Conan Art

My favorite portion from the movie adaptation of Novalyne Price’s exceptional Howard memoir One Who Walked Alone is when Vincent D’Onofrio is describing his character Conan to Novalyne. I found this particular scene from The Whole Wide World on YouTube. Here it is in all its glory:

I loveto watch that part. That description is so real that it nearly has me tasting blood in my own mouth after I watch it. There is another part in the movie as well, where Novalyne and Bob are discussing the topics in which they like to write about, and Bob mentions that he wants to write about “another age, another way of life” , and “man struggling to survive”, and that that kind of writing is ‘his formula’. That’s exactly how I like my Hyborian age; grim, brutal, survival of the fittest, and so in-your-face it’s nearly tangible.

Oftentimes when I’m soliciting artwork for my hyborian art gallery, I try to scare up some reference photos to complement the descriptions I give the artists. That way, the artist has a general idea of what I’m thinking about the project beforehand; whether they choose to follow that vision or not is entirely up to them.

The image I most often send to artists though, is one I always hope the artist will consider in the atmosphere of the commission. I send it for nearly every piece commissioned, regardless of what it is I’m requesting to have drawn. That piece of art is an illustration of Conan by the late Darren Goodacre. Here it is:

Without a doubt, Darren’s illustration here is one of my all time favorite Conan inks, and every time I see the movie the Whole Wide World, and hear Vincent’s description of Conan, I am reminded of this piece, which I think encapsulates that description perfectly. Likewise, every time I see this image (and I look at it daily pretty much), I am reminded of that passage in the movie. Listen to the audio clip above while you’re looking at the Darren’s illustration, and I think you’ll see what I mean.