The character of Ashra Malena has been with me a long time. I wrote a manuscript way back in 1976, hot on the heels of the all new "Star Wars" movie. The desert scene in the movie fired me with inspiration and along with that I had just completed Frank Herbert's "Dune" trilogy.

I have always had a picture in the back of my head of a heroic woman dressed in some kind of protective desert gear. In 1981 I did this sketch on a large piece of tissue paper in pencil. I finally used it as a basis for my "Desert Rescue" picture.

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"Malena led her troop along the high wind-scoured spine of the star-shaped dune. It stood slightly higher than its neighbours and afforded an ample view all around. The Sadusi, as always in the desert, walked in single file or "salamander" as they called it. Their numbers could thus be easily disguised from unwelcome pursuit as tracks were laid on top of each other, confusing any would-be trackers. Spying eyes would also not be able to make out numbers from vast and deceptive distances."

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Vigilance [full-sized]

"Ashra Malena, maiden warrior and adopted leader of the desert nomads of Wesdraken IV closed in on her quarry, her scent and presence masked by the light sandstorm coming from the Polar sink..."

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Stalking [full-sized]

"There were no oceans on Wesdraken IV, no open water either. Nothing to stay and moderate the wind as it swept across the arid surface. In a matter of hours, light breezes - aided by the Coriolus force of the rotating planet - would grow to the terrifying sandstorms called the "b'Hak Shayti" - The Devourer - by the local inhabitants. The winds in these storms were so furious that the driven sand would eat the flesh right off the bones of those lifeforms unlucky enough to be caught in its path."

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Fleeing the Sand Fury [full-sized]

"Most of the tracks had been obscured by the sandstorm, the b'Hak Shayti, but Malena's keen eye was quick to spot the vestiges that led to the narrow rift between the sandblasted rocks. She was cautious as ever. The blood spots told her that the person that she was tracking was wounded and by now would be weak from dehydration and blood loss. Wesdraken could kill an unprotected human in a few hours, and she knew that there wasn't much time..."

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Desert Rescue [full-sized]

"For long days Braedan drifted in and out of consciousness, his body raging with fever as the infection from his wounds and injuries took its toll, yet whenever he emerged from the fevered dilirium he always saw her face hovering over him. She bathed his wounds using her skill as healer and her precious water ration to soothe the damage inflicted on his skin by the "b'Hak Shayti" sandstorm. Had the laser blast been a direct hit to his chest, he would have died instantly, but the bolt had ricocheted off a nearby boulder losing most of its power before slicing deep into his ribcage. Malena's crude but effective surgery had ensured that the bleeding had mostly stopped but he was weak from exposure to the harsh Wesdraken elements."

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Hanging by a thread [full-sized]

"The cold desert night has descended and the time has come to retreat to the high wind-eroded sandstone bluff for long hours of meditation with the first moon as her only companion. Deep inside there is a longing, a tie to a forgotten past, now brought to remembrance by the rescue of the injured spacefarer..."

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The longing [full-sized]

"The signs were all there, the surface tracks revealed by the light of her storm lamp, the musty carrion smell on the light zephyr that stirred the dune slip slopes. It was only when Malena heard the abrasive slithering and the roaring hiss of the sand salamander's passage that she knew she was in mortal danger..."

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Ambush [full-sized]

"Sandwiched between the high canyonlands of the Rakta'M Wastelands and the scarp of Varu'Mandira where her clan's water shrine was hidden, lay the Ashman'Rak'Sh, the "Devil's Anvil" a flat featureless plateau of sandblasted basalt, feared and respected by the Sadusi as the hottest, harshest and most terrifying region of the whole of Wesdraken IV."

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Making ready [full-sized]

"As was her custom, Malena made the arduous journey across Ashman'Rak'Sh, the "Devil's Anvil", to Varu'Mandira where her clan's water shrine was concealed, deep in a cave, lit only by the noon suns. On Wesdraken IV, water was life, and a tree found by open water was deified by all, for that gave them life and that was their god..."

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The water shrine [full-sized]

"Rising out of the surrounding sea of dunes like the battered prow of a ocean faring ship, the s'Amvha Sanazas - the "Divider of the Ways" stood like a bastion guarding entrance to the plateaulands beyond. In the fresh hours before Wesdraken's suns arose, Malena had led Braedan up a precarious path carved out of the sand-blasted basalt to the summit of the outcrop from where they could watch the growing dawn over the dunes. Braedan immediately sensed the aura of the place and its profound effect on Malena. Carved in the rock behind them were two niches each bearing a single dessicated and aged skull. Malena bowed her head in silence for a long moment as Braedan gazed on over the dawn-touched dunes. Far below their perch the battered and sand-corroded wreck of a small space freighter peeked from the spine of a large dune..."

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Remembrance [full-sized]

"They were both led, blindfolded, to a deep slot canyon in the Rakta'M Wastelands behind the camp. There they found themselves on the Yavak'Hala, the "Threshing Floor", accessed only by the narrowest of passages. It was cool, deep and dark place, lit only by the few brief hours of the midday suns, and the floor was covered in fine wind-driven dust and grit...

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For love and honour [full-sized]

"Braedan leaned closer to the corroded surface of the object. Even to Malena's inexperienced eyes the function of the technology was obvious - a metallic protective suit of some sort eaten by sand and time. The petrified remains of its wearer was just visible the the eye.

Malena was nervous, she had violated the taboo of Dosh'Hvat Kandah that forbad any Sadusi to enter the area. The signs of the sand salamanders that they had encountered earlier lower down in the canyon were fresh and the faintest taint of carrion on the wind told her that they were not far away..."

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The relic [full-sized]

"The "Devourer" had laid bare the starship's corroded carcass, buried for eons beneath the South Ashman'Rak'Sh. It's metallic bones lay exposed to Wesdraken's setting sun as far as the eye could see in every direction. Yat'Duura, the Sadusi scout trembled with fear at the thought of facing the elders, but he was with Ashra Malena, his battle queen - she must have a reason for venturing so far into the South.

Towards the center of the wrecked ship a shallow bowl had been carved out by a whirlwind of the departing storm. The sand leading into this depression was hardpacked and lighter in tone than the surrounding dunes and the droma lumbered easily down the slope..."

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Apostacy [full-sized]

"Shaped like a mighty two-winged seed, the suckerbird could never fold its wings, and their overall span of some two hundred metres, made them masters of the breezes that stirred their hothouse world... So the suckerbird perched, paying out that incredible tongue from its pouch down to the nourishment it needed in the obscure depth of the forest...By deploying her forces, Toy had her party attacking this monstous creature from several sides at once. They leapt on it where it lay gracelessly among the upper branches, yelping in excitement in a way that would have earnt Lily-yo's fury..."

In 1983 I received a task to provide a number of illustrations for the Brian Aldiss science fiction novel "Hothouse" I attempted this in watercolours, and although the book was never published with my illustrations, the Hothouse series was, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy illustrations that I have done. The 4 surviving paintings in this series decorate my sitting room walls.

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"At first Poyly did not answer, She knew the way in the forest, and in Nomansland. Things looked after themselves not after others. Dimly she guesses that the real purpose of the morel was to feed on others and to propogate itself as widely as possible, and that to this end it might be clever enough to kill its hosts as slowly as possible...Reluctantly she lay back in his arms nestling against him. They kissed and stretched and began to think of other things, already completely accustomed to the crown of fungus on their heads...She led him round a tall tree. A wall of smoke drifted gently inland where flame had bitten a path back to the banyan. Hand in hand, they walked together towards that way out of Nomansland, their dangerous Eden..."

The second in a number of watercolour illustrations for the Brian Aldiss science fiction novel "Hothouse"

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"Poyly and Gren flung themselves flat beside their captive and waited. The terrible silences of the forest came in again like a tide all round them, and it was safe once more. Their captive was almost speechless. She pouted and tossed her head in answer to Poyly's questions. They elicited from her only the fact that she went by the name of Yattmur. Gren was moved by her beauty...All the rest of the herd parted, ran on, and disappeared. The three jumpvils that had been captured stood submissively in vegetable defeat."

The third in a number of watercolour illustrations for the Brian Aldiss science fiction novel "Hothouse" and my favourite. I was able to capture a rare beauty with a few strokes of a watercolour brush. A rare achievement.

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"Flymen were crafty enemies, seldom seen but much dreaded by the group. They worked by stealth. Though they did not kill unless forced to, they stole children, which was reckoned almost a graver crime. Catching them was hard. Flymen did not fly properly, but the crash glides they fell into carried them swiftly away through the forest, safe from human reprisal...Jury raised her knife to settle the stuggle and thrust her knife deep between the flymans ribs, four times over, till the blood poured across her clenched fist. Jury stood up gasping and leant against Flor. "I grow old" she said. "Once it was no trouble to kill a flyman." With one foot she pushed the limp body over the edge of the branch. It rolled messily then dropped. With its old wizened wings tucked uselessly about its head, the flyman fell to the green."

The the final picture in the series in a number of watercolour illustrations for the Brian Aldiss science fiction novel "Hothouse."

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"The cylindrical white tongue of the suckerbird still pulsed nearby. The bird itself squatted just below them, keeping its immense crude eyes swivelled for enemies. It was headless. Slung between the stiffly extended wings was a heavy bag of body, peppered with the corneal protuberances of its eyes and is bud corms, among these latter hung the pouch from which the tongue now extended. By deploying her forces, Toy had her party attacking this monstrous creature from several sides at once.

'Kill it!,' Toy cried. 'Now, jump! Quick, my children!'"

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Suckerbird ambush [full-sized]

"The Tips was a strange world of its own, the vegetable kingdom at its most imperial and most exotic. Here grew the burnurn plant, which Lily-yo sought for the soul of Clat. Pushing and climbing, the two women finally emerged on to one of these platforms. They took shelter from the perils of the sky under a great leaf. Above them, paralysing half the heaven, burned the great sun..."

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Journey to the Tips [full-sized]

"Now help us climb with our souls into our burnurns. See us tight in." Lily-yo said firmly, "Then carry us to the cable and stick us to it. And then good-bye. We Go Up, and leave the group in your hands. You are the living now."

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Go Up [full-sized]

In 1982 Ridley Scott created one of the best science fiction movies ever made - "Bladerunner". I found a particular empathy with one of the characters in the movie, Rachel. This is my interpretation of her face as I remember it. My personal fantasy I suppose! Oil pastels on parchment paper.

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I really don't know what I wanted to say with this picture. It was great fun to do. I had created this interesting "retro" cybercop - and named her Crystal Steele - inspired from a scene in Ridley Scott's "Bladerunner" I even found a very accurate Poser prop of the standard-issue Bladerunner weapon on the Internet for her to hold.

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Imhotep meets his match [full-sized]

While "The old hanging tree" was rendering (at 146 hours an image) on my server at work, I decided to pay another visit to Crystal Steele from "Imhotep meets his match" and to pop her into another picture, this time without the Mummy - and looking very sexy!

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Partners [full-sized]

Remember the opening sequence of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" with Indiana Jones about to grab the golden Inca statue? Enter my "anti-Indiana Jones" loosely based on a mixture of Arthur Suydam's comic character Cholly or "The Adventures of Cholly and Flytrap" and the movie "Rocketeer".

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Graverobber [full-sized]

"Manfred's oversized revolver cracked and it's deafening sound was wiped out in the louder detonation of its bullet in the saurian flesh, but the Tyrannosaurus continued its charge, the very personification of white-hot fury. Crystal fired her pistol at the same split moment as Manfred's second shot, the dual explosions echoing down the torch-lit labyrinth. The monster roared in pain as the projectiles hit home..."

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Bite the bullet [full-sized]

"The last faint echoes of Manfred's shot had all but died in the huge empty temple hall. Crystal turned to Manfred who had an idiotic lopsided grin on his face, an incredulous scowl on her brow. "That was the solid gold statue of Sekhmet-Hathor lost for 4000 years", she snarled, "a priceless treasure, and you have just destroyed it! You trigger-happy oaf!"

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The last straw [full-sized]

A scene from "Lord of the Rings" that has never to my knowledge been done before by any artist apart from John Howe - The final battle between Gandalf the wizard and the Balrog of Moria on the summit of Silvertine or Celebdil...

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Battle of the Peak [full-sized]

"Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought.
His cloven shield,his broken sword, they to the water brought.
His head so proud, his face so fair,his limbs they laid to rest;
And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.'
'O Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze
To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days."

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The departure of Boromir [full-sized]

"Then Boromir had come leaping through the trees. He had made them fight. He slew many of them and the rest fled. But they had not gone far on the way back when they were attacked again, by a hundred Orcs at least, some of them very large, and they shot a rain of arrows: always at Boromir. -- "The Uruk-Hai: The Two Towers"

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Last stand at Parth Galen [full-sized]

"Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!
"Suddenly the king cried to Snowmane and the horse sprang away. Behind him his banner blew in the wind, white horse upon a field of green, but he outpaced it. After him thundered the knights of his house, but he was ever before them. Éomer rode there, the white horsetail on his helm floating in his speed, and the front of his éored roared like a breaker foaming to the shore, but Théoden could not be overtaken."
—The Lord of the Rings, Book V, "The Ride of the Rohirrim"

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Ride to Gondor! [full-sized]

"...a huge orc-chieftain, almost man-high, clad in black mail from head to foot, leaped into the chamber; behind him his followers clustered in the doorway. His broad flat face was swart, his eyes were like coals, and his tongue was red; he wielded a great spear. With a thrust of his huge hide shield he turned Boromir's sword and bore him backwards, throwing him to the ground. Diving under Aragorn's blow with the speed of a striking snake he charged into the Company and thrust with his spear straight at Frodo..." [The Bridge of Khazad-Dum - Book 2 - Fellowship of the Ring]

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The chamber or Mazarbul [full-sized]

"'Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!'

A cold voice answered: 'Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.'

A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; but I hinder it if I may.'

'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!'

Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. 'But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.'

The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent as if in sudden doubt..."

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Shieldmaiden of Rohan [full-sized]

"But at last the siege was so strait that Sauron himself came forth; and he wrestled with Gil-galad and Elendil, and they both were slain, and the sword of Elendil broke under him as he fell. But Sauron also was thrown down, and with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own. Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste places; and he took no visible shape again for many long years."

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Sauron defeated [full-sized]

"I was the herald of Gil-galad and marched with his host. I was at the Battle of Dagorlad before the Black Gate of Mordor, where we had mastery: for the Spear of Gil-galad and the Sword of Elendil, Aiglos and Narsil, none could withstand. I beheld the last combat on the slopes of Orodruin, where Gil-galad died, and Elendil fell, and Narsil broke beneath him; but Sauron himself was overthrown, and Isildur cut the Ring from his hand with the hilt-shard of his father's sword, and took it for his own." The Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring - Book 2

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The last alliance [full-sized]

"Then breaking the silence he said: 'I see the ring, son of Barahir, and I perceive that you are proud, and deem yourself mighty. But a father's deeds, even had his service been rendered to me, avail not to win the the daughter of Thingol and Melian. See now! I too desire a treasure that is withheld. For rock and steel and the fires of Morgoth keep the jewel that I would possess against all the powers of the Elf-kingdoms. Yet I hear you say that bonds such as these do not daunt you. Go your way therefore! Bring to me in your hand a Silmaril from Morgoth's crown; and then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours. Then you shall have my jewel; and though the fate of Arda lie within the Silmarils, yet you shall hold me generous.'

Thus he wrought the doom of Doriath, and was ensnared within the curse of Mandos. And those that heard these words perceived that Thingol would save his oath, and yet send Beren to his death; for they know that not all the power of the Noldor, before the Siege was broken, had availed even to see from afar the shining Silmarils of Feanor. For they were set in the Iron Crown, and treasured in Angband above all wealth; and Balrogs were about them, and countless swords, and strong bars, and unassailable walls, and the dark majesty of Morgoth." 'Of Beren and Lúthien', The Silmarillion

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The doom of Doriath [full-sized]