DRAGONMOUNT

Dragonmount is excited to announce that beginning Tuesday, March 8th, we will be launching the Wheel of Time Video News. This regular program will feature some interesting WoT news in a brief format.   The show will be hosted by the delightful Kristen Nedopak (http://www.nedopak.com), who not only is respected as a fantasy geek and hostess, but got involved with us for the Towers of Midnight book trailer Behind the Scenes.   Our first video will debut on YouTube and here on DM. Head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe to our feed to get it as soon as it comes out.

This week, we're looking again at a specific artist. For those of you that read the comments here, you may have noticed one artist in particular gets linked fairly often. That's RoseMuse.     RoseMuse has a cartoonish style that seems very inspired by anime to me. Her characters have clean, simple lines, but don't skimp on detail. I love this portrait of Rand with his three ladies, especially the facial expressions. Aviendha looks adorably angry.     I think she has a way of capturing the essential of a character, or a moment, even if her characters are a bit "cute". Egwene looks really, really angry in this picture of her calling lighting against the Seanchan. But she also looks cute enough to eat with a spoon. I like the dichotomy.     But she also shows real emotion and poignancy. Elayne looks truly haunted by her royal ancestors in this portrait.     She can also be freakin' hilarious. I highly, highly recommend clicking through to her gallery to see her "Stages of" series. Each is a character going through the stages of development we see in the books. I was going to feature one here, but I just can't pick one. So go look at all of them.   As a reminder, this is the last week for, the Artists, Writers and Crafters Group on Dragonmount this month. The theme for February is "Love", so if you have a piece of Wheel of Time fan art that fits that theme and you'd like to see it here, post it on the forums and I'll choose my favorites to post next month.

The 4th Age podcast presents Episode 96, a second look of the Towers of Midnight. We have nearly a full crew for this episode, with Andrew, Virginia, Spencer, Carrie and Daniel as your hosts for this episode. Check out Dragonmount.com" rel="external nofollow">http://www.dragonmount.com">Dragonmount.com for forums, comments and all the latest news in the Wheel of Time world. ATTENTION! THERE ARE TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT SPOILERS! Also, spoilers on ALL the other books are VERY likely! Yes, there will be spoilers for ToM! If you haven’t read all the way through the Wheel of Time, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS of all previous books! Maybe of other series, too…. we will try to give warning. Did we mention that there will be spoilers….? Hosts: Andrew, Virginia, Spencer, Carrie, Daniel Editor: Norman H http://www.dragonmount.com/Podcast/Media/dm-4thAge-096.mp3">Download'>http://www.dragonmount.com/Podcast/Media/dm-4thAge-096.mp3">Download this Episode now Music by: Josh Needleman His website is at www.joshneedleman.net" rel="external nofollow">http://www.joshneedleman.net/">www.joshneedleman.net and he has the music available to hear on his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/joshneedleman." rel="external nofollow">http://www.myspace.com/joshneedleman">www.myspace.com/joshneedleman. It’s title is Floodgate. Thanks, Josh! Download this Episode nowhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/4thAge/~4/416I31UnTac" height="1" width="1"/>

This week, let's take a look at everyone's favorite rogue, Mat Cauthon. Mat is one of those characters that really grows on you as the series progresses. I remember not really caring or noticing him too much at the beginning, except as a plot MacGuffin in The Great Hunt. But after you see his first POV in The Dragon Reborn, you become aware of his sly wit. I like that as the characters gain more and more social standing in their world, there's still one guy who is all "Yeah, what ever. I knew you back when, Miss Hoity Toity." Let's see how he pops up in fan art.     This is what I think most of us think of when we think of "Mat". He's got the hat, he's got the scarf and he's holding dice. What's funny is that Mat does really become "Mat" until later in the series than the other ta'veren. Rand starts dressing like a lord in The Great Hunt after Moiraine steals his clothes. Perrin's clothes never really change, just Faile makes sure they are nice now. And they both figure out their unique abilities early on as well. Mat doesn't realize his luck until the third book, and his skill as a general doesn't come until after he encounters the Ael'finn and Eel'finn in the fourth book. This portrait is by solitarium on DeviantArt.     This is a photomanipulation by PollyUranus on DeviantArt. I like the way she incorporated images of the Band with Mat. It's an unusual piece.     Another Mark Bray piece this week. This is Mat with the Ael'finn in The Shadow Rising. Most of the Mat pictures I've seen are portraits of him all Matted Up. It's nice to see something a little different.   And to do something a little different this week, here's a Youtube video I found while looking for something else. Eye of the Tiger, baby! http://www.youtube.com/embed/q3xBhS7Ma40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>   As a reminder, if you're interested in having your art featured on Fan Art Friday, the Artists, Writers and Crafters Group on Dragonmount is doing a challenge this month. The theme for February is "Love", so if you have a piece of Wheel of Time fan art that fits that theme, post it on the forums and I'll choose my favorites to post next month.

This week we're taking a look at fan interpretations of the Seanchan. The Seanchan are a multi-ethnic invading force we first meet in The Great Hunt. They were presented as mysterious foreigners with two defining characteristics. One, they keep "exotics", trained beasts seen no where else in Randland and with no real world counter part. Two, they leash women who can channel with the a'dam, a ter'angreal that prevents her from channeling without permission from a sul'dam. We've learned a lot more about them since that first appearance.     This is Mark Bray's version of a grolm and it's handler. Mark Bray was one of the most popular fan artists when Dragonmount first came online in 1998. It's great to see his art is still available.     This is another by Richard Boye, we've mentioned his art on Fan Art Friday before. Richard has always had a gift for capturing the clothing as described by Robert Jordan. I think he does a particularly good job of that in this portrait of Tuon and Selucia. For Tuon's outfit especially, you can see the Egyptian influences in the heavy gold collar with gems and the pleating of her linen skirt.   https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6aXppuFRxPbX9vZDyvLCEQ?feat=embedwebsite"> src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_Rkx61_eB8bY/S-bYgwSIWfI/AAAAAAAADyc/KlOvmBoYJgY/s640/DSC_1972.JPG" height="640" width="426" />From JordanCon" rel="external nofollow">https://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.liang/JordanCon2010SaturdayNight?feat=embedwebsite">JordanCon 2010 Saturday Night   This is one of the costumes from last year's JordanCon. It's my friend Kelcey as High Lord Turak. Check out those pleated pants. Those took him forever to make. He even did the finger nails. It's a pretty detailed costume. You can see more detail up close. Kelcey also does a pretty bitchin' Asha'man and is working on Uno for this year's JordanCon.   As a reminder, if you're interested in having your art featured on Fan Art Friday, the Artists, Writers and Crafters Group on Dragonmount is doing a challenge this month. The theme for February is "Love", so if you have a piece of Wheel of Time fan art that fits that theme, post it on the forums and I'll choose my favorites to post next month.

Since 2011 will not see the release of a Wheel of Time book, many fans are taking this as an opportunity to re-read the series so it will be fresh in their minds for the anticipated 2012 release of A Memory of Light. Some of this was prompted by Brandon Sanderson beginning his own re-read before starting work on A Memory of Light and posting his thoughts on Twitter. We thought we'd compile a list of some of the re-reads going on so you can join in.   Leigh Butler's Re-read is the grand-daddy of all re-reads. It's been going on since January 2009. She posts twice a week and has just completed Crossroads of Twilight.   Ranting Dragon, a fantasy news and review blog began a re-read this year. They just posted their re-read on The Eye of the World.   The Ogier Social Group on Dragonmount also began a re-read last month. You can join in the conversation on our forums.   Brandon Sanderson began re-reading the series in January and posting his thoughts on Twitter. You can see archives of his tweets on his blog. Wheel of Time fan Terez has been following along on her blog and posting her thoughts and theories.   If you are on Twitter, you can join in the re-read conversation by using the #wotrr hashtag.

Instead of a theme this week, I thought I'd just browse through Dragonmount's Gallery and see what's been posted recently. If you don't know, Dragonmount's Gallery is free to use and lets you display your art to an appreciative community of fans. So if you've got Wheel of Time art, consider hosting it here.   src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/1287131573/gallery_1227_35_837261.jpg' alt='Young Moiraine Keepin it Real' />   This one caught my eye because of the title: "Young Moiraine, Keepin It Real". I don't think it's a particular scene from the books (if it is, it's probably from her testing for Aes Sedai), but I like the idea of an action scene with Moiraine and the composition is very nice. It's a very good sketch overall. You can see more of Liriuchen's art here.   This next image has small spoilers for Towers of Midnight. Nothing that would ruin your enjoyment of the book however. I just feel obligated to give the warning.   src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/1290330182/gallery_11250_61_411751.jpg' alt='Tarmon Gaidon' />   This one has been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter since Towers of Midnight was released. It's the details, I think, that make it such an instant classic. You have Perrin with his hammer, Mat with, well, he's just being Mat, and Rand holding Callandor, maimed hand behind his back and green grass growing around his feet. You can see the rest of Demander's gallery here.   src='http://www.dragonmount.com/forums/uploads/1295656414/gallery_18049_71_60857.jpg' alt='WOT Perrin' />   This is a scene I don't think I've ever seen illustrated before. It's Perrin verses the Whitecloaks in the stedding. You can see Egwene huddled behind Perrin under Hawkwing's hand and one of the slain wolves (Hopper?) at his feet. The style on this one is interesting. The pen and ink style always looks very old fashioned to me. This is by isamux.   If you're interested in having your art featured on Fan Art Friday, the Artists, Writers and Crafters Group on Dragonmount is doing a challenge this month. The theme for February is "Love", so if you have a piece of Wheel of Time fan art that fits that theme, post it on the forums and I'll choose my favorites to post next month.

This week, rather than focusing on a character, I thought we could look at an artist. If I had to guess, I think I'd say that Seamas Gallagher is one of the most popular Wheel of Time fan artists right now. He has a very distinctive style that's been seen in many places, from this website, to official licensed prints, to comic book covers.     I think part of what makes Seamus so popular is his distinctive style. Rather than the realistic style you see in most Wheel of Time fan art, it's much more stylized. The characters are instantly recognizable by trademark clothing, or expressions.     I think he does a great job of capturing the essential of a character.     According to his website, Seamas is a professional illustrator who has done concept art for video games, like Bioshock 2 and Tomb Raider: Underworld. And as I mentioned before, his artwork graces the covers of the The Eye of the World comic book adaption.     I'm starting to run out of things to say that don't make it sound like I'm slobbering on the dude. So I'll just pick out one more and send you to his website.     Seamas's website   Seamus's Wheel of Time art

JordanCon, a three day fantasy literature convention founded in honor of the late Robert Jordan, just released the progress report for 2011. JordanCon takes place in Atlanta, GA each year and hundreds of Wheel of Time fans from around the world attend it.   A convention progress report is a document distributed a few months before the convention, that gives you important information about traveling and the location, as well as an idea of what kind of activities to expect when you get there.     Pre-registration for JordanCon 2011 is currently open at the discounted rate of $45. Guests this year include authors David B. Coe and Eugie Foster. Our Toastmaster is Tor.com blogger Richard Fife. JordanCon will take place April 15-17, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia in Atlanta, Georgia. You can find out more by visiting http://www.ageoflegends.net/. http://www.ageoflegends.net/

I had so much fun last week finding pictures of Moiraine and Lan, I thought I'd do another character themed entry. So here's some art depicting Egwene in the various stages of her development.       This is a nice sketch I found on DeviantArt by *fee-absinthe. I'm assuming that this is meant to be from the beginning of the series, as this looks like the sort of outfit an innkeeper's daughter might wear. There's no hint yet of what's in store for her.     This is a great water color by Helena Zeegers. Helena used to have a very large amount of fan art available online, but it went down with Geocities. I found this on a site that had archived some of her work. Anyone have working contact info for Helena so we can ask her to put her WoT stuff online somewhere?   I like this piece because it shows Egwene pretty early in her story. We know she's headed to the Amyrlin Seat someday, but right now she couldn't be further. And Min is with her. You don't see much of Min and Egwene together in the later books, so it's nice to see this reminder of how deep their friendship goes.     Another picture from DeviantART. This one is by Vulcan82. This one is the closest to how I picture Egwene when I read. It's the stubborn jaw, I think. I love the look of oil pastels that was achieved here. It looks like something that might actually exist in Egwene's world.     Another of Egwene, the Amyrlin. This one is by Richard Boye. Richard was one of the first people to start posting Wheel of Time fan art online and for a long time was considered the gold standard for fan artists. I actually used this as an avatar here at one point, back before I knew you needed permission for that.   And one last piece...     This is by RoseMuse. It needs no commentary.   Are there any depictions of Egwene that I missed? Post em in the comments for everyone to enjoy.