Rabbits are used as a symbol of
innocence and are a reference to two things. One is my own sign in the
Chinese zodiac and the other is a reference to Laura Bxxxxy and her
artwork, which used rabbits commonly (though I'm not sure of the exact
significance to her).
Radius is a character from CW2 (originally
named Big R) who was reinvented to suit the current narrative. He was at
one point the leader of a group of courtiers that were rivals to Willie's
group though he eventually mellowed and came to join the conspiracy to
assassinate Prang. He has been romantically linked to Nat.
Razor Blades are a symbol of
decadence and drugs due to its common use in cutting cocaine into lines.
The Red Heart is an emblem of the
Emperor's lost love as the heart was ripped out of his chest.
Once removed the heart took on symbolic characteristics borrowed from the
Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ from Catholic mythology. On the crown of the
Red Heart is the word "Rex" which refers to the Emperor. The Red
Heart often bears my initials of the initials of some object of desire.
The heart was first ripped out by the Empress and later found its way
through the hands of the first High Priestess, the Emperor's Consort and recently in the hands of Passion.
Latin for King. This is used as a
symbol for the Emperor who wears the word on his belt buckle. Rex also
appears on the crowned version of the Red Heart which, was pulled from the
Emperor's chest.
Many of the characters in my
artwork wear robes. This is drawing from a few different sources of
inspiration. One is the artwork of the classical period (and references to
it in the Renaissance) where robes and togas were common
garb. The second influence is contemporary fantasy art and fiction
in particular the mages in the Dragonlance novels whose alignment was
reflected in the color of their robes. Characters who wear robes in my
drawings usually have magical abilities or some arcane origin. Robes are
also used because their nebulous shape can be leveraged to fill in areas
of a composition.
Romance is an allegorical character
that was based on Anjey Dxxxxo when we first started hanging out. The idea
was that Romance was like Love only not real or as good. She did however
have some healing abilities as her presence lead the Emperor to forget his
Consort and reclaim the heart she had. Romance then stitched the Emperor's
chest back up. As Anjey's role in my life increased I decided to base a
character on her that played a more central role in the narrative, namely
the second High Priestess.
Rotex was a character from CW2 that
has been adapted into the current narrative as a frivolous courtier. She
is often seen with Trevor and lacks development as a character.