The second character is a generic bandit of the many who infest the forests of Westeros.
There are many of this kind in the Game of Thrones book, preying on weaker travellers and being generally mean.
In this particular illustration the villain is waiting for his victim to appear from a clearance in the forest.
I can’t decide whether I made a mistake with the composition or not.
My intention was to convey “wait” and “something is about to happen coming from that side”. However, it might be that the bright patch on the right and the guy staring at it drag the eye outside of the canvas too much. I hope I managed to achieve some balance, I was close to the deadline and I didn’t have much time left for thumbnails at that point.
by Paolo Puggioni