Drip.

His eyes opened a crack at the faint sound. His world had been filled with the silence of eternity for so long that it took a moment for his frozen mind to register the meaning of this intrusion.

Drip. Drip, drip.

The thaw was coming. Finally. He felt a slow warmth start to spread from his heart. This ice had been his prison since time long forgotten; waiting for the thaw would be like the blink of an eye. Soon he would be free to walk the earth again. And then... And then...

100% closeups: here
Process: here

For the dA group Fantasy Hunks' January contest. This was actually not the first piece I started for the contest, but I was getting unhappy and frustrated with how the original one was going, so I came up with this one instead. I still like my original idea, though, so I'll have to see when I can go back to it.