Warbreaker Painting

[A Budgie she/her]

So, I'm sure at least some of you will remember the painting that Lightsong was given in Warbreaker, fairly early on in the book. It showed Nightblood and his creator (can't remember her name) fighting an army, but was done by someone with enough Breath that when Llarima (sorry if I spelt it wrong, I read the book on audio) saw it, he just saw a mess of colours.
I seem to remember seeing a WOB saying that it wasn't done by Hoid, but do we know or think we know who it was actually made by, and what its purpose was?
Thanks.

[Andy92]

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Lightsong stared at the painting.

Red upon red, shades so subtle that the painter must have been of the Third Heightening at least. Violent, terrible reds, clashing against one another like waves—waves that only vaguely resembled men, yet that somehow managed to convey the idea of armies fighting much better than any detailed realistic depiction could have.

It seems to be that Lightsong was able to see the painting because as a Returned he would have been at least the Fifth Heightening. According to the book, the painter would have been of at least the Third Heightening to have been able to make the painting the way they did. 

And this is a quote from Brandon's annotations from the book.

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This is our first major clue (though a subtle one at the same time) that there might be something to the religion of the Iridescent Tones. Lightsong does see something in this painting that an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to. A well-crafted piece of art, made by a person channeling the Tones and connected to them via Breath, can speak to a Returned. Now, in this case, it doesn’t work quite like Llarimar says it does—Lightsong doesn’t actually prophesy about the black sword in the way the priest thinks. In other words, Lightsong isn’t prophesying that he’ll see the Black Sword (Nightblood) in the day’s activities.

Instead, Lightsong is seeing an image of a previous war, which is prophetic in that another Manywar is brewing—and in both cases, Nightblood will be important to the outcome of the battle.

Whoever the author was, they were channeling the Tones when making the painting. I personally haven't found anything specific about who the author of the painting was though. 

Edit: I found that WoB.

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INTERVIEW: Jan 18th, 2010

Goodreads Fantasy Book Discussion Warbreaker Q&A (Verbatim) 

GORDON

The paintings (I think there were at least two, right?) that remind Lightsong of his dreams and the Manywar etc. Is the Artist someone we know? If not, will we eventually meet him/her in a later book? Does the artist hope to affect Lightsong this way, or is it just some guy giving abstract art to his God?

JARED

Is the artist that painted those paintings Hoid?

ANDON SANDERSON (GOODREADS)

Hoid did not make the paintings. The goal of those paintings—and this is spoilery, by the way—the paintings are actually what the text implies that they are. They are abstract paintings which Lightsong, having a touch of the divine, is able to see and read into things that aren't necessarily there.

Beyond that, art is a magical thing in the world of Warbreaker. When an artist creates a work of art, part of the artist's soul ends up in the artwork. Someone who has many breaths and who's Returned like Lightsong has the inherent ability to see into the art and perceive that. So Lightsong can interpret correctly an abstract piece, based on what the artist is trying to convey, in a way that a normal person couldn't.

I was not trying to make the artists anyone specifically important. In the case of those paintings, they are wonderful artists — I think they are two separate artists, if I'm thinking of the two paintings that you're indicating. As Lightsong has a splinter of divine nature inside him, he is able to interpret the paintings—to foresee, using them, and to see into the soul of the person who made them.

It doesn't appear that the author of the painting was someone of too much importance. The main thing I'm gathering is that the nature of Nalthis with all of its people having some piece of Endowment in them (in the form of Breaths) are able to create art this is connected to the shard in some way. 

Edit Again: Okay I found this newer WoB too that may make things interesting.

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INTERVIEW: Jun 28th, 2016

White Sand release party (Paraphrased) 

QUESTION

Who painted the paintings that Lightsong reacted to? Anyone specific?

BRANDON SANDERSON

There is one painting that was painted by someone significant- someone you've heard of. Any more than that is RAFO.

But there was more than one painting in the book so I'm not sure which one he's referring to (although the painting of the Manywar seems like the most important one to me). 

Edited May 28, 2017 by Andy92

[A Budgie she/her]

Okay. Thanks.

[+Extesian he/him]

Great post @Andy92, I've been a bit obsessed with that painting for a while, and as I did know the WoB about one painting being from a person we know, I've always wanted to figure out who (and possibly if it's a different painting). Just knowing if they're Nalthian or a worldhopper would reveal a lot.  What I hadn't seen was the annotation. That adds a really interesting realmatic side I hadn't thought through. 

[S4S he/him]

@FiveLate My money's on Shallan.

JK. But it will be interesting to see who painted the picture.

Also, someone should do a fan art of that. That would be so cool!

Your humble servant...

Shadows4Silence