In the 1700s, “Here be Dragons” would denote uncharted parts of the world on maps. Uncharted territory is where I found myself when I was asked to contribute a painting to Antigo Wisconsin’s second annual art scavenger hunt, and I learned the theme was “storybook or fantasy”. How am I going to paint a fantasy, I wondered, I paint from life or photos of life!
The city of Ljubljana, Slovenia saved me. The city’s symbol is a dragon. I found a wonderful photo of a statue on the city’s Dragon Bridge in Unsplash. That allowed me to paint a fantastical dragon from life, so to speak.
I’m pleased with how it came out, though I did have an unusual experience in the process. I bought some silver paint to accentuate some of the features, and it did not behave like other acrylic paints I’ve used. It seemed to cling to itself, forming clumps or globules of paint, which made it challenging to apply. First, I would chase it around the palette as it ran away from my brush, then it would come off the brush and onto the painting substrate in unexpected ways.
“Courage”, 2026, 24 x 24 inch, acrylic on wood.
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