In Persia

I absolutely love the part of Susan Kay's novel that details Erik's life in Persia. It's just fabulous. So I wanted to draw Erik in his prime, so to speak: younger and at the height of his game.

Let me tell you something, it is SO HARD to make Erik look younger. He just inherently looks old. It is really near impossible to make that corpse-like face look young. Plus, I always overdo it with the gritty details of his face, which does little in the way of making him appear more youthful. I don't think I really pulled it off here, aside from the hair, perhaps, and the fact that he isn't as emaciated as he later becomes. Which is really pathetic, if you think about it, but he IS described in Kay's novel as being skeletally thin for his entire life. I just imagined him a little more robust when he's younger, especially since he worked as a mason as a teenager, and would probably inevitably build up some wiry muscle.

I also picture Erik scarred all over from his time in the gypsy fair, which, according to Kay's novel at least, was certainly brutal enough to leave him severely scarred. But I think in Persia, he would use that to his advantage--after all, his job is pretty much to scare the crap out of whoever the shah wants him to scare the crap out of. And what's scarier than Erik himself? It's much like his reasoning years later at the masquerade ball: it's the one time where he doesn't wear a mask and goes out bare-faced, because his face is more frightening than any mask could ever be. What did he say? Something like, "I am going as myself!"

I love this guy. He's so nuts.

Also, yes. That IS an earring. And a ponytail. And possibly MC Hammer pants.

Because Persia-Erik is super duper hardcore.

Phantom © Susan Kay