Reunion - Lord of Tides

I was commissioned by K.D. Stark to illustrate the Reunion of Odysseus and Penelope for her upcoming Lord of Tides novel. A retelling of the Odyssey from an author that REALLY knows her history, and REALLY knows how to write some prose.

Set for release in October, 2026. Very excited to see how it is received!

For this series of paintings I wanted them to have a nice consistent theme and give a sense of this series being old oil paintings. So I went for an alla prima style of rendering on top of a warm underpainting--I love how you can see that warmth bleeding through in the final art.

I also grew out my hair for a couple of months so I could hit the 'lost at sea for years' vibe and played around with some fake blood to inform the painting. Odysseus's bloody hands holding Penelope really sell the moment for me here.