I tweaked this a bit more - initially I tried to add some more shadows overall, to try and give it a bit more depth, but it's amazing how a little change in light just changes the whole atmosphere - suddenly it was several hours later in the afternoon and slightly overcast, instead of the bright sundrenched noon hour it is supposed to be. So I just worked up the shadows and light in the foreground a bit more - I think I got it right now, it's a subtle difference but I think this works much better than the first version. Besides, now the dark rocks right bottom balance out the dark Keep at the top a bit better. Hmm - maybe that castle needs a bit more touching up, what do you think?

This is my first ever proper Photoshop & tablet illustration: Robin Hobb's Fool from the Farseer trilogy.

This is the scene from Assassin's apprentice:
"I took the long way back to the keep, p a path that went through a lightly wooded bit of rocky hillside. Paper birches struggled there, and a few alder, but mostly it was nondescript brush. Sunlight and a light breeze were playing together in the higher branches, giving the day a fey and dappled air. I lifted my eyes to the dazzle of sun through the birch leaves, and when I looked down, the King's Fool stood before me.
...
The Fool took no notice of my whispered comment. Instead, a finger was held aloft, as if to pause not only my thoughts but the very day around us. But I could not have focused my attention more completely on anything, and when he was satisfied of this, the Fool smiled, showing small, white, separate teeth, like a baby's new smile in a boy's mouth.
"Fitz!" he intoned in a piping voice. "Fitz fitz fice fitz. Fatz sfitz." He stopped abruptly, and again gave me that smile. I stared back uncertainly, without word or movement.
Again the finger soared aloft, and this time was shaken at me. "Fitz! Fitz fix feice fitz. Fats sfitzes." He cocked his head at me, and the movement sent the dandelion fluff of his hair wafting in a new direction.
I was beginning to loose my fear of him. "Fitz." I said carefully, and tapped my chest with my forefinger. "Fitz, that's me. Yes. My name is Fitz. Are you lost?" I tried to make my voice gentle and reassuring so as not to alarm the poor creature. ...
He took a breath through his nose, and then shook his head violently, until his hair stood out all around his skull like a flame around a wind-blown candle.... "

Fool, Fitz and this text are copyright Robin Hobb.

I wanted to give this a dreamlike atmosphere, going for the dappled light summer afternoon feel of the description. I had particular fun working up the Fool's dandelion fluff hair! He is an odd mix between trickster and angel. Like in this description, he is consistently associated with light and air, and so I tried to subtly give him a halo without making it too obvious, and without taking away from the slightly scary wackiness that he exudes, at least at this point in the story - this is the very first time Fitz and Fool actually talk to each other.

I also wonder, does the Fool cast a shadow?