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"From then on, people saw another side of Arnarok. They saw a capacity for anger, lurking beneath the surface of a long distant Avatar. Though he had always been withdrawn, that distance became frightening: they had seen the rage of Death and feared the power of someone whose heart they did not know."
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This was meant to be a quick one but I ended up doing more with it.
Arnarok isn't very well known in Aurius, beyond the understanding that he's the Avatar of Death and only seems to keep close to his mother/creator Aur'Zulis, The Sovereign of Aurius. He's the brother of Arcascellion, though everything about their relationship has become poisoned by mutual bitterness and resentment.
At some point, stress and solitude hit a personal limit for Arnarok and his bottled up anger broke through. This permanently altered how the people of Aurius saw him: they now saw him as someone unpredictable, terrifying and dangerous.
_____________________
This was meant to be a quick one but I ended up doing more with it.
Arnarok isn't very well known in Aurius, beyond the understanding that he's the Avatar of Death and only seems to keep close to his mother/creator Aur'Zulis, The Sovereign of Aurius. He's the brother of Arcascellion, though everything about their relationship has become poisoned by mutual bitterness and resentment.
At some point, stress and solitude hit a personal limit for Arnarok and his bottled up anger broke through. This permanently altered how the people of Aurius saw him: they now saw him as someone unpredictable, terrifying and dangerous.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Original Species
Size 780 x 772px
File Size 365.7 kB
Listed in Folders
This looks fantastic, you did a wonderful job! The colours are so punchy and vibrant, and the pose and framing pop really well. I always struggle drawing poses like this, so I admire seeing you draw one that looks so good. It's great how his mask leaves his iris as the only visible component of his eye, making it all the more striking. I love how smooth the shading is across his body as well, especially the soft lighting on his back and the side of the mask nearest to us that helps define how the horns meld into the rest of the beak shape.
I really like the idea of stress and solitude being the fuel for his anger - like it's all just pain that had nowhere to go until it became explosive. Too often an embodiment of death feels like it would just be portrayed as hostile or frightening out of principle. Having a human element instead, of just hurting and not having anywhere to vent until it soured into bitter rage, is much more moving and memorable to me. It's relatable in how it could come about, and it makes for a really compelling sort of emotional background/foundation for him. Especially with isolation being a major component of his life, if I remember right - you just feel bad for him, even if he's perhaps past the point of any empathy being able to change him from what he's become.
I've been playing in my head a lot with the idea of something warped by solitude, so it's cool to see it demonstrated here as well! It's nice to see more emotional and nuanced ideas behind a creature representative of death. Likewise it's equally novel and compelling when the representative of life isn't what you'd expect him to be either! You've done a really good job making unique identities for each of your Avatars, even just from what I've seen of them so far. :>
I really like the idea of stress and solitude being the fuel for his anger - like it's all just pain that had nowhere to go until it became explosive. Too often an embodiment of death feels like it would just be portrayed as hostile or frightening out of principle. Having a human element instead, of just hurting and not having anywhere to vent until it soured into bitter rage, is much more moving and memorable to me. It's relatable in how it could come about, and it makes for a really compelling sort of emotional background/foundation for him. Especially with isolation being a major component of his life, if I remember right - you just feel bad for him, even if he's perhaps past the point of any empathy being able to change him from what he's become.
I've been playing in my head a lot with the idea of something warped by solitude, so it's cool to see it demonstrated here as well! It's nice to see more emotional and nuanced ideas behind a creature representative of death. Likewise it's equally novel and compelling when the representative of life isn't what you'd expect him to be either! You've done a really good job making unique identities for each of your Avatars, even just from what I've seen of them so far. :>
Thank you so much! <3 I've always found perspectives and poses like this one intimidating but this was a really case of thinking "aw heck, let's just go for it and however it turns out is just how it goes".
Yeah, isolation is a big issue in his life, both as a consequence of representing a scary thing like Death and by self-infliction. While he's always had Aur'Zulis, she also is basically a God and there's only so much she could offer when the whole world is also her responsibility. He's very much someone who has been hurting for a while and has been stuck keeping that inside, whether by circumstance or by choice. My old version of Arnarok from previous projects always had him as just a destroyer who was just born to be that way: I really wanted the Echoes Apart Arnarok to be someone who wasn't malicious or cold for the sake of "being Death", but rather because his life has marked him in a ways that can't be easily undone. I generally just wanted all the Avatars to be people, who may possess incredible power but are as vulnerable to things like loneliness or insecurity as anyone else.
If you do something with the idea of something warped by solitude, I'd love to see it! No pressure, though, obviously, haha. In any case, thank you again! I'm glad they've all been seeming distinct from each other. :>
Yeah, isolation is a big issue in his life, both as a consequence of representing a scary thing like Death and by self-infliction. While he's always had Aur'Zulis, she also is basically a God and there's only so much she could offer when the whole world is also her responsibility. He's very much someone who has been hurting for a while and has been stuck keeping that inside, whether by circumstance or by choice. My old version of Arnarok from previous projects always had him as just a destroyer who was just born to be that way: I really wanted the Echoes Apart Arnarok to be someone who wasn't malicious or cold for the sake of "being Death", but rather because his life has marked him in a ways that can't be easily undone. I generally just wanted all the Avatars to be people, who may possess incredible power but are as vulnerable to things like loneliness or insecurity as anyone else.
If you do something with the idea of something warped by solitude, I'd love to see it! No pressure, though, obviously, haha. In any case, thank you again! I'm glad they've all been seeming distinct from each other. :>
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