Meria Martell receives the letter from Aegon Targaryen the Conqueror

This scene shows the moment when the princess of Dorne, Meria Martell, receives at Sunspear the letter Aegon Targaryen sent to announce the imminent conquest of the seven kingdoms and the petition of surrender.

This is a very special and personal illustration for me for several reasons.

The first one is the location. Sunpear, and Dorne in general, are directly inspired by several places in real life, like the south of Spain, Andalucía, my homeland. From the moment I "visited" Dorne in the books I've visited it many times in many real places around me. I have a very specific vision of the place: the decoration of the palaces, the architecture, the color...etc, so I was very excited about making some kind of tribute to this whole experience.

The second one is the character. Meria Martell is one of my favorite characters in the whole ASOIAF saga. She not just resisted the Targaryen invasion (the only one), but didn't lose the strength even when she decided to split her kingdom, hiding people and abandoning the seat. She realized Dorne was its people, not its palaces. I think she's a very strong woman, and reminds me of many other strong women in my life who share very similar philosophies.

The third one is this illustration was originally started a few days before I was contacted to work in The Rise of the Dragon. In those days, it was a real challenge for me. I didn't really know how to solve the details of the illustration: it had to show the location as it's described by George R.R. Martin, the throne, the action, the characters...etc.

Finally, I have not used any 3D software or other kinds of simulation software. Everything's pure Photoshop, and of course, patience. There's no particular reason why: just to challenge myself and use time for something important, which is learning. I think maybe this is something we're forgetting these days: the AI art and the euphoria for publishing constantly is making us think like influencers, not like artists.

As a result of all these reasons, here's a very special illustration I really hope you enjoy as much as I do.