Study for a Double Portrait of Alstonia Kohle and Her Daughter Galena, 2025. Ink on two sheets of vellum, 4 x 6 in.
The double portrait of Alstonia and Galena has a diegetic version, a painting by postwar artist Vallerant that hangs in a secluded corner of Kohle Manor. While Alstonia died in an accident many starcycles before the start of The Vaster Conspiracy, her legacy of artistic patronage lives on, influencing Galena’s eventual involvement in Vaster’s art counterfeiting schemes.
Study of Alstonia for a Double Portrait of Alstonia Kohle and Her Daughter Galena, 2025. Ink on two sheets of vellum, 4 x 6 in.
In this series of studies for a larger portrait of Galena and her mother, Alstonia, I’ve made use of the vellum’s translucency, stacking images on top of text copied by hand from the manuscript.
The text underlying this portrait of Alstonia comes from one of my worldbuilding documents and describes one of the many paintings adorning the walls of Kohle Manor: the only surviving double portrait of Alstonia and her daughter, Galena, who would go on to inherit the family’s properties, fortune, and art collection.
“Study of Young Galena for a Double Portrait of Alstonia Kohle and Her Daughter Galena,” 2025. Ink on two sheets of vellum, 4 x 6 in.
In this series of studies for a larger portrait of Galena and her mother, Alstonia, I’ve made use of the vellum’s translucency, stacking images on top of text copied by hand from the manuscript.
Allegedly, Galena didn’t even sit for the portrait herself, as she was living on the family’s estate outside the former Verlamion colony on the Valbaran continent at the time it was executed. Her mother is said to have posed as her daughter or hired a look-alike to play the part.
The text behind the portrait is from a conversation between Vaster and Galena that was cut from the manuscript’s second draft along with the rest of the dinner scene.
Sketch of the Idol of Areshkigala Above the Altar, 2025. Ink on vellum, 4 x 6 in.
I’ve spent the past two weeks plotting out what will either be a long short story or a short novella, tentatively titled Angelic Eyes. Rather than working from an existing manuscript, I’m developing the visual designs alongside the text this time.
In the inner sanctum of the temple of Areshkigala, the Harranian goddess of death, a veiled idol of the goddess hovers over an empty altar.
Study of Arazue in Green Ink, 2025. Green ink on vellum, 4 x 6 in.
Arazue is the most level-headed and serious of the three priestesses in Ashes and Dust. As a native of the Zabool region, she has a strong rapport with the locals… except for her sister, Tiranna, who single-handedly runs the family’s soap- and candle-making business on the settlement’s outskirts.
This is a new drawing based on in-game graphics from 2020. It was executed in Alt-Goldgrün ink by Rohrer & Klingner with a Jowo #6 broad nib.