Would you sit with this Dragon in a mushroom circle?🍄

Today I’d like to go over the recent journey of designing our newest artwork for our backdrop. 

Cozy Mushrooms, ancient forests, and restful dragons make up our vibe. Let's weave them together. We'll start with some thumbnails, just like usual.

Some of these thumbnails might get a second look down the road. We often get swept up in new ideas and forget about the gems we already have. For this piece, we wanted a big, chonky, satisfied dragon.

I usually check in on Ryan for his favorites, but even he had a tough time deciding this round. So, I narrowed it down to the top three and gave them extra attention with some refined sketches.

The fae dragons have a really nice appeal that I’d like to come back to for another piece. Out of the last two, I favored the dragon facing us. It seemed more friendlier, like it wanted to engage in conversation rather than keeping its distance like the other one. I was almost ready for the final sketch.

I wanted to get the horns right first. There’s just so many ways they can go. Ryan suggested curly ram’s horns.

We can finally make the final sketch and inking.

Next up: colors! Balancing hues was a challenge; unlike previous booth pieces, this one leaned heavily on teal (or green according to Ryan). 

Behold, the final art piece:

This fella was a labor of love. I’m thrilled at the end result. Snug as a bug wedged between a valley of mushrooms. I’ve heard tales of rings of mushrooms serving as portals for fae creatures. I can’t help but wonder as to whether this dragon has plugged one up with his caboose. XD

We’ve been playing with different backdrops over the last few years at the various shows we’ve been attending. I can’t wait to see this one all put together in person. It should be here in time for Origins!

Thanks for stopping by! See you next Friday!

Arielle + Ryan