art...(spoilers all RotE books)

[redchild]

^Since you mentioned tiara, I can envision a kind of crest that begins with a protrusion in the center of the forehead and wraps around the head with smaller or larger protrusions, like a circlet. I've always imagined the crest as more of a bony protrusion with small spines along the top, much like that of a dilaphosaurus', but much smaller and narrower:

[Image: DNCPn.jpg]

But then again, who says every Elderling has to have identical crests?

Great work, thul. I don't think I've ever seen any art depicting Elderlings before. If I may nitpick, I think the tail is sitting a bit too high. Tails should be extensions of the spine but yours seem a bit stuck on because it's not in the right place. Here is a monkey skeleton where you can see how the tail flows from the spine:

[Image: neziq.gif]

Otherwise, good job!

Perhaps you can even go farther and play around with the proportions of her anatomy and facial features to make her even more inhuman looking (though I do concede it is difficult to distort the anatomy/facial features while still keeping a figure's elegance.)