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| The Nga'phandileh Whisperer Detail – Stephen Embleton 2025 |
Getting the opportunity to illustrate anything in our Sauúti shared world is a pleasure and honour. For Eugen Bacon's "The Nga'phandileh Whisperer", I had the chance to represent the magic of our science fantasy world, experiment with the visual representation of the sound-based magic system (sound wave patterns) and the Afrocentric elements we all write about in our stories. I got to visualise an ominous moonlit scene alive with texture, colour and movement.
African fabrics, beadwork and patterns are rich in inspiration, key elements I drew from to create a tactile illustration. From the central character's dress detail and jewellery, to the rough texture and subtle pattern of the paper background permeating all elements, for me, make it something you want to pick up and hold.
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| Final Cover – Stars & Sabers – Stephen Embleton 2025 |
It starts with a sketch, an idea, in rough. From the publisher (Stars and Sabers) and the author (Eugen Bacon), I gleaned as much information as possible about themes, characters and storyline as well as references. The tiniest of detail can give me a flourish or a design element, and add something special to the overall illustration. You never know!
For this one, I mulled over the key elements for a few days, and tested various designs before attempting the initial sketch. It was important to convey clearly the intention and tone of the piece.
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| Rough Concept Sketch – Stephen Embleton 2025 |
Next was getting the essence of the main character. In this case the whisperer herself, Chant'L chanting her Sauúti magic against the terror that is the Nga'phandileh (creatures of unreality that inhabit a parallel ‘dark’ dimension within the Sauútiverse) – manifesting as a three-headed serpent (with human-like facial features), and swarms of bees.
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| Chant'L Character Sketch – Stephen Embleton 2025 |
Of utmost importance was the colour palette. Rich earthy colours, glistening golds, and tactile textures and patterns were some of the bold choices upfront. Because of the snake/serpent story element, I chose to give the already textured paper background a further texture with a snakeskin scale effect which I took into many of the colour paper layers. This was further echoed in the Tower dome tiles, the main character's clothing as well as the subtle highlights of the Nga'phandileh serpent itself.
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| Nga'phandileh Snakeskin Pattern/texture |
And conjuring up a visual of the Nga'phandileh to match Eugen's monster! It could not look like a snake with human heads plonked on it.
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| Nga'phandileh Detail |
Again, with the sound-based magic system of the Sauútiverse, I got to experiment with sound wave patterns for the borders. A really fun and rewarding play of lines and shapes.
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| Nga'phandileh Detail |
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| Nga'phandileh Detail |
Jendia Gammon (Stars and Sabers) and Eugen Bacon gave me a rich brief and the creative freedom to push the illustration to the maximum detail and texture.
I was blown away by Stars and Sabers' designers taking full advantage of the entire image by reframing it without the typography over the illustration – something I assumed as a norm – and so giving it more impact than I could anticipate.
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| Cropped Nga'phandileh Whisperer cover detail |
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Final Cover – Stars & Sabers – Stephen Embleton 2025
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The phases:
