Excerpt from Emily's correspondence with CRICKET

The Sleeping Strongarm

I thought a little vignette would work well for this one, so I tried that for #1 and #2. I really love #1, where the Strongarm is singing with the birds. Reading the story, I felt like the Strongarms have a strong connection with nature and magic, so I wanted to have them interacting with other creatures in this picture.

Urrt Lifts a Wagon

On this piece I mostly focused on the wagon, but I did try one from the same passage where he's listening to Cymbril's last songs. I'm not sure if I have a favorite here. #2 shows the environment well, and #3 is a fun perspective to emphasize the action. If a vertical format is possible, I think #4 would be the best; it would be like #3, but a little less extreme and the elements could all fit without squeezing them in. For #5 I was going for a top-down perspective of Urrt lifting the farmers, but I think the perspective could be tough to pull off.

Loric and Cymbril

Here are Loric and Cymbril in Loric's chamber. I've been dying to do a portrait of Loric, so this illustration gives me a great chance! I added more storage stuff and put Loric against a wall so his shadow is cast onto it. I think it has a lot more interest than the original thumbnail. I plan on having a nice shaft of light coming in and illuminating most of Loric, hitting the wall next to him with much of the rest of the background fading into darkness.

Loric Drawn Older

On Loric, I made his jaw a bit more angular, shrunk his eyes just a bit, added a few hints of muscle on his chest and forearms, and broadened his shoulders. I think he looks a little older now, and, now that Cymbril is much farther from him and closer to the viewer, he doesn't look as small.

(back to Emily)