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DRAGONMOUNT

A WHEEL OF TIME COMMUNITY

Fan Art Friday: Seanchan


JenniferL

This week we're taking a look at fan interpretations of the Seanchan. The Seanchan are a multi-ethnic invading force we first meet in The Great Hunt. They were presented as mysterious foreigners with two defining characteristics. One, they keep "exotics", trained beasts seen no where else in Randland and with no real world counter part. Two, they leash women who can channel with the a'dam, a ter'angreal that prevents her from channeling without permission from a sul'dam. We've learned a lot more about them since that first appearance.

 

grolm.jpg

 

This is Mark Bray's version of a grolm and it's handler. Mark Bray was one of the most popular fan artists when Dragonmount first came online in 1998. It's great to see his art is still available.

 

Tuon_and_Selucia_by_rmboye.jpg

 

This is another by Richard Boye, we've mentioned his art on Fan Art Friday before. Richard has always had a gift for capturing the clothing as described by Robert Jordan. I think he does a particularly good job of that in this portrait of Tuon and Selucia. For Tuon's outfit especially, you can see the Egyptian influences in the heavy gold collar with gems and the pleating of her linen skirt.

 

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From JordanCon" rel="external nofollow">https://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.liang/JordanCon2010SaturdayNight?feat=embedwebsite">JordanCon 2010 Saturday Night

 

This is one of the costumes from last year's JordanCon. It's my friend Kelcey as High Lord Turak. Check out those pleated pants. Those took him forever to make. He even did the finger nails. It's a pretty detailed costume. You can see more detail up close. Kelcey also does a pretty bitchin' Asha'man and is working on Uno for this year's JordanCon.

 

As a reminder, if you're interested in having your art featured on Fan Art Friday, the Artists, Writers and Crafters Group on Dragonmount is doing a challenge this month. The theme for February is "Love", so if you have a piece of Wheel of Time fan art that fits that theme, post it on the forums and I'll choose my favorites to post next month.




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First of all, thank you so much Jennifer for doing this! It's such a great idea.

 

There does seem to be a dearth of good Seanchan art on the web, even though they are so interesting visually and sartorially.

 

Here are a few more of my favorites:

 

I see you've discovered RoseMuse, but here's a wonderful piece by her which shows Tuon, Selucia and a gaggle of Seanchan that also runs with the Egyptian flair.

 

This is a really funky picturethat has a really interesting take on the weird insectoid/samurai armor of the Seanchan by someone calling himself Prometheus.

 

 

Here's another version of Seanchan armor by Tumnus-d-faun.

 

and here are some cool pictures ot Tuon, all also carrying the Egyptian idea forward: Esrial's Tuon and Tiyger's Tuon.

 

There is also a very talented (and prolofic WoT artist on deviantart.com who calls herself Gala-maia, and she has a very visually intriguing picture of a sul'dam and damane and assorted Seanchan beasties.

 

And as I am sure you know, Richard Boye has an entire gallery of Seanchan pictures. I always loved his High Lady Suroth and that very pretty kimono-robe thing she's wearing.

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Am I the only one who sees the Seanchan being more asain than african or even egyptian?

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Sylathis,

 

Well, maybe - when we first meet the Seanchan in tGH, they definitely have a distinct Asian style: they wear long kimono or cheongson-type robes, and they lacquer their nails and armor, but then again, one of the first Seanchan figures we meet is blond, who has his hair shaved and braided one side (Huan, sho'jin to Turak), and that is a very Egyptian style. Just like Selucia up there. The pleated linen garments are very, very Egyptian.

 

As we see more and more Seanchan, some of them are 'black' or 'negroid' like Tuon and the imperial family. Heck, that's how Semirhage could just blend in, and she's definitely not 'Caucasian.' Selucia's former Truthspeaker was named 'Neferi' and if that's not an Egyptian homage, I don't know what is. The Empress' name Rhadhannan is also very Egyptian seeming, no?

 

Here's a nice summary from the WoTFAQ:

 

Seanchan: Imperial China, Imperial Japan, Persian Empire, Ottoman and Byzantine Empire. (RJ); The lacquer work of the Seanchan seems to be inspired by the Far East, the Emperor/Empress that is too magnificent for commoners to gaze upon is a concept borrowed from Japan. The phrase "Ever Victorious Army" was actually in use in Japan during one point of its history. Persian Empire: The Crystal Throne that inspires awe is a direct allusion to a Persian epic story. Ancient Egypt: pleated linen clothing, the tonsured heads, the patterns on Suroth's gown (symbols within cartouche-like ovals) which could be visualized as resembling hieroglyphics. WH provides even more cultural flavorings, including Greek names (Tuon's middle name is "Kore" [an ancient name for the Greek Goddess Persephone] and Selucia [selucid Kingdom]), and Egyptian names (Neferi [Nefertiti]).

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