The Garden of Wonder
Continuing the story of Uendyr and his friends, in divergent quests.
Book 6 Cover Pages
Starting book 6 has been a long time coming. I planned it and drew the sketches many years ago, and there is much to cover. I will add more pages as I find the time.
Book 6 Title Page
I love maps, and have drawn many for this book, but hesitate to map what comes next, as I want to reveal it a bit at a time, have a healthy amount of mystery. But this one is looking back at the beginning, and does well to represent progress and structure to what has happened so far. Book 6 is past the middle, but represents some of the most important bits of the creative process.
This book is taking on lots of challenges, and reintroducing Uendyr and Mazardak, who were completely missing in the last chapter, as they were lost, far underground. I take the story and the characters to extremes, in the art style, and in the experiences. Many parts of this story continue to be inspired by dreams, though I seem to be getting older, and dreaming more about real life, real people and sometimes very strange things.
Enjoy Book 6, as I enjoy making it, over the next year . . .
Page 1 Deep Down
My method goes back and forward a bit, to match up with the style at the end of book 4, when we last saw these characters, plunged into darkness. I use illustrator, now on the ipad, and with pressure sensitive brushes, just in time! I have waited a LONG time for this! I also switched from Sketchbook Pro, which is now completely free, but not very supported, to Procreate for the ipad, which looks different, but handles layers and textures and type much better. Hopefully this will speed up my process.
I have been drawing the first 5 drawings simultaneously, rather than one at a time, as I am anxious to proceed in this very revealing look into the heart of the creative process.
Page 2 Dark Rescue
Getting in deeper and very purple. Looks like a crazy mouth and throat. You're following a creative trail, trying to find a solution in the darkness of ignorance, dealing with pride, confusion, and you might get a bit agitated. Keep going, and stay calm.
Page 3 Darkness and Light
Remember Ipheona, Maz's princess plant? I guess he didn't realize until it was very dark that he had a great source of light. Turn to what you already have first, to help you through the dark.
Page 4 Sir Radglock
Different kinds of determination down here. Maz is motivated to find his friend, and to explore with this purpose. Bog is motivated to help Maz find Uendyr, but knows this place is off the map, and care is needed. They like to mock each other, evidently. Radglock is like a giant ghost from the past, but he is also motivated to be helpful for strangers. Jesper is a mystery chicken.
Being creative, you will find places you've never been, and even the guides don't know much about it. Look for people who will help you anyway, even if no one knows where the goal is.
Page 5 Onward and Upward
Leaving the dark pit behind them, Radglock is taking them somewhere for answers and help. Littered with clues to the past, abandoned and unpopulated, this is a path seldom traveled, but loaded with hope and possibilities. Go in a direction with promise of success, if where you have been didn't lead to success.
Page 6 Late Arrival
Whatever this place is now, it is ruins from a place where people actually lived in comfort. They left it behind - and there is mysterious light here . . . the hoped for promise is paying off a bit.
Page 7 Historic Proportions
In book 5, there was an event where changes happened to Zendu and Trambite. This is that same moment, now happening to Maz and Bog, a sweeping change that is effecting them in drastic ways. Summagura is a tracker of history, and Bog is very impressed.
Page 8 Change Everywhere
Maybe changes are needed for going ahead, maybe change is always needed, even as it is uncomfortable to leave your familiar comforts behind. History holds every secret, but success is still ahead, in the future - learn to use history. I chose to change the style of this book, with a different drawing program, different looking characters, even a different color - for a moment. How far will the changes extend? These mean my sketches for the next several pages are out of date, as this was a sudden new direction. . .
Page 9 Looking Back
Summalistra the historian knows when and where to look for answers, and time travel is a fascinating way to look. I have had many dreams of a place like this, a green hillside covered with fancy mansions, each in it's own style and color. They usually have more space between them, and in the dream I take time wandering among them. Usually I see them lit in the night. I went to Italy this year, and this page is also inspired by the sense I felt in Venice and Florence, among mansions long left by their families, now museums for modern people to wander, trying to figure out what those people's lives were like.
Page 10 Time Reviewers
History is a wonderful thing. If it is recorded, then it can be inspected and searched. But it is also a vast past to search through, where much has been forgotten. Easy to get lost there. Look for the gems, the treasures of knowledge that lead to progress, and answered questions. Bring them to your NOW.
My son, who inspired Mazardak as a character, loves time travel movies, and has a certain one containing a DeLorean memorized. This egg is for him.
I love to read, but don't get much time to do it. That is a wonderful way to see different points of view, to travel in time. One reason why I created this book.
Page 11 Map Underneath
This page spread is another kind of leap. Summalistra is pushing them into the future, which is an insecure space. Maz and Bog appear up to the challenge, as any creative needs to be. It might get complicated, it might require digging or climbing, and it may get them dirty.
The map is low resolution to fit on this screen, so the map labels are not very readable. I created the maze in higher resolution, realizing it won't work in screen views, but taking on a challenge that I have wanted to try for years. . . a complex map maze. It will be higher resolution if it is ever printed, enabling readability.
This page is also a transition, to a different color scheme, and back into the dark, but equipped with a map to find further help. I love adventure, exploration, and historical connections. The labels are mostly little easter eggs, and fun scary or surprising things that represent the diversity found underneath the Isle Obscura.
Page 12 Prisoner of a Genius
Back to the story of U3ND4R, finally! The monster Hylodemus has him in his clutches, in his deep lair.
As a creative, you have to face people who are not like you, who have a very different point of view, and may know things you don't, or have a powerful position that makes you feel out of your depth. They have their priorities, and they may insist on your compliance to their will. Maybe they have advanced education, or personally pursue knowledge for competition and passion of learning.
How important is knowledge, compared with values, morals and caring about others?
Page 13 In His Face
Emotional intensity, in conflict, is not my strength to face, but as I am an emotional person, and I have faced these moments, if felt necessary to express the moment of challenge, as an argument. In many ways, Uendyr is me. Uendyr was told to face danger, and here he is stared in the face of a monster.
Keep cool, and reason it out. What is the goal, and how does your definition of the goal change your route, your methods, and what will you sacrifice?
Uendyr may be in a robot body, but even Hylodemus' genius can figure that Uendyr doesn't have a robotic mind. Something is underestimated here, and Uendyr hasn't been underground for as long as Hylodemus. Everybody needs fresh air, and fresh perspectives, to understand a situation accurately.
In this process of making the images as good as I can, I have been learning about colors of light, and colors of shadows, based on the light. Not my strength either, but I am willing to try.
Page 14 A Tight Fit
Now he's realizing his predicament.
He doesn't belong here, deep in the ground, lost.
He is alone, upside-down and stuck.
I've felt this way, metaphorically, of course. Rejected, mocked, alone, stuck. Creatively in a place that I need to find a way out of, or through. Time to not freak out, and think this through. He still has his head. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. When you hit the bottom, the only way to go is . . .
This has been a black and white sketch, waiting to be finished, for about 10 years. I wrote this segment with more personal passion from moments of angst and struggle, realizing that if you show creative efforts as simple and easy, you're naive or lying. Take lots of hope and skill with you, or it may be a dead end. Maybe also have a plan B.
June 1, 2024 Note
I was laid off a year and a half ago, as a graphic designer. In that time I have searched for a new role, without success. This page has new meaning for me. I started an LLC, Sproctacle Design, to do contract and freelance work, but it has not been enough, and I took a job as the custodian at a residential treatment campus, where my wife works.
My creativity has suffered, as my next pages have come very slowly, since my new labor is more tiring and almost entirely physical. I have lost weight, doubted myself, and I am feeling as stuck as if it is me, at that bottom of the crack, upside-down. I'm trying to refind myself, and struggling immensely. Coincidence that it happened now, with this page and event?
The next few pages have been made during this struggle.
Page 15 Return of Radalus
It feels like an empty place, when you're alone, and stuck. In that emptiness, you may reach out, emotionally, or spiritually. Maybe to someone you forgot, or ignored, or lost touch with. The imagination at that moment may not be your best friend. Your self doubt can mock you, but it may also reveal some extra option in the dark of decision and change.
Where one door shuts, another one opens? Close your eyes, and imagine hard, a better place. . .
Page 16 Paradise?
Down to earth, Uendyr feels more comfortable with a simple rolling grassland.
Simplifying and grounding, and thinking about who you are now, separate from the struggles and failures. Ruminate on what you care about, what your new purpose may be. Open up to change and think on your position mentally, before tackling that fearful challenge.
More to come, as I complete them. I hope you enjoyed this visual adventure!
