Creating An Eye Catching Aes Sedai #Portrait #Painting

The Wheel of Time is a series of fifteen, enormous, novels written by Robert Jordan. The first installment of the series , The Eye of the World, was published in January of 1990. The series is one of my favorite sets of novels; I fell in love with it from the first pages. I’ve read most of the series twice.

The world built by Jordan is as complex and compelling as it is ever-changing; it draws you in quickly and deeply. There are over 2700 name characters in the books, but not a single one feels false or does not advance parts of the story. Trying to keep track of it all can be daunting, but ultimately that hardship is rewarding.

Two of the things that I love about the stories are the spiritual ties to balance and renewal, and the fact that the world is built on a fundamentally matriarchal foundation. Part of that matriarchal foundation are a group of women called Aes Sedi, who channel the One Power- think weaving magic from the energies of creation.

When I learned that Amazon was going to be making a series from the books it got me thinking about the books again and the Aes Sedi. I decided I’d paint an Aes Sedi portrait. Below you’ll find the progression.

The portrait is a composite of three faces that I’ve pulled together. It isn’t finished yet, but it is close enough to what I hope it to be.

The Amazon streaming production for the new series began in September 2019, and the series is currently listed on IMDb as premiering in November of 2021. I’m eagerly awaiting the release with both trepidation and excitement. It is an ambitious project, one that could either end with an endearing, intriguing epic or a small, inadequate imitation of the robust source materials. Let’s hope they get it right.

View The Wheel of Time series on IMDB