Draco, Marked

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This painting is a fleshed out version of a study I made of Draco, in preparation for "Your Intense Fragility."

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I was pretty much finished at one stage, but I kept staring and staring, and thought it was missing *something.* The dramatic sky did not quite "complete" the painting to me, and it was just itchingly off. I decided it was because compositionally, I have Draco just standing in the middle, and there was nothing to break up the composition. I repainted the sky background, and that didn't help.

I had decided to add flying birds, flying out at the audience, soaring full of soul or rapture. But then, I started painting, and it turned into one bird, a big black raven, standing on his shoulder, perfectly bisected by his face.

It felt right. And then I realized, this is Snape's raven. In my head-canon, Snape keeps a raven familiar. It acts as his owl, fetching his letters. Ravens are incredibly smart, much smarter than owls.

This is a turning point of Draco's life. He has carried on the tradition of his father's servitude to the Dark Lord. That servitude was always an abstract idea, but now it is solidified by a Mark on his previously unblemished forearm. The magnitude of what has happened is just now hitting him, and he is uncertain about his future. Snape sent his raven to reassure him, to comfort him.

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This painting is available as signed and numbered limited edition prints, reproduced beautifully and professionally on museum-quality Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper. For prints information, please email me at foxestacado@gmail.com