#jaydenchapstick

[canisalbus]

a few quick questions on Machete, what breed is he? I love the angles of his snout and the proportions remind me of a borzoi though I don't think he is one. Also, does he have a set age for when he's a cardinal? I picture him to be around mid-30s or so. Wonderful art! love your stuff and find you an inspiration :)

He's a fictional breed called Podenco Siciliano, which is closely related to modern day Ibizan Hound (pictured below) and other Mediterranean rabbit-hunting podencos. I usually just default to calling him a sighthound since he's somewhat of a provincial mongrel and not meant to be purebred anyway.

As for the age, mid-30s sounds about right. I think the current timeline goes something like this:

0 - Born to a lower-middle class family in Sicily, father is a tradesman, has three older brothers. Generally considered a runt, is weak and sick all the time, parents suspicious of his unusual colors.

3 - Gets left at a monastery and raised by monks as a foundling. Nervous and meek kid, but the monks think he's endearing and do their best to support him. Is taught to read and write, which is a massive advantage at that day and age, and learns rudimentary Latin through exposure.

9 - Apprenticed to a Neapolitan priest, moves to southern part of mainland Italy (or Kingdom of Naples as it was called, it was ruled by Spain actually). Does chores and runs errands in exchange for education and experience.

15 - The priest gets elevated to a bishop and decides to sponsor Machete's further studies at an acclaimed university in Venice (in Northern Italy). There he studies theology, medicine, arts, law, philosophy and gets fluent in Latin and adequate in Greek. Befriends Vasco but their relationship is short-lived.

21 - Ordained a priest. Leads a parish somewhere in Papal States (Central Italy). Is generally well liked but doubts his career choice from time to time.

26 - Becomes a part of the Papal Court in Vatican, mostly because of the recommendations of his former mentor and professors, good reputation, excellent track record and sheer luck. Still a priest but assists bishops, cardinals and the pope himself directly. Moves to Rome. Becomes pope's unofficial confidant due to his obedient and hardworking nature and because of his lack of prestigious family connections that would render him a threat. Slowly starts to gain wealth.

30 - Created a cardinal (which is the second highest position in the church after the pope, and it's at the sole discretion of the pope who becomes one). Is also a bishop as a technicality. Handles administrative jobs, tons of paperwork, at some point he's in charge of a lot of the political correspondence and diplomatic missions. Still the old pope's trusted advisor but disliked by the majority of the cardinals, who see him as an outsider, sycophant and a potential disruptor of the status quo.

34 - Meets Vasco again. Vasco has become a succesful politician in Florence, he's married with three children.

38 - The pope dies and Machete's status falters. He starts to work with the Roman inquisition more. Oversees trials, torture, excommunications and executions of heretics, witches and most of all, protestants (since we're reaching Counter Reformation times and the Vatican is Very Worried about the spread of Luther's ideas). Isn't having a good time at all but keeps up the appearances. Gets infamous. The beginning of the true villain era.

40 - Grows increasingly more disillusioned with life and his ideals, as well as the corruption of the Curia. Burned out, paranoid and desperate. Uses scare tactics, extortion and legal trickery to expose and undermine his enemies, but gains them faster than he can keep up. Employs spies, thugs and assassins. Feared and loathed.

43 - Gets assassinated and dies in disgrace.

#answered #jaydenchapstick #sorry this turned out sorta long #and kinda bummer too #all of this is subject to change if I end up thinking of something better #not set in stone just the current grand picture #the ages are approximate #the history of Italy and the workings of the catholic church are both such clusterfucks holy moly gosh darn #I've done research but don't rely on my word that this is all accurate and feasible in the end it's fantasy rules #whenever you see him wearing any red it's a sign he's at the cardinal phase these positions are color coded like that #Machete

[canisalbus]

Howdy! I've been following your work since 2014ish and you never cease to amaze me with your artwork! I was first introduced to your work with Machete and the stuff labeled 'Sighthound', but ahh stupid question, I actually never learned what Sighthound actually is. I sometimes see snippets or lore but never knew what the general premise of the worldbuilding or the cool setting for the illustrations. Could you explain it please? Sorry for the long ask, I hope you're well and wish you a good day!

Hi! Thanks for sticking around through the years, I really appreciate that!

So a sighthound is just a commonly used name for a type of dog that hunts by using it's sight instead of smell, it’s not something I invented. Sighthound breeds are some of the oldest dog breeds around, some have stayed relatively unchanged for thousands of years, and they all have somewhat similar builds; they're very leggy and thin (not underweight, just built that way), and they have long and narrow heads. They're famous for being very fast runners (again, they chase their prey using their great eyesight, kind of like cheetahs) and were historically used to hunt rabbits and gazelles. Some of the most common breeds include:

Greyhound

Saluki

Borzoi, aka Russian wolfhound

Afghan hound

and Scottish deerhound

but there's also a lot of very rare breeds around, like Azawakh

and some that are fully unrecognized in the west, like the Chinese Shannxi Xigou

I draw a lot of sighthounds, I just think they're neat. They have this elegance and gracefulness to them that makes them seem almost un-doglike, but they also have this ancient, primal aura that a lot of more modern breeds might lack, imho. Their flexible, muscular bodies create a lot of eyecatching silhouettes that make them very fun and interesting to draw, and there's a variety of fur types that you can create many different kinds of visual flourishes and textures out of.

I'm not an expert so I'm not the best person to explain any of this, but I hope that helped!

#answered #jaydenchapstick