Original made in 2019

Drawing Class Project
Over the course of my fall semester, I had to work on a project in my drawing course to create a cohesive set of works. The original goal was to shoot for 10 pieces, of which I was able to finalize 5 nice works.

My Idea
I wanted to do a series focused around dragons and mythology. The idea was to take inspiration from a variety of mythical beings and gods from a wide range of different cultures. I tried to vary my inspiration from the well known to lesser known. I also attempted to not draw from the same cultural source twice. Using the symbolism, stories, and and environments from these cultural source, I tried to design a dragonic creature that could represent the source material.

Pele
Pele is an ancient deity from Hawaiian mythology. In my research I learned of the dynamic nature of the relationship between Pele and the kupua Kamapua'a, a rain associated deity. I tried to maintain Pele's visual grace in her appearance, translating the red flowers she is often associated with into a crown of crimson horns. Kamapua'a is most often described as hog headed and I tried to bring that into his design as well. These two deities are constantly at odds, one cultivating the land as the other destroys it. Still they flourish together, needing each other to bring fertility and life to the islands.

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