Well. Yeah. I haven't done anything digital in a while have I? I didn't expect to finish this tonight. I just did the lineart today! I was like "oh well I'll have an nice big digital undertaking while I do all that traditional work I have lined up" Hahaha... no. Guess I finished it all in one night XD;

But thats okay. I had the idea for this image for a while. HARK THE RETURN OF MY FIRE STOCK! I had always wanted to use my fire photos from that project way back when yet again. And you know, its about damn time Azrael got his own full-blown pic, eh? It also gave me a chance to continue messing around with some blending techniques I discovered while working on the images for my TSFH Calender.

And now for your Angel Folklore Lesson of the Day™, like I always do when I submit TSFH Art. SIT DOWN AND LEARN!

I've probably gone over this before but I don't care. Azrael in his story embodies both the Jeudo-Christian and Islamic ideas of what an "Angel of Death" is, as well as original ideas. He's a little weird.

The actual Angel Azrael is an Islamic Archangel. And he is badASS. But he doesn't kill anyone. He has a book or scroll with the name of everyone alive, and he is designated 40 days to seperate someone's soul from their body when their time is up. So I guess he's kind of like a Reaper on that show "Dead Like Me" for lack of a more sophisticated analogy , he doesn't kill anyone he just takes their soul when its their time.

On the Jeudo-Christian side there is no designated or named Angel of Death (though in Jeudo-Christian folklore, not scripture, lore, the supreme Angel of Death has been named as Sammuel, Metatron or even Gabriel). There seems to be several and they're more commonly referred to as "Destroying Angels" and they literally come and kill people, often violently, under God's command. You know, smite smite smite, fire and brimstone and all that.

As for the Azrael of TSFH (I.E. ideas out of my own little brain), he is a normal-class Angel, and he was once a Scholar. Heaven has 7 Libraries that keep Record of both Heaven and Earth, Azrael was head of the Library of Man, where the books that will be used on Judgement Day are kept. And he was in charge of the Book of Life, recording the names of all who live and have ever lived.

But Azrael's life was abruptly changed when God decided to change his duties. Vengeful toward humanity God needed his Angel of Death, and instead of creating a new Angel He chose Azrael. However ill-thought out this seemed Azrael could not question the will of God, and the humble scholar was turned into a killer.

Azrael slowly deteriorated due to his duties as Angel of Death, and other Angels became wary of him or even frightened of him. Because of his misery he was the first to join Lucifer in his plot for Revolution.

So. I'm not exactly sure what kind of message I'm trying to send here, but I suppose Azrael is sort of like someone who lost their faith due to misfortune. And he's content to be in Hell, he doesn't really care about anything anymore as long as he doesn't have to kill people.

I do tend to go on don't I e_e but because I rarely write this sort of thing down its itching to just leap out of my head. Sides its probably good to inform all the TSFH fans whats going on with the story since I'm about the only one who sees the drafts and ideas for the new version.

Anyway. I'd also like to make a note that I think Azrael's costume colors are FINALLY final. I really like this. I'm still trying to figure out how he sheathes his sword though, but I can tell you its with a series of belts I had a sketch from the day I thought it up SOMEWHERE I really gotta find it.

I'd also like to note that the sword he carries is not made for cutting. It does hold a fraction of God's power and can destroy everything in its path with a single swing. Though I suppose he could blundgeon someone pretty good with it if he really wanted to.

Lineart: India Ink on Bristol Board
Everything Else: Photoshop CS