Cumaean Sibyl, Revised

UPDATE: I can't leave things alone. Simplified considerably. I think it's stronger for it too.

I revised this illustration a bit – original here. The scales are prettier and less cartoonish.

As envisioned by Gene Wolfe:

"As I had suspected, the Cumaean was not a woman at all; yet neither was it one of the horrors I had beheld in the gardens of the House Absolute. Something sleekly reptilian coiled about the glowing rod. I looked for the head and found none, though each of the patternings on the reptile's back was a face, and the eyes of each face seemed lost in rapture." Gene Wolfe, 'The Claw of the Conciliator'

This beautifully written description creeped me out: I just had to illustrate it.

Alzabo

A monster from Gene Wolfe's masterful series, 'The Book of the New Sun.' This creature assumes the memories of its prey. The lady of the house has just thrown open the door, overjoyed that her husband is safe and sound at the threshold... but the Alzabo speaks in the voices of those it eats. She could have avoided this by investing in a peephole.

Final Image -- redesigned head quite a bit from sketch.

The fur was done with custom brushes in Illustrator - the rest was done in Photoshop.

Sketch:

The Cumaean Sibyl

As envisioned by Gene Wolfe:

"As I had suspected, the Cumaean was not a woman at all; yet neither was it one of the horrors I had beheld in the gardens of the House Absolute. Something sleekly reptilian coiled about the glowing rod. I looked for the head and found none, though each of the patternings on the reptile's back was a face, and the eyes of each face seemed lost in rapture." Gene Wolfe, 'The Claw of the Conciliator'

This beautifully written description creeped me out: I just had to illustrate it.


Sketch:



Illustrator template for scales, elements. Scales were done with custom made brushes.

Cumaean's face: in human guise, Wolfe described her as a crone. The face in the reptile's patternings were not described so, but it seemed appropriate.

Final: I omitted the hood from the Cumaean Sibyl's faces — too much! I also moved the source of the rays from the glowing rod to the Sibyls' eyes.

Detail: