“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 digital downloads without watermark for personal use, licensing the artwork for a new project, or you’d like a custom print, please contact me.
Created on: 02 February 2026
Copyright 2026 Elena Greenedera Zambelli, all rights reserved #noai
Page last edit 11 February 2026
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