Dune FanArt || Paul Atreides MuaD'dib - The Preacher

Think of sight. You have eyes, yet cannot see without light. If you are on the floor of a valley, you cannot see beyond your valley.

quote source: Irulan chronicle, Dune, p. 285.

The Chronicles of Dune is one of my favourite sci-fi series. To be fair right after World War II we have the heyday of this literary genre, and besides Herbert, you can name many others, such as A.C. Clarke, I. Asimov, H.G. Wells, P. K. Dick, R.Silverberg, or S.Lem.

It's very difficult to choose a 'favourite book' when there are so many excellent books available, yet Dune has been under my skin since I first tried to read it as a teenager. And I completely failed. I could 'eat' whole volumes of Tolkien novels over a weekend, I devoured the tales of the 'Book of One Thousand and One Nights', I was reading Russian literature like ordinary prose, but when I came across Dune - I felt like I was learning to read all over again.

The very fact that it was the first sci-fi book I held in my hand seems to me extremely funny today. Instead of starting with light, short stories, I took on a book that took the author six years to write, and as many as 20(!) attempts at publication.

Beginnings are always difficult

At the time, I still didn't know what the book I was holding in my hand really represented, and I admit that my beginnings with it were difficult. I borrowed it from the school library and had to return it after 2 weeks. When I came to return it - I had only read 2 chapters. Mr M, our librarian and substitute teacher, looked at me and asked:

-Did you like it? What captivated you the most?

-Yyyy

-Failed, huh?

-I've only read two chapters and I don't understand much.

-That's good. Let me suggest a few titles before you come back to it.

Let the magic work on you

And so I started with Clark's short stories, Wells after that, then it was time for Stanislaw Lem.

It wasn't until I was in high school that I came back to Dune - and it completely consumed me. I borrowed more volumes, took notes, and started making first drafts. Herbert is very frugal in describing the appearance of characters, so trying to recreate individual characters graphically - gave me nothing but trouble. I became angry with myself, mashing more failures into balls that began to litter the floor around me.

I watched Lynch's version of 'Dune' (on VHS if you can believe it) and it occurred to me that I wasn't the only one with a problem and visualising these characters. If a genius like Lynch makes such an embarrassing film with such fantastic material at his disposal - maybe there's still a chance for me?

Since then I return to Dune from time to time in the hope of capturing the characters of Herbert's prose. Lately I've been listening to the e-books of 'Messiah of Dune' and 'Children of Dune' and thought - maybe it was time for Paul. As a character in the first book he annoys me to the core, so I thought for once I'd let go of his first big metamorphosis and portray him after all those big battles. Don't worry, there will be not many spoilers from the books here - I don't want to spoil either the books or the new Denis Villeneuve film for you.

About the drawing

The work I'm showing today is the third approach to the subject. I've been looking through the old posts in this series - and turns out to be my standard process - usually the first two drawings end up in the bin. This was the case this time too. I spent several hours on the first artwork, and when I came back to it the next day - I destroyed it. Neither the composition nor the colouring worked. The second time was almost the same. I had to almost force myself to sit down to work. And that's probably not how it should be. I waited 2 weeks and got to work again - and this time I managed to finish the drawing. I think my main problem this time was make a decision - Paul from what period I wanted to portray. As I mentioned before - Paul from the first part of Dune is not my favourite character. He is not even in the top three:) Nevertheless, he is the centre of events and to omit or diminish his role - would be idiotic. So today for you - Paul MuaD'dib, the Preacher or The Prophet.

From the very beginning of first book, Paul presents himself to us as a character with supernatural abilities which, nurtured by Bene Gesserit training, transcend further human limits. The Paul I have chosen to portray is no longer a young man who has challenged the status quo and decided to change the destiny of many. Here he is a man who has changed the fate of the planets. In terms of drawing media - I stayed with the same technique as the other two drawings in the series. A2 format - 42 x 59.4 cm (16.5in x 23.4in), white watercolour paper, black cardboard, pencils, watercolour crayons, gold acrylic paint and black acrylic ink.

Hope you will have lovely week!

Yours,
Strega Azure