Friday Art Gallery VII

Eva Widermann, "Rest and Recovery"

This week I wanted to look at an amazing work by Eva Widermann. Her work for D&D includes: Player's Handbook II (2006), Monster Manual IV (2006), Complete Mage (2006), Cityscape (2006), Complete Scoundrel (2007), Magic Item Compendium (2007), Drow of the Underdark (2007), Monster Manual V (2007), Elder Evils (2007), and the 4th edition Monster Manual (2008). She was born in Germany and currently lives in Ireland.

One of the things I love about her work is the amazing character detail she creates. Everyone one of her characters have a great mix of depth, emotion, individuality, and life. That is the reason why I wanted to showcase this piece with it's five great characters (six or seven if you count the cat and raven). I believe that we have the following from left to right: A Human Barbarian; an Elf Wizard; a Tiefling Bard; a Halfling Druid; and a Half-Elf Rogue. We also have the short-haired cat that I believe to be the familiar of the Wizard and the raven which probably is a companion of the Druid. All of whom are engaged in that time honored tradition of camping for the night.

I also love to zoom in on the "inner dialog" that each character is projecting in this piece. The Barbarian is obviously married to his duty and honor as he keeps a steady eye out for any danger. The Wizard is doing her best to be aloof and show her displeasure with the group while the Bard gently plays for her in an attempt to ease her back into the fold. The Druid experiments with her magic and seems happy to be in her element surrounded by an enchanted wood. And finally, the Rogue is engrossed in his notes and maps of what looks like a dungeon and perhaps the group's next destination.

Lovely work from a very talented artist!