Tag: Kushiel’s Legacy

[New Art] Cassiel’s Servant – Grayscale & Gold Edition + Print Launch & Upcoming Patreon Rewards

After MUCH toil, I can finally share this piece that I have been working on for so very long!

Happy 25th anniversary to Kushiel’s Legacy, one of my fave book series! You’ve seen WIP snippets of this piece on and off for the past couple of years while we’ve been really struggling with Life Happenings (TM).

I almost gave up on painting this with all the skill challenges it threw at me on top of those troubles. I never gave up on it though, even when the muse has been fleeting. Thanks to everyone who cheered me on while doing this and supported me here in the meanwhile!

I’m grateful also to this book series because it helped shape my passion for elegant, mature fantasy and quiet strength in both my writing and art.

A warrior wearing daggers at his waist and a longsword on his back crosses his forearms in a salute. His eyes are closed in a pensive pose as he stands resolute in his duty. Behind him, the woman he has sworn to protect, walks a path of broken glass into a golden window of thorny rose vines. The black tribal tattoo on her back marks her as a chosen of Kushiel. Pinpricks of red mark its blossoms. The painting is rendered in grayscale with gold accents dotting the dust motes, floating feathers, and rose designs.

Detail shots for your enjoyment:

A detail of the painting showing the delicate tattoo work on Phedre's back and her flowing hair as well as the layers and texture of Joscelin's chainmail armor and bracers.

[Below] A short art timelapse compressing hours of work down to 1 min.

A peek at all the concept and thumbnail sketches I did to prepare for this cover. Get a closer look over in the Cassiel’s Servant Art Archive.

Cassiel’s Servant Limited Edition Print Pre-Orders Launch

I also hope to celebrate this momentous occasion with a limited edition series gold foil print launch of this grayscale & gold painting! The print will have metallic etched gold accents with a lovely satin finish.

However, only 100 of these prints will be made and I will need the fandom’s help to be able to make this happen! The planned pre-order listing will go live in early August and I will run it until we sell the minimum amount needed to print the series, 1 month passes, or we sell out of the 100 prints.

If you’re interested in the print launch, sign up for a reminder here (I’ll also be sure to remind folks here with a blog post poke as well).

What’s Next?

There are still a few things I’d like to do before I wrap up this painting! Here’s the plan for those who want to make sure they are pledged at the proper tiers to get access to the goods.

TL;DR Those pledging at $5 will get most of the goods, except for the digital compilation sketchbook, which is coming later for the $10+ tiers! NOTE that you can pledge at any time after the digital Rewards are posted for access since they are digital and therefore hosted here on Patreon and persistently available as long as you are pledging to the proper tier.

Patreon Rewards Happening in July:

  • Secret Sketchbook Entry – 1 of 2 more Patrons-Only Secret Sketchbook entries (available to all paid tiers) discussing final problem-solving for the grayscale & gold painting.

  • Digital Wallpaper Pack (Grayscale & Gold Ed.) – The grayscale & gold painting for your desktop computers, tablets, and phones available for free for my $2+ Patrons (& available without a subscription committment in my Patreon Shop.
    (This pack will also be offered free to anyone pre-ordering the Limited Edition print when it goes live.)

  • PSD File (Grayscale & Gold) – $5+ Patrons will also receive the grayscale & gold PSD file for personal use & study

Patreon Rewards Planned for August:

  • Secret Sketchbook Entry – 2 of 2 more Patrons-Only Secret Sketchbook entries (available to all paid tiers) discussing the process of converting from grayscale to color.

  • Digital Wallpaper Pack (Color Edition) – A wallpaper pack for my $2+ Patrons & my Secret Shop

  • PSD File (Color Edition) – $5+ Patrons will also receive the full color PSD file for personal use & study

  • Cassiel’s Servant Digital Sketchbook – Compiling all the sketches and Secret Sketchbook posts together into a PDF Sketchbook (will be available for free for $10+ Premier Patrons) & offered in my Patreon & Fantasy Art shops

Other Plans:

  • Stickers – I’m looking into possibly making stickers of these Cassiel’s Servant themed emblems, but they require some cleaning up. (Is there enough interest in possible pins or patches of these designs too?)

  • Grayscale & Gold Foil Print – Launching in early August via a pre-order listing! This limited print series will only be made if there are enough pre-orders. (Sign up here for reminders).

As we get closer to August, I’ll re-confirm this Rewards schedule and what’s ready to go. There’s lots to do and this rollout of merch and art is somewhat experimental for me.

Let me know what you’re most interested and excited about!

For now, it’s time for me to get to work.

Wishing you all inspiration!

♥ Ang

“Cassiel’s Servant” Project Archive

[Latest Update 7-21-2026] New additions to the archive! Part 4 of the Secret Sketchbook journey with the Cassiel’s Servant painting under the Patreon-Only Posts category.

I wanted to give my Free Members a peek at all the art I’ve been creating inspired by “Cassiel’s Servant” from Jacqueline Carey, the story of a warrior monk’s unknowing rise to meet his divine destiny in the woman he would eventually break his oaths for.

(Above: My fan version of the cover of “Kushiel’s Dart”, the book that started the Kushiel’s Legacy series which “Cassiel’s Servant” is a part of.)

All the art I’ve shared publicly for “Cassiel’s Servant” has been attached to the top of this post for all to enjoy. You can also read more about this project as it developed in these public posts:

Cassiel’s Servant [Public Posts]

Cassiel’s Servant [Patreon-Only Posts]

If you’d like to help support me while I work on this and future projects, check out the following Patrons-only posts related to this project that are available to all paid members at all tiers. These posts give you a deep dive into my process, inspiration, and research that my free posts don’t go into.

Available to ALL paid Patrons or access the post you’re interested in individually for $3 a piece, no subscription required.

Cassiel’s Servant-Related Rewards

Watch the experimental video I made combining art and narration about Elua here, since Patreon doesn’t support video embedding within the body of posts yet. (EDIT. They now support embedding yay!)

I plan to keep sharing art for free with optional paid perks this way so you can all get the best of both worlds!

Want to join me as I book club “Cassiel’s Servant”? Hop in the book’s discussion thread on my Discord server! This server is open to the public and free to join, though my Discord also has a Patrons-only area where you can browse my Patrons-only Secret Sketchbook and more. Come hang out!

Have you finished reading “Cassiel’s Servant” yet? Are you planning to read? Or reading something else? Let me know what you’re up to, book wyrms!

– Ang

[Secret Sketchbook] CASSIEL’S SERVANT – Joscelin Concept Sketches

A Patrons-only peek at concept sketches for Joscelin, featuring weapons, armor, & more, plus photo references and design discussion.

EDIT: I added in an important note about the Cassiline sword’s design and how it might change later. More thoughts down in that section!

It’s been a minute since I was able to update this project, so I wanted to treat my faithful fans who stuck with me during the long quiet with a nice, chunky Patrons-only update! Here’s a peek at my explorations of Joscelin, the main character of Cassiel’s Servant by Jacqueline Carey, and his armaments.

I wanted to figure out some of Joscelin’s visual specifics as they may feature heavily in the fan cover I’m creating for this book, which is the ultimate goal of my Story Sketcher project. As always, I love research, so I dove headfirst into the rabbithole of medieval garb, lanolin, and clubbed hair!

Joscelin’s Appearance

First off, I had to start asking myself the question. What does Joscelin look like, anyways? He is described as someone beautiful enough to be an adept of Cereus House with the provincial charm of a Siovale noble with the classic blue eye, blonde hair, and fair complexion.

I’ve shared my rendition from years ago already here, but I never felt like I truly nailed him down in this old piece. Looking back on this first try, I wasn’t satisfied with his bland, grumpy face, his weapons were too ornate for his modest order, and I took a more ‘Hollywood Medieval Fantasy’ approach with his Cassiline clothing.

Having Joscelin’s more specific descriptions of his equipment in Cassiel’s Servant gave me the perfect opportunity to redo this concept.

Now, before I get into fan casting for his physical appearance, I know what you’re going to say. My choice is a rather unorthodox one…

…but, guys, have you seen how cut Bill Skarsgård is in Boy Kills World and The Crow?

Yes, that’s right, I’m fan casting Bill Skarsgård as our dear Joscelin! He’s a unique kind of beautiful, once I got over my “Oh help, it’s Pennywise!” feelings first. Once you see this man in action flicks, Skarsgård has the flexibility to be both intense and charming and, boy howdy, does he kick ass! He moves like an absolute martial arts pro in Boy Kills World and would suit the acrobatic physicality of Joscelin so well.

Skarsgård’s also a dead ringer for Tran Nguyen’s painting of Joscelin, which is one of my favorite artist’s renditions of this character. She captured Joscelin’s focused gaze and dedication to his ward so well! No doubt, Skarsgård will be informing my interpretation of Joscelin moving forward.

But I know this is an odd choice for some, so tell me who you all are fan casting for Joscelin in the comments?

Armaments of the Cassiline Brothers

Now the really fun part – equipment! Let’s break it down bit by bit.

(A section of my reference board for Joscelin’s Cassiline equipment. You can find more references and individual links in my Cassiel’s Servant mood board on Pinterest. Sidenote that the Metropolitan’s Museum of Art’s vast online collection proved invaluable for research, as it can be searched by time period and region and often includes photos of multiple angles of artifacts!)

The Hair

Joscelin describes the Brothers who came to recruit him as having a warrior’s club of hair at the nape of their neck because they do not cut their hair as a show of devotion to Adonai. What does ‘clubbed hair’ mean, anyways? I explored two possibilities, a folded queue inspired by 17th/18th century British soldiers that shows more of the hair versus a wrapped queue tied with laces, inspired by native american hairstyles, considering the similar belief in the sacred nature of hair.

(I also experimented with wavy hair for Joscelin, but felt the straight hair represented his reserved and tidy personality better.)  

I chose the wrapped queue because it felt more monastic to me, while the folded queue feels too fancy for a group dedicated to modesty.

The Armour

The Cassiline Brothers are described as a lightly armored unit who prize mobility so they might better protect their assigned ward. Upon Joscelin’s initiation, he describes recieving the Cassiline signature grey wool mandilion coat treated so thoroughly with lanolin that it is both waterproof and extremely soft. This shirt also falls below the knee and is sleeveless for a full round of motion. This description blew up my old image featuring lots of leather and doeskin. (Everyone looks sexy in leather, okay??)

If you were like me upon reading and had no idea what ‘mandilion’ or ‘lanolin’ means, a mandilion is a style of pullover jacket open on the sides from the 16th century. In true Fantasy fashion, Cassilines have a unique custom tailor cut that’s secret to their sect’s makers, so I had a little fun with the lines of this garment. Lanolin is the secretion that sheeps make that keeps their wool fluffy and clean in nature. The More You Know!

(Mandilion coats from Jacques de Gheyn and Academie de l’Espée by Gérard Thibault d’Anvers, respectively. The upside down Y shape of the top right image heavily influenced the cut of Joscelin’s jacket.)

Beneath Joscelin’s coat, there’s also chainmail, and beneath that is no doubt an undershirt because nobody wants chainmail pulling their body hair or chaffing. Trust the word of this former cosplayer.

The Armaments

Cassiline Brothers have some really cool kit! They are known for their twin daggers, steel vambraces, and a sword strapped to their backs which is drawn only in combat with the intent to kill.

I kept their weapon designs simple and elegant taking inspiration from 15th century French gothic swords.

I did allow myself one specific artistic liberty not described at all by Carey in the books so far and that was the idea that Cassiline Brothers have a flame motif etched into their swords which pays homage to the flaming sword of the archangel Cassiel, the central symbolic figure of their order.

This is all me and not technically book-accurate, but I couldn’t shake the thought once it occurred to me that the single remotely ornate thing you will see of a Cassiline’s is the sword they draw before someone dies. The poetry of that to an archangel’s fateful appearance is just too perfect for me to exclude.

[EDIT 8/31/2024]: I may end up dropping the etched flames in a later iteration if this is perhaps too close to rendering a graven image, which might be anathema for Cassilines as well because of their religious similarity to Judaism, which does not permit graven images. I’m torn on whether this would be considered idolatry if it is not meant to portray Cassiel directly, but to honor the fire, as I recall the priests of the archangel Kushiel in the first novel also using masks and whips to honor Kushiel. Feel free to chime in on this in the comments, book fans who are more well read on this topic!

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What is your favorite rendition of Joscelin? I’d love to see if you want to share in comments! Let me know how my rendition holds up. Moving forward, these will be the design cues I’ll be following, though we shall see if anything changes my mind later. The process of illustration can always surprise you with unexpected revelations!

Now it’s on to reading the rest of Cassiel’s Servant and seeing what other art pops out along the way.

– Ang

Reminders:

  • I’m currently book-clubbing Cassiel’s Servant in my Discord server! I post my thoughts on the story, art thoughts, etc. there. Feel free to join in the discussion!

  • My Discord server is also open to everyone, with a private area for Patrons! Patrons get special access to the Ask Me Anything channel, among other perks. Come ask me anything! Learn how to link your Discord to Patreon accounts here.

[Cover Art & Sketches] Revisiting “Kushiel’s Dart “

Now that I’m about to enter the part of the CASSIEL’S SERVANT novel that crosses over into the events of KUSHIEL’S DART, I wanted to revisit some of the work I created for DART during my first time creating my own cover art and sketch explorations for a novel.

I’ve already shared a deep dive into the development of DART’s cover, but I wanted to revisit some of the old character sketches here as well. Enjoy a trip down memory lane, as these were done 10 years ago!

 LEFT: My very first try at drawing Joscelin! Inspired by his first meeting with Phedre, the main character of DART. Now that I’m reading CASSIEL’S SERVANT, I’ve learned why he was so cranky at the time. I love this old design, but I may simplify the wrappings on the sword and daggers even more to emphasize the Cassiline devotion to utilitarianism. I’ll be exploring equipment concepts in a new post soon.

RIGHT: Grainne, one of the twin Lords of the Dalriada, Gaelic-inspired warriors we meet in DART. I’m amused that even back then, graphite felt suiting for drawing art for this world.

An assortment of characters we meet early on in DART. Looking back on this, I feel like I very much had the distinguished actress, Maggie Smith, in mind when envisioning the discerning Dowayne of Cereus House.

—-

Now, back to reading with me and teaching myself new video editing software so I can keep bringing you fun storytelling snippets like my recent try at narrating Elua’s origin myth  from SERVANT that was shared on my socials.

Did you all enjoy this audio+visual format for Elua’s sketch? It was a lot of fun for me to make and I hope to explore more narrative imagery in this fashion.

More art soon!

– Ang

Currently Reading: Cassiel’s Servant

EDIT: I’ve added some share links at the end of the article for anyone who’d like to help me signal boost!

My Story Sketcher journey begins with Cassiel’s Servant by Jacqueline Carey! I was originally going to begin with one of my top Fantasy faves, Kushiel’s Dart, after it was very popular on my poll, but Cassiel’s Servant arrived just in time to tempt me to embark on what will be a new, but familiar journey, as Cassiel’s Servant tells the story of Kushiel’s Dart from the perspective of a different character, the stoic warrior, Joscelin Verreuil.

How I could resist a brand new venture into one of my favorite affirming and inspiring Fantasy worlds, especially during Pride month?

(Cassiel’s Servant cover art by Mélanie Delon)

GENRE: Romantasy | PAGES: 528 |  RATING: Mature Audiences, Spice Levels High! Though my art will be no more graphic than PG-13

SYNOPSIS: In Kushiel’s Dart, a daring young courtesan uncovered a plot to destroy her beloved homeland. But hers is only half the tale. Now see the other half of the heart that lived it. 

Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive. 

From his earliest training to captivity amongst their enemies, his journey with Phèdre to avert the conquest of Terre D’Ange shatters body and mind… and brings him an impossible love that he will do anything to keep. 

Even if it means breaking all vows and losing his soul.

The Journey Ahead

Here’s the plan for my journey with Cassiel’s Servant! For this book, I’ll be creating:

  • My own variant version of a cover for the book, to be offered as a Limited Edition print. All Patrons will be getting a deep dive into my cover creation process! (Limited Edition prints to be offered to Patrons, tier to be determined).

  • A bookmark to commemorate the occasion. All Patrons will get a downloadable version. (A physical bookmark with a tassel will be offered too, tier to be determined).

  • Sketches of particularly inspiring characters, concepts, scenes, etc. that inspire me along the way. To be collected as a PDF for Patrons (tier to be determined) and available to others via my digital shop items.

Once I have a better idea of how much art I’ll be making after this first experimental book art journey, then I’ll make a proper announcement about what goodies my Patrons will recieve at what tiers. There’ll be an announcement and a PM sent out to keep everyone in the know so you won’t miss out on any of the limited or exclusive goodies.

(The variant cover I created for Kushiel’s Dart. Will I be brave enough to do traditional art for a variant cover of Cassiel’s Servant???)

Read Along!

I’ll be doing my own Book Club-style reaction posts sharing my art and thoughts inspired by this book as I read in this dedicated Discord channel. Feel free to hop in and discuss with me! Spoilers/spoiler-y art will be hidden by spoiler tags.

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It’s been a few years since I read Kushiel’s Dart, which has me excited to see this familiar world once again, this time through the eyes of Joscelin, who will no doubt have a unique perspective and history as a warrior on a different battlefield than Phedre’s glittering courtesan arena.

I’m also excited to let my book/Fantasy nerd flag fly with this new art adventure. It feels good to get back to my heart’s passion for storytelling and art driven by deep character exploration. I can’t wait to see what comes out of this journey!

– Ang

Share Links

This is a small operation of just me and occasionally my husband who serves as my IT department, so if you’d like to help me spread the word, I’d be incredibly grateful! You can signal boost these posts:

Introducing My New Patreon Theme: Story Sketcher

We’ve been on a long journey with the Birthstone Goddesses, friends! Today, I’m happy to officially announce the start of a new journey here on my Patreon! As you all know, I’m hoping to indulge more of my Writing Muse in the future, so I wanted to theme my Patreon around my new visual storytelling focus.

What is Story Sketcher?

It’s the name of what I’m calling this multi-disciplinary endeavor to immerse myself in stories and art! So many great new classic Fantasy novels have come out over the years that I’ve missed out on because I’ve been playing video games or reading comic books instead.

No hate to gamers and comic readers because these are valid story forms I adore too! Mostly, I have personally missed out on so many novels because I felt I didn’t have time to read and enjoyed the ‘quicker’ injection of stories via these more visual formats.

Now, I realize that if I want to write more stories that it’s time I get back into the novel reading habit to increase my own knowledge-base. What better way to do so than enticing my Art and Writing Muses to come together in a flurry of art creation inspired by books?

As I read each Fantasy book in my To Read pile, I’ll be making art inspired by the story, which will tentatively include:

  • A variant cover for the story for my Cover Art Portfolio (the main goal!)

  • Sketches of characters, scenes, locales, etc. that inspire me along the way

  • B&W short comics, should any scenes particularly inspire me to practice this skillset

  • A bookmark to commemorate my journey with each book

(The variant cover for Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, one of my favorite Fantasy books, that I painted in 2013.)

About the Bookmarks

I have to interject with a story about how much of a book wyrm I was as a kid! I was a lonely Army brat because my family would relocate every 2 years. Books were my escape from the loneliness. Libraries, in particular, were my escape from the bullying of other kids for being the forever ‘new kid’.

Each time I finished a book, I’d commemorate the occasion with a bookmark. Here’s an old one from the Monsters of Mythology series that I absolutely adored because it shared the untold stories of the ostracized monsters of Greek myth. These were lesser known fictionalizted stories of their untold tales before they became the misunderstood beings we all know.

(I wish I could find more of these old bookmarks I did. Alas, they are lost to time! This was the only scan of one I could find for now.)

Making bookmarks to commemorate my journey through a book is a tradition I want to bring back for adult-me. I suspect my bookmarks for Story Sketcher will be colored, but we shall see. It will all depend on how the story inspires me! Sometimes things just look better in black, white, and gold.

What can Free Members & Patrons expect?

Free Members will still be able to see just the art on social media and in monthly compilations, but they’ll miss out on any deep dive art notes and behind the scenes articles I’ll be sharing just for Patrons at all tiers. Patrons will also be the ones to get access to any Patrons-only Merch I’ll be designing inspired by my book-reading journeys.

(Sketches from the deep dive about my Kushiel’s Dart variant cover. An example of the kind of notes & WIPs Patrons can expect to see!)

Upcoming New Merch

I’m currently brainstorming on all the new Merch possibilities for this theme, but will need some time to figure out the logistics and how I’ll offer them to you all. I want to go through my first book’s journey and see what shakes loose, art-wise, before I commit to any particular designs just yet!

But while we’re here dreaming, I’m currently pondering the following new Merch offerings, which will likely be mainly available exclusively through my Patron tiers, which I’m still deciding on once I have a better idea of costs:

  • Limited Edition signed prints of the cover art I make

  • Bookmarks for each book I read (Digital printables or physical)

  • Bookish-themed stickers

  • Bookish-themed pins

  • Pins inspired by the books I’m reading (characters-inspired, symbolic, etc.)

  • PDFs of all the sketches available for a book in a compilation with my notes

Tell me which items get you the most excited so I can gauge your interest and where I should spend my effort!

So what am I reading first???

In my theme poll, many of you wanted to see more of my explorations of the world of the fantastic Kushiel’s Legacy books by Jacqueline Carey! With that in mind, I’ll be introducting the first book I’ll be reading and exploring with art in the next post (though my updated Patreon About page already has a spoiler for what book I chose, hee hee).

How often will I post on Patreon?

It depends? I aim to finish a book per month, which may change depending on the length of the book, how much art it inspires me to do, etc. However, this is meant to be a fun side project, which means if I get busy for any reason, I may post less.

It’s best to treat this Patreon as more of a Tip Jar where you can enjoy the perks of my already existing archives of coloring pages, tutorials, etc., with new material to come as and when its creation happens. I will make a post announcement to Free and Patron members when I’ll be offering new Merch or downloadables you guys might want so you can be sure not to miss out on it or to pledge as-needed, should anyone need to be more discriminating with how often they pledge.

My account is a Charge Up Front account, so you’ll never be charged less or more than the monthly fee!

WHEW that was a lot of information! I’ll be introducing the first book from the To Read pile in the next post so this post doesn’t run too long. I’m so excited to start this interdisciplinary journey that I have been thinking about attempting for a few years, now. I hope you all will stick with me during this grand experiment!

– Ang