Clever Girl... - Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge

[Greyall]

Thanks, guys, sorry for taking my time to appreciate your comments.

 

Glad you like him, Firepower. Sorry for the different pose, it was a question of inspiration.

 

Lilloser, that's an honour, mate, a great honour. Thank you.

 

Visitor13: It's already underway =)

[Greyall]

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/004/c/9/sagittar_phract___first_of_the_devourers_by_greyall-d5qfaoy.jpg

 

He found the Ultramarine Captain after eight hundred meters of pure walking. He wouldn't have noticed he was part of the battle if not for a few bolter rounds with no effect but chipping paint off his armour and his Contemptor bodyguards keeping what few daring Ultramarines came at him. He had no one but himself to blame for this, of course, it had been his choice to battle nothing but enemy leaders and champions.

 

"Straight ahead", Rafater rumbled, lifting his autocannon in the Ultramarine Command Squad's direction.

 

"Keep the others off", he answered. The Dreadnoughts were already charging when he finished the sentence.

 

He stopped a few meters from the enemy Captain, who was busy cleaning his sword of blood with a cloth. No doubt he was expecting him.

 

"Coronus", he called, faking gentlemanship .

 

"Phract", the other answered, but his voice carried only hate. Understandably, Sagittar Phract thought.

 

Both commanders came closer, the World Eater Terminator dwarfing the power-armoured Ultramarine.

 

"No need to lecture you on your Legion's acts, I assume", Coronus said, spitefully.

 

Phract nodded, but his opponent was already charging. He wondered for a moment if he was speaking too slowly.

 

Coronus was as accomplished a warrior as he was a commander. If this was a duel held in the Conqueror's pits a few years ago, Sagittar would've feared defeat. But now he could see the Ultramarine's mind was too clouded with rage for him to be at his best. The irony of this was not lost on Phract.

 

As if to prove his point, Coronus opened with a beginner's error, a piercing strike aimed at his head. He batted the sword aside with his Chaingladius and struck the Ultramarines twice with his shield, as if slapping him for his mistake. He caved Coronus' helm in, though his intention was just to bring the Ultramarine to attention. Had that strike been meant for a Night Lord and Coronus would already have been dead.

 

It seemed to work. They traded blows for a while, but the first, second and third blood was Coronus'. The next one too, when Phract suddendly closed the distance between them and jammed his chainblade in Coronus' abdomen. The gladius, Warsage, obliterated the Ultramarine's entrails, but Sagittar stopped before reaching the spine and pulled out the weapon. Coronus fell on his back, gurgling blood and grunting in frustration.

 

He brought his shield down, smashing Coronus' spine and severing him in half. Every warrior in proximity stood frozen. In fact, the only one moving was the Ultramarine Captain clawing at his shield. Now Phract was truly impressed. In the most merciful act he had performed in years, he decapitated the Ultramarine Captain in one strike.

 

"Rafater, what other targets are present?", he asked the Dreadnought, bringing his vox online. His answer was a burst of static and the sound of the Contemptor's chassis hitting the ground.

 

"Well", Sagittar Phract said, turning to the Ultramarine Champion approaching, "I guess that makes you a hero".

 

--

 

Seeing his Captain severed in half was the most horrific imagem Dresant had ever seen in his years of service. The effortlessness with which the gigantic World Eater beat him was close behind. All the while, he and the rest of the squad had had to deal with the two crazed Dreadnoughts. The first fell to a melta blast from Valetus. The second to Dresant's Thunder Hammer, a blow which had come too late to save Valetus from the ripping embrace of the monster's claw.

 

Now he had Phract all to himself. He charged at the World Eater, once again noticing, as if his mind was having trouble processing, that the Devourer's armour didn't have a single cut on it from the duel with Coronus. He ran as fast as he could and raised his hammer. Phract was looking at him, but stood motionless, granting him the first strike. He'd regret the arrogance.

 

Dresant was roaring, though he didn't remember willing it. He summoned all the strength he could, directed his armour's power to the arms and swung the Thunder Hammer. The last thing he saw before the explosion was Phract taking a step forward and raising his shield. Everything when white, after that.

 

When his vision returned, a second later, Dresant knew his eardrums were ruptured. Somehow, he still held the hammer, though his arms shook furiosly. He was stumbling backwards uncontrollably, his legs not responding to his brain. Warning runes flashed but he silenced them. All around him, warriors were picking themselves up, looking at...no, not the scene. They were looking at Phract.

 

The Devourer stood firm, his shield now reduced to splinters and his left arm's armour cracked like glass. He was breathing so hard not even the bulk of his Terminator armour could hide it. But Phract stood...he stood for dreadful seconds before coming at him. Dresant tried, as hard as he could, wishing that any and all accounts of this battle would tell of his effort to swing his Hammer once again. He was no coward and had never fled from a fight. Let the stories at least speak of Dresant's courage in the face of death.

 

--

 

To all those watching the fight, Cirio Dresant simply stood, all hope abandoned, all defiance lost, as Sagittar Phract opened his armour from abdomen to neck with his chainblade. His screams were proof enough of his despair.

 

 

Hope you like Pre-Heresy Sagittar Phract, guys, lots of fun redrawing him.

 

Cheers, all.

 

PS: 200 000 views. Not even in my wildest, beer-fueled dreams. Thanks forever, all of you, Brothers

[HellChyld]

we know whats good when we see it brother. and this new peice was better then the last. looking forward to the next peice already!

[Aqui]

we know whats good when we see it brother. and this new peice was better then the last. looking forward to the next peice already!

 

Aye, that we do :lol: Any hint as to what that piece would be?

[fivepointedstar]

I love the re-do of PH Phract, but the original is still a favorite in my opinion. But compared to the first Phract this new one shows how well you have improved your technique in drawing 40K marines in all types of armor, and styles. And I love that you left his armor relatively unadorned except for the rivets, and armor art.

[Visitor13]

Effing hell...

 

I'm just sitting here cackling like a madman... still can't believe what I've just seen and read...

 

I really need to go to sleep now, but fat chance of this happening.

[reckoning]

Incredible work as usual. Heresy Phract is still my favorite (and the only heresy related subject I like), but the PH version is its own brand of awesome. As DeathKnight has said, your technique has improved; not that I would have ever imagined that being possible. Thank you for giving our eyes more candy. Whats next?

[Firepower]

Very cool. This guy seems to be almost like an exercise in using negative space. There are very few areas with intricate, small details, and they're spread around very well so as to not make for any cluttering, and the most intense parts are on opposite sides of the drawing (his sword arm and the crushed Ultramarine). The shield is a particularly good balance.

 

The one thing that's been bugging me about pictures lately is your use of a light-reflect off eyes to make them three dimensional. That's not a bad thing to do, but the way it's been executed with little circles gives them all something of a googly eye appearance (Phract particularly looks like he may have suffered some serious concussions). I haven't got much helpful advice on corrections, short of the jagged-line approach some other artists use to create reflective looks, or to perhaps only put a reflective circle on a single lens.

 

Also, I love the helmet design. :)

 

Picking it apart on a piece by piece basis, I think the wing on his shoulder is a bit out of place with the rest of his look. It's very regal and fine where the rest of him is appropriately blunt, simple and brutal. Maybe a stylized wing made out of hereticish pointy arrows, though...

[Tyrannicide]

That has got to be the coolest set of weapons you've designed to date. Chaingladius? Yes, please. And I love the shield with a World Eater motif.

[Dosjetka]

You really like the Ultramarines, don't you? :devil: Lovely piece of work, very brutal.

 

Ludovic

[Visitor13]

Had that strike been meant for a Night Lord and Coronus would already have been dead.

 

I take it that Phract is not a Night Lords fan?

[Greyall]

@Firepower: The winged symbol is supposed to be the Devourers' badge, I chose the wing for the contradiction with Phract's status as a traitor. It could be better, I agree, same with the lenses, I have to think of something.

 

@Visitor: The point of that reference was to underline the Night Lords' unforgivable nature.

 

Thanks, everyone. Now for a gift. Death Knight 2000 asked me to do a symbol for Dragon-based Space Marine Chapters.

 

And here it is:

 

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/Khornoz/DragonbornSymbol_zps0aa9ce45.jpg

Beliefs and Myths Among the Forces of the Imperium

Section 334/8

Draconis Astartes

 

Although our Lord Emperor, His will be done, denounced all false deities and showed Mankind the way to illumination - himself a beacon in that path - He, in His glorious wisdom, knew precisely how to shape the nature of Man, like a sculptor who knows his material and how to apply his chizel.

 

Thus did the Emperor understand that it is in Man's very nature to create totems from beasts, both real and myth. This, unlike any adoration of so-called "Gods", is a drive for our growth and betterment, the very antithesis of conformity and stagnation that come with relying on the omnipotence of a false god.

 

Long has Mankind admired and envied the beasts that share his world. The archives of Holy Terra show that, in every competitive environment, there are those that take for them the qualities - and even names - of specific creatures, striving to become and surpass them in their very nature. One of the most curious aspects of this practice is that it is not governed by a strict rule or ranking. See how the Space Wolves have taken the Fenrisian Wolves as their symbol and namesake, even though the deep-dwelling Kraken far surpass them in size, strength and threat. Take the Raven Guard, their totemic animal a fierce predator, for sure, yet in truth very little compared to the Leophar that inhabit the caves of the very same spires. Throughout Mankind's History, animals like the Eagle (blessed be the Emperor), the Wolf, the Raven, the Lion and many others have attained for themselves the statute of symbols, their significance going beyond the boundaries of biology.

 

Yet one totem exists whose power and evolution throughout human History merits its own discussion: the Dragon. Holy Terra has never birthed Dragons, as far as our oldest archives on biology show, and yet belief and mentions of Dragons have roots as ancient as any other beast, real or mythological. No doubt this was born from contact with the remains of animals long extinct when Humanity was still young, as were the Saurians, yet what is remarkable is that, even before proof of existence of reptilian giants (already a moment of amazement to our then primitive brains, for sure), human mind managed to escalate them into something more. There and then was born a myth that would be present in every era of our History, and in almost every civilization.

 

It should be of no wonder, then, that the symbolic might of the Dragon remains as strong as ever. Perhaps even stronger. For, you see, in time our exploration and conquest of new planets has allowed Manking to finally come face to face with what can only be described as Draconic creatures. The Salamanders of Nocturne are the most famous of such beasts, though not the first. On Kallua-Rungi the Magos Biologis discovered the Starnesuchus, giant aquatic reptiles able to glide long distances from one Ocean to another during the planet's Cycles of Evaporation. Many others could be named, including some, like the Mist Drakken of Laupstrum or the Irumus of Formong 44, which are the very image of the old myth of Holy Terra, both in its Western and Eastern depictions, respectively.

 

The latter specimen, precisely, will allow me to finish this section by showing the true strength of the Dragon Mythos. Formong 44 is as idyllic a world as one can wish for in this harsh Era and Universe. A temperate climate, diverse flora and relatively controllable fauna has allowed its human settlers to establish hab-zones worthy of our most unbridled pride. Unfortunately, Formong 44 sits on the very doorstep of a Dark Eldar Webway exit point and this, in turn, has meant that a planet that might've been unremarkable in terms of military forces has in turn been chosen by the White Scars (their hatred for the Dark Eldar burning as ever) as the birthplace of one of their successor Chapters, the Wyrms Eternal. This designation owes, of course, to the Chapter's continual resistance - and success - against the Dark Eldar, but also to Formong's most amazing natural feature, the Irumus.

 

Irumus are gargantuan reptiles that make their home beneath the sky-piercing mountains of the Northern Hemisphere (the area where the Wyrms Eternal have established their fortress). Their serpentine bodies - with four short but extremely strong legs - allow them to navigate both the underground tunnels and the jagged surfaces of the mountainous ranges at staggering speeds. They feed beneath the surface, preying on creatures as large - if not as fierce - as them, yet spend much of their time above, challenging each other in earth-shaking fights for territorial dominance. To human settlements they represent little danger, yet on those rare occasions when one climbs down from its rocky lair, destruction is assured and on a frightening scale, falling to the Astartes, most often than not, the destruction of the beast, whose bones, skin and meat are then taken to the Fortress-Monastery with all the reverence.

 

What's remarkable about the interaction between Astartes and the Irumus is that even the augmented minds of Space Marines managed to widen the scope of the Irumus' already amazing capabilities. Though the beasts possess no other weapons than fang, claw and size, their underground-dwelling nature, combined with the fiercely totemic nature of the White Scars, meant that the Wyrms Eternal symbol is a mix of the real animal and the Dragons Holy Terra, capable of flight and able to spew fire. Even now every single Marine (and Formonghian) attributes these abilities to the Irumus, with various accounts of flying leviathans and burned cities.

 

And so History repeats itself. Yet the Dragons endure.

 

So, in case anyone's curious about those Wyrms Eternal, I came prepared.

 

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/010/1/c/dragonborn_by_greyall-d5r1bad.jpg

 

Hope you like it, Death Knight =) Cheers.

 

Another drawing coming up soon. A hairy one.

 

PS: By the way, the latin expression reads "Roaring Fire"

[Unknown Chronicler]

amazing work as always that is a beutiful symbol. That makes me want to ask you if you could do my DIY Chapter, but that would be rude of me, so instead I'm going to just wait...this is beautiful I love it...when will you take requests again?

[Olis]

Good ole Greyall, one of the first back with content. Hats off to you, brother. :tu:

[Aqui]

Good ole Greyall, one of the first back with content. Hats off to you, brother.

+1

I think DK2K will be very happy with that ^_^

[fivepointedstar]

Good ole Greyall, one of the first back with content. Hats off to you, brother.

+1 I think DK2K will be very happy with that ^_^

I am very happy with this new surprise. I will make sure to place this holy symbol in the annuls of the Cult of the Dragon for all to see. Thanks you Greyall, you are the best!!

[Greyall]

Good ole Greyall, one of the first back with content. Hats off to you, brother.

+1 I think DK2K will be very happy with that

I am very happy with this new surprise. I will make sure to place this holy symbol in the annuls of the Cult of the Dragon for all to see. Thanks you Greyall, you are the best!!

Client satisfaction is all that matters. Glad you like it, mate. =) Was pretty fun to do.

[Greyall]

New update. This is an oldie of sorts (last year =p) A talented mini sculptor asked me to draw a Soviet Marine.

 

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/Khornoz/Soviet_zps6d9bb956.jpg

 

He wasn't thrilled with this guy, thought it was too bland, too much like a vanilla Terminator with some symbols. He had his mind on something like my Asterion Moloc, so he was actually right in being disappointed, but as of late, I've been trying to integrate different design elements without distorting the regular Astartes designs too much. The answer, though, is probably on a middle term I've yet to attain, but this drawing taught me something: Client wants, client gets.

 

Anyway, distinctive elements: the Eternal Flame, a memorial; Scythes and Hammer aplenty; and my favourite, his mouth-grill and the two lights were based on the design of an old Russian truck.

 

Cheers, guys, I'm drawing another White Scar next.

[Olis]

Nice termie, although I think that scythe is looking a little... off, somehow.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

I think he meant sickle rather than scythe and other than it being upside down, it works for the theme of "Soviet Marine".

[Olis]

Oh... yeah, sickle. I meant sickle. Oops. :P

[lokkorex]

smoking awesome!

[Greyall]

Oh... yeah, sickle. I meant sickle. Oops.

I meant sickle too, damn this failing memory...

Thanks, guys. Aye, the cannon-sickle is strange, I thought he could swing it sideways, but it's mostly for decoration. Too damaged, though, should've made it cleaner.

[Gulag]

New update. This is an oldie of sorts (last year =p) A talented mini sculptor asked me to draw a Soviet Marine.

 

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w99/Khornoz/Soviet_zps6d9bb956.jpg

 

He wasn't thrilled with this guy, thought it was too bland, too much like a vanilla Terminator with some symbols. He had his mind on something like my Asterion Moloc, so he was actually right in being disappointed, but as of late, I've been trying to integrate different design elements without distorting the regular Astartes designs too much. The answer, though, is probably on a middle term I've yet to attain, but this drawing taught me something: Client wants, client gets.

 

Anyway, distinctive elements: the Eternal Flame, a memorial; Scythes and Hammer aplenty; and my favourite, his mouth-grill and the two lights were based on the design of an old Russian truck.

 

Cheers, guys, I'm drawing another White Scar next.

 

 

Personally, I really like this design as a Soviet Marine.

 

So much of Soviet design in the military and architecture is blunt, thick, unadorned and industrial so this works very well, especially with the iconography. As before, the only thing that is an issue is the sickle on the autocannon, but as you said it is decorative and thus completely acceptable.

[fivepointedstar]

I don't now what's wrong with that sculptor friend of yours as this guy is superbly done. I love the symbolism you put in each one of your art pieces.