My entry for The Tempest Star's contest. The theme is "From Hell," and is supposed to involve the artist's OC overcoming some hell that is personal to either the artist themselves or the OC's backstory.

Though details aren't required, I feel the need to provide a few.

This is a very symbolic piece, but to those who know me, the symbolism is likely fairly transparent.

The hell that I as Tygerwolfe am overcoming consists of the debilitating pain in my spine. The viper in the image is made out of a human spine, it's fangs stained red and symbolizing the hundreds of tiny "nails" that I have within my spine and my knees - bone spurs. The fire itself is the pain from this and my degenerative disc syndrome, combined with my advanced arthritis - also in the entirety of my spine and both knees.

Throughout this whole ordeal, I have not only drawn strength from those that love me - my family, my friends, and my wife's family - but I've also drawn it from within.

The dire wolf skeleton reaching to my aid represents my theriotype, and the strength I draw from being both wolf and extinct. Of all ice age predators, dire wolves were preserved with the most evidence of injury in life. The fascinating thing about these injuries, however, is that they were very seldom the cause of the animal's death.

Instead, the dire wolves show remarkable healing - living for years beyond injuries that had to cause horrible pain and likely in some cases crippled the wolf. However, through the aid of their pack and their own determination, the wolves lived on with their pain. And, I like to think, became stronger for it.

So when I'm in pain, and I think of giving up, I remind myself that I am wolf. I am strong. I can surpass. And then I keep going - because that's what wolves do.

And that's the primary symbolism of this image. I hope everyone enjoys it. Wish me luck in the contest.

Art & Concept (c) Tygerwolfe Designs 2013