Jade

India ink, metallic India ink and watercolor (with Micron pens and water-soluble graphite) on Fabriano soft-pressed paper 140 lbs, 11" x 15", September 2013.

Reference from LaLunatique fav.me/d5m8yx9 (center image)

A fanart of Jade, from Martha Wells' Raksura books (If you like fresh, original fantasy, check them out! www.marthawells.com/compendium… ). As with most of Ms Wells' books, the characters stayed in my head long after I finished reading. So when I saw the image by LaLunatique, it seemed the perfect reference for a Raksura.

Companion piece of Moon fav.me/d6ik74l and fav.me/dbe5446

Even though I loved the original reference image, this piece took a long time to come together artistically speaking. From capturing the right position for the wings, to figuring out how to include the character's plentiful jewelry (sadly, most of it didn't make the cut - chalk it up to artistic license) to finding a spot for her tail, it was a challenge at times. But I do like how it turned out, and feel it's a good match with my painting of Moon. Getting a decent photo of the finished painting turned out to be a monumental challenge on its own - metallics never photograph well, so just trust me when I say this looks much better in person!