Taral Wayne
Deco Lamp
Art © Taral Wayne. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Taral Wayne
Deco Lamp
Art © Taral Wayne. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
| Note by Leem: A rare male nude by Taral. I first happened to find this in the form of a fairly rough sketch. After a bit of research Taral produced this cleaned-up (sic) version and its companion piece Original Sin, as well as some female images in a similar vein, Art Nouveau and Deco Light, not to mention Enlightenment featuring two of Darin Brown (Naga)’s characters. The nude boy holding a lamp reminds me of one of my favourite literary freeze scenes, the only difference being the type of light involved: Beyond was an object that made his scalp prickle. It was the life-sized nude statue of a young man, stiff, at one side of the room, emitting a faint bluish glow. It held aloft a torch, which Dolon set alight. The enchanter noticed Shea’s glance of inquiry. “A former ’prentice of mine,” he remarked. “I found he was a spy from Queen Gloriana’s court, where a few of those high-born grandees practise a kind of magic they call ‘white’. So there he stands, with all his sensations alive and the rest of him dead. Eh, Roger?” He pinched the statue playfully and laughed. “I’m really the best humorist in the Chapter when I’m in the mood.” --L. Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt, “The Mathematics of Magic” (1940) Incorporated in The Incomplete Enchanter (1941) and subsequently in various omnibus volumes In fact, that scene made such an impression on me that I’ve completely forgotten what the rest of the story was about!! |  |