The Dragon Queen

 

It had been awhile since I got to sit down and work on a piece – a bit too long. Due to my workload and relocation/expansion of my studio, I hadn’t had much time to work on what I enjoy doing most. I shot the model, Terra, for this piece back in July of 2007 – and had worked on the art for several months, trying to get a handle on it. This piece was challenging for a variety of reasons, and taught me a lot about what kind of artist I was.

I was very much enamoured with the pose, and I had built the background first, which I really liked. But as I worked through my original idea, I decided to change directions. Unfortunately, the direction I went in didn’t really pan out and coupled with some personal things going on, I was having a helluva time figuring out what I was going to do with the art. I actually abandoned this piece and thought that I would never revisit it, and just start over with something else.

I ran through several ideas before I conjured one up that I really liked. I was going through the divorce at the time, so it was hard to focus or be creative – but oddly enough, I powered through it and this piece is one of my all-time favorites.

I really wanted to capture a true Pre-Raphaelite feel with this piece, especially with the background. I focused a lot on richening the color to give it a nice earthy quality, to contrast the unearthly green flames. The most fun part of this piece was creating a realistic baby dragon hatchling!

9×17″ Open-edition unsigned Lithograph Print, ships flat – $26