Meta Moments

✿ This image was a gift to my friend Bez. Thank you Bez.

Occasionally I’ll join an “art trade” to change things up and break the repetition of working in one universe with one set of characters. Bez is a friend of mine and a talented artist, and so for Christmas we decided to produce secret works involving characters and places we don’t usually draw. There’s nothing more exciting as an artist than seeing through new eyes – that’s the magic of having someone illustrate your people and places.

My piece, finished today three days after Christmas, depicts the Vekllei crew encountering Valin and her aphis, a sort of canine-feline hybrid creature. The setting is based on photographs I took of where I grew up, amidst temperate rainforest on my property. Bez’s contribution is below. I love it.

I love the composition of it, it’s very optimistic. Very cute.

I like the attention to detail on Tzipora and the golden wattle on the right. Vekllei has wattle as canon – it doesn’t make much sense, but who cares? It’s too lovely to exclude from utopia. Bez also shared a preliminary sketch with me, seen below.

Bonus Tzipora with a bird. Bez likes birds.

Thank you Bez – let’s do it again sometime!