Mirrorscape (30 page)

Collage – Picture made by sticking elements on to it

Composition – The visual organisation of a picture

Craquelure – Crazing on old paint or varnish

Easel – Stand or support for a painting

Foreground – Pictorial space close to the viewer

Foreshortening – The compressing distortion caused by perspective

Format – The shape and size of an artwork

Fugitive (colour) – A colour that fades in daylight

Gallery – A room or building used to display pictures

Gesso – White ground used to paint on

Gilding – Application of gold leaf

Glaze – Transparent colour

Golden Mean or Golden Section – Harmonious ratio for dividing a picture

Gradation – Smooth and gradual change of tone or colour

Graticulation – Grid used to enlarge, reduce or otherwise distort a drawing

Hatching – Tones formed by closely spaced parallel lines

Impasto – Thick, layered use of paint

Indian Ink – Dense black ink

Journeyman – Stage between being an apprentice and a master

Landscape – Picture of an outdoor scene

Landscape Format – Wider than it is tall

Lapis Lazuli – Blue semi-precious stone. Basis of ultramarine pigment

Linseed Oil – Oil commonly used as a medium with oil paint

Local Colour – The inherent colour of an object

Malachite – A green mineral pigment

Masterpiece – A picture made by a journeyman to graduate as a master. A picture worthy of a master

Medium – Liquid mixed with pigment to make paint. Also, materials used to make a picture

Middle Ground – Pictorial space between the foreground and background

Nocturne – Depiction of a night-time scene

Ochre – A rich brown or yellow natural earth pigment

Oil Paint – Paint made from pigment mixed with oil

Opaque – Impervious to light

Orpiment – A yellow mineral pigment

Outline – The drawn boundary of an object or colour

Painting Knife – Small-bladed knife used to apply paint

Palette – Surface on which paint is mixed. Also, a range of colours

Palette Knife – Flexible knife used to mix paint

Perspective – Artistic technique for depicting depth

Picture Plane – The surface of a picture

Pigment – Natural or synthetic colouring matter

Portfolio – Folder for transporting drawings

Portrait – Picture of an individual

Portrait Format – Taller than it is wide

Primary Colours – Red, yellow and blue

Profile – Something rendered from a side view

Quill – A sharpened feather used as a pen

Realgar – An orange mineral pigment

Scumble – Pale, broken colour over a darker one

Secondary Colours – Green, orange and purple, made by mixing two primary colours

Sepia – Brown colour derived from cuttlefish ink

Sfumato – Technique of softly blending tones or colours

Sgraffito – Scratching through a layer to reveal another beneath

Size – Liquid glue used to prime a surface

Sketch – A rapid drawing

Spectrum – Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Also, a range of colours

Stretcher – Wooden frame on which canvas is stretched for painting

Studio – Workplace of an artist

Swatch – A small sample of colour

Tertiary Colours – Colours other than primary and secondary colours

Tone – The lightness or darkness of a colour

Translucent – Allowing light through

Turpentine – Common solvent for oil paint

Ultramarine – Deep blue colour made from lapis lazuli pigment

Vanishing Point – Imaginary point in a drawing where parallel lines converge

Varnish – Transparent protective layer on top of a painting

Wash – Diluted paint or ink

Watercolour – Water soluble paint

Read on for more adventures in the Mirrorscape in the exciting sneak preview of MirrorStorm

A fierce, scalping wind blew across a featureless wasteland devoid of any tree or blade of grass. Funnelled through hollow, wind-blasted rocks, it howled an eerie drone. The sky, the same leaden colour as the stone-strewn ground, seemed low enough to touch.

Across this desolation moved a line of three, squat figures with the unmistakable, wide-legged gait of gnomes. They were swathed in heavy cloaks against the chill blast and had cowls pulled low over their deep crimson faces. Large, open-topped baskets were strapped to their hunched backs. Each carried a glowing crystal rod in one hand, a beam of light shining from the end and crisscrossing the way before them. Their glittering black eyes moved as regularly as pendulums, following the beams as they searched back and forth over the barren ground. From time to time one of the group would stoop, pick up a rock and split it with his small hammer. Most of the shattered rocks were thrown aside with a curse but, occasionally, one revealed a
shining crystal within and was tossed over the finder's shoulder into his basket with an ugly cackle of delight. Onward the trio moved, stopping neither to eat nor drink, although they were aware that night would never fall in that weird, twilit land.

The ground began to rise and, against every rule of nature, a thick clinging mist started to seep from the rocks beneath their feet, rendering everything indistinct. The gnomes moved closer together but their search for the stone-gripped treasure did not slacken. Then their leader halted and called to his companions. They picked their way up the slope and peered down at his find. It was a tall skeleton, white against the grey rocks. Then, on the headwind, came the sound of voices and the smell of cooking. The gnomes knew this smell. It was the odour of roasting human flesh.

Cautiously now, crystal rods dimmed, they continued up the slope, their mineralogy for the moment forgotten. Ahead of them glowed a fire haloed by the mist into a red-orange blur. Three indistinct figures were silhouetted against the dancing flames: two adults and, possibly, a child who blew intermittently on a musical instrument.
To one side stood a makeshift tent made from mismatched articles of clothing stretched between upright stones and the bloody remains of another butchered carcass. The strange Mirrorscape wind that was powerful enough to sculpt rocks but permitted mist to form blew the group's words apart so that their sound reached the gnomes' ears in brittle, fractured shards.

‘… return to the Seven Kingdoms and take back ….'

‘… he may be Blenk's youngest apprentice but ….'

‘… just to see him die slowly ….'

‘… and his meddling friends ….'

‘… if only we had an ally ….'

‘… someone who's hungry for power and untold riches ….'

‘… to help us lure them into a trap ….'

‘… plant a traitor in their midst ….'

‘… lead them to us once we have ….'

‘… but what hope is there of ever finding ….'

‘… not while we're marooned here ….'

The head gnome had heard little but he had heard the words dearest to a gnome's black heart. He exchanged a meaningful look with his companions, who nodded back. He climbed through the mist towards the fire.

‘If there's riches involved, I have the answer to your dilemma.'

This picture bears my signature but others have made huge and indispensable contributions in getting it from a blank canvas to the finished work you see here. My literary agent, Ivan Mulcahy, saw some of the original rough sketches and gave me valuable early criticism and advice. Later, my publisher Cally Poplak and editor Rachel Rimmer of Egmont Press made priceless comments concerning composition and technique. Wendy Birch brought her design skills to frame the picture. I would also like to thank my friend Carol Smith for her unflagging support.

Londoner Mike Wilks is an award-winning artist and bestselling author of
The Ultimate Alphabet
and
The Ultimate Noah's Ark
. His paintings, which have been described as ‘meticulous and eye-bending', can be found in public and private collections in Europe and the USA. The Mirrorscape books transport the reader into Mike's compelling inner world.

www.mike-wilks.com

www.mirrorscape.co.uk

Visit www.egmont.co.uk/mike-wilks for further information on your favourite Egmont author.

Pile – Petals from St. Klaed's Computer

(With Brian Aldiss)

In Granny's Garden

(With Sarah Harrison)

The Weather Works

The Ultimate Alphabet

The Annotated Ultimate Alphabet

The BBC Drawing Course

The Ultimate Noah's Ark

The Ultimate Spot-The-Difference Book

(Metamorphosis)

Mirrorstorm

Mirrorshade