Eowyn and the Nazgul Challenge: Maquette

So I now have two paintings ongoing. One for my sister-in-law and one for The Art Order Challenge, Eowyn and the Nazgul. No pressure....

As my wife can attest, I went through a panic phase where I couldn't for the life of me think of a good composition for this one. All the heavy-hitters and big names in the illustration business will be looking at this and I wanted something good. In typical fashion, 'something good' never seems to happen when I'm panicked. So I went back to basics and took a page from James Gurney and built a maquette. It's the first time I've done this and I'm a convert. Having something in 3-D right there in front of you that you can always reference and pose and light to your heart's content is a Godsend. I'm not quite done, but I've already got my 'something good' from this. I've got a composition I'm happy with.

Here are the process shots of my 'fell beast' the Nazgul rides. I did quite a lot of research to ensure I got the beast correct. Most people draw it incorrectly as a dragon. It's not. It's actually closer to a Pterosaur crossed with a featherless bird.

A few notes from the text. The beast was small enough to: ‘settle upon the body of Snowmane, digging in its claws, stooping its long naked neck.’  so I made it a bit larger than the average horse, lean enough to fly (large bat-like wings will be added later) but with enough neck to situate the saddle and black rider. Bird comparisons come to mind when the beast attacks Eowyn, just before she cuts it's head off. It is described as ‘...striking with beak and claw.’.

"...striking with beak and claw"

This image shows the scale of the beast. There's a saddle and a part of a leg on top the neck. The Nazgul are depicted many ways visually, but the text only ever specifies a crown, glowing eyes and a robe with a mace for a weapon (I'd wager it's very close to a Knight's mace or Horseman's mace). I'll be sticking to that description and I may put some ornate plate on the legs and arms.

The rider's legs to scale. Not a big beast, but powerful!

A few more shots.

The wattle was an afterthought but a good one.

Wings and tail to be added later.

I fashioned this from Sculpey. I'd like to bake and paint it black to give a more accurate lighting feel, but I don't know if my aluminum armature will crack the piece when heated....so I'll just use my imagination when painting it. Wish me luck.