The Masterpiece — Part Five
By Joachim Heijndermans
It was not the snapping of the charcoal that startled the Artist out of his groove. No, it was the broken piece hitting him on the nose that broke his concentration. He wiped his face clean, then stepped back. The adjustments he’d decided to make were coming together, even if he did tend to streak and smudge the canvas with his hand. He conceded that he also needed to work on some of the placements of the figures and make a final decision on where to place the piece's light source. But overall, he felt that it was coming together nicely.
“Demon!” a voice roared from behind. The Artist turned, seeing a man in broken-down armor rushing toward him, a longsword gripped tightly in his hands. Like a rabid animal, he foamed from the mouth. As the man raced toward him, the Artist noted the abundant increase in destroyed tanks, crashed spaceships, and piles upon piles of bones since the last time he'd paid mind to his surroundings.
The man with the sword was about a yard away from the Artist when he was suddenly tackled from the side by a woman with a spear. The two wrestled in the dirt, clawing their fingers at each other's eyes. Then, with a well-placed kick, the woman threw the man from her.
“Why?” shouted the man. “Why are you protecting the demon?”
“He is no demon!” she snarled back. “He is a God. Kill him, and the work remains unfinished. Then the gates of Hellax will truly open, and their tormentors will break through into our world.”
“Lies!” the man roared, swinging his sword wildly. “Blasphemous lies! He is the great enticer. He lures the weak-minded and feeble by appealing to their greed. He—,”
The woman kicked him twice. Once between the legs and another rounded kick against his face, staining her boots with his blood. The Artist watched this display. He was fascinated by their movements. Their form was exquisite. Their motions were so fluid. At that moment, enraptured by the sight of the two warriors locked in their violent struggle, he was struck by the jolt of inspiration once again.
“Hold it!” the Artist shouted. “Hold! Stop! I beg of you!”
The two froze in place. Before either of them could utter a single word, the Artist had reclaimed his pencil from the sketching period and began to copy the gesture onto the canvas, right on a spot that he'd previously felt was a bit bare and could use a splash of excitement. For once, he did not spend ages on a preliminary sketch as he blasted out the rough form of the two grappling adversaries. Finished with this happy new addition, the Artist turned back to the combatants, saved the way the light hit them to memory, then gestured his hand at them. “Carry on.”
And with that, fists struck against jaws and fingers went for throats, as bloodcurdling screams rang across the plains. But the Artist heard none of it, choosing to be immersed into his work once again.
Joachim Heijndermans is a writer, artist, filmmaker, and SFWA member from the Netherlands. His work has been published in a great number of publications, featured on podcasts and adapted to television and film, including the Netflix animated series 'Love, Death & Robots'.
Copyright © 2025 Joachim Heijndermans
This is such a cool representation of how removed art can (sometimes) be