I’ll wrap up the Laurel Tree ep from the #Xena Virtual Season I worked on 21 years ago with its closing image: a dad & his kids grateful to our heroes Xena & Gabrielle. I gave them a distinctive Little Nemo look here. Little Nemo was drawn by an animator, & pretty much any comics artist who worked in animation (like Walt Kelly, of Pogo) is a huge influence on me, as I also studied animation. One of the things I loved doing on the #Xena vs was visualizing the supporting characters: that’s where the artist can expand on the story.

This drawing from the #Xena Virtual Season ep, The Laurel Tree, shows iirc a soldier with a gorytos, an ancient Greek quiver. (actually Scythian). It was specified in the script, but I came across a pic of an ornate one found in Philip of Macedonia’s tomb.

Generally, when I illustrated a teleplay, it was given me by the editorial staff. I didn’t really interact with the author. This was how they did it on the show as well. I would try to discover the author’s intent, while expanding on it using my own research. 

I would also try to look for any patterns in the story that could influence my choices. It didn’t matter whether those patterns were intentional: if they were there, for any reason, I’d use them. In this case, I did hear from the author, afterwards, who told me I picked exactly 

the right design for the gorytos. So I was very pleased. She was very nice, & would later write another ep in season 8 I was looking forward to illustrating, but wasn’t able to, as I had other commitments by then. Btw: you know this character is evil by the off-kilter angle!

This is another drawing from the #Xena virtual Season ep, The Laurel Tree. Gab leaps onto Argo II’s back as Xena rides away. I like this one as well, as it gives you an idea of motion despite them just sitting on a horse, due to the progression in their poses.

More Virtual Season drawings from The Laurel Tree, this time #Xena wrestling with Alti. This has a rotoscoped Ralph Bakshi cartoon look. Tho Xena is an action show, it’s a challenge capturing that in comic book form. Emotion is key, & I tried to capture that at least.

Another Laurel Tree sketch for the #Xena Virtual Season. Gabrielle confronts Alti. I was pleased to have the chance to draw Alti. I think I designed her look, but am not sure. She definitely looks like a Little Nemo character here. Gab’s costume was designed by the staff, the AFIN tattoo is covered by tattoo-shaped armor.

This is one of my favorite drawings, also from the #Xena Warrior Princess  virtual season episode, The Laurel Tree. Xena has been injured & blinded (blindness is a common motif on the show), & Gabrielle is valiantly carrying her to safety. Gab is often the rescuee, so I loved the idea of turning that around.

This is the first drawing I contributed to a #Xena virtual season in late 2001 I believe. I joined it halfway into its “7th season”. The name of this ep was “The Laurel Tree,” a beautiful elegiac tale. This particular vs had a number of eps like that, which suits my mood. 

It was influenced by the classic film To Kill a Mockingbird. You’ll notice Gab’s outfit is different than the tv show. Keep in mind this is after A Friend in Need, so she still has her tattoo, & she’s more armored, due to having wielded the chakram.

I didn’t design the costume. The vs had an editorial team that designed new costumes, etc  for the main characters, as needed, then supplied the models to guest artists (like me). I think  I made her hair slightly longer to show passage of time from AFIN.