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FerianMoon — Cowslip
Published: 2010-11-07 05:14:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 7690; Favourites: 210; Downloads: 45
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Description
"Rabbits will always need tricks!""No, we need dignity... and above all, the will to accept our fate."
I really love this character. I'm not sure why because he's not in the movie or books for very long and he's an overall unlikeable character, evil, heartless, and cowardly, but I still like him for some reason.
He's the apparent leader of a den where the rabbits have traded in their freedom for an uncertain security; the man who owns a farm nearby chases away their predators and leaves out food for the rabbits, but he also snares the area to catch and eat the healthy, meaty rabbits. So while the rabbits know they will never go hungry and that they'll never be ambushed or killed be elil, any day they'll be snared and die.
Cowslip finds stray, wandering rabbits and invites them into the warren with the lure of safety and good food, hoping that the added numbers will increase his and the other inhabitants odds of living a little bit longer.
In the book he's described as large and rather handsome, but I took his ears from the movie because they were pretty identifiable.
I would have liked him to have more appearances even if it did just add to his unlikeableness. Like in the tv-series, General Woundwart threatens his warren or something, and Cowslip turns over his seer, Silverweed... in the book Silverweed was already completely insane from the hopelessness of his situation but he seemed alright in the series, and I was thinking.. if they had a seer (a rabbit clairvoyant, like Fiver) they could have totally bailed the Warren of Shining Wire and looked for their own Watership Down :/ But I dunno, maybe Cowslip was stubborn.
Art is mine
Character is Richard Adams'
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Comments: 79
Interesting work- Congrats!
Nice to see such a talent 
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Looks much less creepy than the TV series version. Just the stare-ff scene with him and Fiver gave me the chills. I wouldn't be surprised if he's secretly some sort of serial killer rabbit.
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wow amazing! ;o;
I'm searching for artists that can draw bunnies, are you open for requests? c:
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Hey, I really love this pic of Cowslip. This is the best image of him I've seen, way better than how he looked in the movie and series. I love all the black rabbits in the background. I see them as all the victims whose lives were lost to thee wires that Cowslip chose to ignore. Good on em for haunting him.
Im actually writing a fan fic about Silverweed as per the series and exploring a lot of the questions that you're asking about why they stayed there.
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An excellent picture and a brilliant discription of Cowslip. I think it is difficult to know what to think or feel about Cowslip, Is he mad in which case we could sort of understand that he has been driven to the lifestyle he and his warren live? or is he trully evil? for if he is... then he is more evil then Woundwart, Woundwart runs Effrafa with fear but Cowslip uses psychology to mess with the minds of his followers. (as we see quite a bit in the tv series)
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I never saw much of the tv series! I meant to watch it but there were some things about it I couldn't get over. Is it worth it, as a fan of Watership Down in general, pushing through and seeing more of it?
As for the question of Cowslip's sanity, I would say that if he wasn't a sociopath when he first arrived at the warren, he sure is now! I agree that he is much worse than Woundwart as well.. I was sad that Cowslip didn't make a return in the Tales from Watership Down but I suppose the author had already gotten his point across in the first novel. :c
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Hey Ferian, not meaning to but into this conversation, but I'm also a book fan, having read it first, watched the movie second and then the series. To me, the series was worth it, even though you did have to put up with a few changes. You still get to enjoy the characters, and some of the story lines were pretty good, even when they deviated from the orignal. I just looked at it as another rabbits point of view on what happened. Sort of a tale of El-ahrairah told by someone other than Dandelion.
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I think the series is good, In many ways its like an extended version of the movie... the movie tells the story in about 1 hour 25 minutes and the series tells it in about 38 episodes with some new characters and stories thrown in to stretch it out.
I would say that it is worth (I loved it personaly) the watch if you get the chance but it would be more of a "just so I can say I've seen it" as it doesn't really change the brilliance of the book or movie.
I will admit to my shame that I didn't even know there was a second novel, it may be a case that what is in the second book is what they have in the series but unfortunatly not having read the book I cannot say for sure.
If you do see the series I hope you enjoy it
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I think the Warren is also some sort of methaphor for human society,if you think about it. The rabbits make art, dance, have high culture and have developed new ways to build (this is one thing the movie is missing, the book clearly shows how Hazel combines the good parts of all colonies he knows of, hence, his success) yet, they can't run from death like the others. Trade off of becoming civilized, in a way.
As for poor Silverweed, he's cracked. Fiver came from a rather normal warren, so he could deal with his visions somewhat. Silverweed, given his visions must be the only comfort he has (notice how even Fiver has hard time fitting in with his group) is totally insane, just waiting to die. To give a human example, a mad priest in a town that has been overcome with evil, he can only provide his words of hope, which are very little.
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Hmm... There is something mesmerizing in the way he glances at the viewer. I don't know why but it makes you feel like you want to trust him. If I didn't see those red-eyed rabbits in the background and didn't know about the snares, then I would probably have no clue that there is something wrong with that warren.
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That's a great picture you've made here. Cowslip is really one good-looking rabbit in this image. Of course I am just human, so how would I really know if that rabbit is handsome or not? After all, rabbits might have different definition of being handsome, eh wot?
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Thank you very much xD And yeah you're right, wish I knew what a rabbit thought was handsome.
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If the book is any indication... Hazel felt like a poor beggar in comparison with Cowslip and other rabbits from Warren of Shining Wires, because they were well-fed, healthy and seemingly strong (even if they didn't know how to fight). I could be wrong about it of course, but maybe those would be the qualities rabbits see as part of being handsome?
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Makes sense o: Oh I remember when Holly and Silver and whoever else was with them was attacked by Cowslip and his warren and they sucked... I imagined them like bitchslapping everyone with limp wrists or something. Funny imagery xD
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If I remember correctly Holly was with a rabbit called Bluebell and other one called... Hmm... (checks wiki) Aaa... His name was Pimpernel and he was killed by rabbits of Cowslip's Warren.
I imagine that scene happening something like that:
Cowslip tries to scratch Bluebell, but without much succes.
Bluebell: I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly sure what are you trying to do?
Cowslip: Just die already!
Bluebell: Oh, so you're trying to kill me? And here I was thinking that you wanted to pull some stick out of my fur.
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Bluebell, that was it!
xD That would have been such a silly scene, too bad it wasn't included in the movie :c guess cowslip and co. weren't important enough.
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Maybe you could draw that fight? That would surely be something funny to see.
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I'm not too great at sequences, sadly D:
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Then maybe the scene where Holly makes Cowslip tell him where Hazel and the rest went to?
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Yeah, that could be fun :3 I hope I remember to do it!
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Then maybe the scene where Holly makes Cowslip tell him where Hazel and the rest went to?
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Or the moviemakers didn't have me as a scriptwriter.
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I think Cowslip would certainly be up there with my top favorites. His mysterious, and untrustworthy, ways spoke out to me as something...interesting. >:3
Lovely drawing, my friend, it's fantastic! ^^
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Thank you very much! :3 And yeah, very very interesting rabbit, he was. :3
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You're very welcome. ^^
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"Rabbits will always need tricks!""Silly Rabbit! Trix are for kids!"
Fixed it.
Love the creepy background dude, reminds me of that acid sequence from the movie.
I agree I wanted to see more of this character too. Even if he is unlikable.
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I understand the liking of this character even though he is also disagreeable, along with your other notations of his behavior. I also found him to be an interesting character. I'm not too far past in the book where Hazel's group has left his warren. I love the movie, though, but I've never seen the series.
Blackavar is my overall favorite character.
You did great in your rendition of Cowslip (is it supposed to be a combo of cow's lip, or cow slip? never could figure it out...). The coloring is great, and I totally agree on his distinguishable half-flopped ears. Also like the red eyes in the back that helps to show that the warren and his company are trouble.
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I think Blackavar is alright, a friend of mine wants me to draw him so a picture of him might be coming out sometime in the future. :3
Thank you very much! And I don't know about his name either, I know its the name of a plant but then where did the plant get the name... I keep picturing a cow wearing a woman's slip. Not a good thought.
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No, not really, but neither is it a good thought of a cow's lip as food....
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Yes my book is still THERE AFTER ALL
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woooh!!! watership down rocks.. nice rendition of cowslip
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i think ive said it before but i'm obsessed with richard adams, i like shardik more than wsd, but still FUCKING RABBITS i love it when you do WSD depictions
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Shardik huh? Just googled it, looks like something I should read!
And thank you!
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best book ever! PS LMAO YOUR ICON love it
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It's pretty amazing :3 And thank you!
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Oh, I love him! He looks sinister, somehow. Just around his eyes
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Excellent creepy vibe to this picture!
As for Silverweed, maybe he was a seer, but not the same way Fiver was. My take on it was that Fiver had enough life in him to want to escape from danger, whereas all Silverweed could do was wait for death and glimpse a bit beyond it.
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