John Jude Palencar teases fans with a glimpse at the Shruikan poster artwork coming in the Inheritance Deluxe Edition

By Mike Macauley September 22, 2012 Inheritance (Book 4) 8 Comments

John Jude Palencar is known for his work in the fantasy, scifi, and horror art genres, and within the Inheritance community, is known for illustrating Saphira, Thorn, Glaedr, and Firnen on the covers of the Inheritance cycle. Today the artist announced in a blog post that he’ll be adding one more Inheritance dragon to his collection: Shruikan, Galbatorix’s black dragon! While the artwork won’t be featured on the cover of any North American copies of Inheritance, it will find a place within the upcoming Inheritance Deluxe Edition as an exclusive fold-out poster (confirmed by Christopher Paolini on Twitter).

Palencar’s blog post tackle’s the artist’s love/hate relationship with dragons in art and gives an in-depth look at his past (and future) dragon-based artwork. In addition — and perhaps most exciting — was a sneak-peek at the Shruikan artwork:

What do you think of the preview?

Don’t miss out on the exciting new content, including deleted scenes, new scenes, new pieces of art, additional commentary from Christopher, and more. Pre-order the Inheritance Deluxe Edition today!

Also, be sure to check out John Jude Palencar’s full blog post detailing many of the dragons he’s painted since becoming an artist!

  • JJ_S

    @mikemacauley:disqus Any chance we’ll ever see the interview? Also, awesome pic!

  • EternalShade

    He looks more purple then black… But I cant wait to see the final product!!

  • EragonSaphira

    I can’t wait to see the final painting!

  • I knew what this was even before I read the title of the post, just from looking at the eyes. Shruikin has such beautiful eyes, and I’m glad that at least that part of him isn’t twisted. I can’t wait to see the rest of this. From what I CAN see though, I have the feeling he will end up looking a bit like Thorn.

  • Sean Clark

    Wow, this illustration is pretty awesome. I love the eyes contrasting. He would be a very beautiful dragon if he wasn’t so messed up.

  • Ryan

    I wish we could get a full-sized poster instead of just a fold-out one. 🙁

  • Matt

    Cool but from what I can see it looks like he let Shruikans twisted personality influence his looks. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think Shruikan would look any different than Saphira or Thorn aside from being obviously bigger and being black. Otherwise, I can’t wait to see the whole thing and it looks insane!

    • When you think of fantasy characters and more specifically, bad guys in fantasy, you usually think of dark/twisted looking figures. Evilness is throughout, and the exterior usually changes to reflect the interior. I know that in fantasy video games and movies I’ve enjoyed, this “looks evil/twisted” view is apparent. I think that Shruikan would have been physically and mentally affected by Galbatorix’s dark magic control over him, and what warped his mind also warped his figure.

      Just food for thought. Maybe we can throw the question to Christopher some time.