“Celtic Letter on German Book.” I love these Celtic initials, so I’m experimenting with drawing them on different papers. The initial was traced from a book of Celtic design onto a page from a vintage German book. I then colored it with markers and embellished the paper with scrapbook ink. I think I might use a little less scrapbook ink next time, but I like how the initial looks on the vintage paper.
“Thorn.” Another dragon for the coloring contest. Kind of an adult version of the “Briar Rose” baby dragon. I had fun with the details and highlights on the green patch. Original art by Airianna Valenshia; inked and colored by me. Semi-finalist!
“Briar Rose.” Another dragon for the coloring contest. I’m very happy with how the details came out on this one, although I’d change a few of the colors if I were to make it again. Original art by Airianna Valenshia; inked and colored by me. Runner-up in its category!
“Victorian woman.” Another old pencil coloring of mine. I think this turned out quite well, overall.
“Chocolate Mare.” This is a very old marker coloring of mine. It was done freehand, entirely out of marker, using a reference photo. As you can see, it overgrew the paper… and also dried out my brown marker! But it turned out pretty well, so I’m still fond of it.
“Moonbeam.” Another entry for the Dragon Cycle coloring contest. I’m happy with the colors and effects on this one, although the veins on the wings got messed up in a few places. Practice makes perfect! Original art by Airianna Valenshia; inked and colored by me. Semi-finalist!
“Sand Dragon.” I am very happy with the effects on this one! Entry for the Dragon Cycle coloring contest on Holy Worlds; original art by Airianna Valenshia. Semi-finalist!
“Water Dragon.” I couldn’t quite get the essence right on this one; I don’t think I have the proper shades of blue. But I’m posting it anyway. Entry for the Dragon Cycle coloring contest on Holy Worlds; original art by Airianna Valenshia.
“Jade Dragons.” An entry for the Dragon Cycle coloring contest on holyworlds.org. Since I couldn’t think of anything creative for the background, I focused on adding depth to the marker coloring. Original art by Airianna Valenshia. Runner-up in its category!
I’ve decided that, for some of the weekly challenges on ArtVoyagers, I’m going to be designing flags (and possibly other art) from my fantasy world Erde. I’ll write up an explanation of the design and make a sketch of it. While the drawings won’t be good enough for the final book, they will be practice and will help deepen my world-building. This week, I designed the Rot-Haarig flag.
The flag of the Rot-Haarig, a tribe of nomadic giants, is made up of three vertical stripes – left to right: black, red, blue. The flag was born during the giants’ fight for independence from the Volk. Prior to the war, the giants began wearing and displaying black, the color representing injustice and bitterness, in silent protest against their treatment. When the rebellion was formed, giants donned scraps of red fabric to signify their loyalty to the freedom fighters; the color red was chosen as a symbol of ethnicity in reference to the giants’ iconic red hair (“rot-haarig” means “red-haired” in German). Black and red then became their battle colors during the war. After victory was achieved, the Rot-Haarig added a blue stripe to signify independence. Vertical stripes were chosen as a sign of opposition to the Volk, who prefer horizontal stripes. After this incident, the Volk began to associate the color red with rebellion and war, and the combination of red and black is still despised.
