Art Post : Death Herald

Cult Leader - King Mala

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Samuel Sterns / The Leader - Incredible Hulk (Marvel)

"I don’t need your roses, I like men on their knees

Praying up to their god, seein’ visions of me

I’m a cult leader, mind reader, heart eater

Fear feeder, say I’m your favorite preacher

If I wasn’t a narcissist, I wouldn’t like me either"

This is my best Sam fanart ever so far. I had so much fun with this composition. I'll try to quickly break that down for you. I chose this specific format because I was looking for a header, which is complicated given the format of his ugly-ass giant forehead but anyway. I wanted him to look like some kind of damned angel of Death, the Herald of Hell, being kind of dragged down in it. That's what the skulls and flowers are supposed to represent, some kind of Styx river. I chose poppies specifically because of their bright red color similar to blood and their death symbolic. The skulls are obvious enough as a death symbols, but I gave them gamma eyes as well, as if they were all possessed. That's why you see two big black eyes as well in the background, they're meant to represent The One Below All, to which Sam answers (not willingly though). The other eyes along with the "waves" are a way to draw the cloudy effect of The One Below All while keeping this kind of "water" vibe. Then of course you have the huge halo behind him, for obvious angel symbolism. It looks kind of broken through the fog coming in front of it because of the shattered angel Sam is supposed to be. I like adding more than just The One Below (TOBA)'s eyes, it add to the feeling of paranoia Sam always feel and the feeling of having him being always under the direct stare of TOBA, unable to escape. That's why a part of the fog is near is neck. The snake behind him is obviously a direct representation of temptation, knowledge, the desire to defy God but also rebirth. I think it matches Sam's history very well. It's shaped like an "8" or rather a "∞", infinity, because of Sam's eternal curse. There's also some dragonflies here and there. In some belief, dragonflies are little angels sent to Earth. I tend to represent them a lot near Sam, in fact the back scar I designed him is dragonfly-shaped.

I think that's all I have to say for this art. I draw because I have a hard time expressing myself with words, so having to explain my arts is a very complicated thing to do for me haha. But I think this Art will always stay one of my best Sam Art ever.