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.
I have a scene in mind with tyke Morta playing in the bell tower of the cathedral. In this scene, we’re overlooking the Oxidized Garden in a way that allows us to get a good view of the strange world the sisters call home.
The Oxidized Garden: This plane of existence used to be a garden world before the immaculate sun was lit. Now it is a sun-scorched hellscape of sandy dunes and sunken ships. The Gnatu call this place home and are as numerous as ants. These machines are skilled at traveling between the plains and are responsible for the ship carcasses that litter the garden. The ships themselves come from every era of humanity, from thousand-foot ore boats to battleships all rusted and damaged, dredged up from their watery graves.
The Gnatu: These guys are the same but in a time before Nona changed them. They are mechanical hermit crabs with camera lenses that vary in size. They use the sunken ships as homes and shelters from the punishing rays of the sun. Some of them are as big as the ships they hide in, trading bows and sterns like crabs trade shells. Their behavior, however, is strangely human. They hang fire-resistant fabrics to dry in the sun like laundry and open strange bazaars where they swap possessions like steel muffin trays and boots. They covet mortal possessions, mechanical fey, wearing outlets and breakers boxes like shells. Where did they get these mortal belongings? Well, if you’ve ever misplaced tools, clothes, or jewelry, these guys are likely involved
One extra thing to note is that, while the Gnatu appear innocent in their behavior, there is something unmistakably sinister about the design of the older models, weapon barrels hidden in their chassis, knives for toes, and crooked spikes for fingers. They were once war tools employed by Iapyx against his brother in much the same way Bastion was.
The Immaculate Sun: The star that illuminates the garden isn’t natural. It was designed as a weapon to end a terrible war by scorching the surface world. It is a mixture of metal and fire, a mechanical star lit before it was fully finished, rebar, and construction cranes, its hull cracked like an egg from the heat and pressure. The instrument is unstable…
Morta: Tyke Morta enjoys watching over the garden from the bell tower of the cathedral. She calls it her crow nest, and it’s where she goes to get away from her sisters. She’s holding a Gnatu tight against her chest like a teddy bear, its many legs squirming to get away from her grasp. The other Gnatu who clean the bell tower behave strangely close to Morta. The sisters emit a code that causes the machines near them to act in a way that pleases them. For Morta, the Gnatu line up like soldiers in formation, saluting her as she passes. The code is short-ranged, however. Ultimately, in this scene, Morta is overlooking the oxidized garden where we can see the unusual bazaar set up in the courtyard beneath her feet to the massive Gnatu in the distance swapping the sterns and bows of rusted ships beneath the watchful gaze of the immaculate sun.