Nymfeah is a dragon rider from the country of Abellis, and is part of the Dragon Guard that defends its eastern border with Cartoc, their long time enemy. During a skirmish with the enemy, she encounters a Cartocian who helps her escape. As her story unfolds, she must learn to set aside her personal prejudice against the Cartocians in order to save many lives and end a terrible war and a reign of tyranny.

Shekrii is a character I created for class. He is from a race called the Kuresh, magical beings able to wield fire. Unfortunately for Shekrii, he isn’t very good at it, to the point of burning his own hand once. He’s also short, so he gets put down a lot and is considered an outcast, although he is permitted to work on his father’s farm. Since he so often gets himself hurt, he is very good at medicine and healing spells, though no one realizes it. He also has another secret – that he cares for humans. In an age when humans have all but forgotten the Kuresh, it’s unusual for a Kuresh to still consider them worth saving; most want to destroy mankind. It is this compassion for humanity that sets Shekrii on an epic adventure in an attempt to save them from the impending destruction the Kuresh intend to unleash upon the human world.

Kamura was created because I wanted to draw feathers. I wanted to make her unique, so I combined aspects of several unusual animals, and gave her a very interesting coloration.

With Memories, I was trying out a new lighting angle and honing the technique needed to paint such lighting. Her expression and the ethereal dragons above her gave me the inspiration for the title, as though the dragons are the physical manifestation of a memory from long ago.

Partners in Crime was one I really enjoyed doing. This dragon and rider duo look like they’re about to go find some trouble, or perhaps even cause it themselves! With this one, I really wanted to focus on the detail of the scales and showcase both dragon and rider up-close so the viewer could really get a sense of their personalities.

Spirit of the Fox came about because I wanted to paint a fox mask, but I also wanted to try out a new technique for painting faces, thus the half-mask. Laying her down on the forest floor gave a unique viewing angle and provided a more interesting way to add the foxes.

Daybreak was created to show off the catlike grace I like to give my dragons, and to show a bit of the environment they might inhabit. I used ink and watercolor to give the piece an illustrative, magical feel.

This one started out as an experiment with ink, and turned out better even than I anticipated. I mixed my own ink color for this one, going for a deep brown-red to soften the harshness of the lines and create a sense of unity through color. I laid the watercolor down in quick washes, creating a very illustrative image.

Do Ryu is a character I created based on a Damascus blade that was forged with copper ink, creating layer upon layer of copper and steel. A blade that beautiful deserved a character who was worthy of it, and so I created Do Ryu. He is a swordsman whose blade has the soul of dragon. He guards the gates to the temple of the Dragon King.

Based on my favorite constellation, this piece was a lot of fun. I really wanted to emphasize the bright glow from his necklace, the three beads of which complete the constellation behind him. This one was a bit of a challenge, painting such a bright light source from such an unusual direction, but it came out wonderfully.

I wanted to really play up the sky in this one and make it the focus more than the dragon, whose furious dive emphasizes how fleeting this moment is. I enjoyed the freedom in painting those clouds, the flow and transition of color being a delightful challenge.

This piece was a fun way to play with an interesting view that showcased an interesting new wing design. It also gave me the chance to show a bit of the environment the dragon might inhabit, and suggest hunting habits.

This was a fun piece inspired by the bright, happy skies of summer. I was experimenting with ink and watercolor, and wanted to try my skills at transitioning from one color to another with ink, and contrast the strict cleanness of the ink to the playful unpredictability of watercolor.

This piece developed from a doodle I did in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, along one of the many rivers that flow down the mountains. I liked the way the rocks jutted up from the water’s flow, and thought it would be the perfect place for a dragon to lounge about.

This sweet girl was a fun challenge. I wanted to play with the patchy patterns of koi fish, and trying to intensify shadows on the orange without disturbing the white was tricky, especially on the fins. My favorite part was adding the gold accents.

Dragon of the mist is a piece I did for a class. I was working with acrylic, and wanted to try a more painterly method of applying the paint, sacrificing my usual level of detail to show off the brushstrokes themselves more. It is meant to be reminiscent of Japanese wall scrolls, complete with the title written in kanji.

This was a piece I painted for class. I wanted to work with complementary colors and back-lighting, so I chose dark violet for the dragon and golden yellow for the background. I was working in acrylic in short sessions, so I had to figure out how to blend colors even when the paint had dried.

The Lotus Queen is an illustrative piece designed to showcase the magical effect watercolor can create. She is a magician whose power is flower based, with the lotus being the one from which she draws the most power.

Poppy is part of a duo I created to play with the connotations associated with two different flowers. Poppies are a very happy flower, their orange heads bobbing in the breeze easily suggesting thoughts of spring. So I dressed Poppy in a spring dress and played with a light-hearted color scheme of blue and shades of orange. The Asian-style dragon was added to help further the contrast between her and her sister, Rose.

Rose is part of a duo I created to play with the connotations associated with two different flowers. Roses are an elegant flower, often associated with love, and occasionally danger, given their thorns. So I dressed Rose in an elegant, slightly edgy, evening gown and used a color scheme of dark red and blue. The European-style dragon was added to help further the contrast between her and her sister, Poppy.

The idea for Sentinels started small - I had seen a beautiful dress and wanted to draw one like it. So I put it on a fairy-tale style princess, and then decided she needed a dragon companion. I had a lot of fun going a little crazy with his fur.

They are the last of an ancient kingdom, and still guard the ruins of their fallen empire, greeting a new dawn as silently as the stones of the crumbling castle.

I was sitting outside trying to draw, but the wind kept blowing my hair in my face. It made me want to draw long hair, and the idea of a dragon coiled around his pearl seemed like the perfect opportunity to showcase smooth flowing locks contrasted against cold hard scales. I did the eye in green so it would stand out against the red and draw attention to the warning glare directed at anyone who might dare to steal his precious pearl.

For 2020’s Inktober, I decided to make my own prompt list, and came up with one full of mythological creatures, choosing mostly ones that are less well known just for the fun challenge. I took three creatures each from ten cultures from around the world, with the 31st being a free day. I did one full illustration and two small drawings for each culture; these are the full illustrations. The cultures chosen were Native American, China, Africa, Australia, Germany, India, Wales, ancient Babylonia, Greece, and South America. The last creature is one I created for Halloween.