East of Elvendom: July 2014

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Mai El Shoush's "Drawn"

Journalist Mai El Shoush created her own graphic novel "Drawn" in response to the excess of objectified, largely decorative female characters in contemporary comics. El Shoush's heroine Rayann Lawsonia (the binomial name for the henna tree is Lawsonia inermis) receives her superpowers from a mystical henna drawing.

Drawn was released by Jabal Entertainment in 2013.

More info:

About this listing

This blog is dedicated to under-represented ethnic groups in fantasy/sci-fi art. The focus is on fantasy art featuring non-European characters and darker-skinned characters in general. Art inspired by the legends, folktales and mythology of non-European peoples is also included, since contemporary fantasy often takes inspiration from folklore and spiritual traditions.

The main criterion for image selection is quality. The works listed here are mostly illustrations/3D art by commercial artists, many of them well-known in their field. Although I may occasionally post links to drow illustrations, dark elves will probably not be the main focus of this blog.

Note: This blog does not necessarily endorse the work or message of any artist featured here. Nor does it guarantee the political correctness of images posted. This collection of images is only intended as a survey of what's out there.

The name of this blog was in part inspired by deepad's thought-provoking essay I Didn't Dream of Dragons:

"...I have had to learn how to love Tolkein while trying to find myself in the unmapped lands in the East where the Green and Blue wizards disappeared to."