Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Deryni Scholar Monk


There are at least two major timelines in Katherine Kurtz' "Deryni" books. They're both Medieval but one is about 300 years earlier than the other. To translate her fantasy time into  our own reckoning, the earlier timeline is in about the 1000's, and the later one is about the early 1300s. This scholarly gentleman is from the earlier timeline. He is not only a scholar and a monk, but a warrior knight as well, with no Crusade to fight. He needs to defend his magical Deryni race against the persecution of the non-magical majority. This task is done less with the sword than with influence, intrigue, and the occasional magical coercion spell. The character's name is Joram and he comes from a major Deryni noble family. He is a member of an order of monastic knights called the "Order of Saint Michael," similar to Knights Templar.

I depicted Joram perusing an ancient manuscript full of arcane lore. He isn't quite focused on the page; I think he is thinking through what he has just read with the hope that it could be a resource to stop the persecutions. The ragged left edge on this little drawing marks the irregular ends of lines of journal text.

Brown ink and watercolor on sketchbook page, around 4" x 6 1/2", May 1981.

1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Great illustration, it has a realistic feel and the penwork and color is perfect for it!