Audacity by MelissaFindley on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

A month or so ago, my work was reviewed over at Blue Moon Rising. It was a great review, and something that the writer said really, really touched me. It got me to thinking about my characters, and about some of the things I try to say with my artwork, and in particular, about the word "Audacity."

It's a great word. And it really summed up for me a lot of what I want to say with my art. So I set out to paint something that to me represented true audaciousness. In character with most of my work, though, it had to be a challenging painting, challenging subject, and had to push the boundaries of what I thought I was capable of.

I'm a big believer in that.

It needed Action! and Armor! and Atmosphere! And to fit with another of my goals, it needed to be set in a pre-exisiting world that wasn't specifically of my own making.

The character in this painting is Raethe, my Halfling Rogue D&D character. The scene isn't from any particular adventure, but it's a story I keep for her in my head. She's tiny, yes, but gutsy, more assassin than thief--but she keeps her options open, and she loves shiny stuff.

I did a lot of looking at D&D white dragons for this painting... they look about as flight worthy as a semi-truck, but I think I got it. It was a weird angle to try to pull off, too, but hopefully it works.

I really want to thank =kyrn for posing for me so I could get Raethe's body position correct, ~faerywitch for doing research for me on dragon toes, and *phuriedae *quickreaver and *PatrickMcEvoy for critiques and support.

Also, Raethe has her own Twitter account... if you want to hear her bitch about fighting undead, pwning sorcerers, and the trials and tribulations of traveling with a human monk, you can follow her here: [link]