Official A Song of Ice and Fire illustrator on why she likes painting the Lannisters best

As David Benioff and D.B. Weiss bring the words of A Song of Ice and Fire to life onscreen, so does artist Magali Villeneuve bring George R.R. Martin’s intricate world to life through her illustrations. Villeneuve’s recently contributed images to the 20th anniversary illustrated edition of A Game of Thrones. Her work is detailed and loving, but she admitted to Inverse about not being confident in it initially.

"One day I was in a library and I found that Fantasy Flight Games has published an art book showing all of their Game of Thrones illustrations. I was thinking that it must be very cool to work on that and my husband said he thought my work compared favorably. I sent my portfolio in and … it was okay. They liked it.I have to say that day is a wonderful memory. I was so excited that I’d be able to tell people I did one illustration for Game of Thrones. I’ve done way more than one now."

Most anyone who looks at Villeneuve’s work would likely deem her work more than simply “okay.”

And in the wide world of Westeros, with its Seven Kingdoms and great Houses, what is Villeneuve’s favorite thing to paint? The members of House Lannister.

"I’m drawn to the Lannisters. I love this family. I love how sophisticated and complicated they are. I’m someone who really loves to paint relationships and that’s something I find fascinating in Game of Thrones and why I find myself so at ease in this universe. It’s about human relationships. That’s the interesting part to me, not the war or the dragons as much."

We understand Villeneuve’s point about the personal relationships driving the story, but really, who wants to paint Cersei all the time?

In any case, anyone who’s read the Song of Ice and Fire novels knows that Martin is a huge fan of details. From what each character is wearing to page-long descriptions of meal, Martin paints a vivid picture that makes Villeneuve’s work easy.

"I guess when a book is as good as this one, it gives you really strong images you want to recreate. That kind of thing doesn’t happen when the book isn’t that good. Everything is there. I do not have the impression I’m adding everything. It’s not like Lord of the Rings. In that case, it is easier for me to insert details because Tolkien wasn’t about describing his characters. It’s blurry and not very precise. There’s more for an illustrator to add … not so with Game of Thrones. There is a description for everything and everyone."

But has there been anything that Villeneuve has been uncomfortable painting? This series is known for extreme violence, after all?

"I’m not at ease with violence. What I like to do is to draw what happened just before or after the moment of violence. The big fight between the Mountain and the Red Viper — I love that moment, and I really wanted to do that so I chose to show a little before all the blood and all that. Also, when I painted Joffrey’s death, it was more about the feeling of the scene than the harsh reality. So I chose to concentrate on Cersei’s expression rather than just Joffrey dying horribly."

As far as her process goes, Villeneuve is on board with the digital revolution.

"I gave up on traditional mediums. I couldn’t make it without a digital technique. But the techniques are actually very close, which is why I’m a slow painter. I have a pretty traditional technique. That’s also why I think my illustrations are so detailed."

The 20th Anniversary illustrated edition of A Game of Thrones is available in stores now.