I have alot to say about this one, including some Story From Hell backstory. So hang in there if you want.

I didn't expect to finish this so soon, all it artistic adrenaline if you will. I needed a nice big long drawing to do (in fact I need more). Ever since I started TSFH my emphasis has been on " good art at a fast pace". But now I wanna slow down and do some long really detailed drawings.

I like how this came out, it was also my first attempt at mixing drawings and a landscape generated by Terragen.

This image just popped into my head to a certain song (lyrics below). Usually its the SOUND of a song that makes an image form in my mind, but the more I listened to the song, the more the lyrics started to feed into the imagry.

So it is, obviously, Lucifer and Azrael falling from Heaven. In most Lore I've heard the angels fell for a day, or days, I'm not saying this is the case in my story, but I imagine this as.. the battle is over.. they've both been wounded, scarred, they're heading toward punishment and fire below... but.. right now.. at this moment.. everything is serene. This one moment, they are at peace. It's rather sad and beautiful at the same time.

Now I know I'M the only one who understands all this Azrael/Lucifer stuff, and I'm sorry, but I'll give you a little background right now.

Now the lyrics are probably what made this become a little "romantic", but its not really supposed to be a shonen ai picture. They've just brought rebellion and violence to Heaven, and now they've been thrown out. Right now all they have is each other.. the instigator of rebellion.. and the first to join him. They're holding hands, but they're doing it lightly, showing its more a dependance than anything romantic. (but of course you can take that any way you want )

Next is Azrael's sword. He was never good with it (it was more visual, a sorce of destructive power than an actual cutting weapon) and he hated to use it. But look at the blood staining it, all in following Lucifer. Of course, Lucifer had told him that after the battle he'd never have to use it again, and that was true, he doesn't. But it's still bound to him, he still has to carry it around.

Azrael joined Lucifer because he thought he had no other options. He was taken away from his job as a heavenly scholar, in charge of the Library of Man (keeping records of the lives of invidual humans, there are 6 other Libraries) and the Book of Life, and made into an Angel of Destruction. He hated it, but he couldn't do anything about it, it was God's Will. But then here he was presented with an alternative, so he followed Lucifer, and fell with him.

However, Azrael says he prefers Hell to being the Angel of Death, as miserable as he is now, he was more miserable in Heaven.

These two have an odd relationshio. Azrael at times seem exasperated and frustrated with Lucifer, probably because Lucifer, for the most part, appears rather lazy. But then there are other times where he greatly depends on Lucifer. And in the end, he just can't seem to resist his whims.

As for Lucifer... Azrael is probably one of the most important people to him. His whole original intent was to free humans and down-trodden angels from God's tyranny (as he saw it), and Azrael probably had the saddest story in Heaven. Of course Lucifer soon became blinded by pride and ambition, and the whole rebellion turned into a huge mess (he figured if God wouldn't listen to his words, he'd listen to force). Unfortuneatly, most of the time, Lucifer gives no hint that Azrael is of any importance to him. But in this one moment, its very obvious.

I know I know, that was long, but I'm not done yet!

So I slaved for hours with Terragen, constructing the terrain then little by little fine-tuning the details (foliage, clouds, sunlight, haze, ect.). And I'm really proud of what I came out with.

I posed my artists' models and made sketches for a couple of hours before settling on the poses. then I drew it all up, lightboxed it onto Bristol Board, and spent about two hours inking (woulda been longer if I had inked Lucifer's hair instead of coloring it on the computer)

I dunno how long the coloring took. It was two or three nights' work, from about 8 pm to 5 am each time. I colored skin, clothes, everything in Photoshop completely with a spatter brush. I colored the lines to make them blend in better. I did the blood effects after flattening the image, then placed them on the background and worked diligently with lighting and haze effects, and making them blend. I'm extremely proud of how it came out, and hope the emotion can be felt in it.

And now the lyrics to the song that inspired the entire picture, and that I was listening to from sketches to the final CG:

Falling Is Like This By Ani DiFranco.

"You give me that look thats like laughing, with liquid in your mouth. Like you're choosing between choking and spitting it all out. Like you're trying to fight gravity on a planet that insists. That love is like falling, and falling is like this.

Feels like reckless driving when we're talking, its fun while it lasts and its faster than walking. But no one's gonna sympathize when we crash, they'll say " you hit what you head for, you get what you ask". And we'll say, we didn't know, no we didn't even try.

One minute there was road beneath us, and the next there was sky.

I'm sorry I can't help you, I cannot keep you safe I'm sorry I can't help myself, so don't look at me that way we can't fight gravity on a planet that insists that love is like falling and falling is like this."