagine that there was a class of martyr-priests, in the dimmest past, that with great losses disseminated its words until the first construct kilns were assembled.)

To carry the Brain's directives far beyond its lands (i.e. to function in an ambassadorial role), the herald is equipped with a set of primitive radiotelegraphy equipment: a signature feature of Rygos in this era. She carries an antenna "lance" with a protective metal lattice (patterned after early 20th century naval cage masts). This is connected to her skull by a cable bundle designed to imitate flowing hair (for, like any other construct, she is hairless). The rest of her costume is entirely ceremonial, as she is a non-combat construct.

This was a taller piece than that which I usually draw: about 8 inches tall on the paper versus 4-5. That gave me a lot more breathing room with which to hatch. On the flipside, I think the hatching on her dress was poorly handled and rather too forceful. The impression created is that her torso is considerably longer than it actually is.

The second drawing is of another lupar warrior: this time, a rank-and-file shield-biter instead of the skirmisher from last time. He carries a one-handed, forward-curving sword, a Gallic hexagonal shield (decorated with the royal hamecon--although a symbol of the Wolf-King, one commonly used by clan warriors to show their ostensible allegiance to their monarch), and in his shield hand a pistol. Likely this is attached to his wrist or neck by a rope so that he can let go of it after having fired. His sole protection is a helmet, with the shield covering the rest of his bare torso.

The shield was hard to figure out. I needed an angle that wouldn't completely block his vision, but which would leave him minimally exposed. Even still, it leaves a little of his left shoulder open. (I'd considered an asymmetrical shield, but the Celtic oval, pill or hexagon-shape was too good to pass up.) It's not easily visible from this forward angle, but I figure his head is almost flattened to his chest, protecting his neck.

I dispensed with any patterns on his pants for this one for clarity's sake. It reads well enough, but I didn't like losing that detail. I'll experiment more with retaining that without compromising on visual clarity.