Infernal Art

It’s that time of year again: when I redraw the young, soon-to-be-king/usurper Robert Baratheon: the first of his name, King of the Andals and of the Rhoynar and of the First Men, yadda yadda yadda.

Please forgive the silly tournament shield. It was a contrived reason to show the Baratheon coat of arms and motto. Anyways, Robert doesn’t look to be heading into battle any time soon.

Every time I draw Robert, or more specifically his armor, I am left thinking about how I could improve, embellish or refine the way his character is depicted. Given a dozen more iterations, I might eventually get it. Until then, it’s a fun measure of how far I’ve come technically - as well as how much room I have for improvement.

For comparison’s sake, here’s the first drawing of Robert that I did back in 2011.

A while ago, I decided to watch the show Vikings. It’s an enjoyable, if sometimes silly/simplistic interpretation of Viking culture and early Medieval England.

Here is a selection of English kings that I have been working on:

Henry V

Richard I ‘Coeur de Lion’

William/Guillaume le Conquérant/Bâtard (depending on who you’re asking)

I've enjoyed Harry Potter for a while, but one of the areas that interested me the most has always been the founding and construction of Hogwarts as both school and castle. I love the idea of seeing the wizarding world during its magical heyday.

I know that J.K. Rowling is a fan of T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King', saying that Wart very much inspired Harry's humble origin as a boy destined for greatness.

With that in mind, I like the idea of the Medieval era of Harry Potter mingling with Arthurian legend. Contrary to what is actually written in the books and their supplementary text, I always imagined Merlin setting the four founders on their path to codifying the practice and education of magic in Britannia. Apparently in Harry Potter canon Merlin was a student at Hogwarts who was sorted into and studied under Salazar Slytherin... fair enough.

So here is my take on Goderick Lleweryr (I am probably butchering that Welsh) who would later become known as Goddard le Griffin D'Or - and ultimately be remembered as Godric Gryffindor.