Such a beautiful painting! I love all the details!
And good to see you back-I've missed seeing your beautiful artwork!

wow this looks gorgeous!

Nicely done!

Hurly cow this is .... amazing.... =D

Actually, what's the little statues with the ribbons for? And the symbols on the side of the mountain?

Hey, thanks! The ribbon things, i guess they are pathway markers for humanoids? Or maybe territory markers for Aaros or another dragon? I haven't given them an exact purpose, it's up to the viewer's imagination. They mark something, that much seems safe to say. They probably have been hammered deep into the ground to not let the wind blast them away, and the red color is used because it stands out the most in nature. I thought they would complement the colors of Aaros. The symbols on the side of the rocks might go hand-in hand with the markers, or maybe a traveler left them there to make note of something different for other travelers (maybe it warns of the presence of a dragon, hmm).

So cool! markers was kinda what I was thinking ;) I figured since the title was dancing, the markers were just "racing" points, kinda like the flags when doing down hill skiing? So for a dragon it's just trying to zip through all the points in the path chosen! =D I always think of Chioxin as "dancing" when he's doing the flying thing either in the clouds or down in the mountains =) Either way... REALLY freaking cool!

I actually haven't thought of THAT. But it's an original idea. My first thought was that the paths that go through the mountains can't really be seen so well from the viewpoint of a human on the ground, especially in a valley or on a hillside, so they would put these things up in the highest points that are visible even when the path is not. But they would definitely be equally useful for something that uses the sky to get around.

HOLY SHIT - this is by far one of the best paintings I have ever seen. The buttery smooth application of brush strokes, the composition, the saturated yet natural colors, the sheer attention to detail in every inch, the sense of motion, the insane lighting condition, the composition, the sheer amount of thought it seems to have taken to plan and execute this concept, the feel of atmosphere and space, the sense of the wind in the pose of Aaros and the leaves and ribbon. There are so many things in this image that I never would have imagined myself if I were to create something in a similar vein.

You are freaking amazing, and let no one else tell you otherwise. This is a piece of art for the ages, and will inspire so many people!! Thank you so much for sharing this. <3 <3 <3

Ahah thank you very much, the lighting conditions and scene complexity gave me hell. I chose to do these this way myself, but still.
I'm glad you think it was worth it, and i'm glad you like it!

It appears to have been worth the effort, at least in my perspective. Your hard work should be lauded! I'm so glad that you made the decisions that you did in this image, and you are most welcome! ^^

Yaaay! An update from WhiteRaven90! Awesome!

More updates to come, hopefully. :>

May I ask you, how long does it take to finish art like this?

Well... just the details took me 2-3 weeks (4-8 hours of work per day, 5 days per week). Before that i spent a considerable amount of time on planning, getting the colors and proportions and shading and composition right. Add times taken off for personal stuff and it's been months. I might be able to finish faster if life didn't keep throwing rocks at my face all the time.

Months!
I guessed right. Anyway the result worth it:)

I love your art forever <3

So beautiful.

So stunning and beautiful! The scenery is just so gorgeous! Incredible piece of art!

This is absolutely georgeous! Love how you did the mountains and the snow!

Please be more active here? :-:

I will be active again, thanks to Aaros making me come back.

\o/ Praise The sun Aaros!

This is really gorgeous and that lighting is fabulous! I'm a fan of cast shadows on characters, it makes it so dramatic x]
Great job on the angle of viewpoint looking down on the character, making him the main focus AND showcasing such a dynamic background. All around awesome!

Oh yeah, cast shadows XD
I'm glad the angle looks interesting rather than fishy. I was a bit uncertain about that part.

Nah the angle looks perfectly fine =]
I think the only part that is confusing my eye a little is deciding whether the dragon is touching the ground or not. I think it may be the shadows that he is casting. It's a small detail though ;]

The paw closest to us is the cause, no? The chest is not touching, just the paw, like a person doin push-ups. That part bugged me a little too but i spent so much time on it and it still bugged me, keeping at it felt futile so i left it like that. I'm sure i could fix it if i spent even more time on it, though. Positioning some grass there might be a super simple solution, but it'd feel cheap until i don't have the kind of thorough solution i want.

Hmm actually it might just be the shadow, right where his chest is closest to the ground, I think I would expect it to be darker right there. Since the wing is in the shade too it seems like the shadow would extend downward from the dragon a little. Sometimes I find when I have trouble like that, after I let it be and stop staring at it for a while I'll look at it again and suddenly see "the fix" I was originally looking for lol. It's still a bad-ass piece, and I love your style ^_^

Oh i knowingly left the source of the shadow on that wing obscure, sometimes i do stupid crap like that when i think i can get away with it lol, i thought it looks nice this way and i suspected that i would have to change it if i thought about it deeper. I guess the shading on the ground suffered for it then. The shadow IS darker right under the chest tho... somewhat... a little bit... by a microscopical amount.. in the wrong place *cough*

Well anyway thanks for the input. I'm glad i came back to FA, you seem to be more forthcoming with comments than people on other sites. Makes me feel not weird for wanting to have a little bit more communication.

Really, really stunning. Loving the sense of motion with this.

Thanks! In some earlier stage i've been told the dragon looks rather stiff, so i'm glad i managed to sort that out.

omgomgomgomg
wb

The character is done really well, but I think particulary the background is absolutely outstanding in this artwork! Great job!