Those who hang around my sketchjournal have put up with my enthusiasm over this idea for a few weeks now. To the rest of you: Surprise! New project. I'm calling it Hero's Journey.

Our protagonist is a young girl named Rae. The story follows the age-old "hero's journey" formula in the vein of things like Lord of the Rings and Star Wars--the quest of an everyperson traveling across far-flung lands and having many strange, frightening, and wondrous encounters along the way.

On her journey Rae meets Dingo, an unhinged but well-meaning fugitive who has escaped a tyrant's dungeon. Rae promises to help him search for a key that will unlock the cumbersome shackle around his neck.

A magic-wielding creature named Robin appears at key points along the way and helps Rae with clues, useful items, and advice.

Eventually Rae and Dingo meet the child prince Petya, and find that the fate of the world hinges on his salvation.

REALLY, this started as an excuse to have an alternate universe in which just about any of my characters could pop up (largely inspired by Kingdom Hearts, which somehow managed to have Winnie the Pooh and Squall from FFVII in the same story without seeming totally surreal). It is entirely just-for-fun and the cliche/vague-ness of the story is a non-issue.
Rae is sort of a composite of what I've looked like at different stages of life, though personality-wise she's more her own person. Robin is based on my old imaginary friend.
If you want to read more behind-the-scenes type stuff, check my sketchjournal. (I friends-only it 'cause I'm shy, but I'll add pretty much any commenter!)

More illustrations sooner than later!