Dragon process

Some process pics of the already finished dragon illustration, for the finished work, see post below.

Fire Dragon

A christmas gift, and an opportunity to finish an old illustration of my Mythos series.

A fire Dragon having some fun...

All done in tempera, it was really a pleasure to paint, and I really hope the start of a series of illustrations in a similar technique and format. Is not big, like 4 inches/10 cm side.

Tempera is ideal to work in small formats, like the old illuminated manuscripts, which I love love love.

Since this was a gift, I had to frame it, I found and already done frame perfect for the Dragon (actually I found it before defining the final size).

Here a picture of it completed.

I'm happy, I hope you like it.

WIP

A little advance of an illustration I HAVE to finish today.

But you already know what this is, don't you?

Pict taken with my cellphone, so colors are not so "hot".

IF: Polar

A mix of things.



If you check my blog once in a while, you know that I just illustrated a mermaid, and I linked it to IF: Green.
Well, I really liked the design of her, and decided to use her as a base for a new illo, one to continue the Mythos series, that was paralyzed until now.
So here is a look in to the process. For just a coincidence, I decided to put the mermaid in a polar environment, she is wearing a coat of seal to handle the cold, she is after all a tropic mermaid.
And, as a good girl, she is looking at her image in a ice mirror.

Hope you like it, and any comment in the composition will be welcome.

Sirena final / IF: Green

Well, she is called Esmeralda, which is a green jewel!
(sorry IF friends, I have no other thing to post, and I just finished this. Forgive me!)

At last the Sirena is finished.
I like it, but is different that my normal style, I mixed some weird colors for the border lines... kind of groovy, I think.
This is an experiment that I like, Is not perfect yet, but getting there.

Click in it for a really big image, and see the color linework with more detail.
Any comment will be welcome.

Virginia, no estoy seguro si esto funcione como esta para un tatuaje, creo que necesita un trabajo de linea mas fuerte, pero la verdad como me gusta a lo que llegue, ahi queda.
Estoy seguro de que si consigues un buen tatuador, puede trabajar con esto de base y lograr algo mas adecuado.
Espero te sirva.

Sirena Pitt

Just to keep you posted, the sirena traced with a very light, in theory waterproof, Pitt pen.
When will the watercolors be ready?
What a mystery.

Mythos list

As offered, here is the list of the creatures I'm planning to illustrate for the Mythos series...

Already sketched:

• Dragon
• Fenix / Phoenix
  
• Minotauro
• Grifo / Griffin
  

On project

• Pegasus
• Simurgh
• Sirena / Mermaid
• Leviatan (the big sea monster from the Bible)
  
• Yeti
• Cerberus
• Ciclope / Cyclops
• Hydra
• Medusa
• Baku
• Tarasque
• Ent
• Centaur
• Hada / Fairy
• Duende / Gnome
  

And I think that's all until now.

More than trying to cover all mithological creatures, I'm going for a selection that shows different kind of beens, multiple heads, fish tail, wings, etc. So I don't want several dragons, or a lot of human creatures...
Suggestions accepted!

News

Well, no IF this week, and is going to be the same next week. Probably.

However I'm developing the Mythos series, no sketching but doing some reasearch. I have a list of like 30 creatures, and i have to select from there.
How many? I'm not sure yet, but if I want this proyect to be ready before next year is over, they can't be as many as 30.
Maybe 15?

I'll post the list soon, some are old favorites and well known, and some, well, not so much.

Happy

Well, I'm very happy of how the mythos serie is going.
Really Happy.

So I think I'll expand it beyond the original plan. You know, the idea was to do some illustrations for Olivia's room...
And still is.
But I think I'll sketch 20 mythical beens, maybe more, and then illustrate a good part of them.
Some are going to my baby's room, and all will be part of a book.

Is hard to say how excited I'm with the idea.

So, a book with one circular illustration per page, one mythical creature, and a little, minimal text telling some of the story.

What do you think?

Now, if this is going to grow, something have to change.
Until now all are greek myths, but I don't like that for a long collection.
So I need to dive in to other cultures, Indi, Chinese, Africa, South America, old Europe.
I have a VERY good book as a reference, but if somebody have suggestions, I'm all ears.

IF: Phobia / Mythos: Minotauro

After retirement, Mino realized that he had developed some phobias... to open space, to simple things, to straight paths... He also noted that he liked plants, he is after all, a bull.
At the end, all went very well, don't you think?



Here it is, the finished sketch for the Minotauro.
Is going to be fun to paint.
Next and last before the final selection, the Mermaid.

I hope you like it.

Mythos: Minotauro WIP

Here is an advance of the Mino.
After some sketching, this is the final -until now- design of it.
I'm doing a nice, non-agressive minotauro.
Actually, my idea is that he is retired, and doing some gardening as a hobby.
And of course what he do is a garden labyrint.
I know he don't have human legs and feet as he is supposed, I kind of like it more like this, more Pan style. Anyway, in the final illustration he is only going to be seen from the waist up, more or less.

Let's see how it ends.

IF: Change (Mythos: Grifo)

What a better example of been in a middle of a change than a gryphon?
Half Lion, half Eagle, king of the earth and sky.



Well, a new one from the mythological creatures series.
At the end there is going to be only 4 in Olivia's room, but I'll draw 5 and choose from them.
Next is the Minotauro! That one is going to be really fun!

Hope you like it.

Mythos Griphyn WIP

Well, this is the first sketch that I like.
Not final, not finished, a far from really approved, but good enough to share.



The griphyn is going to be on the top of a column, watching over the kingdom.
The mountains are supposed to be same in which the dragon is flying, and I'm going to add them to the Phoenix background too. I think my idea is to have elements in each of the six illustrations that link/relate to the others. Like they are all in the same world.

Thoughts?

Mythos / IF: Phoenix

The Phoenix is playing with his immortality... it is real?
There is only one way to know, don't you think?



This is the second mythological animal in a series of six that I'm doing for my daughter's room.
The first was a dragon (look for old post), and now is a phoenix, just bursting in to flames.
Next, a Griphyn!

I'm going for an alphabetical order, but in spanish, that's why it says "fenix" in the drawing.

Hope you like it!

Mythos / IF: Dragon

If you have read my last post, I'm in the process of creating a series of illos for my daughter room, all about mythological animals.
This is the first (going for alphabetical order), the Dragon.

And to follow IF theme, "Capture", the dragon is very happy because at last he manage to capture the thunder pearl!
It was a search that took years!
Now he can become a Thunder Dragon.
His mommy will be sooo proud!



Next in the list: Phoenix.
(I'll do all drawings first, then the color)

Hope you like it.

Myths

Expanding on my last comment on the last post, from some time I was looking for something to do for Olivia's room.
Ideas come and go, but nothing really exciting.
Until Sol (my wife), looking at my illustration of the Dragon and Unicorn, had the idea of doing a series of mythological animals for the baby!
I loved the idea.

The concept is a series of little illustration in a circular format, to be framed in the same shape.
Not big, maybe 30cm/12inch diameter maximun, plus the frame.

After some thinking, we selected 6 creatures:

• Dragon
• Phenix
• Griphyn
• Minotauro
• Pegasus
• Mermaid

So now I'm sketching and researching.
I suppose that all my future posts will be following the myths illustrations progress.