Big Brian smarts. Very much yes

Magincia_Jazmine said:
Who started the trend of calling any blue dragon Saphira?

Isn't really a trend the artist literally says its Saphira.

Reason 137 of why I wish I had a tail.

Magincia_Jazmine said:
Who started the trend of calling any blue dragon Saphira?

Actually, while the artist may have intended this dragon to be saphira from the Inheritance cycle books/eragon movie, she lacks several characteristics. The first most important one would be the feathered wings, which was a rather defined trait for saphira at the time. Another are the horns, they are supposed to be ivory white, and curl upwards slightly. But then again the artist must have reasons for not including such key features, so I guess we will never know.

Nitestryke said:

Actually, while the artist may have intended this dragon to be saphira from the Inheritance cycle books/eragon movie, she lacks several characteristics. The first most important one would be the feathered wings, which was a rather defined trait for saphira at the time. Another are the horns, they are supposed to be ivory white, and curl upwards slightly. But then again the artist must have reasons for not including such key features, so I guess we will never know.

Fair points, thanks! I certainly went a bit off track with this one, maybe carried away really. I could do an edit to have feathered wings + white curved horns if there was enough interest but I think most people are fine viewing it as inspiration.

If I paint her again it would be nice to do a much more accurate version to the movie or book, whichever people would prefer more :)

Nitestryke said:

Actually, while the artist may have intended this dragon to be saphira from the Inheritance cycle books/eragon movie, she lacks several characteristics. The first most important one would be the feathered wings, which was a rather defined trait for saphira at the time. Another are the horns, they are supposed to be ivory white, and curl upwards slightly. But then again the artist must have reasons for not including such key features, so I guess we will never know.

The book version of Saphira doesn't have feathered wings, she had standard membranes. There were many spikes at the base of her neck to protect it and the row of spikes went down her neck toward the very end of tail, with only a gap without them where saddle should be placed. Her tonuge had spikes (like cat's) that were able to strip meat from bones, though there was a smooth tip she could use to give Eragon an affectionate lick.

Unfortunately, Saphira was described in book vaguely, leaving a lot of space for interpretation. For example her size was mentioned maybe a few times through entire series.

Danza's art bases on mix of movie and book Saphira's designs quite loosely. All in all, it's still a good art, however, if I didn't see a tag, I wouldn't never guess that's meant to be that dragoness.

So hot :03

Vulumar said:
The book version of Saphira doesn't have feathered wings, she had standard membranes. There were many spikes at the base of her neck to protect it and the row of spikes went down her neck toward the very end of tail, with only a gap without them where saddle should be placed. Her tonuge had spikes (like cat's) that were able to strip meat from bones, though there was a smooth tip she could use to give Eragon an affectionate lick.

Unfortunately, Saphira was described in book vaguely, leaving a lot of space for interpretation. For example her size was mentioned maybe a few times through entire series.

Danza's art bases on mix of movie and book Saphira's designs quite loosely. All in all, it's still a good art, however, if I didn't see a tag, I wouldn't never guess that's meant to be that dragoness.

Thanks for clarifying! I guess when a dragon has two fairly vastly different interpretations if I end up picking/choosing from both it may end up looking like neither.

Accuracy aside I'm really glad I got a chance to paint a feral female dragon :)

Danza said:
Fair points, thanks! I certainly went a bit off track with this one, maybe carried away really. I could do an edit to have feathered wings + white curved horns if there was enough interest but I think most people are fine viewing it as inspiration.

If I paint her again it would be nice to do a much more accurate version to the movie or book, whichever people would prefer more :)

I for one certainly wouldn't mind. Honestly there's just a criminally low amount of Saphira going around when she really does deserve so much more.

Saphira from the movie is the one thing they did right. Aside from the instant growth bullshit.

As for the actual picture here.. I never would have guessed it was Saphira. It looks very good.. but doesn't evoke that "this is Saphira" vibe at all.

The fuzzy mane and small appearance are probably to blame. Saphira doesn't have any fur at all and is much larger than a horse, which is roughly how big this dragon looks.. and she looks too slick (Paolini described the roughness of her scales many times). And .. in my opinion, the under-side should be blue. Just less intense than her back.

Again though. Still a great looking dragon.

Minus the movie version of her wings.* I forgot they were "feathered" in that.

But other than the feathered wings, she looked right. Lol

Danza said:
Thanks for clarifying! I guess when a dragon has two fairly vastly different interpretations if I end up picking/choosing from both it may end up looking like neither.

Accuracy aside I'm really glad I got a chance to paint a feral female dragon :)

You're welcome!
You chose hair on neck, spikes on her jawline and horns from movie adaptation, the rest is a standard dragoness design. She should have had sapphire colour of scales on her entire body too. Due to these points, it's hard to call this dragoness Saphira.

It would work better as a random dragoness. ;)

If you're curious, I know the author of this picture https://imgur.com/a/t1j3E7C consulted with books' author, thus it's one of the most accurate picture of her. You can have also a book cover with Saphira but... Let's be honest she looks ugly there :P

Eclipse_Lunablade said:
I for one certainly wouldn't mind. Honestly there's just a criminally low amount of Saphira going around when she really does deserve so much more.

I totally agree, she has surprisingly low amount of art around here.

Yes