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Ankaraven — The Watcher

Published: 2009-02-18 18:16:47 +0000 UTC; Views: 3005; Favourites: 90; Downloads: 0
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Description The Watcher opened his eyes after the short nap he had taken in the midday sun. His hot breath let the corn on the field sway in a warm summer breeze, driving before it the gulls gliding above the puddle of an ocean, its surface calm and only moved by the slight motions of the watcher´s tail. With a smile he saw the little creatures bustle, building their pebble sized cities and ploughing their fields, busy as ants. Let them rest he thought and lazily stretched his wing and night fell over the world.

This painting only took about 15 to 20 hours, stretched out over 6 months as I did not have the time to work on it very often.
I guess I´ll have to explain my poor attempt at writing above as one cannot really see the necessary details in the photo. In the shadow of the dragon´s wing there are little towns (they look like stones in the photo), fields, forests and rivers running toward the "ocean".
My starting point were some old views of the world. Here the dragon controls the environment, the blue of his scales is the blue of the sky, he creates the ocean´s waves, his breath stirs the wind and so on. How would one of the creatures/a human of the world under his wing know he´s there?

I know there are some flaws in the dragon´s anatomy, especially with his wing...I have learned a lot about drawing dragon´s this past half year and would paint him a little different now.

acrylics on canvas-paper, 40x50 cm
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Comments: 53

scimystic [2011-07-14 09:20:33 +0000 UTC]

beautiful work

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tothehorizon [2009-11-03 04:46:37 +0000 UTC]

awesome concept

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Ankaraven In reply to tothehorizon [2009-11-03 16:09:56 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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LilMangoMagic [2009-10-06 00:56:43 +0000 UTC]

Heya! I saw this from the thread you had on MagiStream?
Well,
this is truly, AMAZING work !! I love this!
And you said this was TRADITIONAL?!
Wow !!!

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Ankaraven In reply to LilMangoMagic [2009-10-12 20:12:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for the comment!
Yes, this was done traditionally with acrylics on canvas paper.

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LilMangoMagic In reply to Ankaraven [2009-10-13 19:22:35 +0000 UTC]

No problem!
WHOA, SRS?!

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Ankaraven In reply to LilMangoMagic [2009-10-13 20:52:35 +0000 UTC]

Yes, seriously Acrylics are one of my favourite media to work with.

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LilMangoMagic In reply to Ankaraven [2009-10-15 18:31:09 +0000 UTC]

Wow.. I am so amazed :3

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kaikaku [2009-07-04 21:52:57 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful! I love this, the moss is so nice and soft looking and the blue / green color scheme is very pretty.

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Ankaraven In reply to kaikaku [2009-07-05 10:26:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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Denodon [2009-06-17 05:30:39 +0000 UTC]

Reminds me of a character from some story I read once but I don't remember the title...
I really like this

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Ankaraven In reply to Denodon [2009-06-17 20:49:23 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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Denodon In reply to Ankaraven [2009-06-18 09:22:09 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!
Still don't remember the book but the blue hue is lovely

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super-proxy [2009-05-13 13:55:13 +0000 UTC]

Wow! I must say, this is an absolutely beautiful concept! And it was executed quite perfectly, too. I loved reading through the little explanations you had for it. It's amazing how I didn't notice so much when I first looked at it. <3

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Ankaraven In reply to super-proxy [2009-05-15 21:07:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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super-proxy In reply to Ankaraven [2009-05-16 00:16:13 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome. ^_^

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Tifa22 [2009-04-29 18:19:54 +0000 UTC]

Great picture and idea!

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Ankaraven In reply to Tifa22 [2009-04-29 20:39:37 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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Tifa22 In reply to Ankaraven [2009-04-30 19:25:22 +0000 UTC]

Very welcome!

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Starlight-blue333 [2009-04-23 01:39:22 +0000 UTC]

Wow thats beautiful
I love the little explanation you gave out Now i see the little towns
Uh is that the end of his tail or is his tail subermerged in the puddle or is the puddle his tail??
I love every detail you put into this, its very clear and the wings are superbly done.
This dragon seems like an aquatic dragon because of its ears?

I love the idea that it is a protector for the town.. Such a giant creature that could do a lot of harm, chooses not to I like that.

I have tried mastering dragon wings (let alone the dragon its self) and it is quite difficult. I do it in the bat-like style (that you have also done here) going up then down...

This is a superb piece of work, well done

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Ankaraven In reply to Starlight-blue333 [2009-04-24 18:53:40 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot for the detailed comment

His tail is submerged in the water, he´s stirring it and creates waves...another detail that gets a bit lost in the photo I guess
I paint and draw most dragons´ ears like this, the frills of lizards inspired me to first try this and I kind of like it
The wings were indeed the most difficult thing in this painting, I had to change them several times and would do them differently now but I am glad you think they turned out ok.

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Starlight-blue333 In reply to Ankaraven [2009-04-25 08:22:04 +0000 UTC]

Thats alright!!

I see... Thats pretty damn cool!
Lol yeah they turned out fine! I get annoyed with drawing them xD
Or they turn out alright and the dragon's body or eyes look weird.

But it really turned out perfect (ur piece)

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Hallarhoswen [2009-04-22 18:11:18 +0000 UTC]

This is soooo beautiful!! The color is just awesome!

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Ankaraven In reply to Hallarhoswen [2009-04-24 18:18:42 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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lemrac [2009-04-19 03:40:53 +0000 UTC]

Lovely work! The details on the wings is just awesome!

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Ankaraven In reply to lemrac [2009-04-19 10:32:57 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!
Those wings gave me a lot of trouble, I am glad to hear they turned out good

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lemrac In reply to Ankaraven [2009-04-19 13:46:12 +0000 UTC]

keep it up!

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Dfaran [2009-04-11 09:26:33 +0000 UTC]

Awesome concept!
That's a much more interesting hoard than boring ol' gold.

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Ankaraven In reply to Dfaran [2009-04-11 19:13:01 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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TeaPhotography [2009-03-09 07:23:42 +0000 UTC]

Wow, I am so impressed.
Thank you for the info. on The Watcher, too,

as well as your own info. on how long it took etc.

I love artist's comments.

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Ankaraven In reply to TeaPhotography [2009-03-09 23:32:16 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!
I am glad you like the info, I always wonder if people are really interested in that kind of thing.

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ray72285 [2009-03-03 03:24:00 +0000 UTC]

Just sending you a congratulations for being featured in this month's issue of The Dragons of deviantART - [link]

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MarkCarson [2009-02-19 16:49:11 +0000 UTC]

Nice dude, this is sweet. I can see the town, though I have to admit I didn't until you pointed it out. Love the Idea of the dragon protecting/watching over the village and it's people. Great lighting and color, love it.

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Ankaraven In reply to MarkCarson [2009-02-20 22:07:08 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!
I tried taking a better photo of it but the details never really showed...

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bluedragoneye [2009-02-19 15:26:15 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful blue dragon wonderful piece

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Ankaraven In reply to bluedragoneye [2009-02-20 22:07:35 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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bluedragoneye In reply to Ankaraven [2009-02-20 22:37:05 +0000 UTC]

your very welcome

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newselena42 [2009-02-19 13:28:18 +0000 UTC]

very bautyful work i love it

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Ankaraven In reply to newselena42 [2009-02-20 22:07:49 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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newselena42 In reply to Ankaraven [2009-02-24 10:15:09 +0000 UTC]

^^

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FictitiousEyes [2009-02-19 01:20:27 +0000 UTC]

Cool concept! This is beautiful!

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Ankaraven In reply to FictitiousEyes [2009-02-20 22:08:06 +0000 UTC]

Thanks!

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LadyGrimbones [2009-02-18 22:08:23 +0000 UTC]

I think it is beautiful.

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Ankaraven In reply to LadyGrimbones [2009-02-18 23:13:04 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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Ghost-of-Ink [2009-02-18 20:51:48 +0000 UTC]

This is lovely! The shading is well done and the whole scene just flows so well~ Very peaceful atmosphere.

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Ankaraven In reply to Ghost-of-Ink [2009-02-18 21:29:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!
Glad you think it looks peaceful...I did not want the dragon to seem menacing...he´s just ...there.

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demon-polecat [2009-02-18 19:39:54 +0000 UTC]

I love the concept of this <3

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Ankaraven In reply to demon-polecat [2009-02-18 21:26:59 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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MPMG [2009-02-18 18:42:04 +0000 UTC]

Really, really nice!

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Ankaraven In reply to MPMG [2009-02-18 21:26:47 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot!

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