Artwork

I consider myself primarily a writer, but sometimes I need to [procrastinate] flesh out a scene, character, or mood in a story and I turn to visual representations to clarify my intent [procrastinate some more]. Some artwork like "Nix" was inspired by a project (in this case an old poem) and others are direct representations of something from a story. Currently, I am working a lot with digital collages of "re-purposed" images from other publications. These are a hoot, since I often play with the "fantasy" found in ads for food, liquor, clothes, etc. and rework them into illustrations for actual fantasy stories. Just my little take on consumer culture.

You can click on the thumbnails below to open a new window with a larger image. If you had fun with this, you can visit my Elfwood gallery at www.elfwood.com. (Fantasy and SciFi Art Gallery # 734. There are lots of us artist wannabes out there; quite a few professionals on this site, too, which is a real treat. Well worth the visit! Do beware that the site goes down quite often, though, so you may need to try several times to get on.)

*PLUG* I do serious work, too! Know anyone who wants something digitally altered? Needs their innermost thoughts illustrated and put to sound and lights? Ok, even those who need a brochure or ad done? Direct their dollars my way! ;-)

All artwork, characters, and descriptions copyright 2005 by Narissa Kent Willever under the names of N.K. Willever, Solan Scott, or Nik Waters.

Click on the thumbnails to pull up a larger image.

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"Triskele" - This is a sort of cover art for my current big work, a fantasy novel inspired by Celtic mythology and the poetry of William Butler Yeats. This digital collage was re-drawn and re-purposed from fashion and liquor ads, with some clip art thrown in. The "standing stones" are actually doc pilings from the whiskey ad. Don't you think the result is kind of "spirit"ual? Heh. Characters, from left to right, are Aidan Lin mac Myrrha, Oriana Dylan, and Communitor Jared/Benefactor.

"Oriana's Dream" - Collage and watercolor. A visual character sketch for the main character of the fantasy novel. The collage represents an ambivalent and rifted psyche as a result of encounters with new terrors and temptations. This character is no longer a child but not ready to be a woman. She wants to dare to go her own way but keeps falling into the trap of passive acceptance. She is unsure whom to trust or what is expected of her. Her quest is not just the usual physical journey: she must also complete a journey of the soul in order to survive.

Character sketches done in Photoshop. Original models were taken from magazine ads.What blows me away is that these pics really look so close to the images in my head - it's not often that I can achieve that. I loved how each of the original models had some essential spark that reminded me of my characters' natures, as well as their physical attributes. Of course, I had to do quite a bit of tinkering with each of them to look like I wanted them to. For example (and I hope this doesn't kill the magic...) my portrait of Aidan started with a short-haired white guy in a suit drinking martinis with his babe; Oriana was a pouting brunette sporting a bunch of tacky charm jewelry and (I think) a pocketbook. And yet, that pouting fashionista was what started my desire to do actual portraits rather than just the scene and "psyche" collages I had done previously - I looked at that face and was just absolutely certain that it was Oriana looking back. (Though I must say, the lips really are too dark. O. wouldn't be caught dead wearing lipstick, but I left them as-is since when I lightened them she looked kinda dead... Not very promising for a fantasy adventure heroine...)

Characters are as follows: Oriana Dylan, Aidan Lin mac Myrrha, Benefactor, Caleb McPhearson/ Caion.

"Nix" - Oil pastel. This is a really old one, inspired by a poem and meditations on Greek mythology. What can I say other than the totally obvious? Yup, it's a giant hovering eyeball.

Here's my freehand version of Caion. This was my project to see if I could still draw. (I started with his portrait because he's by far the easiest.) Not ready to be doing fantasy covers yet, but not bad for my first color project since high school! I was glad to find I could still sort-of draw circles, if nothing else. The portrait was done in graphite and colored pencils, then retouched in Photoshop. Caion suffers from "life-in-death and death-in-life,"* so I wanted him to look grim and sickly. Note the nice ball-bearing eye. There is a reason for this in the story, really...

* W. B. Yeats, you dummy! Who else would I quote?

"Worshipers of the Sun". From my "Metamorphoses" phase in high school. I thought this one was cute, so I fiddled with it in Photoshop to make the swirly background. (My little sister was the model -pretty funny, given the title and her recent declaration of pride that she returned from Las Vegas as pale as ever!)

Colored pencil, retouched in Photoshop.

More from "Metamorphoses." This is a detail from a picture I did of Daphne and Apollo. Apollo sucked, so I cut him out. You can still see a paw of a river god reaching up in the lower right, and Apollo's hand clutching Daphne's stomach.

I must have wanted to be a tree back then...

Graphite.

More from "Metamorphoses." My version of a "Pan-handler." I think I thought this was pretty funny when I was in high school...

Charcoal.

This is still one of my favorites. When we were traveling through Maine one year, we drove forever and ever on dirt roads through clearcut land. We came upon this lone, spooky dead tree standing forbiddingly against the sky. The thought of it still gives me the creeps. Anyway, here is my fantasy version of the landscape, called "Tree in the Dead Land."

Charcoal.

This one was done way back in '89. I can't remember which goddess she is, but I was having fun with geometry. I called this one "Reclining Goddess: Lines and Curves."

Ink.