Saturday Sketch: Original Magik / Illyana Rasputin

Here is the final sketch from the Magik set: Illyana Rasputin as she appears at the end of the Magik limited series and the beginning of New Mutants #14.  Illyana has always been one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe and this re-examination of her origin story has just made me love her more.

I'll admit to putting a bit more of extra time into this piece than the others.  It was the final piece in the set and...it's Illyana.  There's more Illyana to come when I explore the New Mutants later on, but with the Magik set complete, I'm going to give Marvel characters a break and focus on DC for a while.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Original Darkchylde

Closing in on the end of the Magik set, here we have Illyana Raputin the first time she manifests as the Darkchylde.  Shortly after manifesting her Soulsword, Illyana battles Belasco and morphs into her Darkchylde aspect.  This aspect of Illyana goes through several variations during the run of the character.  I'll be looking at those later on.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Wolverine's Skeleton

I hadn't planned on exploring this as a sketch, but as things kept moving with the Magick set, I figured I owed it to Wolvy.  He doesn't actually appear in Magik, but he does show up in the Uncanny X-Men #160 issue that leads into the limited series.  He only appears for a couple of pages at the foot of Belasco's throne but I feel that any dead X-Man deserves remembrance.  His corpse doesn't hold the same emotional impact as Colossus' from the previous sketch, but the fleshless bones of Wolverine are a omen of doom all their own.

Saturday Sketch: Belasco's Altar

Continuing the Magik set, here we have Belasco's altar.  Protruding from one of the towers of his citadel, this was the demon lord's high place of power.  Here the walls between Limbo and the Earth dimension were thinnest.  Illyana uses this location to return to Earth at the end of the Marvel Comics Magik limited series.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Classic S'ym

Continuing the Magik set, here we have a classic version of the demon S'ym.  He acts as Belasco's main muscle in Limbo until the end of the limited series.  It was not until recently that I found out that S'ym's original conception was a tip of the hat to comics creator Dave Sim.  It had never occurred to me before I began doing research for this piece that visually S'ym is Cerebus.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Colossus

 
Here is another of the set from the Marvel Comics Magik limited series.  To me, this was one of the most horrific elements of the origin of Magik.  Frightened and lost, young Illyana Rasputin comes face to face with the corpse of her older brother Peter Rasputin, the X-men's Colossus.  Killed by the demon S'ym, his body was left imbedded in the walls of Belasco's fortress.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only.

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Shadowcat

Here we are continuing the set of the Marvel Comics characters in the Magik limited series.  This is the Shadowcat who was left behind in Limbo and initially saves Illyana Raputin from Belasco, but in the end meets a terrible fate.  I placed her in the landscape where we see her most in the limited series, the warped desert wastelands of Limbo.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Classic Stepping Discs

Here's another in the Magik set.  I hadn't really planned on giving this one it's own post, but the stepping discs play a fairly pivotal role in the tale of Illyana Rasputin.

Saturday Sketch: Belasco's Citadel

There are very few shots of Belasco's citadel within the issues of the Marvel Comics limited series Magik.  Drawn by several different artists, each version they drew of the citadel was different.  I took several images of the citadel as reference and married them all together.  

Saturday Sketch: Classic Soulsword

Here is a second object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the Soulsword.  I hadn't planned on drawing this as a Saturday Sketch or next week's piece either.  However, after missing one Saturday Sketch, I just couldn't bring myself to leave another Saturday empty during the hiatus.  Also, these two pieces were fun to draw.

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Storm

Here we have the next character in the set from the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics.  This image is of the elderly Storm trapped in Limbo.  Her powers waning from age, Ororo used her powers as sorceress to combat the corruption of Belasco's influence.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Nightcrawler

I've decided to do an entire set around the characters involved in the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics.  Here we have the Nightcrawler left in Limbo who was corrupted by Belasco's influence and became his evil slave.

 {2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Classic Bloodstone Medallion

Here is my first object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the bloodstone medallion. Belasco used the bloodstones to bind Illyana Rasputin to his evil intentions.  I've rendered it as it appeared at the end of the Marvel Comics limited series, Magik, with three of the five bloodtsones in place.

{2.5x3.5,  Created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Saturday Sketch: Belasco

I first heard about Marvel's, Belasco in New Mutants 14 volume one and later saw the demon lord later in the Magik limited series.  He's always kind of freaked me out for his ability to corrupt.  I've never read the Ka-Zar issues where he first appeared but I do enjoy him as a demonic villain.