ATC: Nostra Mater Invicta

Grand Admiral Lady Trean Maeglan, called the Red Sword or the Imperatrix Invicta, once and future champion of the Terran Empire. Avowed enemy to the illithid menace; protectress, conqueror, legendary hero.

I've had this image kicking around in my head for a long time, like a "saint" version of Trean carrying baby Farael, and I've done one or two pencil drawings of it, but I never thought to actually do it in color on something as small as an ATC, which is weird because I should INSTANTLY have thought of Russian icons, but I didn't. When I put up this week's challenge for #ATC-Exchange ("divine"), I had a totally different idea in mind for what to do, but a conversation with =LadyGhostDuchess reminded me of this, and I knew I HAD to do it, just so I could have a real-life version of this thing. The scan... the scan doesn't really do it justice, because in real life, this looks VERY COOL. The halos and borders were done with super old and clumpy gold ink, which of course doesn't scan well.

3.5"x2.5". Micron, watercolor, Prisma pencil, gold ink, white gel pen on bristol.

_{Yes, her fingers are weirdly jointed. Yes, Farael doesn't look like a proper baby. Yes, the anatomy and folds are abstracted. I was inspired by Russian orthodox icons, which have a very characteristic style that I TRIED to emulate... not sure how successful I was, but it was super fun anyway.}