Gooday everyone,
Welcome to the Deacon Corner. If you’re new here, these galleries dive into the inspirations behind the images you’ll find throughout the books posted on these pages. In these issues, I also like to share the commission details for each project, so readers can follow along with how these images came to life.
If there’s a particular piece you’re curious about, you can find all previous issues under my journal entries or linked directly beneath the images within each chapter.
Now before we begin, none of these beautiful art pieces would exist without the incredible talent of Sickjoe who is the creative force behind all the artwork in these books. Quite literally the heart and soul of this visual world. If you appreciate his work as much as I do, I encourage you to visit his gallery and explore more of his stunning creations.
Now, without further ado, let's take a look at the featured image and the commission details below.
Alright, for the next commission, let’s go back to non-gribbly adult Decima and the herald of the immaculate machine, Alexander Oswald.
Decima: Everything here is pretty much the same as my first commission. She’s the least doll-like and most beautiful of the sisters when Lachesis isn’t screwing around. In this scene, she will be playing the violin. Decima is a talented musician and plays her violin to let Alexander know that she is in control and not her twisted double. She is sitting in the crook of Alexander’s left arm, her legs draped over his forearm and knocking against his knees. As you can imagine, Alexander is a great deal taller than her. In fact, given the differences in their stature, she looks like a marionette sitting on his arm. She now wears a plain orange wedding band on the ring finger of her left hand. The only ring she won’t wear on her feet. This detail doesn’t have to be there but, if the scene allows, I thought I’d mention it.
Alexander: So Alexander had the great misfortune of hearing the whispers of the immaculate machine before leaving the womb. Brushing shoulders with the god of fate left him badly deformed. My idea for Alexander’s appearance came from Joseph Merrick or the elephant man, but much taller. In fact, he stands nearly eight feet tall even with a hunched back. Only wisps of hair hang from his scalp and his eyes are so dark brown they’re practically black. His right hand is fused into his chest and is hidden beneath his clothes while his left is enlarged, fingers crooked and malformed but unusually strong. Decima may as well weigh nothing. Yet, as strong as he is, Alexander treats her as if she were a delicate flower. Much like Igor and Charon, he would never hurt Decima, becoming her unknowing retainer. In this scene, he’s wearing an old-fashioned suit tailored by the Gnatu though it still doesn’t fit well because of his unnatural form. He’s listening to Decima play her violin while sitting in the crook of his left arm. The irony about this scene is that while it should look like Alexander is the greater threat, it’s actually Decima who harbors a dormant Lachesis.
The two of them live in fear of the day her mother wakes, Decima’s sinister other half always watching from her shadow.
Background: We’re back in the tower again. That crazy abstract setting but this time we’re in the atrium. Alexander and Decima often meet in the atrium where a giant twelve-story pendulum swings to distribute the weight of the tower and prevent it from toppling in the wind. The best real-world example of this comes from the Taipei 101 tower damper. However, instead of a modern look, ours shares more similarities to an actual clock pendulum. Also, there is a shrine hidden within the pendulum's bob. Alexander has carved out the center where an altar sits. Nona’s eye, a Genesis pear, rests within. Now, with that said, all these details don’t have to be in this piece. I will later commission the shrine itself but, again, if the scene allows, it’s something to keep in mind.