Well, I’ve been crocheting a lot of cool amigurumi toys lately, which I’ll show in the next few weeks, but I also finished pencils for chapter 1 (of 9) of Small Shen, my collaboration with author Kylie Chan. This is a Chinese Fantasy story and is a prequel to her White Tiger series, and people who are familiar with what I like to draw best will probably know that I’m in my element here.
I’m sure you’re all wondering what Small Shen is about, so here are a few sample pages from chapter 1. Some are inked/toned and others are still in pencils, but you can probably get a good idea of how the art will turn out from these samples. Since Small Shen won’t be out (from Harper Collins) until Christmas 2012, I’ll probably show more later on next year.
NB. And yes, if you know your Chinese mythology, I can tell you that “Gold” and “Jade” are references to the demi-semi-gods “Golden Boy” and “Jade Girl”. The story’s written by Kylie though, so if you want to know more about how she uses these characters, I suggest you read White Tiger, which is the first actual book in the series.
Pages 1 – 3
Pages 15 – 17
oh-ho! looks like I have another infuriatingly amazing piece of art to read, *sighs and adds to the ever growing list*.
Curse all you talented people, bringing joy and wonder to thousands of people, if I spend all my time submerged in the beautiful worlds you create then how can I possibly be of any help to society? How?
Ah-well, thanks for the sneak peak, hope you have a wonderfull night and/or day.
Haha, thanks Craig.
And let’s face it, you bring the creators lots of happiness too, by taking the time to admire our work. 😀 Have a wonderful day/night too!
Love it 🙂 what I wouldn’t give for a few hours in that library it looks amazing!
Yeah, so would I! Pretty much everyone who loves books wants to hang out in that library! You would need to be able to fly to get around though… 😀
the small shen comic looks great, i saw some of it at supernova brisbane it looked great then looks great now. cant wait for it to be published.
Thanks. 😀 Wow, I had no idea that it was shown at Supanova Brisbane. Oh well, the more exposure da better! 😀
Wow… I can’t wait until this book out…
huge library… I love it..
can’t hardly wait for this book
Thanks! 😀 It’s coming out Xmas 2012, but I’ll be posting art updates along the way, so you’ll see more artwork as we go!
It looks AWESOME!!! I can’t wait till it comes out!!! love it!!! please give us more!!! (>,<)~<3
Thanks! I will definitely post more updates as I go. 😀
AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! I really want to read the comic now!!!! hurry and finish it Queenie!! It looks great btw and the drawings are astounding.
Thanks. I’m working as fast as I can, but it’ll still be out at the end of 2012! LOL
That looks absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to read it (as I am with Heaven to Wudang at the moment — WHEE)! Reminds me somewhat of an xxxHolic atmosphere, really cool!
Thanks! Looks like you’re a long time fan of Kylie, so I’ll have no doubt you’ll enjoy this book when it comes out at the end of this year. 😀
Wow, it looks amazing, cant wait for it to come out, got my girlfriend onto white tiger not long ago and shes already onto Heaven to Wudang, and asked when does the next one come out.
so looking forward to small shen
Haha, Kylie is working hard on the next book as we speak – I’m sure it’ll be done in no time. I spoke to her via email today, and apparantly she was working on a scene with Qing Long in it… we had a chat about the Number One son of the Dragon King (not Qing Long, but the Sea Dragon King). He’s a minor character in “Small Shen”, but it shows what a big and expansive Chinese Mythological world she’s covering. I’m glad you (and your gf) are looking forward to da book!
Queenie – the pages look great, looking forward to the final version. Will Small Shen overlap with the any of Kylie’s novels?
Hey thanks! “Small Shen” is a prequel, so it’s largely set before the first book “White Tiger”. I can confirm that the tail end of “Small Shen” ties in with the opening of “White Tiger”, and that “SS” has lots of events that were referred to in the actual series. 🙂
OMG, I love it, sooooo can’t wait to read it in full. I’ve started re-reading White Tiger and going to re-read them all (super slowly this time) and hopefully by the time I finish them all Small Shen will be out and followed by Book 1 of the Celestial Battle.
Ah, that sounds pretty good. Small Shen has a lot of references to the other books (or is it the other way around), so refreshing your memory of the whole series is great if you’re going to read Small Shen! You’ll get a lot more out of it that way. 😀
I’ve been an avid reader of ‘Dark Heavens’ and ‘Journey to Wudang’ since they were first published. These pages look fantastic! You have done such an excellent job visualising the world Kylie Chan has created Queenie! I’m getting myself ready for a massive read-fest of ‘Small Shen’ all the way through to ‘Heaven to Wudang’ lol. I cannot WAIT to see the rest! 🙂
Thanks! Glad to know that people are looking forward to it~!
A big hello from your fellow monarchs on the other side of the world…Toronto Canada. I accidentally came across Kylie’s Dark Heavens trilogy first then found myself order the books for Journey to Wudang well before it being released over here as I became a huge avid fan.
Then when I came across that Kylie and you Queenie were developing a comic style book I became absolutely enthralled and anxiously awaiting the in store date. If I can’t find a way of ordering and shipping across the pond Toronto, I will make a trip down under to do so.
The bits and pieces of creative you’ve posted are stellar. It’s exactly what I envisioned when I read both triology. You’ve captured it perfectly and can’t wait to get a hold of it when it’s out.
I hope to see more collaborative work with you and Kylie.
Hey, thanks for the kind words! Good to know you’re so interested in our book – and you probably won’t need to come down to Australia to get a copy! I’m sure something can be arranged and we (Kylie or I) can always send you a copy. It’s good to talk to a fan!
That would be awesome when it comes out. Feb 2013 can’t come any faster.