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The Witch – An Illustrated Story

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Steve

Steve

Assistant executioner
As a surprise holiday treat (because I know it has been over 2 years since I last posted my artwork) I decided to do a new mini-series. Below is the first piece, showing the demise of my protagonist, Agnes Walker, a tailor’s wife from East Lothian, Scotland in 1591.

I was inspired by the concept of a witch’s hanging in medieval Scotland, so I created the story of THE WITCH, about poor Agnes, who was accused of witchcraft when her best friend, under torture, implicated her and dozens of others during the North Berwick Witch Trials, which is also known as the First Great Scottish Witch Hunt.

I hope everyone enjoys. I will post the story in the next post along with 2 other artwork I’ve completed. I will post more once they’re completed. As you will see from the story (and from the initial artwork), Agnes experienced much during her ordeal.

For those unfamiliar with my artwork, here are links to other threads showing my prior work:
https://www.cruxforums.com/xf/threads/inspired-by-jedakks-the-throwaway-girl.9202/
https://cruxforums.com/xf/threads/nynia-returns.305/

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Here is a picture of Agnes in more happier times along with the story of THE WITCH. While Agnes is a fictional character, I weave her story with historical figures and events.

Gilly in the story is real and, tragically, she opened the flood gates by her coerced confession that ultimately led to the killing of 200 innocent people as part of the North Berwick Witch Trials.

Marion Walker, mentioned in the story, is also a historical figure. She was an incredibly brave woman. For those interested in the backstory about these two and this period in history, you should look them both up.

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Here is poor Agnes during her first day in the Old Tolbooth prison, suffering the scold’s bridle and witch-pricking.

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Thank you for the likes and comments. I’m creating this series for your enjoyment and to challenge myself. While I’ve done hanging renderings before, I have not depicted the kind of scenes that are and will be in this series.

Having not confessed, here is poor Agnes during her second day in the Old Tolbooth prison. After spending the night suspended by the scold’s bridle, she is now subjected to the iron chair and pilliwinks.

Happy New Year!

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Steve said:
Thank you for the likes and comments. I’m creating this series for your enjoyment and to challenge myself. While I’ve done hanging renderings before, I have not depicted the kind of scenes that are and will be in this series.

Having not confessed, here is poor Agnes during her second day in the Old Tolbooth prison. After spending the night suspended by the scold’s bridle, she is now subjected to the iron chair and pilliwinks.

Happy New Year!

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The Witch Chair is a favorite of mine, and this one is done extremely well. I love this whole story and the illustrations very much. Great job, and thank you for sharing.
 
Thank you again for the likes and comments. New year, new artwork! Here and the following posts are the next up in THE WITCH.

It has taken everything for Agnes not to confess after two straight days of her arduous examination. Fortunately, on the third day of her imprisonment she is given a reprieve from her ordeal because it is the Lord’s Day. But she knows more horrors are yet to come.

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With Agnes given a one-day reprieve, let’s have a flashback.

Here is a stunned Anges in the castle of the Lord Provost, the chief magistrate of Edinburgh, being formally charged with the crime of witchcraft. With her is David Seton, a lesser scion of the powerful noble Seton Clan, whom the King appointed High Examiner to locate and extract confessions from accused witches because of his brutal effectiveness in dealing with Gilly.

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Another flashback. On the evening of her being charged by the Lord Provost, Agnes is chained up with other accused witches in Old Tolbooth prison as she dreadfully awaits the first day of her examination.

With Gilly having accused 70 women of witchcraft, including Agnes, and some of those women implicating others under torture, the High Examiner had a devise an efficient method to examine dozens of accused witches in a short period of time. The King demanded results!

Each accused witch will be subject to no more than a week’s long examination, with the examinations staggered based on available prison cells, instruments, and assistant examiners. The first two days are a matter of endurance and pain tolerance, with each examination day increasing in intensity.

Agnes was arrested on a Thursday with her first examination day on Friday and second on Saturday. Her examination resumes on Monday. Will she be able to continue resisting through the rest of the week?

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I really like your art & story style, and the colorful artwork. The damage from the Witch's Chair on her back shows great attention to detail.
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Very entertaining, and thank you for sharing.
 
Thank you again, everyone. The one-day reprieve is over!

On the fourth day of her examination, Agnes was subjected to the savage simplicity and effectiveness of a flogging.

Agnes was surprised by its ferocity. She had been whipped with a birch as a child, but nothing prepared her for this.

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After her backside was raw and bloodied, Agnes thought her torturer was finished when he unchained her. Relief turned to dread when she realized he was simply turning her around.

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The pain was excruciating from the merciless striking of Agnes’ privy, which was still tender from the iron chair.

Before the flogging began, the torturer had asked Agnes if she would confess, but she refused. Now, she was questioning the soundness of that decision.

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