Sorry this is a long journal – if you can’t be bothered then please scroll down to see dragons

Another month slips by and it's nearly Easter which means a break from work for me

I'm kind of thinking about starting a big project. It's been here in my head for a long time but, like so many other 'grand plans' I tend to have, I've put off really making a start on it in favour of finishing off other paintings I have lying around. I think the 2 main problems I have are a) that I know I have a tendency to come up with these ideas, plan them, make a lovely list (I LOVE writing lists) of what I want to do then find that my enthusiasm is already waning by the second or third painting (see my pitiful attempts at a tarot deck on my website) and b) with this project more than others there’s a really strong feeling that it will be a complete waste of my time as its going to be mainly fanart.

That got me thinking and re-evaluating ALL the art I do. What am I doing any of it for? Should I be trying to find commissions? Should I be sending a portfolio to magazines, publishers, galleries? Should I be trying to advertise my work in more places? Or should I just continue to enjoy the creative process for what it is and paint whatever I want, at the pace that I want and ignore the possibilities of jobs, sales etc.

At the moment, when I get an idea for a painting, I’m full of enthusiasm; I search for the references I need; start sketching; do the painting; scan it and put it up on my website and on here at dA. The original goes into a sleeve in a bulging portfolio and there it stays…forever…only seeing the light of day if I want to reference it again in another painting. And that’s it, the process starts again. So then I ask myself “what’s the point…?”

It’s a tricky one. I learned from the years I spent making and selling bears that trying to turn something you enjoy as a hobby into a business can create unwanted pressures and destroy creativity. You start trying to second-guess what collectors and buyers might want, remake popular designs till you’re sick to death of them, and never get to work on those designs and ideas you really want to create.

So I worry that, in looking for any kind of paid work in art, my love of painting may go the same way and I would hate that to happen. BUT…at the same time I’d love to see my work in print (who wouldn’t?) and I’d love to be confident enough to offer commissions. But do I have the discipline and /or the talent to make it work? I’m asking myself these questions all the time and come up with a different answer every time. Typically Libran I can feel sure of one course of action one day then decide the complete opposite the next. I wonder if I will ever find a definitive answer…and I’m curious to know how other people have dealt with those kind of questions. Please…tell me your own stories and help me figure it all out.

Anyway, now that I’ve washed my brain at you all….

One of the parts of this great ‘New Plan’ I have involves dragons and I’ve been looking at a lot of dragon art here on dA so I’ve decided to feature some of my favourites in this journal. Some of these wonderful dragons don’t have the attention they deserve so please take a closer look and check out the artists’ galleries:

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I love this painting. The lighting is so very well done, especially on the dragon’s head, and reading the artist’s comment makes me love it more. “At some point in life we must leave the dragon in the woods” makes it such a poignant piece and leaves me wanting to shout “NOOOO! I won’t ever leave the dragon in the woods. Not ever. He’s my friend!”

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While I realise that the artist only considers this to be a sketch, they’ve managed to capture a moment and an expression on this dragon’s face that seem to me to have a great depth. So often dragons are painted with their flames in full flow but this one catches that single moment when the fire is just starting to well up. Its eye holds a feeling of cunning, and wisdom and perhaps some well-founded arrogance that make the image come alive.

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This is just simply astonishing. It’s not often I use but I used it when I first saw this. I’ve dabbled in polymer clay sculpting a little over the years, always in miniature (making stuff for my little bears) and the detail in this tiny dragon just blew me away. That’s a THUMB it’s resting on!! A THUMB!!

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This is my favourite of Sunstone72’s series of images using the dragon’s head. The vibrancy of the greens and the energy of the squirrels just pours life out of the screen while the stone dragon creates a pool of stillness and contemplation which is the kind of balance you often find in the woods. I can almost smell the crispness and earthy scent in the air.

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This just made me laugh. The dragon’s anatomy is great with those tiny wings and intent look while the Fuz'hy Lindts (I hope that’s the right plural) look so determined and focussed. The details are great and the idea and story behind it is so funny and imaginative.

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Stunning pencil work in this piece, with every scale drawn to perfection. The individual strands of each feather give such a good 3d effect and the artist’s originality has created a unique dragon. It also appeals to my graphic design brain in its layout on the page.

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