Smaugust Dragons

Well

Oops, sorry

In the future please read the discussion rules before posting. No image threads to be opened for awhile.

However..... Who can hate a dragon?! We will let this one go.

Didn't know there was a Smaugust challenge. That's right up my alley being a fan of Tolkien. I did do a dragon pastel back in June but I may have to create another dragon this month for the challenge. Here is a link to my previous dragon artwork if anyone is interested:
https://pixels.com/featured/purple-dragon-on-the-wing-mm-anderson.html

Isabella, I honestly didn’t think I was opening an image thread. I was just letting people know about the challenge and up coming contest. I see now how my wording could be construed as such, especially with the images then starting to be posted.

MM if you like JRR Tolkien, then i might have something for you :o)

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/there-and-back-again-hans-zimmer.html

I love his books, too - even the silmarillion. I love his LOTR so much i had a friend of mine make me a custom made book (Link) that looks like it was centuries old.

"Contest roolz? We don read no steenkin contest roolz!" ;-)

I mean, someone says "dragon" what can I do? It's like my middle name... except that it's not my name, and it's not Dragon, and it's not in the middle, but Uther than THAT!

Nice Tolkien tribute image Hans.

I did a pastel dragon today for the Smaugust day 10 challenge prompt of 'blue dragon.'

I like the Seahorse quality to it. I prefer "friendly Dragons."

The clouds tonight were particularly dragon like (I was in the water and no camera).

PLAU
UPDraggin

I might just take a shot at this, just for the heck of it, even though it's not my usual - as long as it doesn't have to be a cute dragon. I like Tolkien's stuff, too. However, I'm pretty sure if I painted a dragon it'd end up being a scary, creepy-looking dragon in a scary, desolate-looking landscape, instead of a cute dragon in a cute landscape. Hope that's okay.

I have a soft spot for dragons. I am currently working on a oil painting with a large dragon but no way will it be ready for any contest soon. Drew is my Sir name and it is related to the term Draco. It is also linked to Druid.

Hey Robert, scary wicked dragons are more interesting to me than cutesy ones (which I like too) Please do take a shot and no holding back or editing for what you think anyone else thinks is correct.

Drew, I look forward to seeing your dragon, when ever it might be ready and if it is anything like your other work it should be awesome.

Well - one more dragon

Don't forget that in (at least parts of) Asia, dragons are signs of good luck and prosperity.

They are "scaly, scary looking sorts of things". But that's why they feature in parades.

Thank you Katherine! Dragons have captured the imagination as far back as recorded history.

No time, Katherine. Not for this particular contest, anyway. Maybe someday I'll paint a dragon, though, just for the heck of it. Thanks for the idea.

The contest I mentioned has gone live, if you have participated in Smaugust, or will be, you have until the end of the month!

https://fineartamerica.com/contests/show-off-your-new-smaugust-dragons.html?tab=overview

Uther - that is true - but this is Smaugust and Smaug was a European "evil" dragon - with wings and all.

That is so Roy, but one of the prompts listed online for the Smaugust challenge is 'Chinese Dragon' on 8/17 which I worked on the other day. So the challenge isn't only about European dragons. I think they just picked ''Smaug" because it fits so well with August.

All this time I thought Smaug was from Middle-Earth. :€

I only have one dragon to offer. This is the red dragon that stands outside Chinatown in Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria's Chinatown is the oldest in Canada and the second-oldest in North America after San Francisco's.

The evolution of the dragon myth is a good example of convergent evolution (myths evolve, just like living things do): the mysterious deadliness of poisonous snakes, the fear-evoking massiveness of the huge constrictors, and the mysterious and deadly fire-breathing "snake" that lives in the sky (lightning). After all, primitive people wouldn't know that thunder and lightning storms were meteorological phenomena, but instead might think they were manifestations of a fire-breathing monster that lived in the sky.

This is just speculation on my part, but I wouldn't be surprised if the dragon myth wasn't used by medieval royalty to engineer support for the military of the day: "Look, you peasants, there's a reason you have to pay us so much rent. We need plenty of money to hire and pay all these knights in armor to fight off all those dragons that have been decimating neighboring countries in the last few years. Would you rather the knights fought them over there, or would you rather fight them yourselves, in your own backyard?"

Interesting ideas Robert! I wouldn't doubt that a few found dinosaur bones may have contributed to the mythology.
Imagine some individual finding a TRex skull! Hey everyone, look what I killed!
Instant Conan status!

Oh look, I can copy the html code from my android now!

Bug FIXED!