The Expedition

An excerpt from” The Journals of Fracticious Ulnunium” concerning the culture of the Cervines of the north.

I have seen many Places, Races, and Cultures during my travels. But, none intrigued me more than the Cervine people of the north.

I was given the great honor of walking with one of the tribes Elders. While we walked together through a forest he taught me much about their ways. He told me about the Great Spirit who was everywhere, in every plant, tree, stream, and even the sky, cuirassing the world and keeping it all in balance.

The Cervine people revere nature and believe their afterlife consists of them living together with loved ones since past, roaming the forests of the world forever in their great spirits embrace. The tribe elders also claim to be able to contact the dead who wish to pass knowledge to the living. Guess you could say they act as a sort of intermediary to the dead. I had watched many of the rituals required to accomplish such connections while on my expedition. Elaborate and beautiful, they were a sight I will never forget.

While walking with the Elder he also taught me about the inherent healing powers of his people. While showing me the methods used for casting them he told me the power is derived not from their god but rather from their friends and loved ones lost. Being now one with the world the spirits of the dead hold great power. He told me that the more friends and loved ones lost through tragedies during one’s life increases ones power to heal, for there are more connections with the afterlife through them. This explained why the Elders of the Tribes where so revered and powerful. He gave a wonderful example of this through a tree explaining how as it aged branches where added reaching ever towards the sky. The branches of course representing the friends and loved ones lost and the sky being the Great Spirit and afterlife which sooner or later everyone reaches.

This sparked something in me, making me think of the healing powers of my own people. The difference being that we believe our power comes directly from our god and our power is based on the extent of our devotion. But who is to say that we aren’t actually getting our power in the same way as the Cervines? Or what if when our priests make contact with our god they are actually making contact with a spirit of the dead?

 

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Here’s another piece a long time coming. I’ve had the concept in mind for a long time but could never really settle on a layout. In the end I decided to go with a traditional scene, harking back to the great ages of discovery/exploration of Columbus and Lewis and Clark. I wanted it to capture the thrill, scope, and wonderment of exploration from those times past.

This is also the first piece to portray my character Fracticious Ulnunium, who’s from my fictional realm I speak so much of and the writer of the Excepts accompanying this piece and many of my previous works as well. I also like to think of him as my connection and portrayal of myself in my stories. Oh how I envy him, being able to explore and research new lands while meeting and studying their foreign cultures.

You can find a WIP picture of this piece in the scraps of my gallery by following this link: russelltuller.deviantart.com/a…

It will give you a great understanding of just how small the canvas I’m forced to use in all my pieces is, making pieces like this one extremely difficult, especially on the matter of detailing. Suppose this may be why I like doing portraits so much. Haha. It will also show you some of the various stages required to create a finished piece such as this one.

In the end, I hope you all enjoy this piece and the WIP proves educational.

 

Mechanical and Colored Pencils, along with, White Gel and Black Felt Pens on Parchment Paper.