#moonflowers

This scene is what inspired this piece:

🌻🌻🌻 behind Maekar

"YOU CAN FORGET JUST HOW MUCH COLOUR THERE IS IN THE WORLD" :

One of my favourite Astarion lines. It simultaneously acknowledges the tragedy and grimness of a given situation, past or present, as well as the powerful amazement of remembering that despite everything, there are still beautiful things to fight for. I feel like these words can resonate in a meaningful way in any context where strenght and hope are needed, and that's why I chose them as a starting inspiration for this piece.

BLOODROOT :

I recently read this beautiful post by @cunthulhu-xo about how the flower placed on Astarion’s grave in act 3 looks like bloodroot and why it ties so well thematically with vampirism. Please go read it as they were far more eloquent on the subject than I could ever be, but needless to say their headcanon easily found its way into my heart and into my mind. (Interestingly, I would like to add that in French, that flower is called “sanguinaire”, which literally translates to “bloodthirsty”!)

MOONFLOWERS :

These magnificent and somewhat mystical flowers are in the same family as Morning Glories, but the wonderful thing about them is that they only bloom during the night, so you need to "walk in the shadows" in order to witness such a precious floral spectacle. Therefore, they are to me the perfect symbol of Astarion finding peace in remaining a vampire spawn after freeing himself from Cazador, because they represent all the beauty, inner peace, and even joy he couldn't have had if he had taken a different path.

MINERAL MOON :

It is the name given to a type of Moon photo where the colours of the existing minerals on its surface are digitally enhanced to a point where it looks like a glorious pastel rainbow has been painted all across! This is of course not visible to the naked eye, but these colours are indeed real and a well kept wonder of the night sky. Symbolically echoing what the aforementioned moonflowers represent, it allowed me to explore the same concept with added visual weight. (And I'll be completely honest here, this was also a fun excuse to insert another nerdy interest of mine into my art...!)

STARRY SKY :