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March 20, 2007
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:iconsilversaff:
My dear, dear Vlad, who I hinted I would have to draw. Best Assassin in the universe. (Well, aside from Mario....)

And where he goes, so does Loiosh! (Can't you just hear the snide comment?)

And though it's a bit of a stretch, he carries Godslayer. (Issola, my friends!) She's ornate, because he loves her. Otherwise, pretend it used to be a simple dagger. Another stretch for the fact I did not include the phoenix stones around his neck...and he's dressed for town in Jhereg colors. And, no Rocza, because I thought she'd overweight the picture, since she's larger. So pretend!
(...Maybe he just got back from Valabar's?)

The book covers featuring Vlad always frustrated me, for lacking the greatest detail about Vlad... his mustache! (And hairy chest...) How else does he separate himself from the Dragaerans (elfs, as his dear grandfather puts it)?

The characters are left a bit up to the imagination. Which is wonderful! But... makes it hard to detail when drawing. So I foraged along with what I could scrounge, and Loiosh shows the most of the fudging. Interesting anyway, and he's that color, because that's the house's color, and that's likely why they chose it. Gray.:)

My favorite Vlad quote ever, quoting his grandfather:
"Simple things are never problems...Unfortunate, maybe, but if it isn't complicated, it isn't really a problem."

And hopefully I've surmounted this little problem. I like it. Suitably roguish. Hence, the soft pimpish feathered hat. Vlad could easily use a hat like that to help conceal exact features.

Gray is probably one of the hardest colors to deal with, without making something seem totally bland. I hope I hopped that hurdle too.

Lastly, I would like to thank Steven Brust for writing those novels, it always provides me with a laugh, and I adore the series, eagerly awaiting more!

READ: Jhereg by Steven Brust (And all the rest! Phoenix Guards too! ...I might should have to draw that quartet next! WOOT!)

EDIT:
Vlad was moved to "25. Trouble Lurking" because I came up with a different "Mischief" (#72) on my 100-year-long-challenge thing in my Journal.


EDIT FURTHER:
Please read this [link]
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:iconchisaicho:
Mood: Love ~ChisaiCho Aug 13, 2011  Hobbyist General Artist
oh wow. i am so LOVING the fan art of vlad on DA! >.<
simply amazing. i had trouble picturing him with a mustache,so this kinda helps. :D

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holy CRINKLE life is so kawaiidesudesuNYAardisukhdsjkfdFFFUUUUUU
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:iconsilversaff:
*Silversaff Aug 18, 2011
While Brust says the jhereg is all wrong in this, I think this piece is one of the best to show "Vlad".

[link]
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:iconchisaicho:
~ChisaiCho Aug 19, 2011  Hobbyist General Artist
:O you're soo lucky having him look at and criticise (omg forgot how to spell it) your work!

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holy CRINKLE life is so kawaiidesudesuNYAardisukhdsjkfdFFFUUUUUU
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:iconcougarmadcat:
~Cougarmadcat Jun 27, 2009  Hobbyist General Artist
Lovely work. I adore your depiction of Vlad. Very devious looking with a hint of amused sarcasm.

--
My Forum RPGs
DA:AE - [link]
Cosima - [link]
NWN - [link]
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:iconsilversaff:
*Silversaff Jun 27, 2009
Thank you, I did work for just that particular emotional quality in the image! I updated the Jhereg, as per the information I received from Brust as to his perception of the creature when I was working on the Cycle for his book... Find it here: [link]

:)
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:iconcougarmadcat:
~Cougarmadcat Jun 27, 2009  Hobbyist General Artist
You did the work directly for Brust? Nice. I've read most of the Jhereg series up to 2001 and missed a few. Anything with Vlad Taltos and especially Loiosh interests me. He chose well for an artist.

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My Forum RPGs
DA:AE - [link]
Cosima - [link]
NWN - [link]
Reply
:iconsilversaff:
*Silversaff Jun 27, 2009
Well, this piece was for my own pleasure, a fan art, if you will. Another piece: [link] Brust requested from me to replace the Cycle poem at the beginning of the novels. (That was published in this last one, Jhegaala.) After I hammered out what all those critters looked like with him (at the time he didn't even really know), I 'fixed' this one after I saw what he thought Jheregs looked like. He uses this piece on his profile on Neverwinter Nights as his avatar.
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:iconcougarmadcat:
~Cougarmadcat Jul 1, 2009  Hobbyist General Artist
Jhegaala is the latest one I'm reading. I noticed the wheel in the front of the book and was happy to see it. It is nice to "meet" the person who did it. That must have been quite the chore getting the exact look for each of them.

He's on the NWN forums? Interesting.

So how did you get to doing images for writers? There has to be a story there :)

--
My Forum RPGs
DA:AE - [link]
Cosima - [link]
NWN - [link]
Reply
:iconsilversaff:
*Silversaff Jul 1, 2009
Oh.. was it ever a chore. In my gallery, you can see some 'Evolutions', of trying to get what he was aiming at. He'd say something like, 'No, I see the head as smaller', and I'd have to test some different ways of doing it. In a couple of cases, he picked the one I hated the absolute most. Or, he had NO idea what a thing looked like, and I had to just...make something and see if it matched. But hey, that's the chore of trying to make people's imaginations come to life!

As for how that came to be, it was pretty simple. I found he had an email address off his webpage. I sent him the Vlad piece, telling him how I enjoyed his work. I did the Dagger and Sword piece, and then he goes, 'Hey, wanna do something for me?'. Pretty much, I said, 'Oh hell yah.' That part, and getting it published, was all wonderful.

I did learn a lot from this project. Some of it bad, sadly. Always, always, have a contract. The aftermath got messy and I have trouble with my love from this point, but it's my baby, never the less.:) Birthing pains and all.
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:iconcougarmadcat:
~Cougarmadcat Aug 1, 2009  Hobbyist General Artist
I noticed the earlier versions and it all looks good. It is quite a big deal trying to get something to look like someone envisions, especially when their vision isn't complete.

Really? That's exciting. I think I'd almost have a heart attack if an author or someone in the public's eye asked me to do work for them.

I learned about contracts long ago, just after my first couple years of college. I did a logo for a company, a few different versions, and the guys who contracted me for it stole it and used it. Because I kept no proof of ever making it there was no way I could do anything about it.

You should be proud of it. I think you did a very good job!

--
My Forum RPGs
DA:AE - [link]
Cosima - [link]
NWN - [link]
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