After the battle, I sit. After the battle, when the coloured standards hold no more promise of victory. Broken and torn, they proclaim nothing more glorious than the bodies of the dead that lay stained with the sepia earth around them. Bodies that were once men and women who followed them nobly to slaughter.

For what is there left, when even the last mournful voices have faded, claimed by the cold embrace of silence? When those I have loved and cared for are gone and my very purpose for being is thwarted by the swords and bloodied cries of men whose lives I have tried to save? What thoughts are to be had when even the healer sits bleeding of a mortal wound, with no hand left to help she who tried so vainly to stand against the onslaught of war?

Yet even after the battle, the clouds strafe away, the blood sinks into the dirt, and life slowly creeps back.

Even after the battle, there is hope.

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A commission for one of the most generous people I've ever had the good fortune to come into contact with, this piece was no means easy, and fought me a lot during the first attempt in oils. The only time I've ever admitted defeat with a medium, the coloured pencil version was more successful, and the amount of work gone into this piece reflects the huge amount of respect I have for the commissioner and the amount I really felt for the character. This is Deluna, a healer, left dying on the battle field with none left to help her.

As mentioned, coloured pencil on grey card, done a little bigger than my usual A4 pieces, with a lot of time and love spent on the detailing, so full view is muchly appreciated. My best pencil piece to date, I think. And it couldn't have gone to a more deserving person. Many thanks, Kim, I'm so happy you stumbled across my artwork one day so long ago.

Closeups of the work: [link]

Deluna is a commission and © to Kim Rogers, this image is NOT to be used by anyone else for any other purpose without my permission.