I’m a graphic designer and a fantasy digital painter, class 1986, living in Verona, Italy.
I started my artistic journey with traditional media (watercolors, acrylics) but since 2010 I started experimenting with digital painting (Photoshop painting on Wacom tablet).
My work is usually the result of mixed media tecnique, with pencil/ballpen sketch and digital coloring and rendering. Since 2020 I take commissions for fantasy art.
“Raistlin – Time’s End” is my new digital painting. In occasion of Raistlin’s birthday, on 17 June 2026, I drew “something” about him as I did in the past years. A personal challenge, a reminder I should draw something for myself. Painted with Photoshop on Wacom Tablet and drawing app on S25 Ultra. Raistlin Majere is a character from the “Dragonlance” books by M. Weis and T. Hickman; this is a work of fanart.
What would Raistlin like for his birthday? Something everyone wishes for, when it’s time to think about it: more time. Raistlin’s character is strongly defined by his struggle for survival, from childhood to adulthood. Again and again, he gritted his teeth and sought more power, sought healing, sought immortality. As I remember those who are no longer with us, I draw Raistlin summoning the sands of time, Lord of the Past and the Present, in his desperate attempt to have more time. But the hourglass is almost empty.
My first oil painting experiments: a pair of dragons, master studies inspired by two paintings by artist Mattew Stawicki.
“Ardighiaccio” (white) 26×31 cm, oil on canvas, 15/02/2026
“Ardifiamma” (red) 26×31 cm, oil on canvas, 14/03/2026
The world has changed. As early as 2021, I began seeing the first AI image generators. That year, I also discovered that all the paintings I’d uploaded to Deviantart had been scraped and used to train the first AI models. My fight to protect human art began, a fight that has suffered many defeats on multiple fronts, especially when Artstation, Meta, and so on joined the ranks of platforms, giving all their content to the AI world. Social media makes me sad now, and I’ve lost some of the desire to publish my work on a thousand platforms: in 2023 I decided to focus on my own website, greenedera.com, and I’ve worked hard to upload my work and related works in progress, to create my own little digital home that I can furnish as I please.
I will continue to support handmade art, and although my digital art is “hand-painted,” the pollution of the digital art environment continues to grieve me. I won’t abandon digital painting—I love it too much, it’s fun, it’s powerful, it’s portable, and it’s convenient—but I’ve decided to broaden my horizons and tackle oil painting.
In the physicality of this medium, in its antiquity, I’m finding some comfort. Of course, when a photo of an oil painting exists, it too is prey to the training of AI models, but it doesn’t really matter because the piece itself is unique. Its three-dimensionality, the way the colors change depending on the light in the room, are truly beautiful. A print of a digital painting is very beautiful, but an oil painting truly has a presence in the room. Pencil is my primary drawing tool. Watercolor is delightful, but I struggle to convey the power of colors in my mind on paper. Oil, I must admit, has immense potential.
Thanks to Matt Stawicki, whose Dragonlance paintings I’ve admired for years, for posting the videos that helped me understand how to paint these dragons, and hopefully many more.
📹 Here are Matt Stawicki’s paintings I used as reference for my studies. I’ve always found them beautiful, and there’s something special about them: the artist has posted on artstation pics and videos of himself painting them, which were crucial for my learning.
I’ve learned that oil painting is complex. That getting the colors you want is a challenge in itself. That drying times teach patience. Taking a decent photo of an oil painting is tricky. And the colors don’t stay the same over time. And so many other things, along the way.
“Magius“, is my fanart illustration, commissioned by the Dragonlance Nexus for the project “The spells of Magius: wizard’s dagger”, a DnD 5 game manual which includes an adventure and a novelette by Dragonlance fantasy author Richard Knaak.
Magius is one of the most gifted and influential wizards in Krynn’s history, known for his striking appearance, sharp intellect, and hidden insecurities. A human from Solamnia, he was tall, handsome, and recognizable by his long blond hair and blue eyes. His lifelong friendship with the knight Huma shaped both their destinies, especially during the Third Dragon War, where Magius played a crucial role.
Details and work in progress
Digital sketch, reworked as a pencil and paper sketch, and colored again in digital with Cintiq and Photoshop. Painted between January and March 2026, published in April 2026.
📕 Cover art for the manual “The spells of Magius: Wizard’s dagger” by the Dragonlance Nexus and Richard Knaak.
**Coming soon on DM Guild 2026**
Support my work by supporting the Dragonlance Nexus on Patreon
Use of this artwork
You can share this artwork on a social media only if you credit me properly in the caption, “Artwork by Elena “Greenedera” Zambelli http://www.greenedera.com”. Thank you for the understanding. For any other use of this artwork, contact me first. And don’t feed it to the Ais.
If you’re interested in new similar projects, or you’d like a custom print, please contact me.
Do you appreciate my art? 🎨 Then, consider supporting my artistic journey by buying me a coffee. 💚
“Travelers of Avernus,” my digital painting of a trio of characters crossing the Styx, the river of Avernus, in the Dungeons&Dragons universe. A commission for Winterhawk, for the 3rd book of the “Children of Hell” saga.
Bel, lord of Avernus and Fade, a drow matron, are crossing the river, while a skeletal boatman works the oar.
Fade stands at the bow of the small craft with a giant beside her. The diminutive drow elf looks up at her companion with a bit of wonder. He is a Huge Pit Fiend with wide wings tucked around his back to give her some room to see the ominous fortress coming into view upriver. His midsection is ripped open and hollow of organs. His ribs show in some places where a fallen angel struck him years ago leaving a wound that will not heal. He is Bel, Lord of the first plane of hell. Some call him the pretender because of his defeat of his former predecessor and lover, Zariel.
Work in progress
I created the colored sketch by drawing directly on my Cintiq graphics tablet in Photoshop. Then I felt the need to “bring out” the characters to better define them, so I created 3 A4 pencil sketches based on the digital drawing. Once I’d added the necessary adjustments and details to the three characters, I scanned the drawings and “brought” them into the digital painting, where they were then colored and adjusted.
Details
Use of this artwork
You can share this artwork on a social media only if you credit me properly in the caption, “Artwork by Elena “Greenedera” Zambelli http://www.greenedera.com”. Thank you for the understanding. For any other use of this artwork, contact me first. And don’t feed it to the Ais.
If you’re interested in new similar projects, or you’d like a custom print, please contact me.
Created on: 02 February 2026 Copyright 2026 Elena Greenedera Zambelli, all rights reserved #noai
Sometimes you see a photograph so beautiful, you want to make it your own. Save it on your phone, and maybe even draw it in your spare time.
A woman sleeping in a forest, some wild spirit finding refuge and home among the trees. I reproduced it on my phone, drawing it in my spare time during 2025. It’s not even “finished”, I just decided I’m done working on it.
In this case, I found the photo on Pinterest: unfortunately, I couldn’t find the name of the photographer or the model, and with a reverse image search I discovered that the photo is reposted on more or less appropriate sites—and for this reason, I have to avoid posting it myself.
I’ll just hang this little study sketch on my digital wall.
Article published 11 February 2026, #noAI – Copyright 2025 Greenedera
A wasted year, a journey through the fog. I had the time, but I didn’t have the mind. Emotions in turmoil, stress, and problems, and here we are, very few paintings to remember this 2025. But oh, for certain I’m not likely to forget them.
What is “art VS artist”? This excerpt from Forbes says:
“[…] In addition to helping promote artwork, #ArtvsArtist humanizes creators reminding us that artists are people too. The plethora of creative work available online can cause us to forget the people producing it. “People seem to think art accounts are just run by robots, not actual people trying to hone their craft,” concept artist, Yoshi Yoshitani says. Dehumanizing creators can encourage theft of art […]”
“Spring,” my digital painting of… flowers, grass, ivy and a dragon long gone.
My contribution to the “Dragonary” challenge that artist Matthew Stawicki launched a few years ago, and which encourages me to create at least one dragon every January.
🌼 Spring always brings something. Maybe it’s not what’s past and gone… but something.
Work in progress
Started as a 20×30 cm pencil drawing, it became a ballpen drawing I worked on and off during 2025, and that I brought to digital media during january 2026. Redraw and color with a drawing app for SNote9, then phothoshop & Cintiq.
Details
Created on: 29 January 2026 Copyright 2026 Elena Greenedera Zambelli, all rights reserved #noai
A painting, a final memento of a brief but meaningful journey together. During 2025, I struggled to listen to my art—I listened and heard only silence, or the call of distractions. I accepted very few requests, and only from people I cared deeply about. One of these was Anomalous Thracian, with whom I worked for three years. So many paintings, so many ideas, so many stories. It can all end so quickly. I didn’t know it, yet I was desperate to finish this painting without wasting too much time. And so this painting was finished, and just in time, you might say. Thracian loved it; he framed it and showed me a picture just before the end. I will hardly ever forget this painting. Go, Ardrael, sea elf, heroine and warrior, aboard your ship. We’ll see each other on the other side of the dawn.
“…turn the face toward you, move the faceplate from right to left, and twist the top clockwise…” Tas has become well acquainted with the workings of the time travel device. Excitement, enthusiasm, and a hint of troublemaking spirit accompany every journey. As the stones of the floor howl, an invisible wind rises and the fabric of time tears.
“Tasslehoff and the Device of Time Journeying”, is an illustration commissioned by the Dragonlance Nexus for a new upcoming edition of “Tasslehoff’s pouches of Everything”, a game manual converting Dragonlance to the 5th edition of Dragonlance.
Pencil and paper sketch + digital redraw and painting with Cintiq and Photoshop. Painted in August 2025, published in November 2025.
Tasslehoff and the Time Journeying Device are a creation of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, included in the Dragonlance books and sourcebooks. This is a work of fan art.
For any commercial use or repost of this artwork, contact me first. If you’re interested in digital downloads without watermark for personal use, licensing an artwork for a new project, or you’d like a custom print, please contact me.
Use by Fans for publication in themed Fandom groups or Fandom lore videos. I am okay with “fans” publication, as long as you use the watermarked version of the painting (we entered the era of AI and NFT theft and I already got burned, sorry), and you credit me in the post description with: “Artwork: “(Title)” Artist: “Elena Zambelli @Greenedera”. I kindly ask you to Tag me or send me a notification and insert a link to my website.
Do you appreciate my art? 🎨 Then, consider supporting my artistic journey by buying me a coffee. 💚
Fanart is a little star of creativity. I love looking at it, I love making it, even when it’s simple and just a small idea rather than a full-blown painting. Here’s a character from the video game Horizon Forbidden West.
Kotallo of the Tenakht, a warrior who overcame the loss of his arm and battled chronic pain. Here, in armor inspired by both the Tenakht and God of War, of which there are Easter eggs in the video game. And from Pikapeppa’s fanfictions on Ao3. A sketch started in December 2024 and was reworked in August 2025.
And… video dump
I’ve plucked up the courage to upload over 30 videos to YouTube about the creation of various paintings from 2022 to today—a lot of material I had on my computer that had yet to see the light of day. You’ll find them on my YouTube in the “Long Art Process Videos” playlist and then linked to the individual paintings’ pages. And… there will be more.
Sometimes I try to sort through the huge mass of “work in progress” materials I have, and I find paintings I’ve never published on my website. This is the case with a portrait of two cats, created on commission. As a bonus, there was also video production. Here it is, painted in 2022, for P. from her friends.
3 illustrations commissioned by the Dragonlance Nexus for the project “The Dark Patrol”, a DnD 5 game manual which includes an adventure, and a novelette by Dragonlance fantasy author Richard Knaak.
📕 The manual “Huma: Before the Lance – The Dark Patrol” by the Dragonlance Nexus and Richard Knaak contains 3 original paintings by me, and various decorative elements.
