My friend Desren requested that I draw her dragon Mereway for my "free sketches" meme on dA. I was, uh... inspired. ^_^; This is far more than a sketch (and I appologize in advance to the other sketch recipients who will probably not receive something this detailed). Mereway is so beautifully designed and has such pretty coloring - a sketch would not have done her justice.

Mereway is not an aquatic dragon, but her species lives next to a big lake, and she has such beautiful fins that would be so perfect for swimming. So I made up a story that her species teaches their young to fly by teaching them how to swim. This strengthens their wings and lungs while teaching them how to navigate in three dimensions and deal with things like currents. There is no fear of falling while swimming, though there is a risk of drowning, so the hatchlings are closely supervised until they are old enough to swim on their own. This pic shows a juvenile Mereway exploring the lake by herself for the first time and meeting her very first fresh-water crab. (Please note: I made all that up, and Desren doesn't mind, but in her own descriptions of her species there is no mention of swimming.)

The original sketch was pencil on paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop. There are 57 layers. I think I suck at drawing backgrounds, though this is by far the best one I've drawn recently.