HOME | DD

grind-the-rust — We're gonna be fine

#dante #eros #joemiller #venus #leviathanwakes #protomolecule #theexpanse #syfytheexpanse #josephusmiller #jamessacoresy #lastmoments
Published: 2016-08-22 13:09:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 1261; Favourites: 23; Downloads: 2
Redirect to original
Description Detective Josephus A Miller, at the end of Leviathan Wakes (Book 1 of James SA Corey's Expanse series). Spoilerish ramblings below.


So here he is, accepting the first of his many deaths, taking off his helmet and gloves and staying on Eros, and saying "we're gonna be fine". Staying, not because he has to, but so someone else does not have to die (or face their not-quite-death) alone and afraid. Our Dante of the godless void, keeping his Beatrice company on the long way down the gravity well. Yeah, this guy really reminds me of Dante, what with the loneliness, and scrying for meaning in the chorus of the damned that is Radio Free Eros, and his transformative, awkward, weird, hallucinatory/visionary love for a stranger. Only, there is no divine plan, no divine love, and any meaning and learning is incidental, and only wonky, lonely, flawed human love and empathy "move the sun and other stars" (or at any rate, moves Eros towards Venus). So I decided to give Miller Dante's sad aquiline nose by way of homage.

If his face looks a bit droopy and haggard for someone not yet 50, it's mostly because he spends the preceding couple of chapters in tears. In fact, just before this scene: “He didn’t notice that he was weeping until he tried to wipe the tears away, batting his helmet with a gloved hand. He had to make do with blinking hard until his sight cleared.” So, yeah. I really wanted to imagine him independently of what the actor they cast in the series looks like, and feel I've mostly succeeded, but I couldn't quite get away from Tom Jane's haircut. I know he's described as having a "sad basset hound face" in the books, but I'm not sure if I've quite got that here.

Anyhow, this is all moleskine and black colour pencil. Full view is recommended for the full pathos of his mug. This scan is not exactly true to the original, but such are the mysteries of the scanner at the local newsagent (one day, I will buy myself a scanner of my own again, and all shall be much improved – or I will have different mysteries to whinge about, at any rate).

P.S. At one point, Miller is described as giving a “sad basset hound smile” – I’m not entirely sure what that’s meant to look like, as the closest thing to smiling these dogs do is the sort of expression of psychotic glee they wear when they run, as their skin flaps around, as in this image:  this I am most perturbed at trying to picture Miller with that face.
Related content
Comments: 7

WonderDookie [2016-09-19 04:00:10 +0000 UTC]

So good! I really dig the subtle blue floaty things as well.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

grind-the-rust In reply to WonderDookie [2016-09-24 12:11:31 +0000 UTC]

Heh, thanks heaps! The protomolecule floaties are entirely your doing - I liked them in your picture, and thought mine definitely needed some as well (although at this point, Miller's not radiating them himself just yet).

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Soulstripper [2016-08-31 13:04:26 +0000 UTC]

Though I'm not at all familiar with the work, this piece speaks to me so intensely. Not only because of its tender grittiness (if this is an appropriate thing to say) but because, after all, the message of the title is exactly what the image delivers and we've all at some point said that to ourselves. Love it.   

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

grind-the-rust In reply to Soulstripper [2016-09-02 11:06:59 +0000 UTC]

*smiles* Thanks as always for your thoughtful words. "Gritty tenderness" just about hits the nail on the head, too. I don't know if you usually read much sci-fi, but I get the feeling that you'd enjoy the book, and this character's development - he's got a not-quite-ghost and everything, and we know all about having not-quite-ghosts in our lives, don't we, my friend?
But yeah, seriously. The last 50 pages or so of that novel broke my brain a bit, in a sad but wonderful way.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Soulstripper In reply to grind-the-rust [2016-09-02 16:23:38 +0000 UTC]

Anytime. And to be honest, I've never given the sci-fi genre much of a chance, at least not in the classic sense of it, but I've been trying to increase the number of books I've read lately, so I will certainly give it a shot (after all, so far everything you've recommended to me has turned out to be amazing). And true, we all have the not quite ghosts as a fond part of our lives - even though in my case they've been serving the role of a filler for a deep existential hole, and yet despite realizing it they remain parts of me that I would not like to completely scratch out. Go figure...

I'm always signed up for works of art and writing that break your brain in a wonderful way. They're my favorite kind, really. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Tuomashart [2016-08-24 01:21:33 +0000 UTC]

You use sketchy line to your advantage. They add restless feel to the drawing.  The view locks on to the important part with details, which is highlighted by the wild pencilwork around it. 

The style suits his expressions of desperation.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

grind-the-rust In reply to Tuomashart [2016-08-26 08:32:17 +0000 UTC]

Thanks kindly for the thoughtful comment! I have a slight benign tremour in my hands, so rather a lot of my linework is super sketchy - I'm glad to hear it works to add to the ambiance here, haha.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0