Returning to these familiar Watchers figures has been a joy. With much of the design work already established by his first portrait, I'm able to build on the themes behind Kokabiel's character. To me, Kokabiel represents a sort of escapism. In the first piece, he's looking to the heavens while water rises around him. This time around I wanted to pull the camera in closer and show a private moment as he loses himself in a beautiful moment.
The fair and childlike Kokabiel saw things in the stars that his brother Watchers did not. To him, he saw unknowable mysteries unfolding in the night sky. Men came to him, with hopes of divining some earthly meaning behind the movement of the heavenly bodies. Though he spoke with them often, it was difficult to take real information from his readings. The places and things that he described were in vivid detail, but failed to resemble the world in which they lived. At first, the obtuse quality of Kokabiel’s information was seen as a form of higher wisdom, beyond the reach of men’s minds. As time went on, many thought him mad.
Kokabiel longed to return to be among the stars again, forgoing all worldly concerns. As tragedy mounted around him, he did not see it, blinded by the glare of celestial light.
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- Pete
