One of the illustrations I had the pleasure of making for "The Rise of the Dragon, An Illustrated History of the Targaryen Dynasty, Volume One" by George RR Martin, Elio García and Linda Antonsson.
Moondancer is one of the dragons that participated in the Dance of the Dragons, the same events we will be able to watch in House of the Dragon. I was very excited when I read I had to illustrate one of those epic characters, even more considering her part of the Black team, and the Velaryon family with Baela Targaryen as her rider. She is described as a fast creature, not too big, and still young. I remember we considered her as a teen dragon, so I could imagine her as a playful and lovely one. That's the reason because I took my main inspiration from a cat while plays, which also matches with the idea of a "dancing dragon" because of the elegance of her movements. I thought this pose was crucial to understand the dragon personality and to draw attention to the idea of her moving on the ground as much as in the air.
She has definitely become one of my favorite dragons, and the most special.
"Moondancer was a slender pale green dragon. Her horns, crest and wingbones were pearl. She was very quick, both in the sky and on the ground. Although in 129 AC Moondancer was not yet considered large enough to carry the thirteen-year old Baela Targaryen upon her back, a year later Baela was able to mount the dragon. At the time, she was no larger than a warhorse and weighed less."
The concept artist behind Moondancer in the TV show was Constatine Sekeris.
© George R.R. Martin
Publisher: Penguin Random House / TenSeed Press