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phalene — Titus Groan p8, draft

Published: 2010-09-18 01:36:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 344; Favourites: 0; Downloads: 4
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Description When he had at last reached the door the handle had ceased to vibrate. Lowering himself suddenly to his knees he was able by dint of concentration to observe, within three inches of his keyholed eye, an eye which was not his, being not only a different colour to his own iron marble but being, which is more convincing, on the other side of the door. This third eye which was going through the same performance as as the one belonging to Rottcodd, belonged to Flay, the taciturn servant of Sepulchrave, Earl of Gormenghast. For Flay to be four rooms horizontally or one floor vertically away from his lordship was a rare enough thing in the castle. For him to be absent at all from his master's side was abnormal, yet here apparently on this stifling summer afternoon was the eye of Mr Flay at the outer keyhole of the Hall of the Bright Carvings, and presumably the rest of Mr Flay was joined on behind it. On mutual recognition the eyes withdrew simultaneously and the brass doorknob rattled again in the grip of the visitor's hand. Rottcodd turned the key in the lock and the door opened slowly.
Mr Flay appeared to clutter up the doorway as he stood revealed, his arms folded, surveying the smaller man before him in an expressionless way. It did not look as though such a bony face as his could give normal utterance, but rather that instead of sounds, something more brittle, more ancient, something dryer would emerge, something perhaps more in the nature of a splinter or a fragment of stone. Nevertheless, the harsh lips parted. 'It's me,' he said, and took a step forward into the room, his knee joints cracking as he did so.
(-- Mervyn Peake, "Titus Groan, ch.1: The Hall of the Bright Carvings")

This is the draft for the "The Hall of The Bright Carvings" - I only completed 7 coloured pages but I'd roughly drafted the whole first chapter...I'm not sure when I'll get time to develop more finished pages, so I'm posting the plan in it's entirety.
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Comments: 3

Androidpaintsmonkeyz [2010-09-21 03:31:53 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you're continuing this, I loved the first part of this that was colored--you almost inspired me to have a go at it! However, I doubt I could ever really capture such a feel/look such as your own! You're very talented :]

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phalene In reply to Androidpaintsmonkeyz [2010-09-24 11:33:50 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much, I'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far! I'm done with it for now as I have some other projects to work on, but I would definitely come back to it, to work on a more finished version. Peake is just so much fun. You're too kind, I loved the Fuschia drawing in your gallery

I would love to see you draw some Gormenghast - that gives me an idea...kind of a long shot, but... imagine asking different artists to draw different chapters in their own style? What do you think? - I have a friend who seems to be working on a Titus Groan project too, you see.

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Androidpaintsmonkeyz In reply to phalene [2010-09-28 05:13:15 +0000 UTC]

Well, I've noticed your finished piece, and it struck me as having such a certain; unique quality. I loved the sketches of Sephulcrave, one in particular; which he is given a certain greenish-blue hue. It seemed to really empahize the melancholy look. Plus his facial features are just how I imagined them to be.

I, too, would like to work on more Gormenghast material. I've been working on the Prune and Nanny Slagg. I've always found her so heartbreakingly adorable, and yet; what an inferiority complex! Poor thing! Her relationship with Fuchsia was so cute.

Your idea of having different artists drawing certain chapters involving the Gormenghast books seems like a pretty neat plan to me! How would one go about circulating it though?

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