Monday, December 3, 2007

Oh My Grud!

These are some ball point pen sketches BJ made of three of the major Orishas in the Yoruba pantheon, Olorun, the Sky God, Olokun, Goddess of the Seas and Marshes, and Esu, the Trickster. They were done a little while back, and their designs have changed a wee bit since then, but these will most likely be at the back of the book in "making of" section, plus I felt like sharing since it's been a while. I've included a short excerpt from the novel's bible, though that's unlikely to be seen by anyone but myself really. It just gives a little background on these characters.


"At the birth of the universe were the twin consciousnesses Olorun, and his sister Olokun. For an age Olorun and Olokun were a balance with each other, until the birth of Esu, a child-like trickster who introduced an unstable element to the cosmic equation. A rift soon grew between Olorun and Olokun, thanks in no small part to the machinations of their younger sibling. This rift grew in emotional intensity till it became manifest in physical form. Within a single day the ether became sky and space and sea. Olorun became the keeper of the sky, Olokun dwelled in the murky seas, and Esu floated in the space between and paid both frequent visits to torment his brother and sister."

Okay, so that's it for now, I may fool around a bit with trying to color these images since BJ's still slacking off on getting some drawings done and instead seems to be consumed by "real work", pah! Also, I figure next time I might as well drop a synopsis for the first book since the script's pretty much done.

6 comments:

The pixter pod said...

Wow shooboo, I like the story...did you write that excerpt? Or is it really from a bible. Tell BJ I like his drawings, and I also like the coloring. Will you keep it as an old, worn look? I hope so. It is nice, especially if it is supposed to be accompanying the "genesis" of the Gods.

Shobo said...

Well thanks Erica! The text is from a story bible I wrote for the novel. A story bible is essentially a compilation of all the characters and the overall story arc for a written work. I don't think there's going to be a "genesis" section, if there is it'll be text only. I'm likely to use a mix between the worn look here and a full colored approach.

Shof Coker said...

I think the designs are great especially Esu whose expression and face are fantastic, however I think Olorun should lose the beard... it doesn't suit or reflect his character, and maybe a little less muscular too.

Shobo said...

Wait a minute, you don't even know Olorun's character! At least not how he appears in Orisha's. He's quite proactive once he gets started.

Afrobabe said...

Hmmm nice work and looks like a great story line..but me thinks Olorun looks a bit too white manish...or maybe with colour?

Shobo said...

afrobabe,

Possibly, I imagine that's because this particular incarnation owes quite a bit to the Zeus as he's traditionally depicted. That said, I understand BJ's altered the designs of all three characters somewhat over the last couple of months. Hopefully I'll have something more up to date to share soon.