My first Illustration commission! :)

In character lore, Wyrm is a guardian of universal law that was left to itself until it began to reflect, isolated for a long time. He is the “herald” of Entropy as both inevitable rot and a slow, renewing fire.

Things to be included visually were a throne, black reflective stone, columns that extend into infinity, a temple created from fragments that have been collected, and a large quasar in the background. This would be Wyrm’s “home base,” so to say. He approached me for the environment, not necessarily his character. I more or less insisted on the presence of the latter because I was afraid I would focus too much on only “designing” an environment without the presence of a person in it. Maybe I’m just not comfortable yet with the lack of a creature in a picture.

My response to the individual elements. Reflectiveness reminded me of intentionality, as the development of a personality or Self was something that came up in the character’s story. This idea was not expanded upon directly. Columns of Greek architecture evoked subjects such as Logos, Self-Knowledge and so forth, but a Greek temple wouldn’t be complete without a roof or an inner-outer - limiting the possibilities. I chose to separate the idea of the greek columns and the metaphysical-infinite columns, placing the latter behind and above the center and fading them out of view to make space for the other elements of the composition, the midground of which acts as a staircase into the above. Maybe I defaulted to a temple enrance and stair-steps as a replacement for a throne because the throne archetype carried too much unfamiliar weight in the literature I am trying to absorb. What I wanted to convey was that the above columns could really extend everywhere, becoming visible for the sake of the picture. Aside from the debris, the background Quasar was my favorite part of the project, which is why I wanted to show as many of its waves as I could. It is not intended to appear realistic, but is an adaptation of the Ace of Cups in my Tarot deck.

The esoteric idea I drew from the most was that of the Sephira of Binah, the Womb / Grail to which the queens (always seated on a throne) and Threes refer. Binah is described as a silent dark sea (fertility, unconscious, vessel, soul) veiling a tiny point of light within. It is also connected to the Will to Form, origin of Law. It completes the Supernal Triangle of the Tree of Life, which thought of as the highest principle and original trinity, making it a limiter and initiator - hence its connection to Severity or Saturn/Lead. Isis, for instance, as a personification of “nature loves to hide,” would belong here, as would Jung’s Anima, which I will all eagerly research in time. Water’s archetypal waves are sometimes mentioned in esoteric literature as parallel to Quantum Mechanics and the vibratory nature of our constructively perceived world, echoing the idea of law. And lastly, Saturn is also Chronos, an aspect of time that Wyrm had previously dedicated a character to. Ultimately the statement is that the world is cyclical, Saturn eats its children. The Torus, as the “shape of the universe,” comes to mind. (Mh, Donut.) Finally, and I’m not sure where I picked this up, but violet seems like a magical colour. It may be worth mentioning that while it may turn back to red on a colour wheel, the electromagnetic waves would not. As the wavelength shortens beyond violet, they return to the invisibility that makes up the vast majority of their spectrum. The fact that the sliver of electromagnetic radiation accessible to our eyes is so slim is one of those humbling proofs of our sensual limitation, so it may be a fortunate coincidence that I chose to use red and violet.

In the composition, beginning and end are on two simultaneous, perpendicular axes - the beams of the Quasar versus the columns. My greatest self-criticism in the composition would be the lack of an explicit link between them, then. Logic tells me that inner and outer are one. Wyrm as a character here is simply observant, alone at the farthest extension of the wheel he maintains. What comes next, what could bring it back together, may still emerge in time.
On a sidenote, the idea of buildings all smashed up together — architectural accretion — is one of the oldest I can trace in my memory. There is a song that seeded it; Collapse of the Great Tide Cliffs by The Dear Hunter. It’s an echoing, atmospheric track with an emotional finale, and somehow I couldnt help but think of buildings instead of cliffs, pieces from all over human history. What a far too massive project that would have been. Unfortunately, I did not find the original sketches I did sometime around 2015-17, but the concept didn’t look too far from what Dark Souls III’s Dreg Heap ended up bringing to our collective imagination a little later - you can imagine how excited I was - both at the Dreg Heap, and now, thanks to Wyrm, at being able to do some building-smashery for a commission. Of course this illustration needed to fit much more than a few buildings, but if I will ever get deep into architectural drawing it willll always be with this weird little topic at the back of my mind.

My gratitude goes to Wyrm for his readiness to work together with me to determine the nature of the image! This is my first actual illustration commisison. It was a relief to be able to take the necessary amount of time for it.