The Crystal Sea - A Ransom Illustration
Apologies for missing the historical artwork I was scheduled to post yesterday - I’ve been very busy, so I’ll be instead sharing a couple extra posts of original artwork this month. Today’s is one of my favorites!
Created for
’s Ransom: Cross of Secrets, the first book of the Shadow of an Empire series, it depicts a sweet moment between Captain Marc Hesslin and engineer Samantha Anselle, as both have spent time breaking down the other’s barriers and discovering their secrets.“Oh, look!” Samantha gasped a moment later. The water was beginning to glow and sparkle with an aqua light. It began in patches until it spread along the beach and far out into the bay, even lighting the remains of the church tower all covered with flowers.
Samantha couldn’t resist; she kicked off her shoes and stepped in. The water was warm now, and the glow caught on the hem of her skirts as though it were beaded with turquoise.
“It must be phosphorescence from the crystals in the sunken mines,” Marc guessed, coming over and studying a handful of the seawater. “The radioactive ingredient must have been such that it died after a few decades or so of saltwater, and three hundred years’ time has eroded the crystals. They must coat the seabed now,” he observed.
Marc picked up a sparkling shell and pried it open. A tiny pearl lay nestled inside, not unlike the seed pearls on Aiyra’s ring.
“Talitha must have collected almost a hundred of these just for one ring,” he murmured. Samantha looked over his shoulder.
“Aiyra’s?”
Marc nodded. He flung the shell away and placed the pearl in Samantha’s hand, where it lay like a little silver moon. The captain did a double-take when he saw a silver flash on Samantha’s wrist. It curved along her arms and glinted beneath the high collar of her gown.
- Excerpt from Chapter XV: Pearl.
Perspective is often one of the trickiest elements for me, and patience with working the details of the background is the other, but in the end I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I used the star brush of Krita liberally for the luminescent water, because it’s a fun brush, and sparkles make everything better! (except bacon, maybe.)
If you’re curious to find out more about this scene, please read the chapter and its predecessor. Each of Thérèse’s chapters are paywalled after a couple of weeks, so now’s the time, or you can purchase the printed version on Amazon and other seller’s websites. You can reach the book’s page on En Route’s website, here.
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Lovely artwork. It looks like a frame from an animated film. Very nice job... 😎