This is the first Mythical beast I have painted! I keep getting asked to do a unicorn, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it! Dragons Have much more punch, in particular Chinese Dragons! This one is a three clawed dragon and was used in ancient chinese culture to represent the common people. A five clawed dragon represented the emperor.
A long time ago well, 1987 there was a discovery of a dragon statute in Henan that dates back to about 5000 BC. The chinese dragon classically takes on a snake from and is associated with water. Down through the ages The dragon came to represent weather and water and unlike European folklore where dragons are fire-breathing monsters, the chinese dragon represents power, strength, good luck and imperial authority.
It is unclear why the Chinese dragons have an association with water but they are believed to be the rulers of bodies of water such as seas, rivers, lakes etc.. There are four major dragon kings, representing the four seas, these are the east, west, north and south seas. In modern China these are the East China sea, South China Sea, Qinghai Lake and Lake Baikal.
for me this composition was all about the snake form, in fact while doing it I thought it might make a good composition for a sausage dog! I do like painting water, cerulean blue was used here and my two favourite colours , Rose madder Genuine and Quinacridone gold..,mmmmm lovely!
Image © Daniel Mackie
It is my intention to do more mythical creatures, greek mythology is full of them, perhaps the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guards the entrance to the underworld?!
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