Tuesday 25 March 2014

The Witch of York by George Houghton (1850 - 1891)

Up o'er the hill and broken wall
There stole a weird form, bent but tall;
And softly through our unlatched door
She crept unbidden, and before
The hearth-fire crouching, gazed upon us all.

All looked, none spake; the chimney sighed;
The cat mewed drearily and tried
To go but could not; close and dim
The room became, and ghastly grim
The ghosts that fell on us and multiplied.

We heard the gusts ride through the pines,
We heard them twist from the trellised vines
The bean-blows; and the scowling west
Sent up a growl of hoarse unrest,
As of some hungry beast that frets and whines.

Lean spectres seemed to spur the wind,
Weird doubts and fancies stormed the mind,
And doubt is fear, and what is fear
But anguish!--"Say! what lurketh near?
Shall our tomorrow cruel prove, or kind?"

Then from her breast the creature drew
Her fate-pack; moodily she blew
And deftly shuffled black with red;
Till Esther gaped and whispering said
To Robert, "One would think she thought she knew."

Whereat, the eyes of the woman-witch
First sparkled, then grew black as pitch;
We shivered at her evil look,
Her ear-rings in the glamour shook,
And we could see her neck-cords writhe and twitch.

The low clouds huddled overhead
In black disorder; on the shed
We watched the sunshine, charging, beat
Them back, then struggle and retreat:
"Come, woman, come! 't will soon be time for bed!"

She passed the pack; the maiden broke
It into three; then Robert spoke:
"Tell, mother, this my sister's fate."
The woman only muttered, "Wait!"
And silent, fanned the embers into smoke.

The dim light lit the topmost card,
She looked upon it long and hard,
Then peering through her grisly brow
Glared upward at the girl--"Now, now,
Will I unlock my lips; mind you each card!

"Ace hearts: sole child, and of love's bed;
A spade twice next: both parents dead;
Black tenners twice in turn--beware!
Though comely shaped, thy features fair,
Thy feet in snares I see, webs round thy head.

"No sister thou!--black seven: no kin;
Aha! queen clover, treacherous then!
Well may thy pouting mouth turn pale,
Within a deuce, beneath swollen sail
Thou fliest from some sorrow or some sin.

"The second deal holds more. Still pain!
Within a trés behold thy stain
A smoke to blur and blind the skies,
A fire kindled, that thine eyes
May quench not though they should dissolve as rain.

"Black still and clover: in a one
A coffin; now third deal, and done.
Hearts six, and dabbled o'er with red:
Within that space thy wooer dead;
Spades seven: to thee are left seven years to run."

Aghast we stood; she spake no more,
But flung the cards across the floor,
And up the yawning chimney's throat,
With wind-rush and one thunder note,
She swept.--We looked, and saw the buttoned door.

We heard the swallows cry and call,
Then late, the storm's long looked-for brawl;
And louder, shriller than the last,
Up through the cavernous flue one blast
Sucked flame and fuel, cat and cards,--and all!

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Sunday 23 March 2014

Project Morrslieb - New Moon - A Bit of Skirt!

I've started the sculpting of the skirt, at first I wasn't sure how to begin but after some procrastination I dived into some greenstuff and got stitching together my witches filthy kilt! I'm going for a decayed bunched texture with the material as you can hopefully see in these slightly blurry pictures (My tablet has had an episode it would seem). I've got a little more done since taking these pictures and more will be up soon. But for now I hope you enjoy these and the progress I've made.



I've also started putting together the second character in our story, for now I'll show you the pieces I've acquired. More to come soon, but I think I'll keep this one a secret. ;)


As per usual, all critique is welcome and encouraged! I always like to hear what people think and suggest. :)

Bye for now and beware of Old Night!
-JL

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Thursday 20 March 2014

Project Morrslieb - New Moon - Witch build continues

So I had a day off today, that...wait for it!...actually FEELS like day off! Huzzah! \o/ Having been looking around  DakkaDakka and various blogs I was inspired to continue with some hobbying. Work progresses on the Witch and I have managed to do sculpting on her arm and some repair work on the join at her right elbow as well as back flab (shivers). Progress is slow and steady but all in all I'm happy with it so far I must say and am very greatful for those that have kept with me so far! It's not bad for someone with no sculpting training or any REAL previous experience? Right??



I've also picked up some neat little pieces for future dramatis personae in this little grim fandango of ours! This includes:

  • 1x Warhammer Plastic Necromancer
  • 1x Warhammer Plastic Wraith
  • 1x Warhammer Plastic Forest

They're some great kits and I have some interesting things in store for them! (Maniacal laugh) 
Until next time folks, take care from Old Night and safe travels.

-JL

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Sunday 16 March 2014

The skin we live in!

Hi guys, first and foremost!:

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

I've been rather busy of late working on my sis' and a friends Tattoo concepts. I'm always sure to explain that anything I give a person for such a thing is a concept, not because I'm unhappy with my work but because I am not a tattoo artist and it is their job to apply the image to your skin. I'm flattered that someone would feel enough trust in my work and enjoy it enough to want to get a tattoo designed by me (even if I don't know why myself) so I'll just stop talking and show them here:


The Lonely Little Robin
This design is a tribute to my late Nana (Grandmother to those who don't know the lingo) Rose Kelly. Possibly the most wonderful woman to grace the face of the earth. Incredibly generous and only stern when the occassion demanded it. Herself, my Mam and my Aunt (second Mum :P) used to sing a song to myself and my lil' sis when we were young called "The Lonely Little Robin" (I'll provide a link below for you to have a listen), hence the robin. Whilst the stylised Rose around the robins head is obviously reminiscent of her first name. The Nouveau style seemed an obvious choice as it's favoured by my sis and in my eyes compliments the image rather nicely. So there you go. I just hope my sis brings it to a descent tattoo artist so they can make it beautiful....

Song Link:

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Zerg Concept

The second of my tattoo concepts, this one is reminiscent of the Zerg symbol from the Blizzard game series "Starcraft". I was asked to do what I could with it, so I did. I Zergified the symbol. The friend it is for seems rather happy. When I started I wasn't quite sure what to do, but after a chat and a browse through the Starcraft Art books I found that as long as it has teeth, spikes, slime and is creepy it holds up as a Zerg. Who'd o' thunk it!


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That's all for now folks! I hope you enjoy the post and if you're interested in more of my artwork, please take a gander at my facebook page. I'm a big fan of Mural painting and may put some of my previous pieces up here in the future.


As for the Witch progress, she's coming along gruesomely and I'll have pictures up soon!

Goodnight! o7




Friday 7 March 2014

Arm Wrestling Part One

So my finger is healed and I've managed to grab some time to throw up some more progress on my Witch. Trimmed down the large shoulder pad to make way for some flesh-sculpting and cowl weaving later on. Cut the existing left arm to fit at a forward facing angle. Positioned the arm appropriately with a length of wire acting as a skeleton for further sculpting and after rummaging through my bits box have come across some neat little odds and ends to have dangling from her skirt/underbelly/belt that will come later.

Enjoy! It's been a long week, I'm going to bed. -_-