Game of Thrones – End of Regency

End of Regency is one of four illustrations I made for The Rise of the Dragon, the latest illustrated Game of Thrones book by George R.R.Martin.

Like most of the work I get to publish, this bunch of illustrations was commissioned a little over a year ago. Since the book has just been published, a little ahead of schedule, our embargo has been lifted and we are now allowed to share our images.

I say “we” as, like The World of Ice and Fire which I did back in 2014, The Rise of the Dragon is a collaboration of many of the best artists around.

Some of them I know by reputation, others, like Marc Simonetti, or my old friend John McCambridge I’ve worked with in other projects, including the first Game of Thrones illustrated book, World of Ice and Fire.

There are already a few articles about this new one, and here’s a list of all the art credits.

If you’re tempted to buy Rise of the Dragon and fancy reading a little bit before you do, here are a few places where you can start:

– Obviously George R.R.Martin’s blog;

– A Wiki of Ice and Fire, still in progress by the looks of it;

– Empire: The Rise Of The Dragon – Exclusive Illustrations From George RR Martin’s New Targaryen Tome;

– Forbes: ‘The Rise Of The Dragon’ Review: A Beautiful New Book By George R.R. Martin;

– IGN.com: The Rise of the Dragon: Preview of the House of the Dragon Art Book;

The book is a 700+ pages coffee-table beast, filled with art, covering the rise of the dragons in Westeros along with the House who mastered them, good old Targaryen.

It’s really a must for Game of Thrones fans, as it covers many events that were just hinted at in the books and the series.

My first illustration, End of Regency, depicts the moment when young Aegon Targaryen, backed by his best and most loyal knights, walks into the council’s room and conveys strongly that the time of regency is ended and he is now the king on the Iron Throne.

As always, there’s also the super polished final sketch.

I have to confess that I struggled a bit with composition for End of Regency, as it featured a lot of characters that needed to be in the scene, one of whom is a short boy and another a 2.3m tall giant.

I’m still not convinced the tilt of Aegon’s head is 100% correct, but hey, it was approved so if it looks right to others then it’s right.

Before my beloved Game of Thrones nerds – or even journalists – start to speculate like last time and poke me on different platforms to ask for details, the characters in End of Regency are as follows:

Sitting: Right from Aegon (the blonde guy at the center) is Torrhen Manderly, the Hand of the King. Further right is Grand Maester Munkun and bottom right Lord Grandison.
Sitting left from Aegon is Lord Merryweather, while bottom left is Lord Stackspear.

The HUGE knight behind Aegon is Sandoq the Shadow, while the other four are unspecified Knights of the Kingsguard.

End of Regency:

“Lord Manderly,” King Aegon said, in the sudden stillness, “pray tell
me how old I am, if you would be so good.” “You are ten-and-six today,
Your Grace,” Lord Manderly replied. “A man grown. It is time for you to
take the governance of the Seven Kingdoms into your own hands.” “I
shall,” King Aegon said. “You are sitting in my chair.”

This is the book, in case you couldn’t be bothered to click any of the links above:)

I’ll post the remaining illustrations over the next few days. Obligatory thanks to the art directors at Ten Speed Press: Elizabeth Strongberg and Claudia Sanchez, and obviously to the people at Random House.

Working with them was super positive and fun.

by Paolo Puggioni

Game of Thrones – Blue Graces

Blue Graces is one of the illustrations I made for Game of Thrones back in 2019.

At the cost of repeating myself, I have the memory of a goldfish, so I have no idea whatsoever of what particular expansion this belonged to.

I have to confess I was curious at some point, and I didn’t want to start yet another post with “sorry”, so I did check the throng of packs I’ve worked on.

Long story short, I couldn’t find this card in the first 80% of packs I individually opened and browsed.

So, well, I stopped because I had other stuff to do and I ran out of time to do it. I guess we’ll never know.

Like that joke of the inmates who escape prison and climb 99 of the 100 fences to get out, and then go “fuck it I’m tired, I’m going back”.

Anyway, for those who never heard of the Blue Graces and are itching to discover what they’re all about, say no more! I’ll explain.

The Graces are priestess of Slavers’ Bay in Mereen.

They live in the majestic Temple of The Graces, and they are divided into different orders, conveniently identifiable by the colour of their robes.

All of them have made a vote of chastity, a part from the Red Graces, who serve in the Pleasure Houses and whose job description demands no chastity at all.

The Green Grace is the head priestess of the temple, and I happen to have drawn her as well at some point.

The Pink Graces are the personal attendants of the Green Grace, while the Blue Graces are healers and surgeons.

For this illustration in particular I meant to depict a common scene, almost of routine, with no drama.
That’s why I chose warm fuzzy colours for the background and the skin tones, which also made a good contrast with the robes of the Blue Graces.

The wounded guy they’re tending to is just a random soldier who’s being patched up after a fight in the arena, so I made him turn around and shifted the focus on the healers, who are the main characters of the composition.

And lo! I even found the sketch I did for this. Nothing ground breaking, but that’s how I started this illustration..

And since I went through the trouble of upsetting all the Game of Thrones packs on my shelf, here’s a picture of it for bragging rights, once it was back in order.

by Paolo Puggioni