Greetings Rachael!

Gorgeous work. It reminds me of tropical fish and butterflies. Using the intense colored pencils over the less intense watercolors rcreates a sense of depth and makes the dragon pop out at the viewer :)

Thanks very much!

Tropical fish were my point of departure for this piece, particularly Inimicus didactylus and a couple of related species.

The patterning on the dragon is fabulous and very well done. The planets need a bit more work on them, though. Perhaps stylizing them like the dragon might be better or by having them more like patterned balls than worlds?

Yes, the moons did kind of get caught between two states, didn't they. I'll consider it for the next image. Thanks.

beautiful! I wish there was no watermarks tho ):

Thanks.

I add the watermarks because I became tired of people stealing my art and saying that they drew it. It's very, very irritating. Watermarks have, in large part, ended that problem.

Oh man this style is wonderful!! It reminds me of early 1980s fantasy novel cover art. I'm going to check out the rest of your gallery here in a sec, but is this part of a story you're writing or just an illustration for some headworld stuff? A dragon in space has definitely got me interested in learning more about it haha

Thank you for the compliments!

As I grew up in the eighties and have a lot of graphic-oriented stuff I've picked up from that time period, I am not a bit surprised that this brings 80s fantasy novels to mind. Roger Dean is who actually inspired this dragon and the others in the Shadowgorge series. I'm doing them just for fun, because I like the complicated patterns and the warm color scheme. I do a lot of work with cool colors, so this dragon is an excuse for me to get out of my rut every once in a while.

You're welcome!!

Oh ok, cool!! Roger Dean has fantastic art and I can definitely see the inspiration now (mostly in the wonderfully vibrant colors). Just for fun projects are excellent for trying out new styles and what-not. Are you a fan of Wayne Barlowe as well? He does some amazing alien and demon designs and has influenced my own work a bit.

Wayne Barlowe was one of my very early influences. His "Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials" book is still among my favorites, and was one of the first books I bought for myself some thirty years ago. These days, I lurk on his FB and Instagram pages and eagerly await his release of his next collection of Hell-themed work. :D

Oh wow I didn't realize he was on FB or IG!! Thank you, I gotta go check these out now omg