A Battle of Wills (Two Dragons--Sky and Sea), colored pencil & graphite, 2018

Brenda E. Shook, Artist
Jul 19, 2018
3 min read

DRAGONS

Dragons have been both revered and feared over time in various forms of mythology, legend, and religion.

Dragons are awe-inspiring, serpentine creatures of the air, land, and/or sea with mysterious origins. The idea of dragons has captivated the emotions and imagination of people for millennia. Dragons are represented in the spoken, written, and visual languages of most global cultures in Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, etc. They have been described as being gods, royal and ancestral symbols, protective companions, destructive villains, and treasure hoarders. In spoken and written forms, dragons are often heralded as significant characters in formats like verses (The Bible), poems (Beowulf (Old English c. 975–1010 AD), plays, lyrics, and books (The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937). In visual art forms, dragons are, also, repeatedly depicted by various cultures and time periods in: drawings, paintings, sculptures, pottery, carvings, heraldry, puppets, dolls, illustrations, mosaics, armor, figureheads, prints, clothing, jewelry, illuminated manuscripts, movies, and animations, etc.

"Dragon" (Wikipedia)

MY DRAGON JOURNEY

I have been fascinated by dragons since I was little. I like reading about dragons, watching movies about dragons--one of my favorite movie as a kid was Disney's Pete's Dragon (1977), looking at art about dragons, and making art about dragons.

I made my first drawings of a dragon when I was in the 4th grade. I wrote about a gentle dragon for a creative writing assignment in English class. I made a bound book and illustrated my story afterwards for the fun of it.

Later (much, much later), I found a red book about dragon legends and lore in a book store. I was teaching art at a high school in Arlington, Texas, and I decided to write a lesson plan for my students where they were to design their own dragon-like creature in a setting.

After watching my students make their drawings, I decided to start a series of small drawings focusing on dragons--my first drawing was a cropped green dragon eye and red scales completed with colored pencils in 2005. I continued the series for a couple of years in and around curriculum planning, lesson writing, and grading class projects.

green and purple dragon in the sky and sea

A BATTLE OF WILLS (TWO DRAGONS--SKY AND SEA), GRAPHITE AND COLORED PENCIL, 2018

I started my most recent dragon drawing (A Battle of Wills (Two Dragons--Sky and Sea) in 2010 when I was between teaching positions. Soon after I began, I put the drawing aside to focus on a hectic teaching schedule, but I happily rediscovered it a few months ago.

SUBJECT MATTER and DESIGN:

Two dragons—one located in a cloudy sky and the other in the sea—are locked in a moment of tension before a physical confrontation potentially takes place. The two dragons interact in a natural environment that is somewhat decorative and inspired by asian art (clouds) I saw on decorative screens in a museum exhibit. To increase the impression of action and tension in my drawing, I cropped the picture plane and arranged the imagery in a compact space, used diagonal, wavy, and spiraling lines, and paired and contrasted neutral/intense, warm/cool, and complementary (red/green and orange/blue) colors.

MEDIA:

This drawing is larger (11" x 14") than my previous drawings, and it is mixed media—graphite and Prismacolor colored pencils.

In the beginning, I first did the background using a graphite pencil. I like graphite because it can appear smoothly solid and then shine depending on the direction of the light source. I habitually do backgrounds first, but, if I could go back, I would use the Prismacolor before the graphite pencil, followed by fixative, because graphite likes to smear. This can be a problem when trying to keep colors clean and bold. Both dragons, the clouds, and the water are done with Prismacolor pencils. These colored pencils have a smooth application, layer and blend well, and can be found in a wide variety of strong, intense colors.

COPYRIGHT

These artworks are my creations. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you.