"Peril of Guarding" by Claudya Schmidt

"As with so many things, the world had come to its end.

The last battle was a quiet one, fought in no more land than a wolf might wander in a day. It was not fought by deities, it was not even fought by warriors, but by a single, vulnerable friend.

He had fought for her before. He had fought because the whisperings of good told him she would make a difference.

Protect her, they deigned.

And though this was said to nearly a dozen, only Zal remained to fight for her. Where others had faded to the black or fallen with despair, only he had stayed at her side.

The world had come to its end. The Taer, its body emblazoned by the apathy of billions, fueled by ancient fears great and small and the nagging of death, decay, and destruction, descended towards the final light.

Zal's paws clutched the grit of earth; his tail swept the cliff's breadth. The world was ending, and his was the only body left to stop it.

He would be the one to die, so that when the world ended, she, at least, could survive."


Manojalpa requested a massive commission by me in which her character Zal guards a silver apple sapling from the terrible darkness that forces every light creating power to dim.


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This was one of the largest and most complex paintings I have done so far and I never thought I could finish it in such a short amount of time. I'm still thankful for the ones who really stayed 10 hours watching me stream. Haha. You're simply awesome. XD

All in all, including the sketch, I worked about 30 hours on the image. I tried out to not concentrate on small details so much but on lighting and colouring which will create the most important aspects of the painting in the end.

The original file is about 4500 x 5600 pixel on 300 dpi.
There is a better description coming very soon.

I must run out and do some mosaik simply for enjoyment. XD