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Game of Thrones – Renly Baratheon

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Renly blog post

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My continuing series of Game of Thrones portraits continues with Renly Baratheon. This is arguably one of my most detailed paintings – I highly suggest you follow the link and take a look at it. This isn’t a photograph, but a painting based on a still frame lifted from the television series as a reference.

Renly Baratheon is the third youngest son of House Baratheon, fourth in line to replace his brother Robert as legitimate heir to the King. His father served as Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms.

The least salty of his two older brothers, Renly is a reasonably untested fighter and inexperienced leader; he was too young to participate in the civil strife known as “Robert’s Rebellion” which ultimate saw his brother Robert seated on the iron throne.

As always, I invite your input. Comments, questions, and recommendations are always welcome here. Who’s your favorite Game of Thrones character? Who would you like to see me illustrate next? Drop me a line in the comment section below!

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Game of Thrones – Eddard Stark

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Eddard blogFINE ART PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE
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“The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.”

In this modern world of long-form story-telling on television, the quality of ‘virtue’ almost always proves to be a death sentence. Although “Game of Thrones” is based on a series of novels that were initially published in the mid-1990s, this new age of “literate programming” has brought audiences a greater depth of character development and a newfound fearlessness on behalf of networks, writers, and show-runners to visit harm on beloved characters.

If audiences don’t care about the characters on the screen, audiences won’t feel anything if a terrible fate befalls them. That’s why we are seeing fewer and fewer “immortal” characters (central characters that audiences know will never ever die). With “Game of Thrones,” the show-runners established, during the climactic moments of season one, that absolutely nobody is safe. This ramps up interest in the story and multiplies the value of the drama.

Eddard “Ned” Stark is the enduring symbol that expresses how dangerous the continent of Westeros actually is.

In the series, Ned Stark is arguably the most honorable character, ruling over the northern kingdom of Winterfell, patriarch of House Stark. He is the moral compass of the story, inherently compelled to remain away from politics, courtly intrigue, and deception. Literarily, the family name, Stark, serves as a clever indication of his resistance to moral compromise.

After being appointed the “hand of the king,” he is duty-bound to travel to the capital city of King’s Landing. After the accident death of King Robert, we watch as Ned becomes increasingly entangled in the political upheaval of the city. He begins to struggle as his own sense of honor draws him into corrupt dealings at court. Near the end of his story arc, he is forced to choose between his family’s safety and his own sense of honor.

This is one of many paintings I have made in my ongoing series, “The Portraits of Westeros.” I hope you enjoy the work, and implore you to tell me who you would like me to paint next!

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Game of Thrones – Cersei Lannister

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Cersei Lannister BLOGFINE ART PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE
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Volumes could be written in the analysis of Cersei Lannister, one of the most interesting and complex characters in Game of Thrones. From a haunting childhood prophecy to the conclusion of season six, we have seen her character travel into ever-colder and devious territory. With her three children deceased, the prophecy has proven itself to be accurate; as the series moves toward its conclusion, we will have to remind ourselves that the final part of the prophecy includes her being killed – strangled, in fact – by her younger brother.

The real question is whether Tyrion will be the one to end her life, or if it will be Jaime?

Cersei has won the throne after the destruction of the Sept of Baelor and the suicide of her last living son, King Tommen, but she has few allies in King’s Landing, and fewer still in the rest of Westeros. Not even The Mountain can protect her from the forces that will be descending upon King’s Landing as the narrative moves forward.

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