Fields of Gold

EDIT: Changed some of the colors in Leshra's scales, redid some of her frill, shortened the long scales around her neck, adjusted the long scales on her right shoulder, added golden speckles on her scales, added more detail around the flattened wheat, and fixed some of the shadows on the wheat. I think I'm done with it now. ^-^;

And DONE! This has to be my most adventurous piece landscape-wise. I don't think I've attempted something quite like this before. Not with this much detail and distance.

Right, most favorite part to work on: Had to be painting Leshra (the dragon)
Least favorite part to work on: ...the wheat. =_= I now HATE bloody WHEAT!

It's been a LOOoooooOONG time since I last painted a dragon...
Oh, small note on Leshra's coloration: Inspired by Spitfire planes, traditional dragons (you know, red, blue, green, ect), and bees and poisonous frogs. And those spiny things sticking out of her shoulders and neck are a bit like porcupine quills; they'd really be sticking out if she were upset about something. There are a fair number of good reasons why there are very few things alive anymore that would attack a dragon, quill spines being only one of them.

More Enrosia art! Yay!

BACKSTORY:

We'll start with Leshra: Leshra is a young dragon, mentally and physically mature, but not quite her full size. She was sent on her 'quest' (I'm going to name this something, but I don't have a good name yet) where she and her guide (another, slightly older dragon) were to successfully kill a Tainted Velrocci (magic-user and wealthy). Unfortunately, the plan didn't go the way it was supposed to. They shifted to a humanoid form, her companion taking the shape of a Velrocci half-blood and Leshra becoming a Mushra (basically, human) and 'sold' themselves into slavery. During their transport, she and her guide became separated. She ended up being put on the slave auction (extremely shameful if a slave, even more so if a dragon) and sold to a young Velrocci Lord, Virihk. She became a servant in his tower, deciding to complete her 'quest' and slaughter a Velrocci, but wouldn't a Lord be worth even more? She would be exalted amongst dragons! She plots his death up until the point when she starts feeling...strange around him, eventually discovering this feeling to be infatuation, then love.

Virihk: Virihk inherited his father's lands after his father died of magical overdose (quite a common death, where they extend their power too far and the cost is their lives). He was bonded to his Ish Kha dragon early on in his rule, and the pair became extremely close in both bond and friendship. A Provincial war happened and Virihk was called to defend his people. During the battle, his bonded dragon was shot fatally in mid-flight. They fell to what should have been both their deaths, but Virihk managed to survive (mostly by gravity, position, and sheer luck) but had most of his left side crushed under his dragon's carcass. He was pulled back from certain death, healed, but his soul left broken from the loss of the bond. He also came away was a further appreciation of his own mortality, the pain from the scars a constant reminder of just how close he came to dying. He began to live his life with the theory that he should live each day to its fullest (and he becomes a very positive Velrocci Lord, a rarity indeed). He is often told by his colleagues he ought to either bond another dragon or marry a woman, it would cure him of this strange infectious smiling problem. After some 'negotiations' with a neighboring Lord which cost him a fair number of servants within his tower, he was pushed by his cousin to purchase more slaves at the auction. Sure he was going to have a terrible time, his mood utterly ruined by so many sad, unfortunate individuals being paraded around the stage, Virihk went but with very little in the way of high hopes. That is, until his eyes fell on a dark-skinned, brown-eyed, blonde-haired Mushra woman who looked furious standing on the wooden auction platform. He bought her somewhat on a whim, and forewent the auctioneer's offer to have her loose tongue removed. After seeing her every single day, Virihk began to have feelings for this woman who he was without a doubt attracted to, and eventually discovered he was hopelessly in love.

One day, I shall write Empires! One day!

Inspiring music:
Fields of Gold: The big one, the source of the inspiration. I hadn't listened to it for a long time, but while working on this, I relistened to it and found it...eerily reflective of this pair's story, especially the last line about lying in fields of gold.
Maiden of Spring (Heather Alexander): Unfortunately, I can't find this song on youtube, so just the name will have to do. This has become Virihk's song.
Drawn to the Rhythm: Rather fitting as well, when it comes to the conflict between their love and society's laws against it.
Ara Batur: This has sort of become the ending theme to Empires.
Theme to Titanic: How could I not? It fits very, very well.
I think by the end of this playlist, you have a fairly good idea how this love story ends.

Oh, and original Virihk and Leshra drawn a year or so back: [link]