Character Sketch—Izsák

So I took a break from writing yesterday because I had the itch to draw something, but when I got pencil in hand and paper on desk, I couldn't get my hand to draw what my mind was seeing. Hate that! I wanted to draw this image of my character Izsák, servant boy to my main character Vlad, sitting in a window seat gazing through the window with a leg bent upon the seat of the bench and his foot tucked beneath his other leg, holding onto a pillow. I can still see it in my mind, but I'm so out of practice with drawing the human form, which used to come so easily, that I couldn't get the position right. I drew comic book characters back in the day, all the time, and that was how I got used to drawing the human form in many positions. Nope, couldn't do it today. I made several sketches trying to get it right but I gave up and went to trying to draw his face. Key word, trying. Eventually, though, I hit the jackpot, sort of, and came up with this profile sketch:

Izsák, drawn by moi.

The photo doesn't do it justice, of course. This is pretty close to how I envision him in my novel, blue-eyed and freckle-faced. I couldn't quite capture his adorableness, but I may give him another shot sometime in the future.

Anyway, since we are on the subject of Izsák (pronounced Eesh-ahk), I might as well let y'all know a little about him. As I said, he is my main character Vlad's servant boy. They are introduced to each other when the King of Hungary assigns him to Vlad during his stay at the palace in Buda, and at the time Vlad does not speak an ounce of Hungarian, and Hungarian is the only language the boy knows. Vlad quickly learns the language, though, with his mentor Ion's help and Izsák's. At first Vlad can't tolerate the hyperactive twelve-year-old, but over the course of the novel he sees how dedicated the boy is to pleasing him and begins to ignore the things that irritate him and comes to appreciate how wonderful a young man Izsák really is. He goes as far as to teach Izsák how to read and write while he himself is also learning, teaches him how to loose a bow and wield a sword, though the latter two the boy has trouble grasping. Through thick and thin, Izsák remains faithful to him and even offers to risk his own life to help his lord when times get dangerous. The two become the best of friends.

So there you have it, a short run down on one of my favorite characters in my WIP. I hope you enjoyed the visual and maybe one day you all will get to meet him if I succeed in publishing my book.