Or.
The mysterious man in the trench coat.
Gerald, adorable guy, I mean I think. He's always around the hidden library doing research and no one really knows where he comes from or what his deal is, but he seems chill. Very quiet, though. Seems to have the bad habit of eavesdropping around though he doesn't seem to be doing it maliciously, I think he's just naturally curious though who knows.
Honestly, I haven't paid much attention to him, he's not even the third weirdest thing to find in this library. And to be fair, who doesn't love some good gossip.
Like, apparently he heard that Ian, the new Librarian, was totally asking that girl Nicole out… You know, the investigator… Yeah, apparently they're going to watch some obscure horror movie from the 70s or something…
How do I know it? Well, I was listening too… not a lot to do when you're a library ghost. Boo, btw.
-Anastacio. The hidden library founder. 1927-1984
And with this, I declare the spooky art season inaugurated! Even though it isn't that spooky.
I've been reading and hearing the expression: “America is not a country but 6 corporations in a trench coat” a lot lately and besides agreeing, it has gotten me picturing two things.
1) Two kids in a trench coat trying to sneak into an R-rated movie screening. A classic. Always funny. I wish my family had owned a trenchcoat when I was young to try it myself.
B) Men in black. Strangers in dark suits going around and inspecting with regards to inexplicable stuff. Like X-Files and well… Men In Black type shit.
So I wanted to include one as part of the “Hidden Library of the occult” ecosystem, maybe not to be like an antagonist at the moment but to show that Nicole and her friends are not the only people to know about the place and go there regularly for their job.
I haven't yet decided what species is and I think it's best if it somehow remains a mystery, but, without confirming anything, I'm probably thinking of some kind of reptilian. I'm still trying to decide if it's too perfect or too obvious.
The fun thing is that this isn't even the main point of this picture for me.
See I don't wanna hate too much on my own stuff but, man. I wish I had written this dissertation before making the actual drawing because I'm just now realizing it would have been pretty fun to draw it from Harold's perspective. I didn't really have a plan at first and the man in the trenchcoat was actually an afterthought.
Maybe I'll do a reverse version later, though I'm definitely not gonna make it as detailed as this lol.
But my main goal for this was to feature Nicole and Ian because this is officially the part of the Our feature presentation saga.
[On October the 6th Ian the librarian talked to Nicole about an obscure italian horror film whose production was involved in scandal. From drama behind the scenes, to allegations of use of snuff footage and the untimely death of its star, a young upcoming actress named Giuditta Herin. It is rumored that its director Ivano Rizzo escaped the country with a master copy of all the footage in order to find financing and a way to have his star come back to finish his movie at last before disappearing forever, leaving the crew to finish the film with many scrapped retakes and reshoots.
It is also rumored that across the American continent many screenings for the supposed director’s cut of the movie have sporadically taken place by surprise, probably as some kind of guerrilla marketing strategy, so that claim seems to be at odds with all the secrecy these events manage.
It is said by the few people claiming to have seen one of these screenings that they have been attended not only by Rizzo but somehow by Herin herself. Probably a body double, a movement that is seen of bad taste by many.
And now Ian has good word of one of these events happening soon and close to where they live. Nicole, intrigued by the story, decides it's a good idea to assist to investigate.]
If you remember the original post and read this you may notice that I changed some details and it's because I've reworked the story so worry not, you haven't been spoiled (too much).
I kind of want to have this one play along over some individual pictures, sometimes even in the background if possible. Similar to what I had planned for The Hosts before it became the sort of storyboard-ish, graphic novel-esque thing it became.
Don't get me wrong. I had a lot of fun making The Hosts last year. It reminded me of my college years of pulling all-nighters to finish a project for the next day, but in the end it was a lot of time and effort. And not that I put a lot of importance in this but the reception wasn't stellar lmao.
Also, this story is a bit non linear so it could work better as something to find rather than an actual series. I'm still figuring it out.
Timelapse