Omen-Laced: A Special Short Story (Patreon)

Four years ago, concept artist Carlyn Lim posted up a series of incredible character illustrations for an Artstation contest based around the broad concept of 'The Tortoise and the Hare'

As soon as I saw those designs, I was awestruck at how strange, beautiful and fully formed they felt. This was an eerie fantasy world waiting to be explored and I really, really wanted to see it come to life in some way.

I reached out to Carlyn and we started talking about the possibilities. Both of us were crazy busy, but we agreed to stay in touch.

Almost a year later, she reached out again and we brainstormed a bit. We decided to create a short story as a 'proof of concept' for how it might work, focusing on just one character and a bit of the world. I chose 'The Hunter' because I liked the idea of showing the Hunter interacting with their mount, exploring a mysterious landscape. I wedged the script in with other things I had on the go and scripted a 10-page short story I titled 'OMEN-LACED'.

With lots more work to be done, it took Carlyn months to sketch out the pages. We wanted to have each one done in the same style as the original designs, but it always got pushed back as our respective careers got busier and busier.

Carlyn contacted me last week remarking that they came across the pages again and that it would be nice to release it for people to read even if it's not completely finished. I agreed and think the black and white pages have a beautiful quality to them all their own. I lettered the story and now we're proud to show it off a few years after its original inception.

I don't know if we'll ever have time to pursue it further, but I'm proud of what's here. Getting the chance to bring a voice to one those incredibly cool designs was a joy and I'm thrilled that she let me play in the sandbox a bit.

Attached here are the lettered pages and original script.

Enjoy!