Welcome to another edition of Illustrating Westeros, UrukkiSaki. To begin, tell us how you became an artist, and the influences that have shaped your style.
Thank you for inviting me here!
As I always like to say, I have been drawing ever since I learned to hold a pen. I can't say I have developed a certain style yet, but I can say what inspires me a lot and those are: epic stories, epic characters and other epic artists.
You are an exceptional illustrator of George R. R. Martin's works. When did you read the A Song of Ice and Fire books for the first time, and what was your initial impression?
Thanks for the compliments!
One of my very good friends bored me a lot about it. At the time, I wasn't satisfied with epic fantasy books and how they worked with basics. Everything was about some teenage boy with a mark on his skin that designates him to become the greatest wizard/warrior of all time, starting off as some unimportant peasant. Also, there was always some great Dark Lord and evil people vs. people of light themes where everybody is a Disneyland hero. So, I had ignored my friend for a while because I thought these books were like every other 15-parts book series that I had already tasted. Until I read a few chapters for the first time, about ten years ago, and that was it! The scenes from the first book were in my dreams constantly during my reading. The characters were so deep and complex, the story was overwhelming and unpredictable, the writing and narration was perfect. What else can I say?
Who are some of your favourite characters in the series, and is there a scene that is particularly memorable to you?
I like Walder Frey a lot! 
Jokes aside, Oberyn Martell and Tyrion Lannister are some of my favorites. I also like Arya and Barristan Selmy, because he's like a samurai. The Tower of joy scene is definitely my favorite, because of the sadness and melancholy that surrounds it. I like every scene related to the Golden Company, and all Bran/Bloodraven stuff too.
After HBO’s Game of Thrones came out, many readers’ inner pictures of characters and scenes have been replaced by actors and settings from the show. Can you tell us about your own mental images of the characters, and if this has been influenced by the show?
As I was reading the books, I was constantly illustrating them in my head; the scenes also. When the show came out, it was a little bit hard to prevent some of their new images from interfering with my original ones. The good thing about the show is that the casting of many characters is really so well done that I didn't mind that these new representations merged with my ideas. As for the casting that I didn't like, I just have continued imagining my versions through rereading.
Beneath the gold, the bitter steel is a very strikingly unconventional representation of the most celebrated mercenary company in Martin’s world, artfully making use of symbolism to convey their values and purpose of existence through the Golden Company’s motto. What is it about the Golden Company that you find fascinating as a reader and as an artist that motivated your depiction?
The Golden Company was a really refreshing new set of versatile characters and storyline that we had a chance to read about in the fifth installment of the series. Almost everything is fascinating about them: they are descendants of exiled knights fighting long ago for one of the fearsome Targaryen bastards; they are Western knights living in the Eastern setting—that mix of cultures is awesome; they are mercenaries, but still honourable, with high discipline and codes, longing for their forgotten home; and now they are returning, stronger, with elephants, with exotic warriors by their side, with an heir! As mentioned in the books, Arthur Dayne would be proud of them, so who am I to be less fascinated?
One recent highlight of your gallery is the mini-comic depicting the epic scene at the Tower of Joy, a memorable battle told through Ned Stark's dreams. You managed to capture the surreal quality of how the scene is narrated, while also including all of the details that make it so powerful. Please, take us inside its creation, how you went about choosing the layout and elements for each page, and other creative decisions relating to the overall effect you wanted to achieve.
The first thing I knew when I started developing this comic was that each page had to be like an illustration and not just basic arranging of frame after frame. When you put all pages together, they need to have a structure and consistency and a texture like a single image. That I could achieve only if I had a few pages to work on. If there had been more, it would’ve been annoying and exhausting to read. I realized that four pages would be enough; restrictive but with enough space for everything. The second thing was defining what part of dialogue between characters would start and end each page. These were the anchor points, and I have made the pictures in-between according to them. Until I finished the linework, I didn't know whether the comic would be black and white or colored, or only lines or some combination of everything. In the end, I decided for a monochromatic look in order to be more focused on lights and shades, the best possible way, without color interfering. The idea was for everything to be dreamlike, hallucinogenic, mythical and sad in the end. You can tell me if I succeeded in that.
Do you have a favourite art technique? And do you have a preference for experimenting with new techniques and styles or for keeping to your established ones?
As I've already said, I think I don't have a defined style yet. I am still searching for my unique expression, but I am not sure whether I will find it ever. Because I am constantly influenced by a lot of artists, and I like trying different techniques and different ways of doing stuff a lot. As soon as I finish experimenting with one thing, the next comes to my mind. I think artists who have the same way of doing stuff and similar and easily recognizable artworks throughout the years are not great artists and are afraid of getting out of their comfort zone. You always need to push it to the limits!
Is there an ASOIAF artist whose work you admire? And/or a piece of ASOIAF art that you have as a personal favourite?
I am always curious about how someone else would depict an ASOIAF scene. If it's way different from what I imagine, then it's more interesting to me. I really like the Japanese covers for ASOIAF from artists such as Noriko Meguro, Ken Sugawara, and especially Yasushi Suzuki. Web Bryant and Zippo514 created really interesting interpretations of different ASOIAF themes. I like Joao Ruas' Jaqen H'ghar, JenZee's Jon Snow, and I would really like to see how James Jean would interpret some themes out of these books. Also, I like the Rickon on Skagos work from Acazigot, although his interpretation didn't happen in the books, for now at least.
Please, give us a link or thumbnail from your gallery of:
a) An ASOIAF illustration you are most proud of?
It was not the best, but it was the first done that was ASOIAF-inspired. It defined in which fashion I would like to paint all of these pieces, with a lot of different characters, entwined and complicated compositions, and stuff like that. That's why I can distinguish it among the rest.
b) A piece that was the hardest to draw or paint?
I can't say for sure which one was the hardest or easiest, because composition, colors, figure drawing, etc., have the same principles and after each painting you become better. I can only say that sometimes anything in it will give you trouble, or not. In this case in particular, I had a lot of problems defining the position of the warriors in the upper part of the picture. I tried a lot of iterations. That was exhausting and annoying a little bit, but I wanted for it to be perfect and I didn't know for sure which version would be the best. And in the end, when I had decided for one and I had completed the illustrations totally, I realized that I could’ve done it better now. But that is how things work with artists.
Martin is known for being supportive of fan art, and has been personally involved in the creative decisions of the official ASOIAF art for calendars, books and comics, even supplying descriptions to artists and choosing scenes himself. If you could do one official ASOIAF artwork, what would you like to depict?
Probably something that I have already done, but in a different fashion: Bran-Bloodraven-Coldhands, something about Arya-The Stranger-Jaqen, the Golden Company again and again and again.
Is there a plotline, whether in the North, the Vale, King’s Landing or Essos that you're anxious to see resolved in the next book?
I would like to read more about the Golden Company and their adventures in Westeros. I would like to know what Bloodraven's intentions with Bran are. Of course, more about Tyrion, too, and please, do finally bring Daenerys across the Narrow Sea! We are all going to die out of boredom in Meereen.
And lastly, can the fandom expect more ASOIAF art from you in the future?
Definitely. More. Better. 
Thank you for talking to us, UrukkiSaki! You can see more of his art at:
