🥀Just Redwall Stuff🗡

Commission for @lostmousemaid of her Redwall mouse character Lottie. She likes wandering the woodlands collecting mushrooms.

July 22nd: breakfasted on a lovely array of fresh strawberries and goat’s cheese with honey, oat cakes and barley porridge. For luncheon we feasted on a catch of smoked trout, vegetable stew, and of course a couple of flagons of October Ale

So I come from a long (like since 2003) history of doing Artist Alleys, so I Know How To Get Stuff Made. This is both wonderful, and terrible.

I wanna make stickers for myself, but I'm still deciding on which colors. SO, y'all get to see the in-process version.

"Redwall: Descent Into The Mushroom Forest"

"Redwall Feast"

Abbot Dycus leads the weary warrior mouse and his badger companion down to the Cavern Hole, where luck has it the springtide feast is currently being prepared.

A couple prototype minifigures from the upcoming Rocky Mountain Minifigs woodland creatures 6-figure initial release.

Planned figures:

Dark Tan Abbey Mouse with Sword

Orange Abbey Mouse with Sling

Long Patrol Hare Officer with Spear

Long Patrol Hare Soldier with Spear

Corsair Rat with Cutlass

But, hopping back to Mossflower, he’s a virginal hero-knight, kindly but aloof compared to the more involved Gonff. Back further to Martin the Warrior, his relationship with Rose is beyond kids’-book chaste. I can’t even remember if it’s canonically a romance or just by implication.

Some of that may be the Christian influence, Martin as Galahad or a Christ-figure, unsullied by earthly desires. Kid me remembered it more as an abortion or stunting of his role in the story. He’s the hero. He’s supposed to win the day, get the girl, settle down, have a brood. Instead, Jacques takes care to show him as a person missing something. He’s incomplete.

At least, that's how it felt then. Now, I can honestly say the life of Martin--all tragedies included--is one of my favorite things about the series.

So much of human experience deals with children, desire for children, societal expectations for children--and I get it, the species has the survive somehow, and it's pushed by more than sex drive.

However, that same human experience is so much more nuanced than biology. The legacy of children is a beautiful one for sure, but beyond a few generations the actions, impact, and connection of a mortal parent is lost. Martin's legacy is even stronger: he's a spiritual father to everyone who lived in his Abbey, for untold generations.

And this is where we come back again to Brian's religious influence: Martin is absolutely a Christ figure, and is intended to take on that "heavenly father" role. (This is a whole other topic--to be clear now, I love this type of character despite not being religious myself.)

His life is filled with burden and loss and death and although he lost a traditional life, he gained an eternity seated in honor in his sandstone home. I don't feel Martin has lost anything by being a mentor. In the end, I think the most powerful role parents play are as mentors as well.

I could wax lyrical forever, but I'll wrap up:

Another one of my favorite things about Redwall is the emphasis on found family. The communities we build around ourselves who love, support, and nurture us--whether we have a biological family or not. There is something absolutely magical about found families, because what isn't magical about someone loving you to the core of your being even though they weren't bound by blood or sexual desire? It's so wonderful.

In sum, Martin has a family: he found them, and they found him, and they love him unconditionally as he does in return. His natural habitat is community, he's welcome into many homes, he arrived just in time to save and nurture a nation, and he was solidified as a hero and honorary father until the end of Redwall's days.

Commissions for @lostmousemaid

She liked one of my Inktober sketches and wanted something similar as a possible tattoo design.

She’s still not sure if she’ll get one, but I liked working on these all the same.

Art © me.

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Commission guidelines and prices: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/alexjohnson93/

Commission for @OwlsCantRead of his friend's old Redwall character.

It's sort of a surprise, so I won't reveal who exactly he is here.

Anyway, I had fun with this one.

Art © me.

Character © his respective owner.

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Commission guidelines and prices: https://www.furaffinity.net/commissions/alexjohnson93/