ART CHALLENGE 1!

...the falconers of genghis khan are among the most sinister of his one thousand assassins. they are a quiet breed of hunter, preferring the silence and solitude of the vast mongolian steppe. skilled with knives and swords, spears and bows, the falconer's most dangerous asset is the near psychic connection he or she shares with their bird or 'hand'. with the merest flick of their wrist, death descends. it is impossible to hide from a falconer, and khan uses them appropriately to hunt deserters, slaves and even his enemies.

jai is the only daughter of yinra kot, and the only woman to have ever achieved the rank of falconer in kahn's service. to cross her path, is to step in death's shadow.

so my art challenge with friend and jedi master rick lacy began last week. the whole idea is to keep ourselves fresh and doing new things. the first topic of the challenge was a falconer serving under genghis khan. i banged out the prelim sketch fairly quickly, fully intent on a digital doodle to bring to the table at the end. but in the frenzy of packing for my cross country move...i'm ashamed to say i snapped my wacom pen in twain by sitting on it.

however, i had a great deal of fun drawing the marker version up. after the initial sketch i decided i'd much rather have jai in a more intriguing action pose. and recalling a tip rick gave me once (draw in ink, it'll loosen you up) i started working completely in pen and marker, pencils be damned!

definitely one of the most challenging things i've gotten to do, but also incredibly fun. i haven't busted out the old stuff in months it feels like so it was good to get back to the hand skills. my only regret is that i couldn't find my india ink, being that i think i packed it already. so 7 or 8 days from now...when i'm hopefully unpacked you will see entry 2 in our challenge.

and if you haven't already clicked on rick's link to look at his, go do it now. it's absolutely amazing. take special note of the seemingly carefree lines, brushed 'just so' onto the page with a kinetic energy that makes me gnash me teeth in delighted jealous agony.