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Description
yet another WIP sketch of Nariko from Heavenly Sword (ps3)
She is one of my favorite characters and has this magnificently tragic story. A lot of people seem to get stuck on the fact that she is an athletic amazon war goddess, and much of the art about her seems to get stuck on her sex appeal for that. What I wanted to capture was her soul... I wanted to capture her elegance and give her some DIGNITY.
She has never known much kindness, she was shunned by her tribe for being born a girl. She gives her life to save them by weilding the cursed sword that her clan is entrusted to guard. Her story begins with her death, the moment the sword sucks the life from her body... the story is more resonant than most, and what strikes me most about her is her defiant bravery. She knows she is commiting suicide, she knows it is her death, but she embraces it... this sacred weapon that no mortal may weild without it draining their life. "others feared it, worshiped it... but you mastered it" that is what she represents to me, and I wanted to show her broken heart.... more than just the "sword dancer" and death machine that she has become, because if you watch the sometimes over dramatized and overacted scenes, it is the one thing that really stands out
Another thing I really love about her, is the complete way she embraces the whole idea that she is dead already, and it LIBERATES her. I love this scene between her and the obnoxious vilaness Whiptail, when the psychic witchy villianess taunts her with her deepest fears and tells her that "I am what dwells in the deep dark waters of your mind" and Nariko just accepts her death and fearlessly has this wicked joyful grin crawl across her face as she puts it right back ot her "then you can see why you should FEAR ME!" She has this broken heart, but she DOES enjoy herself as well... but it is the weight of her burden I wanted to show in this piece... not just her grace or beauty.
Nariko in action:
[link]
She is one of my favorite characters and has this magnificently tragic story. A lot of people seem to get stuck on the fact that she is an athletic amazon war goddess, and much of the art about her seems to get stuck on her sex appeal for that. What I wanted to capture was her soul... I wanted to capture her elegance and give her some DIGNITY.
She has never known much kindness, she was shunned by her tribe for being born a girl. She gives her life to save them by weilding the cursed sword that her clan is entrusted to guard. Her story begins with her death, the moment the sword sucks the life from her body... the story is more resonant than most, and what strikes me most about her is her defiant bravery. She knows she is commiting suicide, she knows it is her death, but she embraces it... this sacred weapon that no mortal may weild without it draining their life. "others feared it, worshiped it... but you mastered it" that is what she represents to me, and I wanted to show her broken heart.... more than just the "sword dancer" and death machine that she has become, because if you watch the sometimes over dramatized and overacted scenes, it is the one thing that really stands out
Another thing I really love about her, is the complete way she embraces the whole idea that she is dead already, and it LIBERATES her. I love this scene between her and the obnoxious vilaness Whiptail, when the psychic witchy villianess taunts her with her deepest fears and tells her that "I am what dwells in the deep dark waters of your mind" and Nariko just accepts her death and fearlessly has this wicked joyful grin crawl across her face as she puts it right back ot her "then you can see why you should FEAR ME!" She has this broken heart, but she DOES enjoy herself as well... but it is the weight of her burden I wanted to show in this piece... not just her grace or beauty.
Nariko in action:
[link]
Image size
1159x1504px 412.61 KB
Make
Apple
Model
iPhone
Aperture
F/2.8
Date Taken
Sep 6, 2009, 10:36:02 PM
© 2009 - 2024 EmpressIllyria
Comments3
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I adore what you have done here, and I truly appreciate what you have captured. So very nice to see other people in the world take to a story instead of just a pretty face. 