Happily Never After

These are the final inks for the first of three images I am doing for the 'Happily Never After' show, which could also be called Forgotten Realms, Untold Fables, or something else ... who knows?

The theme is 'forgotten or lesser known fairy tales' and I am doing some very obscure Arabian Nights stories, in particular, a group of three stories which are told as one, in which, in every case, a human is turned into an animal. They don't all end as horribly as this one, in which an innocent woman is turned into a cow to be slaughtered by a servant who knows its her but for some reason just does as he is told. It's actually a small part of the story, and is told through second hand account, but it seemed like it could be a cool image, full of questions, if it wasn't explained, which is what I wanted. I saw no point in telling the whole story, and I don't have time for that either.

I also like that it has a wierd 'pro-vegetarian' vibe, as I kind of try to focus on the fear in the cow's eyes and the reluctance of the butcher. I'm not vegetarian at all, but I totally dig The Smiths.

I'll get on the colouring tomorrow.

Sequence

This is the sequence so far, without any words. i am essentially just uploading this so I can have a smaller file size ready online to post elsewhere.

Two more pages.

Because these pages were not in my original layout, they have a bit of a haphazard aspect to them, which I don't mind. I wonder if I can maintain continuity and yet, not give such minor characters (the girl and the old man who throws her into the bedroom both only had one page, now they have four) major character attention. I say this because in DC or Marvel, or even a lot of Japanese manga, the storytelling is at times very elliptical, side characters or 'regular' people usually pass in and out very quickly, usually to make a point about the main character, and less to express any character themselves.

Anyway, as a result of my giving these minor characters a couple extra pages, the process was very difficult, and I some very aggravating obstacles on the way. I tried, at the last moment, to convey more pathos than spatial or narrative continuity between frames. The narrative in these pages is really meant to be carried by more by the internal dialogue, especially from the main character whose face we see a bit more of. Things are a bit more fragmented, reduced to a series of emotional notes, hopefully.