The Man Who Wasn’t There
Last time, I introduced you to the ‘cheeky so and so’ spirit of Cas’shya. Today, I want to show you the other side of the coin.
Meet Elias.
If Cas’shya is all about skeptical, forward-moving energy, Elias is a man defined by his past. He is the historian from Chapter 1, and this illustration captures him in a pivotal moment: aboard the ship, just after he has sacrificed his entire world.
(Read here to find out more)
The Strings Of Us
Welcome, friends, to a new entry in the atlas that is my serial novel. Today we begin our journey in earnest with Chapter One of my serialized story, The Strings Of Us. Here, we’ll meet our protagonist in their natural habitat, exploring the contours of a life that is about to be irrevocably changed.
This sketch is from a specific scene in the story. He’s supposed to be in a briefing, but as you can see, he’s not really there. His demeanor is vacant, his eyes are glazed over. He’s a ghost at the feast, a man completely lost in his own profound, world-ending grief.
On Designing a Broken Heart
Like the Cas’shya sketch, this is about using simple details to tell a story.
The Book and The Ring: Elias is bookish, almost to a fault. He often uses his studies as a shield to avoid the messy, complicated parts of life. Here, he’s clinging to a book, a familiar anchor of logic in a moment that defies all logic. But the more important object is the one you can just see around his neck: he wears his wedding ring on a chain, close to his heart. It’s a constant, physical reminder of the life he has just abandoned.
The Plant: This is one of my favorite details, and it’s not about Elias, but about the ship. You don’t expect to see abundant, thriving plant life on a starship. It’s a small visual clue that this isn’t just a tin can in space. The ship is a massive, moon-sized biome, an entire world unto itself, which only makes Elias’s isolation feel more profound.
This sketch, like the Cas’shya one, is an exploration, an attempt to find the wonder and the behind-the-scenes insights from the story. It’s a piece of the map, showing you not just the character, but the world he inhabits and the sorrow he carries.
A Question for you.
Elias is a man haunted by his choices, trying to find a way to live with an unbearable, self-inflicted loss. His grief makes him quiet, withdrawn, and bookish, easy to overlook, but full of a deep, still-burning heart.
I’m trying to make him feel as real as possible, and that’s where I’d love your insight as fellow explorers.
Do you know anyone like this? A person who carries a deep sadness with a quiet, bookish dignity? What are their real-life counterparts like, what makes them special, and what could I learn from them to round out Elias’s character even more?
I’m fascinated to hear your thoughts.
Check out my last concept art post below ⬇️
Don't Let the Cute Fool You
Meet Cash’ya. She's a brilliant historian, a bit of a skeptic, and the first character from the world of 'Strings of Us' to step onto the page. This is my first attempt to find her, and like any good exploration, the map is still being drawn. In this post, I want to share the inspiration behind her look and what I hope to convey with this art style.
The thought you put into this story, down to the very details of the characters' appearances and the aspects of the scenery, is incredible. Now I want the story, plus a graphic novel edition of it!
One thing I've written and seen in real life is when a person is reserved and doesn't want to be seen by the crowd, they hunch a lot. They physically "hide" any way they can. Elias holding the book in his hands, to me, seems like another way he is hiding. He's ignoring the terrifying realities around him just by holding something that grounds him to the familiar. So even if he isn't physically crooked, he looks feeble and frail. UGH, Elias has my heart and soul, honestly. I want nothing but the best for him 😭