The Chair

[UPDATE] Incredible introduction by Mr. Abnett himself!

“People often ask me what Ravenor’s chair actually looks like. I’ve always kept the answers and descriptions vague, because I think it’s up to readers to make their own mental pictures. But Nic’s version, quite apart from being a great piece of artwork, is astonishingly close to my mental image.”

- Dan Abnett

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(...) "Tired, I make myself comfortable. Not in any physical
way. The sustain-field of my chair accommodates my
rudimentary body-needs. I settle and adjust mentally,
according to the psykana rituals.
A soft-edged trance allows me to open up. I can hear
hectic noise from the ship around me, but I muffle it out.
I am weary from the long voyage.
I concentrate. I resolve. I see nothing. I feel everything.
Everything that makes up Eustis Majoris. Bloat-world,
obese with cities. Filthy with a crust of dirt I can taste. It
is like examining a putrefying corpse.
My fingertips feel contaminated already, though I have
no fingers.
Eustis Majoris. It makes me gag. Old world. Rain-eaten
world. Sub-sector capital. The smell of tar and slime and
ouslite on its consumptive breath. The dry odour of
trade, the stale stink of vice.
It is hard for me to bear. My gorge rises, my stomach
turns.
I resolve. There is too much data, too many signals from
too many lives. I have to focus. They are down there. My
people, hard at work. I must not lose them.
Specifics. I look for specifics. I hunt for the glints of the
wraithbone markers. I whisper through lives, from one to
another, as if walking through the rooms of an endless
mansion." (...)

Ravenor, by Dan Abnett

I love illustrating this man's writing. And it's one of the very few things (apart from my beloved Mars based punk band The Sisters Grimm) that I use to actually relax drawing.

You see, when you draw for a living, it isn't a hobby anymore. It isn't as fun and as free as it used to be. Of course, it isn't rocket science either, but after a long week of meeting deadlines and illustrating others' ideas, you kind of want to do something just for the sake of doing it. Drawing for yourself. And you can either choose to draw something completely imaginative, or you can choose to settle your mind somewhere you like.
For me, Dan's landscapes do that. They take me back to just the pure fun of submerging into that rich world he's painted for his 'Daniverse' within the greater scheme that is Warhammer 40,000.

Inquisitor Ravenor is a challenge and no mistake. To be able to illustrate a life-support chair with some sort of dynamism isn't easy, but I like to think I've succeded some.
On top of the fun that was this drwing, I aso chose a medium that also relaxates me very much: black and white. Ink. Nothing more. As I told Dan himself, there's a quality in B&W that I think goes hand in hand with his writing (at least in this artist's head); mostly because I believe his descriptions are at the same time detailed enough to paint a character, but still giving the readers enough space for their own perceptions and ideas. And, as an illustrator, it's wise not to tamper with that. When I saw the great reactions to the sketches of mine he posted on his blog and the discussion that arose on Frauka's and Carl's hair colour, I thought it best to take advantage of B&W and let everyone make the same association in my work as they do with his: detailed enough, but still room for personal preference.

So, you get two hours' worth of Ravenor striding relentlessly on some Chaos leader. Perhaps a corrupt Imperial Lord? A Rogue Governor? I'll let you decide what the plight here is as well, whilst I await some news that will make me update this image in great style!

I hope you enjoy and see you soon!

Nic.-

© Games Workshop Ltd.