The Wizard of Earthsea

Illustration inspired by the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin, the first in a series of scenes from the Earthsea cycle. This moment is pivotal in the first book, Ged, then a young wizard has to leave Roke in pursuit of the shadow which he brought into the world from the world of the dead in a moment of arrogance.

At this point I’ve been doing these more elaborate ink scenes every month for a little while and wanted to try something new. I felt like this piece especially needed some subtle color to bring the world to life and also set the moody tone of the scene.

“Ged had neither lost nor won but, naming the shadow of his death with his own name, had made himself whole: a man: who, knowing his whole true self, cannot be used or possessed by any power other than himself, and whose life therefore is lived for life’s sake and never in the service of ruin, or pain, or hatred, or the dark.”