The Roth of John

My brother John produced a couple of refinements to the image of Roth as part of our never-ending quest to make the perfect embodiment of our favorite character in all of Ortha. Of course I had to run it through Grok to animate it. We've come a long way from the AI deeming our efforts as somehow racially offensive. That they would judge it so makes me think that they are racially insensitive. How could we get it across that the Morgs were an original fantasy race, and that they were in fact heroic, humorous, and lovable? I wouldn't mind being compared to a Morg. The AI still has a tendency, despite all our developments, to rewrite Morgs into merely gorillas in armor. But we shall overcome some day, and, as the computer knows what you mean when you say Orc, so shall it be with Morgs. I may not be there to see it, but it is a dream I have.

T Time

We move quietly from S to T. In this collection we have illustrations from three of my franchises: Steepwater features a Morg Bridgeguard, Teatime has Thornbriar and Bear enjoying a meal (I did not direct the animation to have him swallow a whole ham, but that is so Bear!), and Nathaniel Horsehair from Alben makes The Bargain with a small demon. There are quite a few 'tone poems' in today's films, from Stump to Swamp to Swath to Tall Tree. I only wanted to add the white stag as an accent point to Swath, but the AI kept insisting on making it the star of the film. Even this version is a compromise. I am particularly pleased with how Swanship turned out; so graceful!

Tolkien Tuesday: The Main Event

I went through a phase of just drawing random hobbits; hence Ramble and Stroll. Shelob owes a lote to a Hildebrandt calendar, especially those strange eyes. I have no idea where the nose came from; I only noticed it in the close-up. That is not Theoden and Wormtongue: it's Sauron offering Ar-Pharazon a Tempting Plan. Technically, Theoden should be on a horse, but I couldn't (still can't) draw horses. I guess I could ask AI to do it, but that seems even more of a cheat than usual. I am most pleased with Thorin. By a strange coincidence, I think Tolkien Shrine has about the right amount of books for the core collection of Tolkien books, especially if some of the smaller books were consolidated into one volume. I've noticed that Grok has a strange habit of backing a character up and have it run off in the opposite direction it was facing. You have to corral that.

Tolkien Tuesday: The Charming Prelude

These are developments from Rankin/Bass designs. Since I had them more or less ready to go I thought I'd go ahead and put them up, and have more later. Then my computer got cranky and was moving slow. But, as I say, more to come. That Bilbo was an early, 'ugly' design, used to promote the special; we had (and have) a poster of it from Weekly Reader books (there's a more techical term for that that eludes my morning brain at the moment).

 

Some Bonuses; By Coincidence Mostly S

 

Animations from pictures on my weekly Image Dump over at Power of Babel. Old Mombi, Sandman, Snow White and Rose Red, and Steampunk Seabeast.

More Essesses

I confess I like boring animations, and you can't get much milder than Snail. But it has a quiet beauty to it, as do Spring Tree and Squirrel Tea. The AI has failed the Sphinx's breasts, and in Stalo it seems to have a very strange idea of how arrows work. I've tried correcting them several times, but I can't seem to find the right magical phrasing. I'm not exactly happy with the Spirit of the Air's legs either. Still, is it quite proper to nag and grouse about something that is essentially a miracle? I'm not saying I'm going to stop doing it, but it does seem rather ungrateful.

S-S-S! S Animations

Scholar is an anonymous Morg, probably one of Korm's colleague's. Scourged is from an unfinished short story with a rather Christ-like character. Secret Door 2 is a variation. Shiny Little Kitchen is from the famous Childcraft volume (I had to instruct the AI how a cat stretches and that a teakettle whistles from the spout). Skeezix and Pipsisewah are from the Uncle Wiggily stories. Skullbearer. The Sly One schemes; the Smiling King never blinks or varies his expression (creepy). An old man gives Some Good Advice. And the Sorceror's Apprentice is an old, old tale.