Two Headed Dragon and War Beast

Ink sketches from earlier in 2024.

I've been very busy at work this year and don't even have time for sketching during meetings... Sad! Very Sad!

I intend to come back and work on both of these drawings at some point, just not sure when it will happen. They both look really good in the real world though, very difficult to photograph or scan properly. This is one of the things I'd like to figure out how to do better because the reflective ink is actually very hard to capture digitally and for it to look good.

Spider Rider Ink Sketch

This is a ballpoint pen ink sketch made in 2024. The drawing is tiny, about 4 inches across. I intend to either paint over or redo this at some point in more detail sometime in the future....

Dragon - Art from 2009

This was a pencil drawing from 2009 that I had started to paint over digitally but never finished. As a result I don't think this artwork was ever published anywhere. I've improved a lot with my dragons since this art was done, but this was one of the bigger illustrations I attempted at the time.

Drake Rider

This is an old pencil drawing from 2009, which was painted over digitally.

I touched up this artwork in 2024, mostly bringing it into focus, making some slight color adjustments. I still love the way this drawing turned out, so many years later.

Cowboy Pencil Drawing

At the time I made this it was one of my more successful drawings using a reference. Pencil drawing made in 2007, used a Marlboro ad as a reference.

Believe it or not, those used to be a thing... Marlboro ads! Oh how the world has changed, and not necessarily for the better!

Dragoner

Hard to believe, this was from 2009. I remember making this drawing, I guess it was one of my better ones at the time. The girl was modeled after a photo of Kate Beckinsale. All painted in Photoshop. Here's the WIP:

Dragons - Ink Sketches from 2019

Here are a couple of sketches I made in the year of our Lord, 2019.

This one is a baby dragon on top of an egg that hasn't hatched yet. This sketch would serve as a basis for a digital painint I made a couple of years later.

Dive bomb! Dragons are never far from my mind. I grew up roaming the hills looking for lizardss and snakes. I love scaled things that are cool to the touch! Do you feel the same way?

Fortune Favors the Bold

As some of you may know, I'm from Bulgaria.

It's a small country tucked away in the Balkans surrounded by Greece, Turkey, Romania and Serbia. A very pretty place, with fertile land, strategically located on trade routes between Europe and the Middle East. This region of the world has never been at peace. The country has some very bloody history as a result of frequent invasions...

This scene depicts the battle between Khan Krum and the Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros. The title of Khan in old Bulgaria is the equivalent of a king or a war-lord. The original Bulgars who conquered the land and created the coutnry were very profficient horse riders and fighters. But by the early 800s the country had been invaded and mostly subjugated by the Byzantine Empire.

For those who haven't heard the story about Nikephoros I recommend some searches on the topic. The Emperor Nikephoros had ravaged the country after an uprising, murdering children in various towns, and committed all sorts of atrocities. He got ambushed on the way back to his throne by Khan Krum who actually made a cup out of his skull after murdering him. Yup, Bulgaria was pretty hardcore back then...

This drawing was actually done for a friend who needed art for his album cover. I don't know why he requested me to draw this scene for them... but when the request came it it was obvious I would not be able to do it well, so I contacted some other artists for their work. I rarely draw horses and these ill begotten animals have entirely too many joints in the legs. I also rarely draw scenes with more than a couple of characters in them so this is by far the most elaborate scene I've ever attempted in my art. I decided to give it a shot and this is it... I spent a lot of time on it, it's not very good, but I did learn some things in the process. May we all drink from cups made from the skulls of our enemies!

Into the Sky

In times of peace or war, rain or shine, it's important to take your dragon out each day.  There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of falling into the heavens.

Digital painting made in Procreate and Photoshop, April 2018. 

Dragon Flight

Dragons, nasty creatures, but necessary in war.

Most of the time they want nothing to do with humans, and will unceremoniously murder any in sight. Dragon riders must always stay vigilant, else they might just become the victims.

That being said, some dragon riders, if they survive long enough, end up developing symbiotic relationships with their mounts. Especially in times of war. You see, dragons love war. If you lead them into war, they relish in it. If you feed their thirst for death and destruction, they will come to respect you, and listen to you... and that goad you carry, will no longer be used to smack them into submission, but to simply point them to the next target.

This is a digital painting made in 2018 mostly Procreate and finished in Photoshop.