Allegory - Escape from Reality: Page 31



	Ignatius has a revelation and we introduce Slide, Simon's father. In consideration of the awful cider glass in the last page, I decided to get a little CGI assistance from this one. I rendered the background as usual but I did it twice - once with a very rudimentary model of Ig and once without (Normally I just do one rendering where the Ignatius model casts a shadow only and use that as the background). The glass of cider and the distorted background you see in frame 1 and 3 are actually rendered and I had to carefully erase everything around the glass. Still, nice effect, no? I've determined that whenever I start a new character, it takes a few times before I get a good feel for drawing them - in other words, their first impressions usually are pretty bad. Slide is okay, here, I guess, but he'll get better - I hope!
Drawing completed - 01 FEB 2009 Drawing posted - 24 JUN 2009
20 JUNE 2001 Wednesday - 1620 Page 31 Black Kettle Pub Great Jack's ghost! It wasn't our basement they were talking about - it was the one in The tré! They weren't winding me up at all! His revelation was suddenly interrupted. "Pardon me, Ignatius." It was Slide* HolenWulf, Simon's father. Apart from being larger and older, Slide was nearly Simon's twin, with an identical face and build and his characteristic wavy, wild fex. His sole distinguishing feature was that his pelage was, in contrast to Simon's grey, a bone white, with just a few tiny points on his eyebrows and nose and ears. "Oh, sorry, Slide. What can I do for you?" asked Ignatius. "Well, it's about Simon." "Yes?" Ignatius prompted. "He seems to have gone missing - again." Ignatius sighed. When it rains, it pours, he thought. I've already got two missing children. This is the last thing I need right now. Still, as the de jure law enforcement of Otterstow, he knew his duty. "Has he? And what leads you to this conclusion?" "He was supposed to meet me right after the Portrayal, but he didn't show. I don't suppose you've seen him." "It's only been a couple of hours," Ignatius pointed out. "Graeme was going to let him help with the horses down the dairy. He promised him a ride as well." "Simon is rather fond of horses, as I recall." As his constituency barely exceeded three digits, he easily knew the habits and manners of everyone in town – even those that didn't vote. "Surely he wouldn't pass up an opportunity like that." "No, he wouldn't miss it for the world. He'd rather muck out stables than eat, just to be around the horses." "I can see why you're concerned." "I don't mean to cast aspersions or make accusations . . . " *Slide's first name was actually Steven, after his father. After several abortive attempts at a byname, he earned the sobriquet of 'Slide' by demonstrating no small prowess on the pedal-steel guitar as a young boy. The tiny few that knew his true name never used it.

All material copyright Grim, 2009. No unauthorized use. Survivors will be prosecuted.