Danielle “Dani” Moonstar (Mirage) by Dani

There's a great Eduardo Risso vibe to this.  Wonderful use of high contrast and negative space.  Brilliant and beautiful.

Mesmerizing composition, congrats !

Eye catching, so beautifully done.  Nice find!

D and D!!! Beautiful rendition of Moonstar K. She was always one of my favorite new mutants

Love her facial expression. The use of negative space is a nice touch and I also really like the Sergio Toppi inspired inking on the wolf. It contrasts nicely with the brush inking at the bottom. Although Wolfsbane is the first thing that understandably comes to mind when you see a wolf next to Dani, I would think that (assuming you even lightly hinted that you were collecting Native American characters) she simply threw the wolf in as an added bit of symbolism.

Heard comparisons to Risso, Miller, and Samnee due to her exquisite use of negative space but Toppi is a first. Not familiar with the artist but just looked up some images and man does he do some gorgeous stuff, and I do see the inking connection you reference regarding the wolf. Learn something new every day :) And yes, I didn't necessarily think the wolf was Rahne, but in any case, I LOVE that Dani added it. Thanks, man, and all, for the comments!

Hands down the best Dani art I've scene... sorry, Sienkiewicz! Dayumn.

The perfect artist for this topic.  Just a brilliant work of art!  Huge congrats!!

Fabulous result!

Perfect Dani commission! Such skillful use of light and dark to define the figure.

dude, I love this. great energy. beautiful piece. congrats!

Chaos and control, the ying and yang of a great artist, such as Dani. Congrats.

Thanks, Harry, and thank YOU for posting your Dani pieces here on CAF - your "An Unkindness of Ravens" cover was absolutely one of the pieces that made me take note of Dani's work early in 2021, and made me want to look into her stuff further, and quickly made me want to secure a piece of my own! "Chaos and control" - perfect description.

Jealous! Masterful use of line work and negative space. 

Hard to pull your eyes away from this stunning commission!

Congrats!

Awesome! Great take on Moonstar. The character really lends herself to commissions - maybe it’s the costume accoutrements, her spiritual/natural connections, or the fact that she's been under-utilized in the comics. There are a lot of cool examples on CAF and this one is certainly in the upper echelon. 

Totally agree, Tony!  As far as the reasons for Dani Moonstar being a great commission subject...I think it's all of the above.  You gotta love her design, and you can take some liberties - just got to have the X uniform and Native elements there.  I think she's got a naturally strong presence, too.  Here's to seeing more commissions featuring her, and yes, more utilization in the books!  Appreciate the comments, man!

Special care put into this one by Dani.  The neat and tidy negative space with the wild energy of the Demon Bear provides a powerful contrast of both schools of artwork put together with the cleverness and talent of the artist.

Love that wolf!  Congrats on this working out so well!!!

This is gorgeous! I've been following Dani's work for a while, and I hope to commission her myself someday!

This piece is stunning. The use of black and white really makes it stand out. This drew my eye immediately. The wolf is awesome. Thie reminds me mof Frank Miller before he lost his mind, or Mike Mignola. Congratulations.

One of the best Moonstar commissions I have ever seen. 

Superb use of negative space...

That's a great one. Dani's bold use of b&w and negative space makes it both dynamic and interesting.

The most brilliant way to use black & white areas, so beautiful.... Thanks for sharing this Masterpiece, Kahlil!

Phenomenal piece!  Dani is amazing.  I just got one of her Wonder Woman pages.  Big congrats on how incredibly this turned out!

I mean C'MON! This may be my favorite thing I've seen Dani do. The care taken in nestling Moonstar within the form of the wolf is tremendous - leaving the bow string in negative space made me shudder just thinking about how precise the inking needed to be :) GREAT pickup, man!

Totally agree regarding the nestling, man.  And I didn't even think about the preciseness needed to keep the bow string in negative space!  She absolutely had to be on POINT there.  Thanks, E - glad you like!

This piece is such a triumph of compostiion and negative space and execution. Thanks for the nice large scan! An absolute beauty. Congrats Parker!

That's wonderful KG!

This is stunning my friend! Dani has magically captured vibes from from comic greats while still showing us her own unique style. Beautiful design and execution.

Fantastic - love Dani's work and this is no exception 

That is one incredibly beautiful Dani that you've added to your collection, exciting to see you're in the Dani club now ;P Her technique and execution is almost always on point, but there are some pieces where she really takes it up to another level, your piece is one of them. The detailing, her use of negative space, and her ink work are impeccable, she was a perfect match for the character.

Much appreciated, Alan, very happy to be part of the club :)  Your Dany (vs Dani) by Dani (lol - not sure if everyone will follow that - Daenerys Targaryen by Dani) is definitely one of the pieces that wanted to make me request my own commission.  Loved it so much I featured it on one of Bill's video updates!  Thanks again, man, and glad you like!

I agree with you that Dani's faces are gorgeous, and I agree with Rick W that it is really hard to pull your eyes away from this stunning commission.  The bonus wolf is so perfect.  Major congrats!!

I love it when commissions aim to capture the essence of a character as opposed to just making an oversexed version.  That is Dani alright!

Stunning! Can't wait til her list opens up again :)

It's like holding two mirrors together. Dani Dani Dani Dani Dani....;) The balance of the image is outstanding. It's almost a yin and yang with the way the dark and light are balanced, and the layout of the composition/characters. And  dig how she handled that fur. Great focus this year, Kahlil. I've appreciated the new artist lessons. Congrats!

Congrats!  Absolutey stunning!

This.  Is.  Spectacular.  Honestly, there is nothing I can add to your excellent write-up, but I'm more than happy to "double dip" on the praise for the synapse-destroying majesty of the negative space usage here; it is astonishingly awesome and indicative of a far more "established" talent!  Your 2021 commissions have all been awesome, and it has been a real pleasure being introduced to some of these artists through your gallery - thanks for your great taste!  :)  Congrats again on this epic piece and happy holidays, K, to you and all the other awesome folks on CAF.

Glad you were able to be introduced to some new artists through my gallery this year, Jason, and I'd be remiss not to mention that some of those posts came from MY introductions via other CAF galleries!  So I owe a thanks there myself!  Definitely has been a banner year for me on the new artist front.  Thanks for the add, man, as always!

Absolutely Beautiful and What a perfect choice in commission. Congrats on this beauty bud!

Part Toppi part Miller all Dani! Her commission work is superb! Love her layouts and designs. Congrats

I picked up my first Dani art last year at ComicArt Live - on my pair of pages, as far as influences, I asked Dani and she said there was some Mignola and Sergio Toppi.  A very nice commission from a distinctive artist!

Cool, thanks for the additional info!  Definitely see some Mignola, and Toppi (which Ruben referenced above), and you got confirmation from the source!  And your Black Beth page is RAD.  Appreciate the add, man! 

Amazing piece. Obviously, a bit of a  Sienkiewicz feel but only as a starting point. Dani totally makes this an original.

Thanks for sharing.

Really amazing superby detaled pice with a triumphal use of "black" for the silhouette ! Another winner in your mighty collection !

excellent negative space execution.

Very cool, I don't know the artist at all but I can see a lot of European influence including Battaglia and Toppi.  

The kind of piece you can get lost in. Really like this one. Thanks for posting!

Great piece by Dani! I missed this one when it was new seeing it in the best of 2021 and it's on my voting  list for sure!

This is great. Really striking and phenomenal use of the negative space. Thanks for sharing.

What???!!! How did I not leave a comment here before? This is easily one of my favorite commissions that I've seen in recent years and I know I even voted for it for the best of CAF! I just revisited this page to look at it again after buying my first Dani piece this morning. This piece is still stunning man! I can't get over how gorgeous the whole composition and execution is!

Thanks, man!  I'm still over the moon (pun!  Cuz there's wolf there) with this one and look at if often!  Total home run in terms of Dani showing out her unique artistic skills!  Glad you like, and can't wait to see what you picked up by her!

Dani is amazing. One of my favourite modern artists and this may be the single best I've seen. In my mind, a true masterpiece!