Outside our small safe place flies Mystery... A snake beneath the forest floor, a whisper: Melusine

A month ago I finally read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and I was hooked.  Was it the most intelligently written book I've ever read?  Not really.  But it was like chocolate covered horror romance fantasy and that's something I can easily get addicted to.  Comforting, even.  Stephanie Meyer knows how to appeal to young women and it's about time I fell back in love with vampires again, anyway.  I digress.  Before going out to see the movie, I wanted to record how I saw each character in my sketchbook.  I didn't want the movie to spoil my impression of them or the story.  Looking back at these sketches after I've devoured the series, my impression of the characters has matured, I see their faces more clearly.  Out of all the characters, the main character (and narrator) Bella stands out strong in my mind.  I see her as much stronger than how she was portrayed in the movie (no offense to Kristen Stewart whom I believe is a fine actress).  And, speaking of the movie, I found it lacking, it played out like a cliff notes version of the book, a pale yet entertaining adaptation.

My experiment in sketching the characters as I saw them while reading the book was an exercise in professional judgement for me as a book illustrator. For many years I've been working hard to get the look of characters "just right" so that someday I can accurately interpret an author's work.  Above is a portrait of Emmett and Rosalie JUST AS I SAW THEM IN MY MIND.  I was so pleased with this sketch, I was amazed at my own fingers.  If only I had the chance to illustrate Stephanie Meyer's books... or something.  I dunno.  It's okay to do fan art, as long as I don't get too carried away, right? 

It also doesn't hurt to practice, to stretch my imagination, and give "life" to characters I really care about. I believe a writer is successful if he or she can make me love their characters, otherwise if I don't care about them, I'm not going to buy into a series. Twilight fans will note my misspelling of CARLISLE's name here. I was so busy into the drawing, I just quickly noted the name and scanned in the image without ever noticing the goof. Misremembered name or not, I got pretty close to how I saw him, but I'm definitely pleased with how I captured Esme.

I saw Jasper Hale as whispy, elegant, an 'almost not there' look to him, his eyes deeply set, face young yet tattered with scars you can only notice if you're another vampire. Alice is all over the place, a pixie dervish. They are made for each other. They share a pain and passion you can't shake out of your imagination. No wonder so many of Meyer's readers are in love with Jasper and Alice. I wasn't certain I would capture them right. Maybe I need to draw them again...

And OUT she came at me! Alice leapt out of my hands onto the page, her hand reaching out as if to wipe me away. That's how the concept of this quick sketch came out of me. Just a quick vision that almost left me breathless. At first I wasn't sure this was going to be Alice. But it was the hair spiking outwards, the little vintage 1920's pearl earring, and the slightly amused smile on her lips that told me this was she. The fun thing about doing some "fan art" is that you can get away with it, just let it spill out for fun. And it's more accessible than fan fiction. I'm not forcing you to read a novella. All you have to do is take a peek.

Jacob also popped out from the page. This is how I saw him shortly after he embraced his shapeshifting power. He's wild, scruffy, cute and daring. I can't resist his eyes. They "stare" out at me through the words.

 

I recently read that Stephen King hates Stephanie Meyer. Comparing her to J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, he frankly says, "She can't write worth a darn." What gives? "...it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual," Stephen King went on to say. So I guess he's actually read the books? Or at least the first in the series. Let's just say that Mr. King has never been a young woman. Young women the world over KNOW the books are pure fantasy. Sex is implied, not overt for a reason.  It's the journey to bed that appeals to women, not the in-your-face cock of sensational sex.   

 

J.K. Rowling writes in a different style than Stephanie Meyer and has a completely different agenda with a completely different set of amazing characters, but I tend to find Meyer's writing easy to read.  Her books don't have to be overtly intellectual or philosophically stimulating.  She just entertains well.  Scenes in her books play out like she is inviting us into the vampires' den for a post prom party.  She is all about fun.  In fact, I bet Stephanie Meyer does throw great parties at home. Comparing Rowling to Meyer is like comparing apples to oranges -- you either like both or one or the other. Whatever. Mr. King is all pop horror fiction, too, but my impression is that he appeals mostly to the guys.  He's definitely a guys writer.  He's made millions.  Stephen King doesn't have to write another book to pay for his supper. The only series I loved of his was the Dark Tower series, everything else he wrote is not my cup of tea. I've met Stephen King. He never impressed me. I'm sure he's a nice person, but when I met him I was only 18 and not a fan of his writing and, being honest to a fault, I acted unimpressed, too, when I literally bumped into him at a book signing.  He asked me if I wanted an autograph.  I surprised him by saying, "No." I was more of a Anne Rice vampire junkie and was picking up my copy of The Vampire Lestat! 

 

Oh, well.  Not every reader can please every author, eh? 

I hope you enjoyed my Twilight character sketches.