New paintings and regular art updates.
They ask
‘what’s on the easle?’.
I say
‘a lot of stuff’
Tissues and a coffee cup
And other sorts of muck
A drawing of a dragon
A pallette and a brush
A green painted canvas
If you really want to look….
I ought to be painting
But there’s been a delay
My minds gone off the boil now
It’s not coming out to play…
One day I’ll get my mojo back
I’ll start to paint again
But till that day my easle
Is a place to rest my brain!
Oh I do love a filter, playing with colours. Adding layers, making the pattern slide around. Like Graffiti on a garage door. Splat! Somehow I am creating things that look medieval and Mexican or South American at the same time? I don’t know, but I’m enjoying playing with it.
I tried drawing a sort of Mediaeval image of how I imagined a dragon would look in an old book or manuscript. This was more to try and evoke the style than to copy a real drawing. I tried to think how I would draw a dragon if I was a monk adding illustrations or illuminations to an old bible or bestiary. I should probably have looked at images of George and the Dragon. But I wanted to draw a sinuous curve. I could also have mirrored the image so it would look like the letter S… I might try that. Anyway I’m not well so drawing is occupying my mind and distracting me. X
Where do ideas come from? Spoiler alert. I was just watching ‘ the Hobbit an unexpected journey’ the first film in ‘the Hobbit’ trilogy. At the end of the film the dwarves see the lonely mountain far in the distance. We follow a bird as it flies across the land to the mountain. There we see the dragon inside the mountain. Smaug, the dragon, wakes up and you see his eye. The pupil of the eye has a funny slit in it. Not exactly like this, but I wonder if I was subconsciously influenced by the film? You only see it for a couple of seconds but it’s a beautiful image. I think my dragon eyes are quite sweet, but not as good as the animated Dragon Eye of Smaug.
A dragon 🐲 in the Chinese style. Head and tail are large. The body thin and snake or worm like with a sinuous shape. Four legs, clawed feet. Apparently Imperial dragons had five claws and normal dragons had four.
I once made a dragon bowl in pottery class. I’d made the bowl in a mold and I carved a dragon like this inside. I gave it five claws and toes on each foot and it was carved to show the scales. I had it biscuit fired and it survived the heat. No cracks or blemishes. Then I glazed it. I can’t remember what colours, but I looked forward to seeing the result after the Christmas break (about thirty years ago). Unfortunately when we came back it was missing! The consensus was it must have been stolen! Soon after that I left the pottery class because I was so disappointed.
Drawn from my imagination. Half a dragons head drawn in tippex correction fluid on black cartridge paper. Mirrored in a photo edit, then stitched together as a whole head. My first Dragon of 2022. I’m just wondering when the Chinese year of the dragon is. Their images are amazing. I need to find out about their history x
What does a dragon need to stay safe? If you read The Hobbit, Smaug the dragon was killed by an arrow that pierced a soft area in his skin under his arm. Dragons have to have a strong skin..
So what would it look like? I’ve been experimenting with how big the scales would be. I guess they would have to be like an alligator or crocodile skin, rather than a lizard or snake whose scales seem smaller or softer. The dragon would need fire retardant scales to prevent charring or burning either around its mouth when it is fire breathing or on the rest of its body. Maybe male dragons duel in short fights, if they were to attack each others wings they would need to be strong. Dragons wings always look vulnerable. The skin is stretched between bony fingers. Surely that could easily be holed if it were not well maintained. Lots to consider.
Oh I do like creating a dragon now and then. I decided to rotate my sky drawing and then add a bit of symmetrical drawing over the top. I think the result is quite cute.
It’s getting towards the end of the day, week, year and I’m looking at some of my older stuff. I might have to delete some of the earlier work. Memory on computers and phones seems to run out faster than humans!
Tell me dragon
Why do you cry?
Why aren’t you flying
Up very high?
I can’t he said
With a tear in his eye
I walk on the ground
Not up in the sky!
But why is that?
Then with a great sigh
He told me sadly
I no longer fly
My wings disappeared
I just want to die!
So I bought an old glider
Made of two by one ply
Glued on the wings
Now the dragon can Fly!
Sleepless nights
Bring on dragons
In my dreams
Mutating into
Zebra themes!
This one is small
Six inches tall
His stripes help keep
Him safe when he’s asleep!
I think he’s cute
A magical hoot!
Mallaband-Brown