This piece has been a work in progress for the past few months, actually - a vague idea in my head that's generally failed to take any specific direction. I knew I wanted to do something Native American-themed, something that incorporated their art style with a wildlife painting, and so I started by studying First Nations art.

My original idea was to have the wolf face literally half Native art, half "real", so I went with more realistic facial proportions than is typical for the style. But then, looking at moon images on Google, I came across this photo (http://www.planetsforkids.org/upload/-moon-a.jpg), which really struck me, and became the major inspiration for this piece. I abandoned my original idea (although I may still try painting it) and modelled my composition after the photo, transforming the Native American wolf into a kind of spiritual Seer, with the full moon as his Third Eye. Piece by piece, it came together - next the wolf pack trekking silently through the tundra, then the aurora borealis in the form of hunting, howling wolves, all steeped in the same mystical feel that the original photo had inspired in me.

Hopefully it all came together into something resembling a coherent piece. Thank you for all your support :)

~25 hours Adobe Photoshop CS5

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Artwork © Jen Philpot