As a fan artist, there's nothing more daunting than trying to capture the emotional intensity and technical complexity of an action scene. For my first week as the new "Fan Art Friday" blogger (hello, everybody!), I thought I'd hit the ground running by featuring some of the most action-packed artwork in the Wheel of Time fanverse.

Without further ado, here are five of my favorites.

1. Wheel of Time color composition by Thadeoradicarlous:

This color study perfectly captures the intensity of the scene in The Great Hunt (Chapter 19) in which Rand sneaks into the Trolloc camp and (a bit too calmly) walks out with the Horn of Valere (As Loial says, "If you must go mad, could it at least wait until we are back with the Lady Selene and Hurin?").

I love the bold, quick style and contrasting colors of this work.

2. Perrin and Gaul by liruichen:

This artist is great at capturing action scenes from the Wheel of Time (including one of Rand filching the Horn from the Trollocs). Here's one of Perrin freeing Gaul in Remen (The Dragon Reborn, Chapter 34).

I particularly like the guy flying in sideways from the right.

3. Mat vs. Couladin by Hamdiggy:

Poor Mat just wants a kiss and cuddle. Instead, he gets dragged into a fight to the death with a False Dragon, and an Aiel clan chief to boot (The Fires of Heaven, Chapter 45). Just once, he wishes the Wheel would weave as he willed.

I'm a big fan of Hamdiggy's comic book style. The perspective on Couladin was executed perfectly here.

4. Egwene al'Vere by Joe O'Hara:

Joe will be an Attending Artist at JordanCon this year. He's also one of the hosts of Twotcast, a Wheel of Time re-read podcast. Here's his painting of Egwene taking on the Seanchan with the help of Vora's sa'angreal during the raid on the White Tower (The Gathering Storm, Chapter 40). In an age of digital painting, beautifully executed watercolors like this one really stand out.

5. Channeling by melh2o:

Moiraine Damodred, back from the dead and ready to take on a Forsaken. Or five. I just love the intensity of her pose and the way the composition is balanced.

That's all for this week! Tune in over the next couple weeks for some of my favorite (conventional and not-so-conventional!) group portraits.